I've been away from here for nearly a week, but this time I have an excuse: kidney stones. Once again I'm weathering a bout of them, and as anyone who's ever experienced them knows, they are among the most painful illnesses anyone can encounter. In addition to totally immobilizing you at the first signs of attack because of the excruciating pain, which I have likened variously to having someone powerdrill through your lower back, plunge a knife repeatedly down the side of your groin, and inflate a portion of your stomach and intestines until they're near bursting, there's the matter of their passing out of your system. That is, if they do; if they don't, they have to be broken up, zapped, laser, sometimes even extracted. I've never had to endure any of these last few treatments, but I can say that there's no shortage of pain at any point. I think I'm past the worst part, but I probably will be posting only intermittently over the next week or so as I recover.
***
I've been intending to note the appointment of a new Poet Laureate of the United States. This year's new American lyric pied-piper is Kay Ryan, a native Californian who, as far as I know, has never been much of a public figure or a proselytizer for her art. Her brief, often wry, enjambed and rhymed, usually lyric poems, which have appeared in periodicals over the last four decades and in six collections, have many admirers, though until a few years ago, I don't think she received much recognition from the major contemporary critics. She has, however, been lauded by the Poetry Foundation and other arts institutions over the last decade. It'll be interesting to see what sort of approach she takes to the post; I've tended to think that the people appointed to this post really ought to have a history of working in at least a few different communities (and not just academic ones) and one or two concrete outreach plans for the post. The late Gwendolyn Brooks was an exemplary example. But that's just my take.
***
Thomas Disch, the 68-year-old polymathic speculative fiction writer and poet, died by his own hand a few weeks ago. I first learned about Disch's work via the writings of the one and only Samuel R. Delany, and though I've only read a few of them, I can agree with many of the appraisals that he was an extraordinarily smart man. I may be one of the few people who has read more of his poetry than his fiction, and though I'm not great fan of the poetry, he was certainly clever, and could combine dark subject matter with fixed forms sometimes to striking effect. His science fiction novels, however, which stood among the New SF work of the 1960s and 1970s, will remain his forte. Disch also produced notable work in other genres, including a computer novel, opera librettos, and children's literature, one of the last of which, The Brave Little Toaster, became a Disney film. According to the obituaries I've seen, he'd faced a series of successive traumas, including losing his partner, Charles Naylor, of many years; health and financial problems; and potential eviction from his New York home. He did, however, publish his final novel earlier this year, a satire entitled The Word of God: Or, Holy Writ Rewritten.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Random Photos
One of Olafur Eliasson's waterfalls, from the R train (?) on the Brooklyn Bridge
A street painter, near City Hall Park
The Fountain Pen Hospital!
Leo Villareal's "Chasing Rainbow," at the Brooklyn Museum
Kehinde Wiley's "Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps," at the Brooklyn Museum
Another of Olafur Eliasson's waterfalls, from the vantage of FDR Drive
Friday, July 18, 2008
RIP Lindon Barrett + FISA + iPhonery + Miscellany
It's been a long while, more than a week, since I last posted (I've added my unfinished post from yesterday). It's not for want of things to post about, but a general lassitude and inability to muster the energy to write up things as well as add photos and hyperlinks.
Posting one-line entries isn't my thing, but far too many paragraph-length posts have died on the...cybervine? Or remain as ghost entries in the editing box. And so much has happened over the last few months too. So here go a few brief notes.
+++
My sincerest condolences to the family, close friends, colleagues, and students of Lindon Barrett, a brilliant scholar, who, I'm sad to report, was recently murdered in his home. I posted the following on the CC list yesterday about Lindon, whom I met only once in person, in DC many years ago, but we did speak over the phone more than once and he never failed to offer sage advice or read a manuscript if needed when I had to call upon him.
A member of his family has suggested donations to the Winnipeg Public Library in his memory, as he greatly loved books and literature, which his scholarly work testifies to.
There's also this Lindon Barrett tributes site, if you knew Lindon and would like to post some memories or kind thoughts about him. A terrible loss, for so many reasons.
+++
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NELSON MANDELA!
