Alex Chilton - "Dusted in Memphis"

and to flesh everything out



this completes the best of chilton's solo career. "dusted in memphis" exists somewhere between "like flies on sherbert" and "bach's bottom" for me, as it trumps the latter while being subservient to the former. aside from the excellent seeds cover, another great song is "walking dead," appearing here in its most stark version. "windows motel" is also wonderful - disarming, but wonderful all the same. i can't say enough about any of these three records, despite some of their obvious failings. anyway, enjoy any or all of them as you may.

here's a link to a great blog where this can be nabbed:

http://knowyourconjurer.blogspot.com/2010/03/alex-chilton-dusted-in-memphis-1980.html

Alex Chilton - "Bach's Bottom"

continuance of a theme (of sorts)



and yet another installment from the "troubled genius whose life was derailed by self-destructive behavior and emotional instability" category...honestly, that's such an anonymous story, one hardly befitting a person whose music was as intuitive and wonderful as chilton's; yet, his "legend" (for lack of a less pious and platitudinous term) seems wreathed by such descriptions. sadly, chilton became less inclined to write and perform his own material as the years went on, leaving a surfeit of albums blemished with cover versions and the implacable suspicion that he'd kind of ceased to care. however, his first few solo albums - "like flies on sherbert" happily included - were more than adequate, approaching a different kind of feeling from that of big star. forsaken though his early solo records are, i think both of them are wonderful in their own delirious way. "bach's bottom" is admittedly inferior to "sherbert," but whereas that album espouses the same scattershot, disintegrating brilliance that gave birth to "3rd," "bach's bottom" settles for more modest aims, instead merrily announcing itself as a fun, albeit highly strange and alternately disturbing record. the first four tracks - "take me home and make me like it," "every time i close my eyes," "all of the time" and "oh baby i'm free" - are actually well-assembled pop songs with humorous lyrics, especially the first track with its line about "call me a slut in front of your family." by the time the beatles cover arrives, though, everything has fallen straight to hell, with spaces opening in the music, mistakes, incidental noise - documentation of things going horribly wrong. the music kind of falls apart after that, making it an uneven record that doesn't reward as nicely as "sherbert" or - from the same period of time - the wonderful "dusted in memphis" album. "bach's bottom" is less essential than either "sherbert" or "dusted," but it serves its purpose, as to my personal psychology: any chilton is better than no chilton.

here's a link from recessed filter (the actual album ends at track 9...everything thereafter is supplemental):

http://recessedfilter.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/alex-chilton-bachs-bottom/

Alex Chilton - "Like Flies on Sherbert"

something different.



it's almost hysterical trying to count how many times "shambolic" is used in conjunction with this and several other chilton-related albums ("bach's bottom" and big star's "3rd" especially), but as to what such a thing genuinely expresses fails me on any level - the language seems impenetrable, moribund and inflexibly grey. many, many derogatory and shitty things are said about "like flies on sherbert," seemingly on the basis that it bears scant familial resemblance to big star. well, if i may affect a bit of an ironic pose momentarily, i could easily riposte that little music on earth sounds like big star, but i don't judge everything with a guitar by whether or not it sounds like big fucking star. that aside, yes, this album sounds like one unending, cacophonous mess that seems extemporaneous, performed without rehearsal, see-sawing in whichever damned direction with the rudderless, directionless tumble of a drunk and seasick man, both of which mr. chilton could have conceivably been - but what matter? it's alive, unpleasant, poorly-recorded and self-negating; it effortlessly creates black vortices in which any listener sinks, profaning your ears and sensibilities with its complete lack of aesthetic concern, aim of composition or attention to form. the lore signifies that this album - recorded after the beautiful, bleak "3rd" - was truly the epitome of alex chilton vocalizing nothing short of oblivion and excess, drifting into the blah-blah-blah-blah. it helps never to read anything anyone ever writes about anything meaningful, especially pertaining to music, as most people cannot help but write about it ineffectually, with supreme, unsettling crudity and self-promotion.

eek. i probably sound as inane as anyone else - i never have been able to properly illustrate or cohere myself in regards to music, and i feel all the better for it (lest i use the word "shambolic" in a sad, half-hearted foundering for adjectives). i love this record. there. let's be terse and pretend anything other than the music matters.

download link casually grabbed from GOOGLE...(is that fine administrators? can you cease pestering me with your copyright laws? nobody gives a shit about cds anyway...even the toddlers have abandoned them)

http://www.mediafire.com/?g5wwmyfxwlj

please download this and piss off the pedants and demagogues who are so worried about this nonsense.

Albert Ayler - "Love Cry"

somehow, no accompanying videos for this album can be found on youtube - rasing many more questions than it answers.

though it's a bit removed from his earlier recordings and signals a slight alteration of his approach, this is one of my favorite alyler recordings.

enjoy!

care of forestroxx

http://www.mediafire.com/?f2zz5mkimzm

Skip James - "1931 Sessions"

as with many others, the first time i encountered skip james' music was when it was prominently featured in terry zwigoff's "ghost world," and my emotional reaction was not unlike the protaganist's - i felt a deep, guttural reaction to his voice, the labryinthine and vermiform melodic lines of his guitar playing, and felt myself dissolve amongst the atmosphere it created. it's nearly impossible to overstate the dramatic, gravitational power of james' musical voice, as its qualities are as intangible and phantasmal as its darkness and beauty. for years i've tried to pry for biographical information on james to little avail, but the most constant fixture of all my sundry searchings proves that he was an intractable, solitary man who felt little need to socialize or keep himself amenable to other bluesmen, distancing himself and concentrating solely on the music. this innate hermetism is evident in some of his compositions, which would be seemingly uncomfortable when heard in the presence of another person. listening at times feels like a private act of solitude.






download "1931 sessions"

http://www.mediafire.com/?ljyimvzbmwt

Rev. Robert Wilkins - "Prodigal Son"

when everything else is a bit too sallow and lacking in conviction



the past two months i've been religiously immersed in old blues music - most of it predating the common penumbra of what properly constitutes the "blues" as it is currently known, instead sharing similarities with folk or (as they were lamentably called) "race" records; primarily, mississippi john hurt, skip james, blind lemon jefferson, blind willie mctell, memphis minnie, blind willie johnson, blind boy fuller, memphis slim...obviously leadbelly is a prominent force within all of this, and i honestly think i could listen to his music for the rest of my life with the same perpetual kind of wonder, affection and beautiful sadness. rev. robert wilkins is a bit new to me, as i just came in contact with his music a few weeks ago. initially, i became interested through the rolling stones cover of "prodigal son" on "beggars banquet" and felt determined to seek out its progenitor. happily so, i must say. wilkins' music collates nicely with all the aforesaid names and artists who are still so sorely neglected, despite the immensity of their influence. it's hard to resist calling this music anything other than brutally honest - it is, almost painfully so. much of the greater capacity for benevolence and beauty - the larger possibilities of music as a form of intimate communication - are reflected perfectly in music of this kind. i have such overwhelming, zealous affinities for this old music (i could probably talk exhaustively about skip james for hours on end like a proper dullard) that i hope to convey that enthusiasm and expose it to others, as i find its charms so undeniable.

there's a 7 volume set of leadbelly that i'll upload soon - to the best of my knowledge comprised of all his various recordings. marvelous.

here's a fabulous blog and rev. wilkins' collection. please do enjoy.

http://onmuddysavariverbank.blogspot.com/2010/10/robert-wilkins-prodigal-son.html

Half Japanese - "Sing No Evil"

hark the oblong angels sing! and they all suspiciouly sound like jad fair....



