Friday, November 30, 2007

Rhotation, (08) Into BPM

Hello, Into BPM features two electronic artists/dj's that have made their mark on the techno/dance scene these past 15 years, both have been crossing over too music scores aswell, yet both trod very different paths. BT studied music, flunked and concentrated on writing his own work, the US market was troublesome but over in the UK, BT music was popular and here he signed his first record contract and together with 'local' DJ's scene scored a number of dancefloorhits, in the proces laying the foundation what was to becomethe Trancemusic. Not wanting to get bogged down he kept developping his music(style) and meanwhile has very successfully expanded into film and videogames scoring,  aswell as developping his BT stutter into a software package.
Jeff Mills is another flunked student-architecture this time, he made a name creating little mix sets for radio and progressed into the hard edged Urban Resistance 'movement' where he laid out a confrontational style, he didnt stick around in Detroit but went to New York and Berlin before ending up in Chicago. There in 1992, teaming up with fellow Detroit native Robert Hood, he set up his most important record label, Axis, aiming for a simpler more minimal sound than most of the techno being produced in those years. His big breakthru came with a live set put to disc "Mix Up vol 2" a showcase of his nineties dj style, the acclaim got him touring to no end. Still he managed to break free and pursue some other ambitious projects like a Metropolis filmscore and tour.

Both albums are around 75min so needed to be split to assure good sound quality, well there's no Rapid (haha) Share waiting here so that shouldnt be a problem..

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
BT - ESCM ( 97 ^ 76min. 178mb)

Brian Wayne Transeau is better known by his stage name, BT. He has been called the "Father of Trance" for his pioneering in the trance genre and "Prince of Dance Music" for his multi-instrumentalist skills recently he has gained additional fame for producing Hollywood film scores. BT is known in production circles for his signature technique, the stutter edit, also known as the BT stutter, this technique consists of taking a small sample of a sound and then repeating it in a musical as well as mathematical way.

Transeau showed an early interest in music, playing the piano from the age of two , as an adolescent, electronic music from New Order and Depeche Mode made an impact. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts for one year before dropping out and moving to Los Angeles, where he found himself largely an outsider , he moved back to the Washington, DC area where he grew up and collaborated there with his friends Ali and Sharam of Deep Dish in the early 1990s. Transeau's productions were not popular in the United States, and he had no idea that he had become a sensation across the Atlantic, where UK DJs like Sasha and Paul Oakenfold were regularly spinning his music to the delight of crowds. Sasha bought Transeau a ticket to London, where BT witnessed his own massive success, consequently BT was soon signed to Oakenfold's record label.

In the early years of BT's career (roughly 1995-2000), he pioneered the trance genre, which was less hyper and more soothing than most other types of dance music. His popular debut album IMA helped shape the future of the burgeoning progressive house scene as it merged with, and later came to define, the trance music style. While Ima was comprised solely of the "progressive" sound, 1997's ESCM was more experimental (although it still produced several big records for the electronic dance music scene). The album featured more complex melodies and more traditional harmonies along with a heavier use of vocals. The tone of the album is darker and less whimsical than Ima. The album, as a whole, is much more diverse than BT's debut album. The biggest hit from ESCM was arguably the trance classic, " Flaming June", a collaboration with German trance meister Paul Van Dyk. With hindsight it becomes clear that BT owes a lot of his club success to established DJs like Paul Van Dyk, Sasha and Paul Oakenfold.

His 1999 album Movement in Still Life album continued his previous experimentation outside of the trance genre, it features a strong element of nu skool breaks, a genre he helped define with the popular "Hip-Hop Phenomenon", in collaboration with Tsunami One.
BT's 4th album was largely (11 tracks) stolen including $ 75,000 of equipment it set the release back a year. Emotional Technology (2003)was BT's least experimental album to date, and many consider it the "popiest" of all of his work. The big single from the album, Somnambulist, draws heavily from the breakbeats and new wave dance.

BT's fifth studio album, This Binary Universe, released in 2006, is his second studio album released in 5.1 surround sound, the first being the soundtrack to the motion picture Monster. The album features a mix of many genres, including jazz, breakbeats, and classical music. Three songs feature a full 110-piece orchestra. Unlike his last two albums, which featured vocals on almost every track, this album contains none. The tracks also change genres constantly throughout. BT has written his own software called BreakTweaker for his latest album. He will be releasing it in 2007 under his software company, Sonik Architects. He plans to then come out with a line of tools and plugins specifically aimed at musicians and DJs, including his signature stutter edit.

In recent years, BT has moved into film and videogame scoring, creating the scores for Go (1999), Under Suspicion (2000), Driven (2001), The Fast and the Furious (2001), Stealth (2005), Underclassman (2005), Look (2006) and Catch and Release (2007). His score for the film Monster (2003) has received particular acclaim. Transeau has also done the score for video games Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas (2000), Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions (2002) and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (2004).



BT - ESCM ( 97 ^ 98mb)

01 - Firewater (8:44)
02 - Orbitus Teranium (8:11)
03 - Flaming June ( Rmx Paul van Dyk) (8:25)
04 - The Road To Lostwithiel (8:35)
05 - Memories In A Sea Of Forgetfulness (7:40)

BT - ESCM ( 97 ^ 79mb)

06 - Solar Plexus (4:14)
07 - Nectar (5:55)
08 - Remember ( Voc. Jan Johnston) (8:00)
09 - Love, Peace And Grease (5:21)
10 - Content (10:51)
10 - hidden Flaming June (Simon Hale's Orchestral Performance)" – 1:07

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Jeff Mills - The Other Day (97, 74min, 169mb)

In the course of the eighties Mills was an influential radio DJ on WJLB under the pseudonym "The Wizard." Mills' sets were a highlight of the nightly show from "The Electrifying Mojo," Charles Johnson, mixing obscure Detroit Techno, Miami Bass, Chicago House and classic New Wave tracks both live and using a multi track when pre recorded. Mills has been credited with laying the foundations for the highly influential Detroit Techno collective, Underground Resistance, alongside 'Mad' Mike Banks, a former Parliament bass player, they confronted the mainstream music industry with revolutionary rhetoric. Dressed in uniforms with skimasks and black combat suits, they were ‘men on a mission’, aiming at giving techno more content and meaning.

Mills would never leave UR officially, but later on he still went his own way. He moved to New York and after a short stay in Berlin (Tresor) ended up in Chicago. There in 1992, with fellow Detroit native Robert Hood, he set up his most important record label, Axis, aiming for a simpler more minimal sound than most of the techno being produced in those years.

His albums and EPs are mostly separate tracks of his compositions, which Mills would mix into the live DJ sets for which he became a legend. Mills has been credited for his exceptional turntable skills. Tracks are almost chopped to bits to showcase the strongest fragments for his relentless sound collages. Three decks, a Roland 909 drum-machine and seventy records in one hour: at breakneck speed Mills manipulates beats and basslines, vinyl and frequencies.The live DJ-mix album Mix-Up Volume 2 is a highly-regarded example of Mills' 1990s stage show, recorded at the Liquid Room in Tokyo.

In 2000, Mills took more memorable action by scoring a new soundtrack for Fritz Lang's 1926 film Metropolis, screened around the world at venues including the Museum of Music in Paris, London's Royal Albert Hall, and the Vienna International Film Festival. The album Metropolis documented the project in 2000, the same year that the compilation The Art of Connecting and the new album Every Dog Has Its Day both arrived. In 2004 the Exhibitionist mix CD appeared, as did a mix DVD of the same name. More recently he appears to be taking extended forays into epic techno, his 2006 album Blue Potential was recorded with the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra under Alain Altinoglu. There is a DVD of the concert at which the album was recorded, an opportunity to see Mills in action, live on stage.



Jeff Mills - The Other Day 1 ( ^ 82mb)

01 - Solarized (3:54)
02 - Gamma Player (5:32)
03 - Sleeping Giants (3:59)
04 - i9 (4:53)
05 - Time Out Of Mind (2:59)
06 - Growth (5:10)
07 - Gateway Of Zen (5:55)
08 - Medusa (4:38)

Jeff Mills - The Other Day 2 ( ^ 87mb)

09 - Man From Tomorrow (3:28)
10 - Spider Formation (4:23)
11 - Childhood (Maria's Mix) (4:50)
12 - Humana (4:58)
13 - Inner Life (529) (4:33)
14 - Eclipse (4:51)
15 - Nepta (4:54)
16 - Mercury (5:37)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Amerikkka, the Beautiful

Plus ça change, SAMO ™.
The chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas called Wednesday for state Sen. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith, to apologize for e-mail comments attributed to the Senate GOP leader by a television station.

[...]

In the e-mail on the television station’s Web site, the message attributed to Altes states that he’s for “sending the illegals back but we know that is impossible.

“ We are where we were with the black folks after the revolutionary war [sic]. We can’t send them back and the more we p *** them off the worse it will be in the future. So what do we do,” the e-mail states. “I say the governor needs to try to enforce the law and sign the letter of understanding... and at least we can send the troublemakers back. Sure we are being overrun but we are being outpopulated by the blacks also. What is the answer, only time will tell.”

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

James Brown Conference @ Princeton Tomorrow

Unfortunately I won't be able to attend, but for any and all near Princeton, New Jersey, this is a free conference you don't want to miss. (From Audiologo, many thanks!)

