August 30, 2010

"Dick snorkel"



Wu Tang Clan - Mystagogue Vol. I & II

Heres a couple of old Wu mixtapes, they've been floating around for a while... i don't have a clue about Vol I, could easily be an old Rza demo that got labeled wrongly on the net although it seems to be accepted as this on the Wu-Tang forum plus it makes sense seeing as theres a sequel, its got Raekwons 'Ice Cream' track on there so it could be from '94 or '95... fuck knows and so what, still some fairly early Rza? Vol II came free bagged with 'Slap' skate mag back in '96.

"Word is bond, Im comin to get my Culture Cipher god"

August 27, 2010

District heating



Michael Rother - Fernwärme (1982)

After issuing his classic third album, Katzenmusik, the first real anthemic electronic trance record and the culmination of everything Rother had worked on with Flammende Herzen and Sterntaler, a change in direction was necessary. First was the separation from his production alliance with Conny Plank and drummer Jaki Leibzeit. For the first time, Rother delved deeper into the keyboards than he did his guitars, and there has been no turning back since. While simple rhythmic structures still dominate the album, they are muted and deeper in tone. It's as if the bass drum was put under a pillow and programmed; the guitars slip into the background as atmospheric color and the keyboards themselves multiply and become not only the primary textural elements, but the primary chromatic and timbral ones as well. This is, by and large, extremely meditative music; it exists in the dark tones of black and gray and feels more opaque in its constructions. Gone are the soaring melodies of Katzenmusik that threatened to come right through the speakers and bust open the listener's heart with their optimism and emotion. They are replaced with fragments, smaller ideas that echo and turn in on them as they develop. When the guitars do present them, they stay far from the Motorik rock & roll of earlier recordings and become instead the pillars of a framework whose ambiguity lies solely in its lack of distinguishing one track from another. In other words, Fernwärme is a tapestry of instrumental songs whose theme is far greater than the sum of its parts, with the possible exception of "Erikonig," which offers glimpses of the Motorik sound and the twin guitar flanges, but even here, it's in a minor key, its effect is more subdued and reflective, even somber. Does this make it a bad record? Far from it. Fernwärme is a beautiful recording, a move away from convention and into invention, and one that marks a real transition in German rock music in particular. Welcome to the darkness. [Allmusic]

wiki

August 18, 2010

Guitar Workshop

John Fahey teaches "In Christ There Is No East Or West"



Leo Kottke - "Machine Gun Rockpalast Medley"



Martin Carthy "Byker Hill" with Dave Swarbrick



Davey Graham - "All Of Me" in 1981



more Davey Graham



Dock Boggs - "Country Blues" Newport, Rhode Island, 1966



Roscoe Holcomb - "Little Birdie"



John Fahey teaches "Poor Boy A Long Way From Home"



Elizabeth Cotten - "Spanish Flang Dang" and "A Jig" on the "Guitar, Guitar" TV show in 1969



Lightnin' Hopkins "Hurricane Beulah" and "Baby, Scratch My Back" 1960



Nigerian one-string

August 14, 2010

Human / 2 EPs




Human was the musical partnership of Lee Grainge and Hazel Bligh. As far as I know they only released these 2 EPs, The Island Life in 1997 and Confused Moods in 1998. I was acquainted with Lee as he worked in the wonderful Fat Cat records in Covent Garden, where I spent all my money while I was at art school nearby (what was the Hip Hop place they shared the basement with called?). As for Hazel Bligh, I know nothing...

Anyway, the music is beautifully lush and timeless melodic techno.

Human / The Island Life EP (1997)
A1: Skating On Thin Ice
B1: Evil Knevil
B2: Winter

Human / Confused Moods EP (1998)
A1: Tick Tock
A2: T.A.P.
B1: Cigar
B2: Battersea Fumbler

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