Charanjit Singh

Synthesizing: Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat (The Gramophone Company Of India, 1982)

Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat challenges us to rewind acid's origin story to India 1982, and to move from a sweaty Chicago nightclub to the home studio of a veteran Bollywood musician. In the '60s and '70s Charanjit Singh did time on the Bollywood soundtrack scene, and earned extra cash with his own orchestra playing popular favorites at weddings. In 1982, armed with a now-iconic trio of Roland gear, the Jupiter 8, TB-303 and TR-808, Singh set out to update the entrancing drone and whirling scales of classical Indian music. It's enough of a mind-fuck that rumors circulated on the web claiming the record was a prank spawned by Richard D. James.

What stands out most on Ten Ragas is Singh's comparatively original use of the TB-303. Even though it was designed to fill in for a bass guitar, the 303 was notoriously awkward when it came to reproducing conventional basslines—the box was much better suited to produce the otherworldly squelches of DJ Pierre. Singh, however, found a different way to employ the machine. Dayal notes that the TB-303's "glissando" function, the ability to slide from one note to another, makes it perfectly suited for the sort of raga melodies that run slippery up and down the scale. Married to rugged 808s and Terry Riley-style undulating keyboard solos, The result is a haunting, exotic prefiguration of acid's steely futurism, a bit like Kraftwerk live at the Taj Mahal, somehow summoned from the past but envisioning the future at the same time. (William Rauscher)

Bombay Connection

(via Playmaker blog)

KILL THAT CAT

The Ital Surgeon

Dr Alimantado - Best Dressed Chicken In Town (Greensleeves, 1978)

"Best Dressed Chicken In Town" is a compilation of the best of the Doc's music from 1973-76, and the title track is the most outstanding track of all on this album. It was recorded by Lee Perry in 1974 in the then new Black Ark Studio. Perry and the Doc used the rhythm track of Horace Andy's "Ain't No Sunshine" and created three minutes of musical madness. The song was put in the meat chopper, echoes and heavy basses were added, and tapes were speeded up and down until the whole thing became a whirlpool of sound. All of the songs on this album are dub-inflected tracks and prove a potent combination, but this still is an underrated roots masterpiece."

wiki

Mega Mix

A new house and techno mix. Portland to Stockholm to Leipzig to Manchester to Detroit and Paris to Berlin to Hamburg to London via Berlin.

Some more info on a few of the artists: The Miracles Club is the house project of Jackie O Motherfucker's Honey Owens; Oni Ayhun is the male half of The Knife and putting out some fucking great and diverse tracks, as well as a very good podcast for the always fascinating MNML SSGS. Hauntologists is the pairing of Jay Ahern, also here as Cheap & Deep, and Stefan Schneider of To Rococo Rot.

The Miracles Club — Chango (White Rainbow mix)
Oni Ayhun — OAR003/B
Kassem Mosse — Workshop 08/A1
Claro Intelecto — Momento
Carl Craig & Laurent Garnier — Demented Drums (Version)
Cheap & Deep — Tight
Frozen Border — FB04/A1
Cassy — Soul Saviour
Hauntologists — EP1/A1
Sascha Funke — Mango Cookie (DJ Koze remix)
Mount Kimbie — William (Tama Sumo & Prosumer remix)

Download

Alan Lomax

To Hear Your Banjo Play (1947)



“Neighborhood investigation shows him to be a very peculiar individual in that he is only interested in folk lore music, being very temperamental and ornery. …. He has no sense of money values, handling his own and Government property in a neglectful manner, and paying practically no attention to his personal appearance. … He has a tendency to neglect his work over a period of time and then just before a deadline he produces excellent results.” (from the FBI file on Alan Lomax, 1940-1980)

American Patchwork Series...

From 1978 to 1985 Alan Lomax traveled the American South and Southwest with a television crew to document regional folklore with deep historical roots. From the resulting 500 hours of footage Lomax wrote, produced, directed, and narrated five one-hour documentary films focused on African American, Appalachian, and Cajun music and dance:

Appalachian Journey
Cajun Country
Dreams and Songs of the Noble Old
Jazz Parades: Feet Don't Fail Me Now
The Land Where the Blues Began

via I FUCKING HATE R'n'B... and DUBSTEP!