Join us at Princeton University this THURSDAY and FRIDAY for a special event dedicated to celebrating and exploring the life and legacy of James Brown.

Walk-up and same day registration welcome!

Please note the following additions to the program including a **FRIDAY EVENING*** Q&A PROGRAM with legendary James Brown band members PEE WEE ELLIS and FRED WESLEY in dialogue with AHMIR "QUESTLOVE" THOMPSON of THE ROOTS.

“Ain’t that a Groove”: The Genius of James Brown
A Princeton University Two-Day Symposium

PROGRAM

Thursday, November 29, 2007
Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University

6:00pm
Welcome
Valerie Smith, Director of the Center for African American Studies

6:15pm
"James Brown: Man To Man", Concert Film Footage
courtesy of Alan Leeds and Harry Weinger

7pm-9pm
“On the One”: A Keynote Roundtable featuring Robert Christgau, Farah J.
Griffin, Alan Leeds, and Fred Moten
moderator: Daphne A. Brooks

Friday, November 30, 2007
Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University

9:00am
Opening Remarks: “‘I’m Not There’: Popular Music Studies & the
Godfather of Soul”
Daphne A. Brooks

9:30-11:30am
“It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”: Black Power, Black Masculinity and the Politics of Funk
Mark Anthony Neal, "In the Rhythm of Patriarchy: 'Papa Don't Take No
Mess'"
Jason King, “James Brown’s Sweat”
Thomas F. DeFrantz, “My Brother, the Dance Master”
Robert Fink, “Soul Power, 1971”
Moderator: Tera W. Hunter

1:00-3:00pm
The Funky Precedent: Revolutionizing Rock, Birthing Hip Hop—Theorizing James Brown’s Musical Innovations
Kandia Crazy Horse, "The One and Only: King James' Rock Revolt"
Rickey Vincent, "James Brown and the Rhythm Revolution"
Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson, “The Roots of Hip Hop”
Harry Weinger, “Listening to James Brown”
Moderator: Joshua B. Guild

3:30-5:30pm
“Mama Don’t Take No Mess”: Black Feminist Readings of James Brown
Greg Tate, “blues and the nekkid truth--the embodied she-funks of betty
davis, chaka khan, grace jones and meshell ndeocello”
Imani Perry, "Telling Him About Himself: A Feminist Reading of James
Brown"
Mendi Obadike, "The Pleasure/Challenge of James Brown's Iconicity"
Ernest Hardy, "James Brown: Portal of Possibility"
Moderator: Tavia Nyong’o

5:30-6:00pm
Closing Remarks
Cornel West, Class of 1943 University Professor in the Center for African American Studies

8:30-10pm
101 McCormick Hall

Special Evening Q&A
A Conversation with legendary James Brown band members Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley and Questlove of the Roots
Moderator: Alan Leeds

Alphabet Soup, (G)

Hello another Alphabet Soup day, Gee what will it B ? Well a mixed bag, from Chicago a band that has been struggling to find commercial success, maybe they just sound too british , too retro, yet with plenty of eigties energy input, make them sound rather refreshing. Great power pop. Now Lisa Germano followed John Cougar Mellencamp on tour for years playing the violin and some background work until she thought it time (30 years old) to have her voice heard. Lisa self released an album which got her noticed by a major but her Happiness was shortlived as the execs were sacked and their proteges in danger of being shelved, so she bought back the rights to the album and found a home at 4AD, they gave the album a 4AD makeover, courtesy of Fryer and Watts, this in the end made for a completely different work, which you'll find here. Finally, God Is An Astronaut not sure if these guys are fans from Von Danicken or Sitchen but chances are they right there aswell. Anyway Ireland lies close to Iceland and even if they have to do without vulcano's and gletschers, the irish stonewalled pastures do inspire as much, so any comparisons to Sigur Ros have to take into account there's plenty of 'empty spaces' in Ireland aswell. Post-rock is a silly label, ambient doom rock labels it better, anyway the trio puts in great liveshows and if you like what i offer here, do drop in at their site and buy their even better latest album as a hi quality download , when in doubt checkout the YouTube link i posted, it offers all (5) their videos.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Green - White Soul ( 90 ^ 97mb)

Drawing his initial inspiration from a bipolar quartet of influences — the Kinks, Small Faces, Prince and Motown — Chicago singer/guitarist Jeff Lescher has been the mainstay of the group Green since the mid-'80s. An ace pop songwriter with a knack for assessing the ups and downs of romance without malice, he possesses a phenomenal voice that can shift between stirring pop-rock singing, an ear-pinning shriek and a gospelly falsetto .

In 85 they released their first EP, these joined 10 others on their debut album, Green (86), an inadequately produced but brilliant collection of weirdly derivative originals played with spirit and power. The followup Elaine MacKenzie (88) improves the ambition and results on all fronts and sports a neat cover painting by Lescher. Hooking up with Megadisc (which happily reissued the band's catalogue on CD) and fielding a new drummer, Green released another great collection of memorable romantic pop songs. White Soul (which, ironically, downplays the group's R&B side) benefits from two significant steps forward: improved production quality and the consistency and maturity of Lescher's songwriting. (No more punny nonsense or obviously derivative tributes.) Subtle emotions and striking melodies fill simply executed gems like "She's Heaven," "Night After Night," "Monique, Monique" and "I Know." Kurson's boppy "My Sister Jane" is a delightful pop-punk vestige of his hardcore background, but it was his swan song with the band.

At that point, the indie-label stalwarts — Lescher, Tomasek and drummer Mark Mosher moved onto a bigger small record company and made The Pop Tarts (92) with Chicago studio hound Iain Burgess. After The Pop Tarts failed to deliver the band onto the alternative freeway career path, Green returned to Widely Distributed and made the dispirited but winning Pathétique EP, a diverse triad of new songs, including the surprise country swing of "If You Love Me (Part II)." Green's first new album in six years, 5, is an underproduced but encouraging collection improved by Tomasek's emergence as the band's second strong songwriter; the rejuvenated quartet (with Mosher's brother Jason on guitar) balances Beatlesque tunefulness with ambitious arrangements.

Three years later, Green (the trio) spent a week in France, recording Eau de Vie (01) with Burgess, who sharpens and clarified the sound as never before. Lescher reins in his unmelodic impulses and lets his restrained and tuneful flag fly to heartening effect, mostly rooting around in the popcraft of ' 60s England.



01 - She's Heaven (4:45)
02 - Night After Night (3:15)
03 - Monique, Monique (3:33)
04 - Hear Me (3:09)
05 - My Sister Jane (3:13)
06 - I'm In Love With You (4:38)
07 - I Don't Even Need Her (Now) (4:21)
08 - I'm Not Giving Up (3:19)
09 - I Beg, You Cry (1:33)
10 - I Love Her (2:19)
11 - Give Me Your Hands (3:29)
12 - I Know (3:19)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Lisa Germano - Happiness (94 ^ 53:40 99mb)

Lisa Germano was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, into a musical family, where the children were encouraged to learn an instrument . At the age of seven, she wrote her first piece of music, a 15-minute opera on the piano and, in due time, Germano learned the violin, an instrument that would ultimately guide her to a professional career in music. She made her debut as John Mellencamp's violinist and fiddle player on his 1987 hit album Lonesome Jubilee. Germano would spend the next seven years with Mellencamp, shaping a smooth, fearless playing style. Additional tours and recording sessions with Simple Minds and the Indigo Girls motivated Germano to do something on her own. She found her voice at the age of 30 and developed a quirky sound rooted in folk-rock and poetry. The lo-fi, shadowy "On the Way Down from the Moon Palace" was issued on her own Major Bill label in 1991, marking Germano's proper introduction as a solo artist.

"Happiness" was much more melancholy and acerbic when it appeared two years later on Capitol.The support(promotion) there had left and Lisa bought back her albumrights. Then she signed with Ivo Watts-Russell's 4AD in 1994 and reissued a new version of the album. "Geek the Gir"l, which also appeared before the year's end, captured Germano's secrets of a wavering self-concept and her disgust for social ignorance. This particular album of sexual conflicts earned Germano her biggest praise from the press to date. People started to connect with her, and that's exactly what Germano wanted. "Excerpts from a Love Circus" was gushing in adoration when it arrived in 1996, but critics didn't take to this glossy body of work. The emotional double-cross of "Slide" (1998) didn't do as well, either, so Germano took some time off. Within months, Germano lost her deal with 4AD as they had lost distribution in her homemarket USA. She questioned her place in music and basically vowed to never make another record.

A move to Hollywood for a simple kind of life gave Germano a much needed break. She took a job as a clerk at Book Soup and enjoyed her anonymity. Songwriting remained an integral part of her life, but having it be a means to making a living wasn't a concern. Joining other artists such as David Bowie, Anna Waronker, and Neil Finn on their respective projects kept Germano connected. Luckily for fans, Germano inked a deal with the ARTISTdirect imprint Ineffable in 2002. Germano's classic, twisted sense of humor was at its finest on "Lullaby for Liquid Pig", which was issued in April 2003. Her music found another new home, Michael Gira's Young God label, where Germano released In the "Maybe World" in summer 2006.