+++
Both Audiologo and Eileen posted in the comments section about how their Senators with the FISA vote last week, which left me so apoplectic I couldn't even post a denunciation. Both of my home-state senators also voted against the bill in its final, toxic form, and my Congressperson also voted against the House's version of this immunity giveaway. But as is now well known, and I gather forgotten (and forgiven?), the Democratic nominee Barack Obama not only voted for the bill but offered a series of insulting, distorted justifications for doing so. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out why he sold out on this, and I keep coming back to the idea that, as was the case with Bill Clinton with the first Bush-and-Reagan administration crime syndicate, he's decided that rather than investigate and prosecute the full range of violations by this current administration, he's going to take give them every pass to clear off the stage in the hope that he can start fresh and not look back. I would imagine that since figures in the Democratic leadership repeatedly acceded to or complied and colluded with the administration, and since it appears increasingly likely that Obama will be president, he's also decided that to ensure smooth relations with them--the leadership--he'll give them a free pass as well. It's all very disgusting, disillusioning, and par for the course, but we do end up with the governments we deserve, and until we create viable party options, particularly to the left, we will be stuck with the capitutionalist and collusionist Corporatocrats at the federal level. As I said, both of my Senators and my Congressperson did not fall in line, so it's not the entire party, but it must be noted that in the case of the former, neither one made any effort to filibuster, hold or in any other way obstruct the passage of this bill. Why?
Remember, the actions of the president were so grave that the extreme right-wing Attorney General John Ashcroft, on his sickbed, refused to sign on them; his deputy, James Comey, also refused to sign off; Comey contacted the head of the FBI and requested that authorities be stationed in Ashcroft's hospital room to keep a close eye on the actions of the president's henchmen, including the disgraced and now nearly unemployable Alberto Gonzales; both men and a number of other top officials Justice Department officials were threatening to resign en masse if the administration didn't stop what it was doing and adhere (more closely?) to the law. Learning what was behind all of this is only one of many reasons why I think the new FISA bill should never been passed, but there are many others, based on the text of the horrible bill itself. As Eileen points out, the ACLU has filed suit to prevent the law from taking effect, so let's see what happens, but cynically, I wonder if the courts will shelve it, and if Obama, when president, if he starts receiving the sort of extreme, biased and unmerited criticism that Clinton did, will see how far he can stretch its now tyrannical provisions.
The Strange Bedfellows Congressional accountability PAC is still seeking funding, so if you can contribute, please do so.
+++
I was a little fascinated by the iPhone frenzy last week, but having joined in the iKlatsch last winter, when the price of the phones dropped considerably from their July 2007 launch prices, I was not going to seek an upgrade. After listening to C's caution about the 2.0 upgrade for the first generation phones, which proved a disaster for countless customers, I waited until Saturday morning to update my phone, and it went off without a hitch. Both old and new users have access to one of the best things Apple has devised yet, an application (app) store, which is easily accessible and has a sizable number of free and lowcost apps you can download swiftly and easily.
I downloaded about a half dozen, then ended up erasing most of them because I didn't need them on my phone, but as a result of my colleage Alex W.'s suggestion, I signed up for Evernote, which I haven't really figured out how to use yet but has the capability of translating any photographed text into printed text (sort of like an OCR scanner), and I also kept Jott, which allows dictaphone-style notes that a computer transcribes and then emails to you! I have used it a few times and it does work well, though I have to speak slowly and spell out words my accent usually mushes together. And best of all, both are free! Now I just have to figure out how to use them. One unpleasant side effect of the new upgrade, however, has been a more sluggish overall trend to the phone's operation. It's as if the new software added molasses to its circuits. I do sync it regularly, though, and back up my computer, because I learned the danger of not doing so a few years ago....