"sing no evil" is possibly half japanese's greatest - and most accessible - album, attaining vergitinous heights with their evolving mixture of exotic percussion, feral jazz horns and guitar noise. within that frame exists perfect little pop songs, exceedingly memorable and illustrative of the unique, somewhat precocious perception of jad fair. i remember reading something that kurt cobain said, something to the effect that in a perfect world, people would walk around shopping complexes singing half japanese aloud. though my other favorites - "our solar system" and "music to strip by" - are objectively a bit too abstract and abrasive to be latched onto immediately, "sing no evil" has a singular warmth and inviting presence to it, permitting an easier listening experience to the uninitiated listener. without debate, this is the best introduction to half japanese and their fabulous little world.

download "sing no evil"

http://www.mediafire.com/?ktoijmmk2oz

if this suits your taste, by all means go back and download "our solar system," which was posted a few months ago here.

R.E.M - "Fables of the Reconstruction"

i have something of a fanatacism for the back catalogue of r.e.m., and am of the distinct opinion that from their debut ep "chronic town" until their major-label "automatic for the people" they were an uncompromising force of brilliance, creating wonderful pop music that was in no way flat, but rather pregnable with possibilities, terrific melodies, coruscating arpeggios and the impenetrable, murky voice of michael stipe. it is inevitable that the excitability and ingenuity of their music would slacken the longer they remained an operable group, as much as that is a certainty for virtually every band or artist who persists in making music for an extended period of time. r.e.m. had a stretch that is enviable, though, in that every record they released over a decade had something commendable, mesmeric about it. of their studio work from "chronic town" to "automatic," only their fifth record, "document," was marred by regrettable choices (mostly in the form of trying to "rock out" in a fashion that is entirely foreign to them). "out of time" - that preceded "automatic for the people" - does indeed have "shiny happy people" and a few other songs that are questionable, but the remaining four songs on the album are among the greatest songs of their respective career. as much as i am indebted to their full-length debut "murmur" for hours upon hours of listening and rapture, it is their third album, "fables of the reconstruction/reconstruction of the fables," to which i am recurringly drawn.



the texture of the record is one of its inherent charms for me, as there seems to be a slight, obscuring fog hanging over the instruments, and there is a feeling of being buried by the sounds it invokes. the chorus of "auctioneer" has a wall of flanged-guitars that scare the shit out of me, but that dissonance and the angular flashes of darkness permeate the whole album. i usually discredit the back stories surrounding the completion or composition of books, films, records, but in this instance i find it interesting that r.e.m. was preparing to disband shortly after the recording of "fables." the depressive atmosphere would certainly support that, and in a way it would be nice to speculate the "what-ifs" had they parted ways, leaving only "chronic town," "murmur," "reckoning" and this manic mess in their wake. the gothic, southern mood prevails through much of the album, especially the puzzling, entrancing "maps and legends," a song that could certainly pepper the soundtrack to any suicidal southerners summer, with its weary pulling and slow waves of chords; the word "impenetrable" - often used parallel to r.e.m. - is most apt here.



light occasionally breaks through, however, most notably - and merrily - on "green grow the rushes go." i have no goddamned idea what the hell stipe is singing about, but it brings a certain, inextinguishable joy to me whenever i hear it. i can see how the album could be viewed or castigated as "uneven" or some such adjective, as some of its juxtapositions are a bit surprising ("can't get there from here" or the strangely sedated end of the album, "wendell gee"). i welcome all of it promiscuously, and hope it can be enjoyed, and that news of its greatness will spread like contagion.



this is the remastered edition of the album with supplemental tracks. i grabbed this anonymously from the internet and the sound is a relief. the prior cd release of "fables" was mastered at such sub-humanly low levels that volume was a significant problem. this mix is unmuddied (as much as possible, it's meant to be a bit blurred) and rings with a refreshing clarity. enjoy!

download fables of the reconstruction:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7Z60P3ZY

Vincent Gallo - "When"..."Brown Bunny" OST..."Buffalo 66" OST

alas, this is the only video i can find for gallo's wonderful music on youtube.



unlike many people, i find nothing adverse or polarizing about vincent gallo in any of his numerous pursuits, whether it be music, film or painting. the conflation - and much of the acrimony surrounding the mere mention of his name - seems to arise from the purposefully outrageous persona that he has publicly adopted. the perception is that he's an arrogant, self-fellating egoist of the highest order, with little or no talent to fortify his claims to genius. he made a movie where he receives a blow job at the end! wow, what an arsehole, etc. it saddens me that a film as beautiful and honestly evocative of sorrow and inexpressible pain should be so uniformly derided by people who haven't even bothered to watch it. "the brown bunny" is among my favorite films, especially in terms of its minimalism and aesthetic. the tactile nature of its atmosphere, the sheer feel of it is almost impossible to explain. ozu, jarmusch and bela tarr are all wonderful filmmakers, but none of them have reached the universal zero, the reduction and systematic elmination of everything but pure, miserable sensation that is found in "brown bunny." herzog called it the greatest film about loneliness. jean-luc godard chose it for use in an installation he had a few years ago, expressing his admiration. "buffalo '66" is usually characterized as "quirky" or some similarly antiseptic adjective, with its style accused of existing without substance. i waver back and forth as to which film i admire more, but usually i settle on "brown bunny," simply for the fact that it is so taxing to watch. i can watch "buffalo" literally any time, and often do in long stretches. "bunny" is, however, something i feel compelled to prepare for as it devastates me, and by the final frame i feel as if i have all but vanished into its landscape. gallo's music is an extension of the loneliness and bare beauty of his films, and i carry about an insatiable regret for the fact that he has not produced more.

the "buffalo '66" soundtrack features king crimson, yes and some of gallo's own music (especially the dream-like "lonely boy"). the "brown bunny" features music primarily by john frusciante with nothing of gallo's own music (lamentably). gallo's own album "when" is a delight, and i have a difficult time expressing my love for its little melodies and incredible texture, its comforting warmth.


download "when"

http://www.mediafire.com/?z4ysndhjtj4

download "buffalo 66"

http://www.mediafire.com/?fiydumatg9x

download "brown bunny"

http://www.mediafire.com/?1xb9bss5zhk

Talk Talk..."Laughing Stock"

i have nothing remarkable to say concerning this album, other than the fact that i am heavily indebted to its charms and mesmerism. another one of those indispensible listening experiences for the late hours of the evening, when everyone across the world is inert, asleep or otherwise dead.

download "laughing stock":
http://www.mediafire.com/?agrzsyebj29

John Lurie..."Stranger Than Paradise" Soundtrack

as much as i adore jarmusch's films, i would hesitate to say he ever made anything as gorgeous and absorbing as two of his earliest efforts, "stranger than paradise" and "down by law." "dead man" is singular and hypnotic, and inevitably remains (to me at least) his last startling, inventive effort (i haven't had the opportunity to finish "limits of control," but i was quite taken with the hour i watched). john lurie, whose bizarre teflon acting helped characterize both "stranger" and "law," was responsible for creating both of their respective soundtracks, and they are terrifically evocative, with an almost bartokian string implementation and noted aylerisms. unlike most soundtracks, lurie's music is never passive and continually invites a world entirely of its own.

download "stranger than paradise"

http://www.mediafire.com/?4thteynz34y

Doors..."Strange Days"

i know, but listen.