01 - Bad Attitude (6:12)
02 - Destroy The Flower (3:12)
03 - Puppet (6:00)
04 - Everyone's Victim (4:44)
05 - Energy (3:50)
06 - Cowboy (4:07)
07 - Happiness (3:43)
08 - The Earth (2:44)
09 - Around The World (4:26)
10 - Sycophant (4:25)
11 - Miamo-Tutti (1:57)
12 - The Dresses Song (3:39)
13 - The Darkest Night Of All

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

God Is An Astronaut - All Is Violent, All Is Bright (05 ^ 88mb)

God Is an Astronaut are an instrumental three piece hailing from the Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. Brothers Niels and Torsten Kinsella hooked up with drummer Lloyd Hanney in 2002 and released their debut album The End of the Beginning (2002) on their own Revive Records label. Their two music videos for The End of the Beginning and From Dust to the Beyond, received MTV airplay
"The first album was made with a keyboard sequencer and an Akai sampler. There wasn't enough memory to put down live performances from beginning to end, so there were a lot short sound-bites sequenced to make the songs" says Niels, admitting that the new album was maybe a bit easier, "All Is Violent was actually recorded on a computer using Pro-tools. This gave us a lot more options because the system had lots of processing power which allowed us to record guitars, drums etc. as full live performances."

All Is Violent, All Is Bright (2005) is the band's second album. This epic return is smothered in big guitar anthems, mind controlling electronica and a healthy dose of melancholy featuring their build ups from serene ambience to searing intensity. In all its a closer representation of their live sound, a year later they released an EP called A Moment of Stillness in 2006. Earlier this year "Far From Refuge was released, where they have been taking that sound to a new emotive level. The compositions are intricate and well thought out with moments that explode into quietness. Far From Refuge is anything but a cliche post-rock album. Rather, it is a masterpiece that finds the band's sound maturing, the compositions are intricate yet careful and the album as a whole is fluid and the tracks perfectly selected and ordered. Go buy it , not as an expensive import but straight from the source..masters.. 320k quality mp3's for 8 dollars (less then 6 euro's). Here too the band shows initiative..and besides they make more money from 1 download then 10 cdees sold.



01 - Fragile (4:34)
02 - All Is Violent, All Is Bright (4:14)
03 - Forever Lost (6:22)
04 - Fire Flies And Empty Skies (3:55)
05 - A Deafening Distance (3:49)
06 - Infinite Horizons (2:28)
07 - Suicide By Star (4:38)
08 - Remembrance Day (4:16)
09 - Dust And Echoes (4:13)
10 - When Everything Dies (6:03)
11 - Halo Of Flies (2:37)

buy here

God Is An Astronaut @ Base

view here

GIAA's page @ YouTube

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Monday, November 26, 2007

Around the World, (07)

Hello, around the world we go and to day on the trail of two mexicans that left their homecountry to find their footing busking in Europe Ireland initially where they've become very popular, considering the irish know something about playing music (live)no mean feat. These two gabrielaspecially prove the classic guitar to be more then a string instrument in her hands its a fully blown percussive instrument too. Do checkout the vids.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Rodrigo and Gabriela met as teenagers, at the Casa de Cultura (Culture House), in Mexico City. Rodrigo was playing drums in his band which became Tierra Acida (Acid Earth) when she joined them on guitar. Before joining Tierra Acida, Gabriela ran three girls' bands, Las Brujas (The Witches), Subterraneo and Las Formigas (The Ants) at once: Terra Acida had a disciplined work ethic: "It was mental!" she recalls, "we rehearsed five hours a day, every day, with very short breaks, and not much talking!"

Tierra Acida played in Mexico City's roughest clubs and lived off day-jobs, they recorded an album but wouldn't sign the record contract, planning instead to concentrate on learning more guitar styles, then we decided to travel to Europe. Their first port of call was Dublin, Ireland. They landed in Dublin at night, spoke no English, and had $1,000 between them. It was 1999: "We were very exotic specimens!" They built a reputation and landed gigs in people's homes, at wedding parties and gallery openings, playing covers and their own compositions, "We still wanted to be metal composers, but everything came out as Latin!". Percussive play by Gabriela serving as the rhythm for each song, as she bangs out some impressive backing beats for Rodrigo's stunning fingerpicked acoustic wonderment. Dublin was booming then, and the two Mexicans embedded and jammed with local folk musicians in the bars.

After a brief spell busking in Copenhagen they ended up jamming on the Ramblas in Barcelona. Just in time, a call came from Ireland to come back and play the newly opened Sugar Club. Damian Rice, then a busking friend, invited them to support his shows, and in 2003, they released "Re-Foc", and a year later, "Live Manchester and Dublin," which both launched them onto the World Music circuit – and beyond. 2006 saw the release of their breakthrough album with a remarkable snake eye cover "Rodrigo y Gabriela". The incredible sounds created would take a room full of mariachis to match the fury these two manufacture. The invigorating album is a shot of adrenaline you would never expect from the description 'instrumental acoustic guitar duo'. The Mexican duo create dense compositions that will boggle your mind, crafting killer rock and folk sounds fuelled by the Latin heart pumping at the center of each track, adding southwestern flair to each exciting cut.


Stairways to acoustic/percussive guitar heaven.




Tamacun at Jules Holland's Later show




***** ***** ***** ***** *****




Rodrigo y Gabriela - Re-Foc ( 03 ^ 99mb)

1 - Diem
2 - New One
3 - Foc
4 - Georges Street / The Tartar Frigate
5 - 30 De Marzo
6 - Paris
7 - Take 5 (Foc-ing Version 9)
8 - Temple Bar

Rodrigo y Gabriela @ Base

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Don't Panic ! , (07)




Recap, last weeks final episode of the primairy phase, Fit 6

The episode opens with the main characters on the black ship. Soon, they receive a transmission from the second-in-command of the battle fleet, who makes a report to Zaphod, believing him to be the Admiral. This is considered confusing as Zaphod was just presumed to be the Admiral, despite bearing no resemblance to the second-in-command, who looked like a leopard.
Shortly afterward, they receive another transmission, this time with Trillian in the chair. The second-in-command, who now looks like a shoebox, assumes that Trillian is the Admiral.They look up the name "Haggunenon", spoken by the second-in-command, in the Guide, and discover that they are a race of xenophobic shape-shifters. They realise that the Admiral is in fact on the ship, but had shapeshifted. It becomes a "carbon copy" of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. The group split up, Arthur and Ford taking one escape capsule and Zaphod and Trillian attempting to take another.

Arthur notices that the other escape capsule isn't escaping, and presses a button in his escape capsule that ends up teleporting him and Ford to a strange spaceship. Meanwhile, Zaphod, Trillian and Marvin are all eaten by copy of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, with Marvin's leg coming off in the process, and Zaphod's second head is revealed to know French (via an ad-lib by Mark Wing-Davey). This is the last appearance of the character of Trillian until the Tertiary Phase.The spaceship to which Ford and Arthur have teleported, marked as "Golgafrincham Ark Fleet, Ship B" is filled with bodies, such as frozen telephone sanitizers, hairdressers, and advertising account executives. Whilst inspecting the bodies, they are captured by Number Two, the third-in-command of the ship, who takes them to the bridge. Here, they meet the Captain (who is taking a bath in a large bathtub in the bridge, and has been for the last some years). He reluctantly grants permission to Number Two to interrogate Arthur and Ford, and asks him to find out what they want to drink.

Conversing with the Captain, they discover that the bodies are not, as they believed, dead, but frozen. They are intending to colonize another planet, because their original planet was "doomed". The "A Ark" was supposed to contain leaders, the "C Ark" to contain workers, and the "B Ark" to contain middle-men. It becomes apparent that the stories of impending doom were nonsense, and the A Ark and C Ark were never launched. The story resumes some months later, with a meeting of the Colonization Committee. Reports to the Committee include an update on the development of the wheel (it is unclear what colour it should be), and a documentary about the native cave-men of the planet, who have started to die out since the arrival of the Golgafrinchams.

Ford explains that they had done some research on the planet, and that it will last only two million years (but not why - because it is the pre-history of the Earth, and is thus due to be destroyed by the Vogons in two million years time). Arthur attempts to teach the cave-men Scrabble, in order to try to stop the Golgafrinchams supplanting them. The cave-man spells out "FORTY TWO" on the scrabble board, and Ford and Arthur realise that the program must have gone wrong because of the arrival of the Golgafrinchams. They decide to use the same technique (of choosing scrabble letters) randomly to find out what the question in Arthur's brainwave patterns is, although it might be wrong anyway. The question in his brain is revealed as "WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU MULTIPLY SIX BY NINE". The episode ends as they decide to rejoin the Golgafrincham colony, and lament the inevitable eventual destruction of the Earth. The regular ending music is replaced with "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. (source wiki)

1996 CD cover "The Secondary Phase." 



***** ***** ***** ***** *****

What became "Fit the Seventh" actually started as a "Christmas Special" episode, and an early draft included a reference to the holiday, though the episode, as transmitted, does not.Five further episodes, to complete the second series (later retitled "The Secondary Phase") were commissioned in May 1979.

Trillian is entirely missing from this series. Her fate is addressed in Fit the Seventh, that she had effected an escape but had then been forcibly married to the Algolian chapter of the Galactic Rotary Club. The character returns in The Tertiary Phase, where she dismisses most of the events of the Secondary Phase as having been one of Zaphod's "psychotic episodes."