Martin Carthy

s/t (1965)

Martin Carthy made his first solo recording on the collection Hootenanny in London (1963), singing Your Baby 'as Gone Down the Plug Hole, later revived by Cream. Martin also sang With the End of Me Old Cigar in a duet with Redd Sullivan, and Girls. By now, Martin Carthy was recognised (not because of songs like that) as a virtuoso folk guitarist and was resident at London's top folk club, the Troubadour. There he taught songs to visiting Americans including Bob Dylan and Paul Simon who adapted Lord Franklin and Scarborough Fair for their own records. With Leon Rosselson, Carthy recorded as the Three City Four (first album released 1965) before making his first album, Martin Carthy for Fontana (also released 1965). He recorded this and his Second Album with Dave Swarbrick, with whom Carthy was touring the folk clubs. It was not before Byker Hill that both got equal billing for their duo records. From 1969-72, he was a member of the folk-rock band Steeleye Span with whom he first played electric guitar; see the photo from the sleeve of 'Ten Man Mop' (1971). In 1972, Martin Carthy married Norma Waterson and joined her more traditional vocal group, The Watersons.

Hungry For Death

INFO

Jackson C. Frank

s/t (1965)

Another genius of 60's folk music whose career was railroaded by tragedy and shit luck...

"In the folk clubs of Britain in the 60's and early 70's, many regulars would have been familiar with those lines "Living is a gamble, baby, Loving's just the same." They came from a song called Blues Run The Game and were written by a young American singer-songwriter-guitarist named Jackson Carey Frank. The original version came out in 1965 on Frank's own debut album, Jackson C Frank, produced in London by Paul Simon and featuring guitar fills on one track by Al Stewart.
Later John Renbourn included the song on his So Clear album, and Sandy Denny recorded a couple of other Frank compositions. Over the years dozens of aspiring singer-songwriter-guitarists, in far flung pubs and festivals, covered Frank's works. Denny and Roy Harper even wrote songs about him..." read on

sleeve notes from a 1978 re-issue written by Frank

Loloma, loloma, loloma kwak kwai

Robbie Basho - Visions Of The Country LP (Windham Hill, 1978)

A later Robbie Basho release and one of my favourites, if you've never heard 'Blue Crystal Fire' give it a listen; perhaps his best song?

Ode To Gravity interview from 1974...

Robbie introduces music from his Vanguard album 'Zarthus' (1974) and talks with Charles Amirkhanian (Music Director of KPFA/Berkeley) about world music influences in his recent work (at the time) and his interest in American Indian music.

SUFFER

"Immortal but nearly forgotten Swedish gods of basic death metal (think Death/Master) with an infusion of primitive euro death"

Cemetery Inhabitants demo (1989)
Manifestion Of God demo (1991)
On Sour Ground 7" (1993)
Global Warming EP (1993)

HERE

Structures LP from '94 posted earlier

EHG

In The Name Of Suffering (Intellectual Convulsion, 1990)

Review from Encyclopaedia Metallum:

I can try to rant and rave about how this is one of the pioneering sludge albums, how it's an incredibly dismal, depressing, and angry album, or go even further and talk about how Eyehategod is seemingly the perfect sludge band. Yeah, yeah, I know, you've heard similar claims before for *insert cult heavy metal band here*. So I won't take that route. Rather, I'll expand on how "some kids just trying to play hardcore" stumbled across one of the bleakest musical sounds one will ever have the pleasure of hearing."

Instantly, one will notice the atrocity that is the sound quality of this recording, which sounds as though it was recorded in an old, small quarters basement that has been in ruins for years, which is now covered in disturbing graffiti and crawling with drug fiends of every kind; the perfect canvas for one ugly (albeit great) painting. The feedback, the dirgy, heavily distorted guitar sound, Mike Williams' pissed off, tortured screaming centered around themes of violence, drug abuse, and depression leave the listener convinced that what they are hearing is REAL, and not a group of people trying to be "extreme" or "shocking".

"Perversion is insanity; lust for rape, a reality..."

Infusing old hardcore punk with a little bit of southern flair and Black Sabbath comes easy for these guys. At first glimpse, it sounds as though they have the serious, down-to-business, old hardcore sound down, and the bluesy Sabbathisms show their faces when the band incorporates their own special touch of NOLA (few and far between here, though they would expand further on this influence on their next album). The music here can go from a heavy, treacherous crawl, to an outburst of quick, grimy punk rock, and sometimes there are really no smooth transitions between tempos, but this method of songwriting just works for the sound that has been crafted here. It eliminates any sense of security the listener may be holding on to, forcing them to just give in to this dirty, oppressive experience.