for years i conscientiously abstained from listening to the doors, as my tolerance for the hagiography and hero-worship around morrison was skeletal and bare. ugh, especially those ubiquitous posters where his arms are outstretched and he's wearing that repugnant glare like a party mask. i've heard "roadhouse blues" enough to congeal six consecutive lifespans, etc. however, i watched "apocalypse now" over a year ago, and something about hearing "the end" while marlon brando is hacked apart with extreme prejudice...something just sent up the flagpole for me, and since then i've been listening to the doors after years of utter refusal. primarily, i've been listening to this album - aside from "horse latitudes," which is unintentionally hilarious, this is nearly perfect, entirely of its own. aside from "love me two times" and "people are strange" these songs have been nowhere near radio frequencies for the better part of four decades; absolute shame. i'm enamored of the guitar tone on these songs, especially "unhappy girl" and "moonlight drive." the arrangements are delirious, and no matter how overplayed "people are strange" may be, that carnivalesque, brechtian piano romp towards the end of the song will always act as a great sound of conveyance, transportive in a sense that is delirious and rightly strange. i care a great deal for the majority of their debut album and their third, "waiting for the sun." after that it's somewhat sporadic and prone to mediocrity, but "strange days" is the perect embodiment of what the doors' music was intended to be, fortunately avoiding the pratfalls and pretenses that such ambitions might bring. quite good, evocative - to be listened to exclusively during the late hours of the night.



download:

http://www.mediafire.com/?2xi4bmjedyn

Albert Ayler..."HIlversum Sessions"

speech is insufficient:



working with the quartet that was responsible for ayler's previous album, "vibrations," this session was recorded live in europe and presents an elongation on the themes of the prior work. it's debatable whether it reaches the disorienting, paramount heights of "vibrations," but i find its variations to be enlivening and sometimes favor it even more. ayler himself was a mercurial figure, and the wordless melisma and vocalizations of his playing leave me hollowed and immobilized. his playing definitively embodies the term "free jazz" in a much more appropriate way than either coltrane or coleman (at least to me), as there is nothing short of pure celerity and motion in his phrasing, an unbounded cry from the depths of the human body. though his renown is comparatively pale and bare alongside coltrane, there has been something of a renascent interest in his music (notably, there was a documentary a few years ago called "my name is albert ayler," though it is frustratingly rare to come across). i recently discovered that he's buried about 45 minutes from where i'm living now, so i intend on visiting his grave in the near future.



download "hilversum session" by albert ayler

http://rapidshare.com/files/217521741/Albert_Ayler_-_The_Hilversum_Session.rar

(this link is an advertisement for the wonderful "albert ayler depot" blog, which sponsors nothing but ayler's music...mercifully, they even have the holy ghost boxset):

http://albertayler.blogspot.com/

Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard..."Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Dept."

why the phrase "electric newspaper boy" resonates so deeply with me, why it makes me feel ineffaceably alive...i don't know, but here you go...



i'm attending the guided by voices reunion show in columbus, ohio, so i'm expectantly devouring the countless, massive amounts of music conducted under pollard's genius (yes, i believe him to be possessed of it in his own unmistakable way). i've been listening to guided by voices and robert pollard for nearly 6 or 7 years now, and though i may not listen to them as unflaggingly as i have in the past couple of years, i always return reverently before his drunken altar. pollard's solo career (until the recent dissolution of gbv) has remained mostly obscure to anyone but inveterate, dedicated fans. quite a shame considering "not in my airforce" and "waved out" are both studded with a gluttony of gems. then there's "speak kindly of your volunteer fire department," a record that provides me with a surfeit of warmth and happiness. collaborating with late-era gbv guitarist doug gillard, "speak kindly..." finds pollard at his most deliriously pop-oriented. it should be a cardinal sin to listen to songs this deliciously well-written. "pop zeus" is a rather obvious tune to praise (disgustingly perfect as it is), but tracks like "and i don't (so now i do)," "frequent weaver who burns," "slick as snails," "tight globes," and "larger massachusetts" are equally as enticing. lyrically, pollard is at his best here, and vocally he has rarely sounded as powerful and assured. even something as seemingly disposable as "soul train college policeman" is endeared due to its performance (and the strange sincerity with which "post-christmas cupcake handgrenade" is sung). in its entirety, this is a great record, on an equal footing with pollard's earlier solo effort "waved out." despite the preponderance of memorable tunes, the closing song ("and my unit moves") remains my unwavering favorite for reasons i could never possibly express.

download bob pollard and doug gillard's lovely little album:

http://megaupload.com/?d=G296J5IN

Guided by Voices..."Mag Earwhig!"

bob pollard & co. at its finest...



i'm definitely a populist in terms of "bee thousand," as it remains one of my favorite musical documents, but people tend to gravitate around the "era" encapsulating "propeller," "bee thousand," "alien lanes" and "under the bushes under the stars." guided by voices are typically derided (pollard in particular) as being unable to maintain a kind of quality control, but i'm nearing asceticism in my devotion and belief in the near majority of their catalogue. i love the earlier, ramshackle and lo-fidelity efforts as much as anyone (especially overlooked marvels such as "same place the fly got smashed," "sunfish holy breakfast" and "vampire on titus"), but the summary dismissal of the latter half of gbv's existence is inexcusable to me. the hip opinion is to chastize and inveigh against the band for its reliance on the hiss and murky distractions of limited recording devices, the lo-fi aesthetic, etc., but people overlook that what qualifies as "lo-fi" wasn't a luxury or affectation as it is currently. a band like guided by voices was driven and populated by people in their mid-30s who couldn't afford session time and preferred to do it themselves, rather nobly. their songs and ineluctable charm are not dependent on methods of production - a good song remains a good song. after disbanding gbv's "classic" line-up (a misnomer, horribly, since something like 50 people at any point played with the band) pollard recruited more conscientious and "professional" players. however outrageous people may have found this, the results are beyond this kind of record store banter bullshit.



"mag earwhig!" is beset with only 3 flaws - all of them forgivable, all of them occuring within the first 5 songs. those faults are - noticeably - "can't hear the revolution," "i am a tree" and the increasingly putrid "bulldog skin." aside from that, however, this record is phenomenal, at times reaching far beyond "under the bushes under the stars." "jane of the waking universe," "little lines," "sad if i lost it," "i am produced," "portable men's society," "not behind the fighter jet," "choking tara" and the chokingly-dense, apocalyptic "the finest joke is upon us" - my favorite on the album - alight in a kind of starburst grove, registering a level of intensity rarely reached on previous releases. the two successive albums - "do the collapse" and "isolation drills" - are far more uneven and tenuous, though still retaining a stunning amount of great songs (the former nowhere near as unlistenable as is often claimed). they regained their balance on their triumvirate of final releases, "universal truths and cycles," "earthquake glue" and "half-smiles of the decomposed," all of which permit the band to bow out gracefully (leaving - in my mind - a nearly unblemished discography).

download "mag earwhig!" by guided by voices:

http://www.mediafire.com/?byz90150wbz

Tim Buckley..."Lorca"

mournfully, this is the only track from "lorca" available on youtube, and therefore the only piece i can offer up for purposes of preview:



opinion tends to vacillate and unsteadily stammer back and forth with tim buckley's work, as there are some (myself among them) who think the majority of his discography is an unprecedented success, while others think his improvisational and experimental aspirations were beyond his means and only mildly successful; still others think all of his work is utter shit, saving their allegiance for the well-known covers of perhaps buckley's greatest song, "song to the siren" -- famously rendered by this mortal coil and innumerable others. a swarm of people also neglect tim in favor of his son, jeff, which i am stymied to even contemplate (understatedly, i am definitely NOT a fan). "lorca" preceded "starsailor" - his most ambitious and beautiful album - and divines some of the territory and depths he would later mine. initially my response to "lorca" was one of reluctance and modest admiration, due mostly to the confounding title track that commences the record, but i've evolved to it, i suppose, and it strikes me as one of his best efforts. the first side of the record is the more difficult of the two, with the latter half evoking the stylings of his previous release "blue afternoon" and some of the work on "happy sad." the focal point here is obviously buckley's voice, his characteristic hysterics and lunacy, his unfettered paroxysmal wailing. though living happily in the shadow of "starsailor" (or "goodbye and hello" for some people who wouldn't let him live down past glories), "lorca" is as good as the source of its namesake (frederico garcia lorca). ideal for late night solitude, as is most of his work.