THHGTTG - Fit 07 (19mb)


1.01 - There Is A Theory
1.02 - Hitchhiking, What Do They Know?
1.03 - I've Recovered
1.04 - It Is Of Course Perfectly Natural
1.05 - There Must Be Some Way
1.06 - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
1.07 - Thanks For The Ride, Guys
1.08 - Several Hours Later
1.09 - Trillian Also Effected A Fortuitous Escape
1.10 - Modern Elevators Are Starange And Complex Entities
1.11 - The Future I Was So Worried About

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Sundaze, (07)

Hello, ready to chill out some from the week (end) ? To bath in todays Sundazes ? A Danish dessert and a New Mexican desert are on the menu, take a bite, the desert come's in two flavors, one light and one attuned to more demanding tastes.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Skyphone - Fabula (04 98mb)

Caught between the spacious glacial excursions of the northern Scandinavians (Sigur Rós and Biosphere) and the infinite digital strands of microtechnological exploration occurring in Germany to the south, we find Skyphone an electronic trio consisting of Keld Dam Schmidt, Thomas Holst and Mads Bødker. Having played in various rock outfits during the nineties, and having been friends for decades, the three of them began experimenting with the obligatory samplers, tape decks and some of the Roland GM modules of the time. Getting to know the new tools, time-consuming as it is, let their musical past slowly dissapate, even so the trio's collective background in rock, dub and electronica had been an invaluable apprenticeship, and in 1999 Skyphone was founded in the leftover room at a depot in Copenhagen. The concrete walls and floors, were quickly, covered with various carpets, this shabby style inspired. hours and hours of recorded sound using an old Mac, a sampler, a moog and some Roland toys.

When they moved to new, sort of luxurious premises in 2002, the band feared for their unique sound, but the romantic myth of the creative power of the shabby bohemian loft was found to be just that...a myth. Replacing the old Mac with shiny new PowerBooks and lots of software, Skyphone continued to scratch and carefully damage the shiny surface of the digital sounds, creating tiny and melodious pop-songs-without-singing, leaving it to the listener to infer what the songs actually could have been. Fabula offers up diffident melodies risen from acoustic guitars and analogue synths, and crisply fluctuating digital percussion, resulting in an almost fairytale sense of immersion.

Skyphone was nominated in the category "best band" at the Danish "Steppeulv" awards (music journalist awards) in 2004.



01 - Monitor Batik (4:13)
02 - In Our Time (3:29)
03 - Kinamands Chance (3:56)
04 - Cent Gauge (1:53)
05 - Airtight Golem (5:39)
06 - Mengpaneel (5:14)
07 - Sinne Gas (4:16)
08 - Pandamusic (4:34)
09 - Gossamer (4:44)
10 - Oleana (4:47)
11 - Into Hill Country (1:35)
12 - Brine (6:14)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Steve Roach - Artifacts (91 ^ 160mb)

Roach a onetime professional motorbike racer born in California in 1955, -- inspired by the music of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Vangelis -- taught himself to play synthesizer at the age of 20, 7 years later he debuted with the album Now, his early work was quite reminiscent of his inspirations, but with 1984's Structures from Silence his music began taking enormous strides, the album's expansive and mysterious atmosphere inspired directly by the the beauty and power of the earth's landscapes to create lush, meditative soundscapes influential on the emergence of ambient and trance. Subsequent works including 1986's three-volume Quiet Music series honed Roach's approach, his dense, swirling textures and hypnotic rhythms akin to environmental sound sculptures. In 1988, inspired by the Peter Weir film The Last Wave, Roach journeyed to the Australian outback, with field recordings of aboriginal life inspiring his acknowledged masterpiece, the double-album Dreamtime Return.

After relocating to the desert outskirts of Tuscon, Arizona, Roach established his own recording studio, Timeroom, and in the years to follow grew increasingly prolific, creating both as a solo artist and in tandem with acts including Robert Rich, Michael Stearns, Jorge Reyes and Kevin Braheny -- in all, close to two dozen major works in the 1990s alone, all of them located at different points on the space-time continuum separating modern technology and primitive music. His album roster from that decade includes: Strata (1991), Artifacts (1994), Well of Souls (1995), Amplexus (1997), and Dust to Dust (1998). Early Man was released on Projekt in early 2001, followed by one of his many collaborations with Vidna Obmana. His ability to create organic time-altering soundscapes reached a high point on the 2003 four-CD opus Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces, and has continued since 2006 in his prodigious Immersion series. Recent releases Possible Planet and New Life Dreaming show a return to a more open, breathing sound.



01 - Groundswell (8:15)
02 - Thunder Brother (9:29)
03 - The Origin of Artifacts (25:46)
04 - Your Own Eyes (8:02)
05 - Ancestral Horizon (8:27)
06 - Temple of the Frog (8:50)
07 - Begin Where I End (8:01)

diet version
Steve Roach - Artifact (94 * 99mb)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Friday, November 23, 2007

Rhotation, Into the BPM (07)

Hello, Rhotation Seven and Into the BPM goes from disco to jazzy drum n bass . My first lead was a toddler when Travolta was struttin' the streets of NY, but then these days you can grow up very quick..so much input around. Tom turned his love of bassplaying into an understanding of sound and when rave culture came down on him, them acid machines really hit his nerves and he's been working on them ever since...Squarepusher.
The next album won the Mercury Price 10 ! years ago, damn how time has flown, Bristol has managed the continuous eb and flow of the channel and translated into a beat, trip hop, but before that during eighties a Wild Bunch soundsystem seeded the city with beats in an i can way, and so Roni Size and his friends came to set up their own studio and label and the rest is history .....

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Squarepusher - Feed Me Weird Things (96 * 98mb)

So what's up with this Squarepusher ?

"I originally wanted to play the electric guitar, but an early insight into the typical psychological make-up of electric guitar players put me off. The driving rationale behind me wanting to play bass was an intrigue about what underpins the general sound picture in modern music. Everybody is acquainted with the singing voice, and most could identify an electric guitar, but the bass is more mysterious. Certainly the bass register is familiar, but the sound of the bass guitar is typically hidden away at the back of a mix. I found myself drawn to this strange sonic hinterland. On the rare occasions where exposed bass-lines could be heard, I found the deep tones very appealing and had to know more!"

Jenkinson was born in Chelmsford, Essex in 1975 and was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School.In 91 the local dance music sage and DJ Hardy Finn introduced Tom to the hitherto hidden worlds of Detroit Techno, Hardcore, Acid House and New York Garage. Tom made a drastic revision in his outlook due to evocative power of this newly found music. He went on to study Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design. A self-taught drummer and highly skilled bass guitar player, his style of extremely fast, cut-up beats mixed with fusion jazz and interlaced with synth lines and samples has gained him a cult following. He is a friend of Richard D. James (Aphex Twin), and Luke Vibert. His albums have been critically acclaimed for their forward-thinking approach to electronic music. He's a bit of a recluse and interviews are done by email, yet he can be seen playing bass at the local pub now and again.

Jenkinson performs live, playing with a fretless or fretted bass guitar, a laptop, and other hardware. On 26 June 2005, Squarepusher played at London's Royal Festival Hall as part of the Jimi Hendrix tribute show "Songs of Experience". His 12-minute performance was built up of a medley of Hendrix tracks played solely on the bass guitar with the use of effects (he got RHCP's Flea raving)

The toys that make it happen and play with Squarepusher at his derelict farm

Bass guitars: Music Man / Rickenbacker 4001 / Custom built 6 string.
Guitars: Classical and Baritone classical / custom electric guitar.
Software: Reaktor using only home made algorithms.
Electronic Hardware: Eventide "Orville" + "DSP4000" using only homemade algorithms/ Yamaha sequencer / 16 track tape machine / MackieDesk / Sine wave generator / Roland SH101 / Octave "Cat" synth / AKG414 mics / Home made + AKG analogue reverb units / DAT recorder.
Percussion: Ludwig drum kit / Balinese percussion / xylophone.

This is an artist that no one dares plagiarise for fear of making an idiot out of themselves – and in the world of cheapskate bandwagon jumpers known as modern electronic music, that's really saying something. Jenkinson remains forward thinking, relevant and as predictably unpredictable as ever.
Squarepusher's latest and 11th full-length album, Hello Everything, was released on October 2006. Here's his first..



01 - Squarepusher Theme (6:20)
02 - Tundra (7:55)
03 - The Swifty (5:20)
04 - Dimotane Co (4:55)
05 - Smedley's Melody (2:33)
06 - Windscale 2 (6:36)
07 - North Circular (6:08)
08 - Goodnight Jade (2:45)
09 - Theme From Ernest Borgnine (7:56)
10 - U.F.O.'s Over Leytonstone (6:40)
11 - Kodack (7:15)
12 - Future Gibbon (2:20)

Want a higher bitrate ? Feed your speakers here.