This is one of the few albums out there in the extreme music world that is, for the lack of a better phrase, genuinely scary. From the opening screeching of feedback on "Depress", to the pummeling crunch of "Run It Into The Ground", and finally to the excellent closing piece that is "Hit A Girl", there will probably be many thoughts flying through one's head. In my case, though, there was only one thought that remained throughout this record's entirety...

"This album is disgusting."

Dougy Stanhope

"I did fuck a midget once, it's true; 'cause I had the opportunity after a show. How could you not, just one time, just to see?"

The Acid Bootleg (2001)

YouTube

Thanks Matty for the post!

(click)

NAZI KNIFE
Exhibition Opening:08/05/2010 – 29/05/2010
Motelsalieri Gallery
Via Giovanni Lanza 162,
Roma
+390648989966/postmaster@motelsalieri.org

'Land of the free'

An American Folk compilation

Doc Watson and David Holt - Shady Grove
Willie Nelson - Blue Skies
Elizabeth Cotten - Fox Chase
Buell Kazee - Big Foot Feller
Ramblin Jack Elliot - Pastures Of Plenty
Townes Van Zandt - Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold
Fred Neil - I'm Gonna Run (alternate version)
The Band - King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Michael Hurley - Robbin' Banks
Gene Clark - White Light
John Prine - Illegal Smile
Beans Hambone & El Morrow - Beans
Sandy Bull - Little Maggie
Mississippi John Hurt - Candy Man Blues
Bert Hare - I'm Dying, Mother
Henry Thomas - Old Country Stomp
Karen Dalton - Katie Cruel
Roscoe Holcomb - In the Pines
Alexander 'Skip' Spence - Books Of Moses
Leadbelly - The Gallows Pole

Matty

Instru-mental

Rude Kid - Guest Mix BBC 1 Xtra (13-02-10)...

Joker - Tron
Newham Generals - Breakage (Casper Remix)
Rude Kid - Electric
Rude Kid - Emergency
Rude Kid - Screwdriver
General Tank & Silencer - Ghanian Fire
Rude Kid - Winter
Rude Kid & Terrah Danger - Best Caller
M Gene - You're Moving
Lil Rhino - Speakers Speak To Me
Terrah Danger - Creepy Crawler RIP
Sukh Knight - Jewel Thief

Sir Spyro - RinseFM Mix (23-04-10)...

Rude Kid - Absolute Vodka
D.O.K - Tarmak
T.R.C - OOAAEE
Mumdance - So Squalid
Skepta - UFO
Spooky - Final Lap VIP
Dafro - Crystal Meth
Artwork - Red
Agent X - Motion
Joker - Unknown

download

nasa

Thorns

Stigma Diabolicum (Kyrck, 2007)

demo/rehearsal compilation from '89 - '92. Thorns perfected primitive Black Metal early on, their influence is as important in the history of Norweigian Black Metal as anything else. (The riff from "Into the Promised Land" ended up being used in Mayhems "From the Dark Past")

1-2: Trøndertun demo
3-8: Grymyrk Rehearsal cassette
9-10: Rehearsal under the previous pseudonym of 'Stigma Diabolicum'
11-13: Stigma Diabolicum demo
14-15: Rehearsal

Out of it Africa

Tracklist:
Freedom's Children - Aileen
Freedom's Children - The Homecoming
Group Bombino - Boghassa
Cabdulaahi Iman Zamir, Amin Xaaji Cusmaan & Nuur Maxamed Curuba - Siina Miiri
Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family - Trouble Maker
Spiritual Singers - Nzo A Dise
Amanaz - Nsunka Lwedo
Unknown - Chemirocha
Boutaiba S'ghir - Malgre Tout (Despite Everything)
Alemayno Eshintay - Love is Love
Moussa Doumbi - Yeye Mousso
S.E. Rogers - Toomus Meremereh Nor Good
Group Inerane - Kamu Talyat
Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family - Feeling Good
Cheb Zergui - Ana Dellali (I Cuddle Myself)
Yaseen Mohammed & Saada - Lala Mpenzi
Group Doueh - Beatte Harab
Amanaz - History of Man
Noviciat de Soeurs Missionaires de Notre-Dame d' Afrique & Four Religious Drummers - Yesu Ka Mkwebaze

HERE

Thanks go to Russell for the compilation

BLOOD

Impulse To Destroy (1989)

These early works capture the essence of that spirit even if the mechanics remain unrefined and in doing so gives us a window into the formative drive behind the bizarre and ironically deconstructive music. Like early Napalm Death, these songs are an extension of punk to incorporate the more facile structural vocabulary of metal, while aesthetically communicating a sense of extremity and incoherence borne of an inability to reach an audience who, while they can be taught political or moral concepts to repeat in bleating synchronicity, cannot grasp the essence of the situation because they do not take it seriously. Grindcore was a revolution against all rock music, and "Impulse to Destroy" distances the listener from that style while using the techniques of rock music to make sonic rage peaking off the scale.