download tim buckley's "lorca":

http://rapidshare.com/files/185148235/Lorca.zip

(i was feckless and took this link from singer-saints, a fantastic blog you should check out)

The Chills..."Kaleidoscope World" (Original Lp Version)

the chills were one of the most exciting bands to come out of the "dunedin" scene in new zealand in the 80s. along with the tall dwarfs, the clean, toy love, sneaky feelings, the stones, the verlaines, the scrotum poles, the great unwashed and a seemingly illimitable line of other fantastic groups, the defining sound of these new zealand bands came to surreptitiously influence the successive generations of american acts like pavement and guided by voices, despite the fact that these early progenitors remained in relative obscurity. the spectral traces of bands like the chills still has a resounding influence on a lot of current bands, though the sound has been somewhat desalinated by obnoxiously self-aware and "quirky" indie groups who simply can't write a song as hauntingly honest and affecting as "pink frost" or "we bleed love" (the tall dwarfs). even though these bands are seen, retrospectively, as representing a codified, ubiquitous sound, each group was alarmingly disparate, performing and writing "pop" music with their own singular perspective. the chills bear as little resemblance to the tall dwarfs as the verlaines do to to the clean.


"kaleidoscope world" was the first record i heard by the chills, finding an unscarred vinyl copy for 3 dollars. it isn't really an album proper, but it displays a coherence and progression that lends itself to the idea that it is meant to be one; in actuality, it's a compilation of early e.p.s the band recorded in its infancy, before recording its actual debut "brave words." the cd version of "kaleidoscope world" adds roughly 10 songs, which - though augmenting the length - disrupt the small little world of the original lp version, making the added tracks feel like swollen appendices. most other blogs i've been able to find that feature this album are proliferating the cd version, so i thought it'd be nice to publicize its original form (especially since i favor it over the other permutation). though this stuff isn't exactly technically innovative, it has a wonderful warmth and resonance, achieving its own form of marvelous perfection.

download the chills "kaleidoscope world" (lp version)

http://www.mediafire.com/?ezytngnntwh

Krzysztof Penderecki..."A Portrait"

while notably bereft of his larger works such as the "de natura sonoris no.2" and "threnody for the victims of hiroshima," this collection offers a further glimpse into penderecki's inimitable oeuvre. with ligeti, varese, satie and bartok - penderecki is among the higher echelons of composers with whom i share a tremendous amount of time. though i'm preferential to the "matrix 5" collection, along with penderecki's collaboration with don cherry (which approaches a new form of music entirely -- free jazz and avant-garde classical music...wow), this is a more than adequate way to negotiate the interminable hours ahead.

download penderecki "a portrait"

http://depositfiles.com/en/files/98bilp2pl

HARRY PARTCH..."THE WORLD OF HARRY PARTCH"

harry partch is one of my most beloved composers, and his levity and humor are only superseded by his spirit of invention and originality. partch's music shares several percussive affinities with traditional gamelan music, also using microtonal scales that have scant presence in traditional western music. though bartok, penderecki, varese, lamonte young and terry riley have explored similar realms through the use of quatertones or intonations, employing what is often referred to as "avant-garde" tuning to extend sound intervals through octaves, no one raised it to the heights of partch. he not only patented a 43 tone scale but wrote music almost expressly for his own created instruments - everything from marimbas that were meant to emulate a bass and xylophones forged from disused hubcaps and bottles. though some of it is expectedly atonal and dissonant (as is much if not all avant-garde music), there is a great deal of partch's compositions that are diffuse and dream-like, some of it bordering on absolute joy.

personally, there's so much partch music out there - and the majority of it is all so damned good - that any starting place seems ideal if you haven't heard much. "the world of harry partch" adequately conveys his musical personality, and is much more tersely assembled than some of the the more comprehensive, unassailably-massive boxsets and collections out there.


download "the world of harry partch"

http://www.mediafire.com/?tmizflzhjdt

DONOVAN..."HURDY GURDY MAN"

"hurdy gurdy man" is one of donovan's strangest releases and possibly my favorite, as it takes the formula of "sunshine superman" and develops songs that employ a textural drone (in "peregrine," "river song" and "tangier"), as well as featuring his obligatory paisley pop whimsy in songs like "jennifer juniper." the album also displayed mangled folk songs with a palpably dark influence as in the title track and "get thy bearings," which utilizes a rambling saxophone (that literally effervesces out of nowhere). sadly, none of those tracks are found on youtube, so the two singles from this album shall have to suffice for the time being. anyway, definitely worth hearing as it expands the dimensions and dynamic of donovan's music. after a string of four terrific albums in "sunshine superman," "mellow yellow," "gift from a flower to a garden," and "hurdy gurdy man," he would begin to scale back his productions and gravitate towards a sparer sound.




i'm having trouble uploading this to mediafire, so here's a link from "psych spaniolos" blog

http://rapidshare.com/files/99056338/Donovan_-_The_Hurdy_Gurdy_Man.rar.html

DONOVAN..."SUNSHINE SUPERMAN"

and yet another donovan album (because i'm verging on proselytism). "sunshine superman" was donovan's first album to escape the foul cloud of accusations that he was a talentless, desalinated dylan imitator. it is pronouncedly more psychedelic than either the beatles or dylan, more inflected with the spell of eastern ragas and ascending sitars than harrison's compositions for "revolver." obviously the title track is the most well-known of nearly all donovan's wonderful songs, and i can't dispute nor mitigate its perfection; fortunately he's written songs that actually surpass "sunshine superman," and several of them appear on this album.



"season of the witch," much like most of donovan's songs, is irremediably strange and possessed of a rather pliant meaning - as to what it or anything else here or elsewhere means, i have no idea; "season of the witch" has a terrifically bare atmosphere that seems to swell from the its interior, bursting like a collapsed star.

here's my favorite song from the album:



download "sunshine superman"

http://www.sendspace.com/file/0e1stv

DONOVAN..."A GIFT FROM A FLOWER TO A GARDEN"

in the unlikely event there was any lingering doubt, donovan leitch is among the higher echelons of singer/songwriters from the 60s, an insuperable presence whose work is largely left to fritter to waste in the dustbins and gutters of history, generally written off as a novelty with songs like "mellow yellow" and "sunshine superman."



today is reserved for the preservation and laurels of donovan, whose career and legacy have been stigmatized by the "dylan-lite" tag that followed him throughout the 60s. there is a tremendous line of demarcation between dylan and donovan, and the existent dissimilarities are so obvious as to seem self-evident; dylan's music is substantially void of whimsy, noticeably more rife with political and literary allusions, and his instrumentation is much more deeply rooted in old black music, rock and roll, etc. dylan electrified and personalized his own kind of rock and roll, mercifully brought surrealism to popular lyricism, but never strayed too deeply from his musical influences. donovan's music is exceptionally more trippy, more aesthetically psychedelic and otherworldly (though never forsaking his childish impulses).



the first album that's posted here is "a gift from a flower to a garden," a double album that is obscured by donovan's hit singles that preceded and succeeded this effort. the record is split into two distinct halves, with the first album ("wear your love like heaven") more musically built around electric instrumentation, organs and percussion. the second part of the album is more sparingly composed, relying entirely on acoustic guitars and a few intermittent flutes. the second portion of the double-set is intended to be a children's record of some kind, though it does retain appeal for adults who aren't impossibly jaded as well.



of the two i'm more closely aligned with the first record, but its counterpart doesn't disappoint, necessarily, it's just different from the more trippy, pop-oriented approach of the first.


download donovan's "gift from a flower to a garden"

http://www.zshare.net/download/5316215817afe9e7/

TALK TALK..."SPIRIT OF EDEN"

slow, submerged english music to which you can ably sit around and decay on a late night. their last album "laughing stock" is usually subject to most of the laurels and praise, but this one is every bit as good (some nights i enjoy it slightly more). if all you remember of Talk Talk is their single (later covered by no doubt) "it's my life," this will be an alarming surprise, as it has virtually none of the qualities that distinguish the early incarnation of the band.

this is a vinyl rip that i picked up off the terrific blog holyfuckingshit40000, in two parts. well worth a listen.

talk talk "spirit of eden"

part 1
http://lix.in/-7e5d8c

part 2
http://lix.in/-76bc71

beautiful.