+++
For the first time in a few years, I didn't watch this year's Major League Baseball All Star Game, which was played at the soon-to-be-destroyed Old Yankee Stadium. (I think I only voted once, online.) Or to be more accurate, I watched the introduction of the players, which the league switched up this year by including a tribute to past Hall of Famers and All Stars alongside the elected and appointed players, a nice but eventually boring touch, and then we went back to whatever C was watching. (I can't even remember what happened on half of what I've seen on TV this summer; it's all starting to blur together, save Life on the D-List with Kathy Griffin, which is unfailingly packed with ridiculousness, which is to say, hilarious). Those who know me well know that I am, or was, a longtime baseball fan; I used to memorize stats, read boxscores daily in the newspaper, and follow the on-field minutiae of various players I championed. But this season, as has been increasingly the case over the last few years, my interest has waned substantially. Part of it has been the ongoing doping-steroid scandal, which MLB, the Players Union, Congress, and the courts have all handled poorly. Part of it is, I think, my own personal maturity and a shift in interests, along with a general dwindling enthusiasm about most professional sports and athletes. Part of it is my recognition that in these incredibly difficult and uncertain economic times, most of the people on these teams are making millions of dollars per year, and many still want and crave more. And part of it is outrage at situations like the one Willie Randolph faced with the New York Mets' ownership and hierarchy. The net result is that while I do still check the box scores regularly, I've yet to attend a baseball game this season or watch a complete one on TV, and can go days without knowing whether the Cardinals or Yankees or any other team won or lost (that is, if I miss the late evening news sports wrap ups.) The All Star Game came and went; I barely recognized half this year's players--a sign I'm getting old and haven't kept up--and even when I learned that the American League had yet again won, thus giving that league's eventual champion the home field advantage in the World Series, I didn't bother to check the game's box score. I guess I really should try to catch a game in Yankee Stadium by the end of the year, though, since I haven't been there in years. As for Shea....
+++
By this point last summer, I think I'd read about 4-5 books I'd had on my waiting shelf, but this year it's been slow going. I'm not sure, but I think I'm still trying to get up to gear. I have browsed a number of books for my work, and my little bookshelf at the library stays full with volumes for projects. One book I've been reading for pleasure is Nathalie Stephens's Je Nathanaël, which imagines and embodies the eponymous, absent assistant from André Gide's Les nourritures terrestres (The Fruits of the Earth) (L'Hexagone, 2003). Queer, hybrid and challenging its core, it's a lyrical text in which substitution and transformation in and as language repeatedly take form before one's eyes in the shifts between words, passages, forms, genres--languages. Stephens writes in both French and English, and has the mastery of both languages to draw as much out of both as possible. I've been studying and luxuriating in the book's French and thinking about how it differs from the English of Stephens's other works, but also considering how the deep(er) knowledge of the other language frees up hidden possibilities in English, how it colors and queers it. Here is one little passage, in French:
And, quite appropriately of Gide himself, and what he did write and couldn't in his era:
Who are you, Nathanaël, a question Gide asks of the assistant, but that Stephens raises reflexively, for the lyric's speaker, as the author, to the reader. Who are you?
Posting one-line entries isn't my thing, but far too many paragraph-length posts have died on the...cybervine? Or remain as ghost entries in the editing box. And so much has happened over the last few months too. So here go a few brief notes.
+++
My sincerest condolences to the family, close friends, colleagues, and students of Lindon Barrett, a brilliant scholar, who, I'm sad to report, was recently murdered in his home. I posted the following on the CC list yesterday about Lindon, whom I met only once in person, in DC many years ago, but we did speak over the phone more than once and he never failed to offer sage advice or read a manuscript if needed when I had to call upon him.I'm so sorry to hear of this horrible news. Lindon was so smart, a lovely man, and one of the important figures in the new generation of black and out LGBTQ scholars who've reshaped departments over the last decade and a half. His intellectual range was impressive. I worked with him a little bit in the early 1990s, and he was unfailingly helpful and kind. His tragic death is so saddening.
A member of his family has suggested donations to the Winnipeg Public Library in his memory, as he greatly loved books and literature, which his scholarly work testifies to.
There's also this Lindon Barrett tributes site, if you knew Lindon and would like to post some memories or kind thoughts about him. A terrible loss, for so many reasons.
+++
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NELSON MANDELA!