That is not to say that, like grindcore two years past its formation, this music is one-dimensional -- on the contrary, what makes this and Blasphemy a hybrid of grindcore and epic, black/death metal is its ability to grasp different concepts and moods, from choleric futility to sociopathic melancholy and beyond, and unite them in a worldview in which abstract forms are harmonized across origins. In that sense, the lyrics like the music are pure psychological symbolism arising from the shape of a riff, the texture of voices, or the casual jigsaw that fits together disparate riffs into sentential meaning. From a distance, it is indistinguishable from normal grindcore, but after examination that is the last mistake an experienced listener would make with the music of Blood. A.N.U.S.

Bèlkètre

Pure diseased Légions Noires at its most foul.

Ambre Zuèrkl Vuordhrévarhtre (demo '96)

Voarmtre Zuèrkl Vuordhrévarhtre
The Dark Promise
Demzreyavbtre Belketraya
Marbatreéèpreb
Aapr Dgyarveurtre
Brearmdreb
Damae, Dzlebaeryavtreéèpreb
Verhzleyavbtreleambreb
Eepreb, Vagezaryavtre Zuèrkl
Goebtrevoryalbe
Emvandreoatr
Twilight of the Black Holocaust

Townes Van Zandt

s/t (1970)

His third album recorded in '69/'70. If like me you've found some of the studio albums a bit over produced and prefer the live versions of some of his songs then you might be into this one 'cos its a bit more stripped down and melancholic. This could arguably be his best album or in the mans own words... "serious songs to make the mind work".

For the Sake of the Song
Columbine
Waiting Around to Die
Don't You Take It Too Bad
Colorado Girl
Lungs
I'll Be Here in the Morning
Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel
(Quicksilver Daydreams Of) Maria
None But the Rain

older compilation HERE

WHO?

Terry Riley - Persian Surgery Dervishes (1972)

"Recorded in two different concerts in 1971 and 1972 in Los Angeles and Paris, Persian Surgery Dervishes presents two different versions of the title track. Terry Riley, all alone with his keyboards and feed-back, improvises on a basic structure strongly influenced by the emotion and the relationship with the audience. The results are two very different versions: one, the American, very dynamic with moments that reach trance-like peaks resembling the dance of whirling dervishes. The other one, recorded in Paris, is more meditative and thoughtful, dominated by a deep sense of quietness. The music is organized in the typical minimalism vein but it is rich in emotion, an element not always present in such intensity in the music of any style. The emotion is strictly related to the high degree of improvisation we can find in Riley's music that mixes the traditions of the Western and Indian Classic Music. Persian Surgery Dervishes is also one of the milestones of the psychedelic era of the '70s."

The Song of the Nibelungs

German Oak - Nibelungenlied (1976)

Thought this might be a good follow-up to the Radio Bremen post. The heavier side of krautrock; fuzzy psych instrumentals with morose and at times goth like melodies, pretty fuckin' good stuff but to compare it to the self-titled album from '72 feels a bit like deciding which of your kids you love more so i won't bother cause they're both definitely worth having (the albums i mean, i wouldn't know about the kids). By the way 'Nibelung' or 'Niflung' was a race of dwarves in Germanic and Norse mythology.

Powerstation

Kraftwerk - K4: Bremen Radio 1971

"It's basically a whole CD of extended "side-long" jams in the style of the first Kraftwerk albums performed in front of a small but enthusiastic audience and broadcast on Bremen Radio in 1971. The members of Neu! really take a forward role here, with Rother's guitar driving things for most of the time and sounding quite rocking, with glimpses of his future soaring melodic sound in the extended jam passages. The guitar and drums are backed up by synth and I believe organ bass, with notable exceptions of flute taking the forefront on the great version of Ruckzack (from the first Kraftwerk LP) and is it distorted electric violin on K4? Maybe just Rother taking a violin bow to his guitar strings! Proto-Kraftwerk and proto-Neu!"

Heavy Metal Kids (07:54)
K1 (15:39)
K2 (Ruckzuck) (19:20)
K3 (15:19)
K4 (11:30)