Squarepusher - Feed Me Weird Things (96 ^ 134mb)

Moore excelent stuff @ Squarepusher Base

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Roni Size / Reprazent - New Forms (97 ^ 280 mb)

Late note ! Roni Size no longer existant apparently sees this posting infringing on their cashflow therefor i had to delete the links

Bristol native Roni Size is one of the U.K. jungle scene's most respected names, with production credits spanning dozens of labels, projects and releases. Although not as quick to rise to acclaim (either critical or popular) as peers such as Goldie or LTJ Bukem, Size's influence as a producer, label owner, and committed underground magnate figured him as one of the emerging sound's true pioneers. The breakout success of his debut album New Forms (including Britain's prestigious Mercury Award) finally confirmed his stature and vaulted him to a greater degree of popularity than any other drum'n'bass producer.

Born to Jamaican immigrant parents, Roni grew up in the Bristolean suburb of St. Andrews (home to Tricky, Massive Attack, and Smith & Mighty), where he learned the fundamentals of hip-hop through the area's sounds systems, house parties, and underground clubs. Expelled from school at 16, Size started dabbling with house and reggae production in the late '80s, he set upa basic home studio. A fertile homeground attending house parties run by the famous soundsystem The Wild Bunch (which bore Massive Attack, Tricky and Soul to Soul Nellee Hooper) and plenty of moments to link up, by 1989 Roni, Krust, Suv and Die founded Full Cycle Records as an outlet for their innovative sounds and entree into the nascent drum'n'bass scene Krust and brother Flynn were already working with Smith & Mighty, while Die was producing hardcore tracks as Sublove, Full Cycle eventually grew into a label group, releasing a steady flow of twelves (on both Full Cycle and Dope Dragon), and a label comp, Music Box, in 1995.

The Full Cycle sound is a subtle mix of jazz and soul with jump-up rhythms and worldbeat references spanning from Roni's Jamaican roots to '50s bop and the Motown sound. They count a number of classics among their credits, including Size's "It's a Jazz Thing," Krust's "Jazz Note," and Reprazent's Reasons for Sharing EP
The success of 1997's New Forms launched Size to the top of the electronica genre, much of the acclaim centred around Size's melding of the new with the old - the propulsive jungle beats accompanied by live drums and double bass. The band - Size (compositions/programming), DJ Krust, Onallee (vocals), Dynamite MC and rapper Bahamadia created highly musical take on drum 'n' bass, equally informed by hip-hop, funk, soul and house.

In consolidation of their mainstream breakthrough (the most significant for jungle since Goldie's debut), Reprazent set out to become the summer sound of 1997 with a series of festival appearances (including Tribal Gathering).
Meanwhile the Dope Dragon label continued to rise in the ranks of dubplate hysteria. After a relatively silent 1998, Size returned in 1999 with a new project -- Breakbeat Era, with DJ Die and vocalist Leonie Laws. The trio released Ultra-Obscene in the fall of that year. In 2000, Size returned to the Reprazent project with "In the Mode", with guest vocals from Wu-Tan Method Man and Rage Against the Machine's Zack De La Rocha. It failed to come off , and Roni returned to solo productions with 2002's "Touching Down" and 2005's "Return to V", aswell as a mixed a two-disc volume in the Full Cycle mix series Through the Eyes.



A double disc with 133 min of a highly musical take on D'n'B. 280mb sliced in 3 easily 'digestable'parts

Roni Size / Reprazent - New Forms 1 ( 97 ^ 93mb)

01 - Railing (3:50)
02 - Brown Paper Bag (9:10)
03 - New Forms (7:44)
04 - Lets Get It On (6:58)
05 - Digital (9:04)
06 - Matter Of Fact (4:04)
07 - Mad Cat (4:55)

Roni Size / Reprazent - New Forms 2 ( ^ 87mb)

08 - Heroes (6:34)
09 - Share The Fall (Full Vocal Mix) (6:13)
10 - Watching Windows (5:32)
11 - Beatbox (1:09)
12 - Morse Code (6:58)
13 - Destination (8:31)

21 - Intro (0:53)
22 - Hi-potent (6:52)

Roni Size / Reprazent - New Forms 3 ( ^ 99mb)

23 - Trust Me (6:26)
24 - Change My Life (8:27)
25 - Share The Fall (6:25)
26 - Down (6:50)
27 - Jazz (6:03)
28 - Hot Stuff (6:31)
29 - Ballet Dance (6:41)

Full Circle Base

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Quote: Ted Rall

"We must elect--by an overwhelming, theft-proof majority--a candidate who promises to renounce Bush and all his works. A reform-minded president's first act should be to sign a law that reads as follows: "The federal government of the United States having been illegitimate and illegal since January 20, 2001, all laws, regulations, executive orders, and acts of commission or omission enacted between that infamous day and 12 noon Eastern Standard Time on January 20, 2009 are hereby declared invalid and without effect." Guantánamo, secret prisons, extraordinary rendition, spying on Americans' phone calls and emails, and "legal" torture would be erased. Our troops should immediately pull out of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Somalia; we should apologize to our victims and offer to compensate them and their survivors. Bush should never appear on any list of American presidents. When he dies, his carcass shouldn't receive a state funeral. It ought to be thrown in the trash.

"Unfortunately, no one like that is running for president. To the contrary, most of the major presidential candidates want to accelerate America's slide into outright moral bankruptcy."
--Ted Rall, "Torturers: The Next Generation"

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Into The Groove, (06)

Hello, Into the groove again, well linking to last wednesdays Eight-X I t thought let have some 77 Saturday Night Fevers. Considering the Bee Gees aren't soulbrothers , finding them at the heart of the discoscene was surprising. Sure they had already proven themselves in 75 when their spirited Jive Talking re-opened the road to succes for them. --Listening to itagain it's amazing how much George Michael ripped from them song and productionwise-- Well i'm not one of those 25 million who bought the soundtrack, yet i have been a bit of a fan of The Beegees from early days on, so i do have their Saturday Night Fever work, i compiled it here into a nice 'Fevers' file.
I planned to add some other disco work but albumwise my choices were limited, there's lots of crossoverstuff with R&B, Funk or Pop . My choice here is Stargard, with a favourite track of mine at the time "Which way is up", a short album but then i added a US 12" mixalbum which i think does a good job showing the works at the time(78). My last choice , Sticky Fingers, is typical in the sense that the producer got together with a bunch of musicians and produced an album, however here the singers, The Duncan Sisters, escaped anonymity and went on scoring hits themselves. Apart from the remarkble cover this album was released as a double 12" pack..made to market and accomodate the DJ's.

A Late addition to last weeks Into the groove post, the link between War and previous Into the groove post ft Africa Bambaata, i will add it to last weeks post but here it is War , Bambaata mixes (48mb)

01 - Low Rider (Arthur Baker remix) (7:53)
02 - Galaxy (5:39)
03 - Low Rider (Arthur Baker house party mix) (6:25)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
B G's Fever ( 77 ^ 84mb)

The Gibb Brothers fortunes had come to a stand still, after a string of hits in the late sixties under the guidance of Robert Stigwood, the early seventies they were close to breaking up after their album "A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants." was shelved, it remains unreleased. When manager Robert Stigwood, introduced them to producer Arif Mardin, he produced "Mr. Natural," which had no hits, he opened them up to a new sound. Having established a good working relationship with the group, he was asked to produce their next album, "Main Course."
At the time the Bee Gees were as cold as ice, and there was not much chance that radio stations would get excited about a new single from the Brothers Gibb. They repeated a trick they had used eight years earlier when their first single was released.
Promotional copies were issued on a white label with no identification of the artist. It worked! Debuting at 87 on May 31, 1975, "Jive Talkin" took 10 weeks to top the charts and begin the Bee Gees spectacular comeback. The "Main Course" album produced two more hits: "Fanny"and "Nights On Broadway"
Riding high on the wide acceptance of "Main Course." the Bee Gees prepared to record a follow-up with the same producer, Arif Mardin. But Stigwood had shifted distribution of RSO Records from Atlantic to Polydor. Mardin was a "house producer" at Atlantic and was not allowed to work with artists recording for another label. Rudderless, the brothers decided to re-create the enviroment that Mardin provided for their previous album. Returning to Criteria and forming an alliance with Karl Richardson and Albhy Galuten, who were instrumental in their previous success, work began on 1976's "Children Of The World." If the Bee Gees were worried about their chart fortunes without Arif at the helm, their fears subsided when "You Should Be Dancing" was released as the first single. It became their third number one single.

Saturday Night Fever

In the summer of 1976 the Bee Gees were settled into the Chateau D'Herouville studios outside of Paris. The brothers recorded the first song for the proposed album, "If I Can't Have You," when they received a phone call from Stigwood. He told them to forget the studio album, he wanted a live album to come out next. A few days later he telephoned again with a new directive. He needed four new songs for a film he was producing. The first song written after Stigwood's call was "How Deep Is Your Love," but it was meant for Yvonne Elliman not the film. The Bee Gees weren't even aware of a love scene in the film, but when Stigwood heard the song he was adamant that they record it themselves.
Stigwood arrived at the Chateau a couple of weeks later and gave the brothers a very rough outline of the film's story. He stressed it was about a young guy who lives for Saturday night, when he can spend his weekly wages and go out dancing. The only other fact was that John Travolta was playing the lead role. The brothers were inspired, disco songs were something they hadn't really delved into wholeheartedly. It took about two and a half weeks to write and record some demos. When Stigwood heard the initial demo of "Stayin' Alive," he objected, asking why it wasn't "Saturday Night, Saturday Night." He was told either it's "Stayin' Alive" or that they would keep the song. The Bee Gees remained in France while the film, titled "Saturday Night Fever," was in production in the States. When Stigwood left the Chateau, he took with him the rough mixes of the songs that would be used in the picture as is.