GUIDED BY VOICES..."VAMPIRE ON TITUS"

"vampire on titus" contains the most abrasive, penetrative and hostile fidelity of any of the early gbv recordings. i would make a casual guess and say that i listened to it nearly 10 times before anything remotely appealing began to emerge from the density and fog of tape hiss, feedback and oddly-mixed vocals; now it's among my favorite guided by voices albums, so what the hell do i know? the album also contains some of the more puzzling and strange songs that robert pollard has ever written, and at what point that statement becomes a hyperbole - i simply don't know. you never know, try it out - it certainly has its out sound to it, however unpleasant it appears at first.





download "vampire on titus"

http://www.sendspace.com/file/w2j42i

HALF JAPANESE..."OUR SOLAR SYSTEM"

this isn't the most representative song of the album, but it remains the sole track from this album available on youtube.



"our solar system" is the third half japanese album, following shortly after the release of the "horrible" e.p. brothers david and jad fair created their own little musical universe, requiring little to no musical knowledge or technique, singing songs about sexual frustration and their collective inability to understand girls. half japanese is one of my favorite groups, and "our solar system" is just slightly behind "sing no evil" as my favorite record in their career. their early music had an astounding lack of concern for listenability, but it is among the most passionately made music i've ever heard. synthesizing a sound that was itinerant, deprived of an attention span, and sounding something like a even more cacophonous and nebbish version of DNA (with saxophones too!), their early music was typified by an almost free jazz approach to composition (no doubt to compensate for their absence of traditional talent). "sing no evil" is certainly a better record from the perspective of songwriting, production and performance, but the atmosphere and manic quality of this album hits me straight the chest. "girl athletes," "danger rachel lang," because i love you," "classical music," "electricity respect" and "esp" are the epitomization of this early style. i'm not as enamored of their later work (after the two subsequent albums, "sing no evil" and "music to strip by"), as jad became the sole focus of the group, emphasizing a bizarre sentimentality to the songs in later albums that went so far as to tame their sound and turn down the saxophones and feedback. jad went on to record an album with daniel johnston as well, though i've never quite had a taste for it. jad is comparable to johnston in a way, how both of their early work was much more visceral and unique, while their later work became subject to an almost uncomfortable sentimentality, victim to repetition and the dreaded "cute and misunderstood weirdo artist" category. jad still puts out good stuff periodically, and if you send him a check he'll personally write you a song. there's a terrific documentary on half japanese called "the band who would be king" that's available on youtube that is well worth the time to watch.

download "our solar system"

1. dance when i say dance
http://www.mediafire.com/?ejngmywxjwx
2. girl athletes
http://www.mediafire.com/?zkwnzae3kjm
3. because i love you
http://www.mediafire.com/?ltyjhdzmjkd
4.danger danger rachel lang
http://www.mediafire.com/?zogyn2mmihe
5.esp
http://www.mediafire.com/?5jfgt2wgdqm
6. classical music
http://www.mediafire.com/?n1iz4zbtjjj
7. you're gonna miss me
http://www.mediafire.com/?qzgm3qmm3hz
8. little girls have to be home early
http://www.mediafire.com/?nqmjincty0o
9. too much adrenaline
http://www.mediafire.com/?jxnmfnazd5o
10. fire to burn
http://www.mediafire.com/?nhwieommc2n
11. rhonda
http://www.mediafire.com/?ymmjaj3yuxy
12. electricity respect
http://www.mediafire.com/?jkiwzoowz1n
13. knocked down on the dance floor
http://www.mediafire.com/?mbrtu5t3kmb
14. european son
http://www.mediafire.com/?nzxauenwmfm
15. there's a girl
http://www.mediafire.com/?mjzmdymulvm
16. hall of mountain king/ louie louie
http://www.mediafire.com/?uydjghymnyy
17. young hearts break
http://www.mediafire.com/?tzyndyczyxc
18. did you miss me
http://www.mediafire.com/?zzim4dt2jod

DOLLY MIXTURE..."DEMONSTRATION TAPES"

have you no heart?



this is a quick post primarily for people who love the marine girls, the raincoats and the television personalities. dolly mixture was an all-female group that formed in the 70s during the punk explosion in london, and though they have few sonic resemblances to much of that music (especially the inherent hostility to which english punk was prone), they made lovely, passionate little songs that seem almost manufactured for the sole purpose of elevating your philosophical outlook. they released a few singles here and there, sadly disbanding in 1983 after recording their double album "demonstration tapes." i don't know if it's physically possible to dislike this music, but you're more than welcome to disprove that notion.




download dolly mixture "demonstration tapes"

http://www.mediafire.com/?cj0zjpeytls

R.E.M..."CHRONIC TOWN" - YES, THEY WERE ONCE GREAT

halt. before your eyes apathetically somersault with a knowing glaze, retain something of an open mind and permit yourself a chance to hear r.e.m. before they became a punchline searching for a joke. i am an absolute whore for mood in music, and this just about paralyzes me:



r.e.m.'s first ep "chronic town" bears only the name of the same band that would hideously deform and mutate a decade later, releasing songs as inert, awkward and gruesome as "what's the frequency, kenneth?" the early incarnation of r.e.m. was a fiercely independent, anthemic, personal and vital organism, and their early music is representative of the absolute best of what comprises american music (before later epitomizing its absolute nadir and fight for relevance). i am an unwavering fanatic for their early albums, and it is increasingly taxing trying to get people to give it a chance (which i suspect is a bias mostly based on "everybody hurts" and "shiny happy people").