While the Bee Gees were writing the songs for the film in France, John Travolta was in training, working on dance routines back in the States. The song he used was an older Bee Gees number from their "Main Course" album, "You Should Be Dancing" and when it came time to film his dance number for the movie he didn't want to change songs. His stubborness made the song part of the movie and soundtrack and breathed new life into it.



"How Deep Is Your Love" was the first single issued from the soundtrack, prior to the actual release of the film. It entered the Hot 100 on September 24, 1977 and moved into the number one spot 13 weeks later. It remained at number one for three weeks and in the top ten for 17 weeks, the longest run of any single release since the Hot 100 was initiated in August of 1958..
"Stayin' Alive" was the music heard in the electrifying opening of "Saturday Night Fever," as Travolta's character, Tony Manero, struts down a New York City sidewalk. One week prior to the film's release, a 30-second teaser of the opening sequence was seen in theatres around the country, the pounding beat of "Stayin' Alive" playing under it. This brief coming attraction was enough to create a demand for the song, even though the soundtrack had not yet been released. "Stayin' Alive" was issued before "How Deep Is Your Love" reached number one. It entered the Hot 100 at number 65 on December 10, 1977. Eight weeks later it became the second consecutive chart-topper from "Saturday Night Fever." The soundtrack went on to sell more than 25 million copies, making it not just the most successful soundtrack ever released, but the best-selling album of all-time, a record that would stand until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1984.

The Bee Gees continued their domination of the Hot 100 with their third consecutive number one single from "Saturday Night Fever." "Night Fever" was the fastest-rising single yet from the film. The week that "Night Fever" moved to number eight, the Bee Gees former two singles were still anchored in the top 10, making them the first group to have three songs in the top ten simultaneously since the Beatles. And the week that "Night Fever" took over the top spot, "Stayin' Alive" resurged, moving from number 6 back to number 2, where it remained for five weeks, turning Platinum in the process. That made the Bee Gees the first group to have the two top songs on the Hot 100 since the Beatles last did it in 1964.

Under tremendous pressure to equal or better the track record set by "Saturday Night Fever," which resulted in three consecutive number one singles, the Bee Gees entrenched themselves at Criteria Studios in Miami for 10 months. When they emerged, they had completed 1979's "Spirits Having Flown." The first single featured vocal layerings and lush strings reminiscent of their earlier 1970's material. "Too Much Heaven" it became their seventh number one single. "Tragedy" was the second consecutive number one single from "Spirits Having Flown," stretching the total of chart-toppers for the Bee Gees to eight. "Love You Inside Out" was to be their 9th and it also brought a surprising end to the good chart fortunes of the Gibb brothers. The most successful group of the second half of the 1970's, they became yesterday's heroes in the 1980's. Between 1983-1987 the Bee Gees took a hiatus, realizing that their group was suffering from the "disco backlash" of the early 1980's, they chose to pursue solo ventures. Writing, and producing for other artists and releasing solo albums, all with varying degrees of success. But a third big comeback was not to be..

01 - Jive Talkin' (3:44)
02 - Nights On Broadway (4:31)
03 - You Should Be Dancing (4:15)
A1 - Stayin' Alive (4:43)
A2 - How Deep Is Your Love (4:01)
A3 - Night Fever (3:33)
A4 - More Than A Woman (3:11)
A5 - If I Can't Have You (3:18)
B1 - Tragedy (5:04)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Stargard - Stargard ( 77 ^ 99mb)

Stargard was a three-piece female funk music band consisting of original members Rochelle Runnells, Debra Anderson, and Janice Williams. They are best known for their 1977 hit song "Which Way Is Up?" it charted at #1 on the Billboard R&B charts. The Norman Whitfield-penned title track of their followup album What You Waitin' For was also a Top 10 R&B hit. The group's last hit came after switching label and releasing The Changing Of The Gard and its standout single "Wear It Out" co-produced by Verdine White of Earth, Wind, & Fire. Debra Anderson soon left the group shortly after the "Changing of the Gard" album. The remaining members stayed together to release two more albums including Back 2 Back (1980) and Nine Lives (1982).



01 - Three Girls (3:51)
02 - Smile (3:12)
03 - Love Is So Easy (3:32)
04 - Don't Change (3:13)
05 - Theme From "Which Way Is Up" (7:00)
06 - The Force (3:30)
07 - I'll Always Love You (3:28)
08 - Disco Rufus (3:11)
Xs
09 - Downtown Disco US Disco mixes mixed ( 22:48) (' 78)
00:00 - Stargard - Which Way Is Up (4:22)
04:22 - Stargard - What You Waitin' For (5:15)
09:37 - Rose Royce - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is (3:21)
12:58 - War - Galaxy (5:07)
18:05 - Rose Royce - Carwash (4:43)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Sticky Fingers ft the Duncan Sisters (78 ^ 84mb)

Sisters Helen and Phyllis Duncan remain as mysterious as they are talented. As with many of the subjects of the disco-era little is known about there beginnings or there current whereabouts. The Canadian sisters were considered proteges of Guenther and Morrison and their Three Hats Productions. The girls first hit was "Weekend Two Step" from the previously mentioned release. Their crystalline vocals helped propell the album into a club favorite and top seller. Ian and Willi then assembled the exact same roster of artists and musicians for another 1978 release, "Sticky Fingers." The album featured four tracks and was released promotionally as a Prelude Records 2-12" singles pack. The songs "Wastin' My Love" and "Takin' A Chance On You" were both summer hits.
By 1979 the sisters had helped Ian and Willi achieve enough success that they were given their own release. Simply titled "The Duncan Sisters" the album was a runaway smash. Nearly every track received floor time. The big hits of course were the 12" singles of "Boys Will Be Boys" and "Sadness In My Eyes." Two other tracks remain favorites, "Outside Love" and "Love Is On The Way." The EarMarc records release featured all the same musicians that Guenther and Morrison used for all their releases. And as was their working order, it was recorded in Canada at their favorite studio.
1980 was consumed with personal appearances and weathering the collapse of disco music. But in early 1981 the sisters would have one final hit, "Too Damn Hot." The sisters then moved on to personal lives and gave up the idea of becoming full fledged artists. Not giving up singing easily the sisters chose to earn extra income by doing background vocals. They could be heard on numerous recordings throughtout the 1980's and into the 1990's.



01 - Wastin My Love (7:27)
02 - Takin A Chance On You (8:14)
03 - Night Time (9:04)
04 - Party Song (10:10)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! And for those who can, consider a donation, a visit or both to your community food bank. There are so many people this country who can barely afford to eat today, or any day.

***

Some holiday humor (though it's still far too close to reality), featuring Scotty-Told-Boo-Boo, from the one and only Eschaton:

Press Pass, 2003

***

Here's a little recipe for Thanksgiving (especially if it's cold) or any late fall or winter evening: Mulled Red Wine (hat tips go to Toni L. and James Earl H. and Donald A. for their delicious version).

MULLED RED WINE

2 bottles of merlot, red zinfandel or a similar wine ($5-9 range, not too cheap)
2/3rds cup of sugar or honey
zest from 1/2-1 orange
10 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 cup of brandy or cognac
+ non-reactive pot, muddler/spoon, non-reactive bowl/mortar, stirring spoon, mugs/coffee cups/warming cups.

1. Pour the red wine in a non-reactive pot (non-stick, tempered glass/Pyrex, stainless steel, etc.), and heat over a low flame. Avoid very cheap wines, since they grow unpalatable when heated, and avoid aluminum, which will react with the wine.
2. With a vegetable peeler, zester or paring knife, zest the orange, making sure to avoid the white backing of the peel and rind, since there's less flavor and it can be bitter.
3. Muddle (or mash with a pestle or spoon) the zest/peel, releasing the oils, in a non-reactive (glass, porcelain) bowl or mortar.
4. Add the zest/peel to the wine.
5. Stir in the sugar, making sure it dissolves, then add the cloves and cinnamon sticks.
6. Add the 1/2 cup of brandy or cognac (the better the quality, the better the taste--and it adds real bite).
7. Heat until the wine is steaming, but try not to let it boil.
8. Set it aside, let it cool, and then ladle it into mugs, and enjoy!

(And remember, if you have more than a glass, designate a responsible driver, hire a cab or hit the public transportation!)

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Alphabet Soup, F

Hello it's the 6th Alphabet Soup day, which means, fafafafa the letter F..BTW today i thought of the latest threat the UK government devised, the dissappearance of the benefits records..now the compulsary ID has to be implemented to prevent extensive damage. Wicked !
Back to the music my first F today is a lady that went from riches to rags and back again, too much life to compile here, but do find out more about her. The Future Heads took their name from an album by the Flaming Lips, yet do not have much incommon musically, for one all these guys can really sing, this here their debut album got much acclaim after their second their small indie said goodbye and the band almost broke up but we can expect the third next year. Flaming Lips molded a wonder weird wworld for themselves and take every efort to let us share their psychedelics, 2002 's Yoshimi was their biggest seller thusfar after a much lauded Soft Bulletin which brought them back to earth as it where..well take your pick, better still take them all.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Marianne Faithfull - Broken English ( 79 ^ 84mb)

Marianne faithfull was born with a bit of a silverspoon in her mouth, after conventschool she began her singing career in 1964, landing her first gigs as a folk music performer in coffeehouses. Faithfull was discovered at a Rolling Stones' launch party by pop music producer Andrew Loog Oldham. Her first major release, "As Tears Go By", was penned by Oldham, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and became a chart success. She then released a series of successful singles, including "This Little Bird", "Summer Nights" and "Come and Stay With Me". Marianne married artist John Dunbar in 1965, the same year, she gave birth to their son, Nicholas. The marriage was short-lived, principally owing to Dunbar's heroin addiction. She took their son to stay with Brian Jones and Anita Pallenberg in London. During that time period, Faithfull started using marijuana and became best friends with Pallenberg. She also began a much publicized relationship with Mick Jagger.

The relationship with Jagger lasted throughout the late 1960s, and the couple became notorious. In 1968 Faithfull, by now addicted to cocaine, miscarried a daughter. Faithfull's involvement in Jagger's life would be reflected in some of the Rolling Stones' best-known songs. Faithfull herself wrote "Sister Morphine". (The writing credit for the song was the subject of a protracted legal battle; the resolution of the case has Faithfull listed as co-author of the song.) In her autobiography, Faithfull said Mick Jagger and Keith Richards released it in their own names in order that her agent did not collect (all) the royalties and proceeds from the song, especially as she was homeless and battling with heroin addiction at the time. Faithfull dissolved her relationship with Jagger in 1970, and lost custody of her son in that same year. Severe laryngitis coupled with persistent cocaine abuse during this period permanently altered the sound of Faithfull's voice, leaving it cracked and lower in pitch. Marianne's personal life went into decline, and her career went into a tailspin.

Faithfull lived on London's Soho streets for two years, suffering from heroin addiction and anorexia nervosa, friends intervened and enrolled her in an NHS drug programme. She was one of the program's most notorious failures, neither controlling nor stabilizing her addiction as the NHS intended. In 1971, producer Mike Leander found her on the streets and made an attempt to revive her career, producing part of her album Rich Kid Blues. The album would be shelved until 1985. Faithfull moved into a squat without hot water or electricity in Chelsea with her then-boyfriend Ben Brierly, of punk band The Vibrators. In 1977 she released the country-influenced record Dreaming my Dreams.

Faithfull’s immediately preceding album, Dreaming My Dreams, had been in a relatively gentle folk or country and western style. It was a surprise to listeners that Broken English was a radical departure, featuring a contemporary fusion of rock, punk, new wave and dance, with liberal use of synthesizers. Even more astonishing for listeners was Faithfull’s "new" voice. After a number of years of drug abuse, Faithfull's voice was in a lower register, far raspier, and had a more world-weary quality than in the past, well suited to the often raw emotions expressed in the newer songs.

The album’s title track took inspiration from terrorist figures of the time, particularly Ulrike Meinhof of the Baader-Meinhof group. "Guilt" was informed by the Catholic upbringing of the singer and her composer Barry Reynolds. "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan", originally performed by Dr Hook, was a melancholy tale of middle class housewife's disillusionment; Faithfull's version became something of anthem and was used to appropriate effect on the soundtracks to the films Montenegro (1981) and Thelma and Louise (1991). "What’s the Hurry?" was described by Faithfull as reflecting the everyday desperation of the habitual drug user. Her cover of John Lennon’s "Working Class Hero", recorded as a tribute to her own heroes such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, David Bowie and Iggy Pop, and Lennon himself, was widely praised.

The last track, "Why D’Ya Do It?", is a caustic, graphic, and possessive rant of a woman reacting to her lover's infidelity. The lyric starts with the man's point of view, relating the angry, bitter tirade of his jilted lover. Poet and writer Heathcote Williams had originally conceived the lyrics as a piece for Tina Turner to record, but Faithfull succeeded in convincing him that Turner would never record such a number. Its plethora of four-letter words and explicit references to oral sex caused controversy and led to a ban in Australia, where local pressings of the LP were released with smooth vinyl ( ! ) in place of the track and a 'bonus' 45 single as compensation.

Here I have to stop, she found her feet again musically and acting wise and is still going strong now (28 years later) and well respected, amazing how life twists..



01 - Broken English (4:33)
02 - Witches' Song (4:40)
03 - Brain Drain (4:09)
04 - Guilt (5:05)
05 - The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan (4:06)
06 - What's The Hurry (3:02)
07 - Working Class Hero (4:37)
08 - Why D'Ya Do It (6:34)


***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Futureheads, The - The Futureheads (04 ^ 87mb)

The band began as a trio of Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar), Jaff (bass), and Peter Brewis (drums). Ross Millard (vocals and guitar) joined soon after having been in a band with Jaff in college. They used the Sunderland City Detached Youth Project building (where Brewis and Hyde worked) as a free practice space, fitting since the project was intended to get young people off the streets by using music. They first performed in 2000, and through word-of-mouth their reputation in the local area grew. Hyde's younger brother Dave (who replaced Brewis, who went on to join fellow north east rockers Field Music) joined later, and their first single was released in 2002.
The Futureheads' debut album is just as pop-oriented as Franz F, but it comes in an extremely tightly-wound package, heaps of energy compressed into 15 tracks that span 36 insanely quick minutes. Brimming with stuttering, twitching tension, the music winds tighter and tighter, only to be released in an explosion of energy during the all-too-brief choruses, before returning to tightening the screws even more. It's positively dizzying during the first few listens, but once listeners start to differentiate between each song, this album's sly pop rock genius is obvious. The fact that it was produced by former Gang of Four member Andy Gill further adds to the temptation to label the music as stuck in the early '80s, but dig a little deeper, and you'll find that under the early '80s posturing lies a strong '60s pop quality.
There is no guitar band or rock band or whatever the hell you wanna call it in the world today that throws the vocals about quite like The Futureheads do. They all sing, it’s an approach that reaps stunning rewards. Lots of bands take the two lead singers approach these days, and lots of bands have backing singers as well, but the difference here is their use, the amount of vocal hook lines and tics that they put in unexpectedly, the way they use their voices simultaneously to create these brief bursts of solid sound that pop up through the songs, and even occasionally going all a cappella, such as on “The Danger Of The Water”. The fact is, these guys can sing, and they put their vocal talents to astonishingly good use.

A stand-alone EP "Area" was released in November 2005 while the band were working on their second album News and Tributes (name inspired by the Munich air disaster in 1958). It was released on June 2006. The Futureheads were dropped by their label in November 2006. They have said they are pleased about this because it gives them more freedom as a band, and they have the opportunity to find greener pastures.In June 2007, they reportedly completed work on a third album, which is expected to be released early 2008.



01 - Le Garage (1:46)
02 - Robot (2:00)
03 - A To B (2:27)
04 - Decent Days And Nights (2:31)
05 - Meantime (2:51)
06 - Alms (2:05)
07 - Danger Of The Water (2:57)
08 - Carnival Kids (2:44)
09 - The City Is Here For You To Use (2:35)
10 - First Day (2:04)
11 - He Knows (3:14)
12 - Stupid And Shallow (1:35)
13 - Trying Not To Think About Time (2:24)
14 - Hounds Of Love (3:02)
15 - Man Ray (2:19)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (02 ^ 99mb)

The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne's brother Mark singing lead vocals and Michael Ivins on bass guitar. After going through a host of different drummers, Richard English joined the band in 1984. After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on the small independent label Restless Records in 1986. This line-up recorded two more albums; 1987's Oh My Gawd!!! and 1989's Telepathic Surgery, the latter originally planned to be a thirty minute sound collage. In a Priest Driven Ambulance (1989), with drummer English replaced by Nathan Roberts was their first album with producer Dave Fridmann. The album was host to a marked expansion in the band's sound and their previous experiments in tape loops and effects were given a more prominent role. This was also the period of the band in which Coyne made his transition to a higher, more strained vocal style akin to Neil Young.
When in 1990 they almost burned the house down during a show they got noted and contracted by a major, Warner rec. In 1992, the band released their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head (!) after the recording of which Roberts left the band, citing creative differences, in came Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd (drums) respectively. In 1993, they released Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. This was the only studio album since In a Priest Driven Ambulance to date in which Dave Fridmann has not been involved. Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The strain of the year-long Clouds tour added to the stress from the three years touring in support of Transmissions was a major factor in the departure of Ronald Jones in late 1996.

The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard "rock" music led to the three remaining members of the group to redefine the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously. Though their experimental endeavors received some press coverage, their real breakthrough came with the massively acclaimed 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin, more traditional catchy melodies with languid synthetic strings, hypnotic, carefully manipulated beats, booming cymbals and oddball but philosophical lyrics. The album quickly became one of the underground hits of the year, even widely considered to be one of the best albums of the entire decade.Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was released(2002) , demonstrating more use of electronic instruments and computer manipulation than The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is widely considered to be The Flaming Lips' first critical and commercial success after nearly twenty years of existing as a band. The final track on the album, "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" earned a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.In March 2007, the band revealed that they have recently teamed up with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to produce a Broadway musical based on the album. At War with the Mystics is the eleventh album by the Flaming Lips, released on April, 2006 . The album is more guitar-driven than The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and has a stronger political bent lyrically than previous efforts.