ornamented with the usual velvet underground influence, r.e.m. ascended from a scene in athens that blessed the world with the likes pylon, the db's, and the b-52s (who were also once pretty damned good). they took what the feelies had done on "crazy rhythms" and broadened it, infected it with their own dynamic of jangling guitars and call-and-response vocals, coloring their music with an unmistakably dark, southern feel. "chronic town" differs greatly not only from r.e.m.'s later discography, but also from their subsequent release and debut full-length "murmur," an album that decelerated the pace of these songs but beset itself with murky atmospherics, acoustic guitars and buried voices. though their second record, "reckoning," reprised the speed and celerity of "chronic town," it had its own personality (a trait that was developed with each subsequent album, each one having a different sound than the next). "southern gothic" is a term generally employed to describe "murmur," and though that title is rather fitting, it is more evenly applied to their third and - in my worthless opinion - greatest record, "fables of the reconstruction," which is nearly impenetrably produced, features songs bereft of pop hooks, has lyrics referencing man ray, and has an inescapble atmosphere that began to recede quickly thereafter (rearing its head later for songs like "country feedback" and most of "automatic for the people"). had r.e.m. disbanded after recording their third record, as they intended to, they would've been a band as mythologized and heroically worshipped as the velvet underground or the smiths. that's not to discount the entirety of what they'd done since the "fables" album, as their subsequent albums verged on either good or fantastic. their fourth record, "lifes rich pageant," initiated a larger audience as it contained a hit single with "fall on me," and began to incorporate political themes and lyrics that could actually be understood. "document" followed closely on the heels of that, amplifying the focus on politics, and it became evident that they were gravitating to a larger sound with bigger production (and "document" too became an even larger album, carrying both "its the end of the world as we know it" and "the one i love"...incidentally, also featuring a wire cover with "strange"). "document" also signified a slight shift in quality, as its coherence as an album was severely derailed with songs that seemed painfully awkward, leaving it a good, somewhat uneven effort. r.e.m. was attempting to adopt the sound of a hard rock band, which was definitely at odds with the mood and tone of their early records. they ended up signing to warner bros. and leaving i.r.s. records behind, releasing an album that remains of ill-renown, "green." though "green" takes an immense bit of abuse for its complete stylistic shifts - utilizing mandolins, keyboards, vocal effects and a whole banana boat of god knows what else - it is an album i find positively refreshing, interesting and beautiful (despite the inclusion of "stand," which isn't nearly as bad as it appears within the actual context of the album...it compensates with "world leader pretend" so everybody can kiss my pale, sun-starved ass). "green" necessitated a tour that enlarged their existence within the public consciousness, and their next release, "out of time," only further augured their presence, spawning the hit that probably doesn't even need mentioned. everybody is probably squeezed dry of any lingering affection for "losing my religion," and it is easily forgivable given its repetition on airwaves. i still quite enjoy it, and i find it to be one of the most well-written and lyrical pop songs of the past twenty years, however asinine the public perception was regarding its "meaning." "out of time" also featured "shiny happy people" and "radio song" with guest rap vocals by krs-one, and after typing the preceding fragment i could easily envision someone saying to themselves, "well that album has one song that's been a victim of over-saturation and popular exsanguination, one song that is so obnoxious you'd drive sewing needles through your ears to avoid hearing it, and another song that exhibits aging white folks scrambling to maintain credibility in a culture increasingly dominated by hip-hop...i see no reason at all to ever hear this album in my long, miserable life." yes, that's a perfectly cogent point, one whose merits i'm less than blind to; however, "out of time" wholly redeems itself with songs as incredible as "half a world away," "texarkana," "me in honey," "low," "near wild heaven," and one of my favorite songs, "country feedback." the record ends so perfectly with the fluency of its last five songs, that i immediately forget what kind of shambling mess it is. and anyway, who doesn't like a little krs-one now and then? "automatic for the people" arrived shortly thereafter, signifying not only a remarkable album but the absolute creative death of r.e.m. if you notice, that's two observable times in their - at this point - decade-long career in which they could've gracefully vanquished themselves, saving their music from the perdition to which it would tumble. "automatic for the people" spawned yet another disastrously enormous hit with "everybody hurts," which is really kind of an honest attempt to write a song like "happy birthday" for people who are on the verge of either climbing a rooftop with an assault rifle or pulling a swan dive off an overpass. i can't say i begrudge the idea behind that at all, nor the song it would produce. it does quite laughably occur to me, though, that r.e.m. releases its weakest songs for singles and radio play. had they been a little more selective, it would probably be less of a psychological battle to get people to give them an honest listen. just know that for every "stand" or "shiny happy people," there's about 40 "feeling gravity's pull"s or "country feedback"s. "automatic for the people" - in a perfect world, absolutely foreign to this one - would've been a fitting, nearly elliptical end to their career, as there is barely a song on that album that doesn't invoke death in some manner or another. i don't know how many other mainstream bands would create a song like "breathe" or "star me kitten," but at some point it actually happened, as unthinkable as it may now seem. even a song like "everybody hurts" requires a pair of brass balls that possess their own gravitational properties. imagine trying to write and distribute a song like that now. everybody is too goddamned jaded and indifferent to feign an emotion, let alone one that doesn't insidiously reek of beer farts and overly masculine bullshit. "automatic" is a nearly perfect album, more cohesive than "out of time," encompassing nearly all the peccadilloes and moods that define the band's sound. however, some people just don't know when the hell to quit. it's as though reinhold messner reached the top of everest and said, "there's no more mountain to climb, fuck it, i'll just cartwheel down the side." r.e.m.'s next record was tantamount to seppuku, and it is here that you could effectively claim that they had given up the ghost and lost it. their next album, "monster," was the aural equivalent of a porsche, divorce and renewed interest in jogging and fiber intake all clumsily rolled into one - an utter mid-life crisis that is dreadfully uncomfortable to sit through. what possesses a group of 40 year-olds to purchase 97 distortion pedals so they can play to the same dull rock backbeat, is as unanswerable a question as why your father is banging his security, leaving your mother, waxing his car at odd hours of the night, spending abnormal amounts of time in the bathroom and eating box after nauseating box of kashi go lean fiber twigs cereal. it is a signpost of sheer desperation, and it is terminal. "monster" had the joyless and irritating "what's the frequency kenneth?" and the pure psychic terror of "bang and blame," not to mention the punishing mediocrity of "star 69," a song so starved for ideas and passion that it will entice you to leave the room and bludgeon yourself on the medicine cabinet. despite how achingly terrible 98% of the album is, it is even more frustrating that a song as outright bitchy and cool as "crush with eyeliner," or a song as perverse and swinging as "tongue" (sung in a delightfully off-putting falsetto) is on a record this bad. the only other passable song is the ballad "strange currencies," a song which is mostly redeemed by its title alone. "monster" is forever condemned to the land of misfit toys, scuttling among the tumbleweeds, banished to the dollar bargain bins and cut-out racks of record stores, obliged to spend its insignificant life trapped under a heap of discarded duke nukem games and baha men cds in goodwills across america. if michael stipe is lucky, there will be no counsel or choir of spiritual delegates, no st. peter to greet him in death to shame him for this album. it only gets worse from here, as "new adventures in hi-fi" held on to the remnants of "monster," further driving the nail in the coffin with outtakes from the previous album. admittedly, "how the west was won and where it got us" begins the album on a breath of clear, alpine air - unfurling itself gently with an interesting verse, interesting instrumentation and a chorus that is absolutely unnecessary. again, there are 3 or 4 songs (out of something like 17) that actually move in an interesting direction, chief among them being "e-bow the letter," featuring guest vocals from patti smith and lyrics reminiscent of "country feedback." "electrolite" is also pretty good. the high points here far outshine those on "monster," and in many ways it is an infinitely more tolerable excursion into identity crisis. the drummer, bill berry, wisely decided to jump ship after suffering an aneurysm while playing live (i speculate it was probably during "what's the frequency, kenneth?"), leaving mike mills, peter buck and michael stipe to founder and flail, reaching out for a new direction and new way to shame themselves. "up" was released after the departure of berry, and they placate his absence with drum machines and a newfound reliance on electronics. it could be argued that r.e.m. were attempting to rip off radiohead at this point, but it really doesn't deter from the fact that "up" actually benefits from some kind of change, however drastic. it is an uncertain album, but at least it delivered "daysleeper" to the general public. despite finding somewhere remotely interesting to go, r.e.m. decided to make another embarrassing album with "reveal," whose platitudes and overproduction effectively killed off whatever was left, leaving an album that didn't even have one good song among its casualties, which was a stunning new feat for the band, as well as a direction they would continue to pursue with the comatose "around the sun." i remember nothing from that album, and i hope i am never subject to flashbacks. "accelerate" is their new album and i've still yet to give it any real attention - perhaps i never will.

you see, i can spit as much inhuman and intolerant shit about r.e.m. as anybody, but none of their recent perfunctory albums can blight or blemish the illustrious, impossibly wonderful band they once were, let alone obliterate the sheer quantity of quality music within their back pages. dylan hasn't released a good album since 1974 for chrissakes, so the matter of "latter day sins" affecting earlier music is kind of ridiculous. it should be expected that bands wear out their ingenuity and suffer from pattern exhaustion, ultimately repeating themselves ad nausea or unwisely venturing into territory to which they are ill-prepared. if the smiths would've remained together, they would've ended up sounding like culture club or something equally repugnant. none of it diminishes the personal connection and intimacy that can be forged by listening to those early albums, and given that r.e.m. has made at least 6 great records and 2 damned good ones, they are afforded a lifetime of shitty releases from here on out.

i'm going to post "murmur," "fables of the reconstruction" and "green" in the future, but for the time being please avail them of their sins and enjoy "chronic town."



download r.e.m. "chronic town"

http://rapidshare.com/files/211609199/R.E.M_1982_Chronic_Town.rar

DREAMIES..."PROGRAMS 10 & 11"

seriously...words would disobey any attempt to express the fragility, hebephrenia and warmth of this music



somewhere hovering over 3 years ago i began an itinerant, almost blindfolded hunt about the greater record stores of toledo and ann arbor, terribly disdainful of my own life and stoic as to its outcome, embalming my self-worth and esteem within the vestments and rewards of music, finding myself only slightly appeased (on any significant level) when stumbling across something remarkable. i was denuded of internet access and wary of accessing any of the computers within campus labs, so i began blindly purchasing things for their aesthetic qualities, finding albums that had unique covers, wondering what the music behind that artwork signified, where it went, what minor world it conjured for itself. fortuitously, it was with this haphazard method that i became ingratiated to the company of this heat, united states of america, susan christie, jean-claude vannier and dreamies. glazing over the artwork - which at the time looked as if to be some ludicrous mock-up of a cereal box - observing the white, hollowed out head that contained the words "program 10" and "program 11" within its respective hemispheres. i listened to the album before reading the inserts that accompanied it, and i'm still immeasurably happy that i conducted things in such a manner. appropriately, this music does affect a state that resembles the logic and pathology of a dream; ambient and electronic noises merge with an acoustic guitar and samples taken from a transistor radio - somewhere among the fog and density trembles a small, double-tracked, cracked alabaster voice; and though the lyrics are inscrutably recited, nearly obscured by the atmosphere, somehow this all makes perfect sense.

as with most "lost" albums, this one has a story behind it. dreamies is the work of one man, bill holt, who upon hearing the beatles "white album," emerged from a suburban coma, quit his reputable job (allegedly at a fortune 500 company) and assembled an acoustic guitar, sampling device and one of the first commercially available moog synthesizers. his aims weren't particularly modest, as he intended to make a continuation of the song "revolution number 9" from the "white album," composing two side-long musical suites (26 minutes each) that take the structural device of the infamous, widely abjured lennon tune - the careening samples of dialogue and electronic coruscations - and impart pop sensibilities and melody within the ambient noise. to say this had even the scantest ripple or effect on anyone when it was released in 1973 would be an act of divine revisionism, as only something like 100 copies of this were privately pressed. quitting his job and recording an album of what is often called aural collage proved to be an impecunious decision, as he ended up bankrupting himself, falling to penury, eventually waddling back to a normal job. he left this as his living testament, and luckily he has been afforded the opportunity to record another dreamies album recently, entitled "program 12." i've yet to hear it and am somewhat reticent, especially given the immensity of my love for this album. as far as "lost" albums go, this is exceeded by nothing and no one - remaining one of my absolute favorite curiosities and listening experiences, and i can only marvel at the ambition it displays. please, please - if you enjoy this record, please purchase it from holt's website. the cover alone is worth the 10 dollars, and this man deserves any penny you can spare for putting something so hypnotic into this sad, grey world.

download dreamies' "program 10 & 11"
http://www.mediafire.com/?oyyrm1nw2rk

"THE RETURN OF THE DURUTTI COLUMN"

and here's a devastatingly beautiful song that collapses the ol' arterial walls:



the movie "24 hour party people" was worth a few well-earned laughs, but i have to contend with how much they the film seemed to shit all over the durutti column. the durutti column is something of a pseudonym for vini reilly, and his music is mostly built on concussive layers of reverberated, echoing guitar figures. his playing is preternatural, as he doesn't really enunciate chords or work in predictable scales, but rather seems to sinuously ring himself around a haze of fog and smoke. his guitar notes seem almost inhumanly clear and fluid, hanging weightlessly in the air like paper ribbons, reminding me of a patti smith lyric ("moving in like cold streams of logic...").



though durutti column was the first act signed to tony wilson's imaginary factory record label, neither it nor vini reilly have obtained the kind of renown that has found a certain ratio, new order or - of course - joy division. that's such a shame it would make fats domino weep unconsolably. vini reilly also served as morrissey's guitarist and arranger on his immensely satisfying, fuck-you-johnny-marr solo debut, "viva hate" (one need only to listen to reilly's guitar parts on "late night maudlin street" to appreciate how much he contributed to morrissey's first post-smiths album).


i just recently lost my cd of this, so i was obviously happy to find it on the all night party blog.

download "return of the durutti column"

http://www.mediafire.com/?xmmdidynnqw

FAUST..."IV"

oh how can you not love this goddamn song



this is an old favorite and hardly an undiscovered relic of any kind, but you never know - someone may have been deprived and never had the good fortune to hear it. krautrock is such an undesirable epithet of classification, but as far as music that hails from sunny, smiling germany goes its certainly high up there with my favorite works of the time and region, expressing and exploring as much or more than "tanz der lemminge," "tago mago," neu's first record, or any of la dusseldorf's marvelous albums. la dusseldorf is still something of an acquired taste among many people, so their first 3 records will probably materialize soon here.


download faust "IV" and stay alive

http://rapidshare.com/files/165234375/Faust_-_IV.rar

WENDY & BONNIE..."GENESIS"

yet another sorely neglected and lost 60s masterpiece that's been circulating pretty widely the past year. lamentably, my favorite song from the album - "i realized you" - is unavailable on youtube for consumption or purposes of preview.



these "lost 60's masterpieces" generally fall into two easily designated categories; either it's complete shit that's being fobbed off as an unappreciated gem, that is far too typical and mired in the shortcomings and studio tricks of its own time to be anything worth hearing, or it is - in the case of wendy and bonnie's "genesis" - a verifiable oddity, a truly wonderful and unique album that was simply misplaced amongst all the other amazing works of the time (usually due to inadequate distribution). this is easily as good as the millenium's "begin" and susan christie's "paint a lady" as far as expectations go; granted, with all the incessant talk of lost 60s relics one is obliged to ask, "is this really as good as the united states of americas' record, 'odessey and oracle,' 'electrical storm' by white noise or 'forever changes?'"



"genesis" doesn't quite hit the pinnacle of any of the aforementioned pieces, but its strength comes from its disarming simplicity and the honesty and beauty that is conveyed by the female vocalists - who, it bears mentioning, are 13 and 17 year old sisters. its stunning that their age doesn't imbue this music with an puerile primitivism or confused enthusiasm (like god's forgotten but blessed children, the shaggs), and that the sonority and richness of their voices betrays their actual age. i'm guessing this is one of the albums that stereolab decoded and tossed into its musical vault. (tangentially, it seems funny to me how more and more these obscure 60s and 70s releases are emerging that reveal so greatly the pattern of stereolab's music and from where it derives, and how oddly stale they begin to seem by comparison...i'm trying not to be such a bitch, so i'll say something nice as penitence...that broadcast is a far, far better revivalist, archivalist, futurist, whatever-the-hell band). putting aside the petty pugilism, this is a damn fine way to spend your evening, and an even greater way to feel invalidated and inadequate (given the age at which these two young females achieved this kind of magic).