01 - Fight Test (4:14)
02 - One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21 (4:59)
03 - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1 (4:45)
04 - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 2 (2:57)
05 - In The Morning Of The Magicians (6:18)
06 - Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell (4:34)
07 - Are You A Hypnotist ? (4:44)
08 - It's Summertime (4:20)
09 - Do You Realize?? (3:32)
10 - All We Have Is Now (3:53)
11 - Approaching Pavanis Mons By Balloon (3:09)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Monday, November 19, 2007

Around the World, (06)

Hello, around the world stays in the female corner, today with an indian singer who combines elements of her native lands with those from where she grew up and still lives, Britain, one can she she grew up very quick as at the age of twenty she took her first big break after a television carreer a UK hit and 4 indie albums all before she was 21...

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Sheila Chandra - The Struggle (85 ^ 98mb)

Sheila Chandra first came to prominence as a teenage actress on the British teen school soap "Grange Hill" playing the character Sudhamani Patel between 1979 and 1981. At the same time as she left the series Steve Coe head of Indipop was looking for a vocalist for his Asian fusion band Monsoon. Allegedly he found an old demo tape of Chandra's in a box at Hansa and was attracted by her rich, fluid voice and South Indian heritage.

Monsoon's debut single, the much sampled "Ever So Lonely", recorded when Chandra was 16, reached #9 in the UK charts in April 1982, but subsequent singles made less impact. Resenting pressure from their record company over musical direction, Monsoon as a band dissolved and Coe and Smith set about promoting Chandra as a solo artist on an independent label.

In the mid-'80s, Chandra was astonishingly prolific, releasing five solo albums over a period of about two or three years that drifted away from the Asian dance-pop of Monsoon into a more personal sort of world fusion. Chandra also began to write much of her own material, usually in collaboration with producer and husband Steve Coe; Coe had also helped produce, write, and perform the music in Monsoon with Martin Smith, who also assisted on Chandra's early solo records. Indian instruments were still usually employed, and electronic rhythm tracks still sometimes used to guarantee some measure of danceability and pop-rock appeal. But with increasing frequency, Chandra was pushing herself beyond the parameters of pop-rock with wordless pieces of both melismatic singing and percussive mouth noises, ambitious song cycles, interwoven overdubbed vocal tracks, and a 27-minute track based around a raga.

She made 4 solo albums with Indipop, before retiring at the age of 20, coming back in 1991 for a 5th solo album "Roots and Wings" for Indipop where she began to expirement with voice tracks laid over drones, a style which set the tone for her work in the 90s.. In the 1990s she released three remarkable albums on Peter Gabriel's Real World label, "Weaving My Ancestors Voices" and "The Zen Kiss" and "ABoneCroneDrone", fusing Arab, Andalucian, Celtic and Indian vocal styles with even older traditions such as Gregorian plainsong. She also performed live for 2 years in the 90s, for the first and so far only time in her career. In 1999 Real World released a retrospective of her work "Moonsung" and a retrospective of her Indipop work appeared in 2003



1 - Strange Minaret (4:02)
2 - Puppet Tears (6:01)
3 - The Struggle (6:43)
4 - Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram (6:19)
5 - Mukta Gaana (6:23)
6 - You (4:22)
7 - Lament (6:19)
8 - Om Shanti Om (6:17)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Quote: Brian Holmes

Ultimately what's at stake in all this is understanding the global division of labor, which has been the great enigma since postmodernization began in the eighties. Who works, at what kind of production, under which financial system, for whose consumption--and who doesn't even get the chance to work, whose territory remains tragically undeveloped and destitute, or is destroyed by invasive technologies and pollutants? Again, there is a great role for art to play in these kinds of investigations. Why do people desire certain kinds of production? What do they imagine as a better future? How do they build their solidarities? What are their poetics of the other, how do they communicate beyond their own frameworks? Only when these kinds of questions are answered in such a way as to enter the field of common sense and of the common senses, will we be able to generate the kind of activism I think is really needed. The kind of activism that can stand up, by the strength of numbers and will and by the quality of imagination and desire, to the machinery of continental integration that is now being driven by the predatory rationality of globalizing capital.
--from "Hinting at Ways to Work in Current Contexts: An Interview with Brian Holmes," by Robby Herbst, in The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, Vol. 1, No. 4, 2005, p. 17

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Don't Panic ! , (06)




Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

As we come to the final episode of the Primary Phase, a recap of last weeks goings on at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe,

The episode begins where previous episode ended, with the computer bank exploding. Arthur, Ford, Trillian and Zaphod wake up in a strange place, and assume it must be the afterlife. It becomes apparent however that in fact it is Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, which is based in the far future at the exact moment that the universe ends. They dine, but are interrupted by a telephone call from Marvin. A waiter explains that the Restaurant was in fact constructed in the ruins of Magrathea. Meanwhile, Marvin has been waiting on the surface of the planet. After he whines somewhat, the four go down to the car park (where Marvin has been parking cars), and meet up with Marvin. Ford and Zaphod are transfixed by the spaceships in the carpark, and discover a totally black, totally frictionless ship. Stuck without the Heart of Gold, they decide to steal it, with Marvin's help.

When on the ship, they discover that it is out of control, and since the interior is also totally black none of the controls are legible. They debate what the Question is, and Marvin reveals that he can read it in Arthur's brainwave patterns. Before he can reveal what it is, they are interrupted by the control panels lighting up suddenly and the ship coming out of hyperspace. They realise they are outside of the galaxy, and part of an intergalactic battle fleet.


Fit 6 (20mb)

The History Of Every Major Galactic Civilisation
The Admiral's Flagship
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
The Prospect Of Death
Far From Its Starting Point
The Place Is Full Of Sarcophagi
Our Planet Was Doomed
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
We've Made A Discovery
Q Scores 10

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Rugby "Porn" (WC Championships) + Houston Dynamo MLS Champs

Keguro inquires in a prior post's comments about this year's Jstheater rugby "porn." T'was here (new and infrequent readers, they do have their clothes on), as I was celebrating midstream this year's Rugby World Cup in France. (The post received few comments, and zero from admirers of the muscly menfolks themselves, leading me to believe that brawn and thick thighs had become passé among my friends on the Internets.) I was remiss in not following up with a post on the championship game, but as Keguro notes, South Africa defeated England 15-6 to win it all and take their second World Cup. My favorite picture from the final is this one, showing the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, hoisted aloft by the diverse squad, an image that would have been impossible 20 years ago.

(Photo Getty Images)

South Africa's tight defense and timely penalty scoring, it appears, proved decisive, but England also suffered from the loss of its soon-to-be-retired star, real life action-figure Jason Robinson (below) late in the game, to a shoulder injury. Keguro broaches the historical parallel of the Boer War, so I'll leave him to pursue that at some point, because you know it'll be amazing. I'll only note that the 3rd place match featured new world powerhouse Argentina defeating host France 34-10. From what I can tell, this pillar of "Old Europe," which had defeated the heavily favored New Zealand "All Blacks" 20-18 and walloped nearly all its other opponents, save Argentina in the opening round, took the defeat pretty well. As for Robinson, he looks like he need some serious consoling.

(Getty Images)

***

I used to follow Major League Soccer (MLS) when it began over a decade ago; I can recall DC United defeating Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 back in 1996. Around the turn of the new millennium, however, I stopped following the MLS almost completely, though I have kept up with widely reported league news like the sale of New York's team, Kansas City's team's name change to a geographically neutral high-end scotch brand (Chivas USA indeed!) and the overhyped arrival of David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, which I pray someone out there missed.

Checking the sports roundup yesterday on Yahoo! Sports, I saw that the MLS championship game had just taken place, with the Houston Dynamo, who up until two years ago had been the unfortunately named San Jose Earthquakes, defeating the New England Revolution 2-1. Dwayne De Rosario, the cornrowed Guyanese-Canadian star below, scored the game-winning goal on a rare (for him) header, giving the Dynamo their second championship in a row and foiling New England's hopes for a sixth straight year. Below are a few photos from the contest. I just may start following the MLS again, if I can find the time.
DeWayne DeRosario
Houston Dynamo's soccer player Dwayne De Rosario celebrates his game winning goal against the New England Revolution in the 2007 MLS Cup in Washington, November 18, 2007. REUTERS/Jim Young.
Brian Ching
Brian Ching's tying goal breathed life into Dynamo. His PK helped them win last year's MLS Cup. (Steve Grayson/WireImage.com)
John Avery
New England Revolution's Avery John sits on the field after the MLS Cup championship soccer game Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007, in Washington . The Houston Dynamo defeated the Revolution 2 -1 to win the MLS Cup championship.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Dynamo Team
Houston Dynamo's goalkeeper Pat Onstad (2nd R) celebrates his team's win with teammates Craig Waibel (C), Ryan Cochrane (5), and Stuart Holden (2) as New England Revolution's Pat Noonan walks off the field in their 2007 MLS Cup soccer match in Washington November 18, 2007. REUTERS/Jim Young.
Dynamo Victorious
Houston Dynamo's Wade Barrett (C) holds up the 2007 MLS Cup after defeating the New England Revolution, 2-1, in the league soccer final in Washington, November 18, 2007. REUTERS/Jim Young.