download "genesis" by wendy and bonnie

http://www.mediafire.com/?hugg2mmguy2

nods to chasm filler

GYORGY LIGETI..."CONTINUUM"

gyorgy ligeti, along with kryzstof penderecki, owes a great debt to stanley kubrick, a debt so large that almost no one could indemnify. avant-garde classical composers could be likened to the minority of a minority, and the extent of renown available to these pugilistic, divisive artists seems limited to john cage or stockhausen, though wider knowledge of the latter could be debatable. tony conrad, steve reich, harry partch, edgard varese, rzewski, etc...none of them have really had the mass exposure that has been granted to both ligeti and penderecki, and though perhaps their names fail to resound, it is indubitable that their music has been heard in a larger context (penderecki especially, as his music has been unanimously usurped by the horror film community). ligeti's work is largely textural, and his compositions gravitate towards mood pieces and a kind of sustained, atmospheric experience.

this collection has - apparently - the only available version of "glissandi," an early work utilizing tape. it also features "atmospheres," which was used in kubrick's "2001 space odyssey."



download "continuum"

http://www.mediafire.com/?yd423m3s9ud

THE MOLES..."UNTUNE THE SKY"

another of my favorite albums, and another neglected group. the moles are an australian group that formed in the late 80s, and perhaps it is owed to their regional location that they share sonic similarities with many of the dunedin groups in new zealand, though admittedly they are both more feedback-oriented and melancholic than most of the kiwi bands. their music has an interesting polarity, in that some songs (such as the first track, featured above) emit swaddling rays of sunburst pop, while other songs are more austere with pensive lyrics, minor keys and interesting progressions. my favorite tunes are the fermenting death march of "the happy garden" and the swelling, prismatic anthem "lonely hearts get what they deserve" (featured below).



though "untune the sky" wasn't released until 1992, its spirit is very much bound to the underground music of the 80s, and it has an indescribably "communal" feel to it. some of the tracks aren't immediately accessible (more than a few people have some trouble with "tendrils and paracetamol," which was the moles' attempt to replicate a drug-addled state of mind). there are a good variety of moods here, as well as a dynamism that results from how peripatetic the songs can be. the conclusion of the album is the organ-driven "nailing jesus to the cross," which is both humorous and inescapably sad - the two emotive states that the moles pinball between (garnering them even more comparisons with the chills). their sophomore and final album, "instinct," pursued another direction entirely, foreshadowing leader richard davies' orchestral pop work with the band cardinal. "instinct" is somewhat more baroque, forsaking the ear-rattling feedback for trumpet horns.

download the moles' "untune the sky" (tracks 1-11 are the full album, while the remaining tracks are supplements)

http://rapidshare.com/files/143260928/Moles1.zip.html

CATHERINE JAUNIAUX.. "FLUVIAL"

(here's another of my favorites. apologies, i couldn't find any appropriate videos to attach to this post.)

my knowledge of catherine jauniaux is scarce, and i plan on abstaining from any investigation that would demystify her. i'm not even vaguely aware of her discography, let alone if she has one that is extensive, non-existent, etc. i know only that she is an improvisational vocalist, that she is french (self-evident, really), and that she has contributed vocals to a few other groups. i know that this music, this album, is bound by nothing remotely terrestrial. the instrumentation is alternately bleak and lyrical, which measures out the incantatory vocal hysterics; some of it employs principles similar to musique concrete, some of it has eastern undertones. it is triumphantly defiant music, sharing a miasma and spirit that is found in yoko ono's "plastic ono band," nico's solo work, dagmar krause's vocals on slapp happy's "acnalbasac moon," tim buckley's "lorca" and "starsailor," walker's latter day work and fellow chanteuse brigitte fontaine (whose albums will be uploaded soon).

download "fluvial"

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SHC0KC0B

DANDELION...RARE 70s FRENCH BAND

well, here's one of my incontestable favorites and an album i don't really see on the internet with much gratuity. dandelion was the primary musical outlet for jean christophe graf. in 1979 they released a privately pressed record of 300 copies, exclusive to france. given that kind of obscurity, it's an obvious guess that their work is decidedly hard to come by. miraculously, i found a record of this album a couple of years ago for 20 bucks, and it's something very dear to me. dandelion's music is often classified (when you can find information about them, rarely) as psych-folk, which is another one of those awful, inefficacious titles that is given to privately-pressed music of this era, and is particularly askew because it sets up expectations that have nothing to do with the album itself. "psych-folk," that is a tremendous misnomer to say the least, as this record is very modest in what it sets out to achieve, definitely leaning more towards the "folk" end of the spectrum. there are organ flourishes here and there, along with homemade effects that color the songs, but alleging that it's "psychedelic" in some way is kind of overstating the case. this record has a quiet beauty to it, and its somewhat haphazard construction lends itself a favorable comparison to the first raincoats album (definitely traverses the same mood, i think). dandelion is perfect late-night listening, and something that provides me with an unbearable amount of joy. whatever grievances i have simply fall away when i listen to it.

this was reissued somewhat recently by a spanish label called guerssen, and though one still needs to be predacious when tracking it down, it can be found and should be grabbed if it all possible.

download dandelion's self-titled record

http://rapidshare.com/files/276751360/DANDELION.rar

JANDEK...JANDEK...JANDEK

kurt cobain once sagely imparted that "jandek makes music that is completely unpretentious, but only pretentious people listen to him." cobain's remark is seemingly fatuous, but actually rather incisive. jandek's mere name is inextricably woven to "obscurity" and the barest notion of "difficult music." quite a few profess to having heard and enjoyed his music, though that statement could reasonably be tempered with suspicion.

about two years ago i was disgustingly fortunate to see jandek actually perform with a drummer and trumpeter in ann arbor, michigan. the show was being sponsored by the university and was - to the best of my recollection - free of charge (i'll still have the poster that i pillaged from the coffee shop down the street advertising this exceedingly rare occasion). without even attempting to enumerate the audience that showed up, i could safely gauge about 3/4 of the small theater was brimming with people (most of whom had adopted the whole world-weary with windblown hair, excess of scarf and thick black glasses look). jandek arrived onstage and began to play...well, jandek music. after less than 20 minutes, half of the place was emptied. in another 15 minutes, about 40 to 50 people remained amidst the pocked fissures of vacant seats. jandek played for approximately an hour and a half, verging on two hours. none of the compositions were even remotely familiar, but even then i'm not sure if anything that was played was on any of his recorded albums (given that i've heard roughly 10 of his 60 available records). i'm fairly confident that it was all an extemporaneous, improvisatory performance, especially given the look of sheer confusion and uncertainty that periodically swept across the gently tanned face of the trumpeter. jandek sat hunched over a guitar, propped up on a stool to the right side of the stage, intermittently mumbling or emitting bizarre squeals and glossolalia. in all honesty, it was one of the top 5 concerts i've yet attended, and though i had only a cursory grasp of his discography, i knew precisely what to expect. the point is that anyone who has listened to more than 2 or 3 jandek records would indubitably expect the same, so given this idea why would so many people attend a concert that would entice them to leave after so short a period of time?

i have my personal affections for jandek's music on the basis of what his sound evokes, and the way in which it marks me. his music reminds me of a line that burroughs wrote about america, that it is "evil before the settlers. the evil is there waiting." old black music, particularly skip james and leadbelly, managed to capture this subcutaneous, indefinable evil, this mysterious and shadow-laden america. skip james especially, evoked sentiments and atmospheres, a part of the living world that is dark and deeply stowed away. i liken jandek to both james and leadbelly for these reasons (though leadbelly certainly had his more amiable moments), in that he reflects what greil marcus called "the old, weird america." the basement tapes of bob dylan elicit a similar response, and all of the aforementioned works and artists have all reached to the center of the american earth. jandek's music is more atonal, absent of structure and meandering than any of those artists, but the territory that he mines is indescribably similar. i'll probably upload the entirety of dylan's basement tapes in a few posts, given how taken i am with them. for now, however, if you haven't heard jandek, please give him some consideration and approach his music with a bit of flexibility.






download "ready for the house" from sendspace:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/8m9itv