+++
Both Audiologo and Eileen posted in the comments section about how their Senators with the FISA vote last week, which left me so apoplectic I couldn't even post a denunciation. Both of my home-state senators also voted against the bill in its final, toxic form, and my Congressperson also voted against the House's version of this immunity giveaway. But as is now well known, and I gather forgotten (and forgiven?), the Democratic nominee Barack Obama not only voted for the bill but offered a series of insulting, distorted justifications for doing so. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out why he sold out on this, and I keep coming back to the idea that, as was the case with Bill Clinton with the first Bush-and-Reagan administration crime syndicate, he's decided that rather than investigate and prosecute the full range of violations by this current administration, he's going to take give them every pass to clear off the stage in the hope that he can start fresh and not look back. I would imagine that since figures in the Democratic leadership repeatedly acceded to or complied and colluded with the administration, and since it appears increasingly likely that Obama will be president, he's also decided that to ensure smooth relations with them--the leadership--he'll give them a free pass as well. It's all very disgusting, disillusioning, and par for the course, but we do end up with the governments we deserve, and until we create viable party options, particularly to the left, we will be stuck with the capitutionalist and collusionist Corporatocrats at the federal level. As I said, both of my Senators and my Congressperson did not fall in line, so it's not the entire party, but it must be noted that in the case of the former, neither one made any effort to filibuster, hold or in any other way obstruct the passage of this bill. Why?
Remember, the actions of the president were so grave that the extreme right-wing Attorney General John Ashcroft, on his sickbed, refused to sign on them; his deputy, James Comey, also refused to sign off; Comey contacted the head of the FBI and requested that authorities be stationed in Ashcroft's hospital room to keep a close eye on the actions of the president's henchmen, including the disgraced and now nearly unemployable Alberto Gonzales; both men and a number of other top officials Justice Department officials were threatening to resign en masse if the administration didn't stop what it was doing and adhere (more closely?) to the law. Learning what was behind all of this is only one of many reasons why I think the new FISA bill should never been passed, but there are many others, based on the text of the horrible bill itself. As Eileen points out, the ACLU has filed suit to prevent the law from taking effect, so let's see what happens, but cynically, I wonder if the courts will shelve it, and if Obama, when president, if he starts receiving the sort of extreme, biased and unmerited criticism that Clinton did, will see how far he can stretch its now tyrannical provisions.
The Strange Bedfellows Congressional accountability PAC is still seeking funding, so if you can contribute, please do so.
+++
I was a little fascinated by the iPhone frenzy last week, but having joined in the iKlatsch last winter, when the price of the phones dropped considerably from their July 2007 launch prices, I was not going to seek an upgrade. After listening to C's caution about the 2.0 upgrade for the first generation phones, which proved a disaster for countless customers, I waited until Saturday morning to update my phone, and it went off without a hitch. Both old and new users have access to one of the best things Apple has devised yet, an application (app) store, which is easily accessible and has a sizable number of free and lowcost apps you can download swiftly and easily.I downloaded about a half dozen, then ended up erasing most of them because I didn't need them on my phone, but as a result of my colleage Alex W.'s suggestion, I signed up for Evernote, which I haven't really figured out how to use yet but has the capability of translating any photographed text into printed text (sort of like an OCR scanner), and I also kept Jott, which allows dictaphone-style notes that a computer transcribes and then emails to you! I have used it a few times and it does work well, though I have to speak slowly and spell out words my accent usually mushes together. And best of all, both are free! Now I just have to figure out how to use them. One unpleasant side effect of the new upgrade, however, has been a more sluggish overall trend to the phone's operation. It's as if the new software added molasses to its circuits. I do sync it regularly, though, and back up my computer, because I learned the danger of not doing so a few years ago....
+++
For the first time in a few years, I didn't watch this year's Major League Baseball All Star Game, which was played at the soon-to-be-destroyed Old Yankee Stadium. (I think I only voted once, online.) Or to be more accurate, I watched the introduction of the players, which the league switched up this year by including a tribute to past Hall of Famers and All Stars alongside the elected and appointed players, a nice but eventually boring touch, and then we went back to whatever C was watching. (I can't even remember what happened on half of what I've seen on TV this summer; it's all starting to blur together, save Life on the D-List with Kathy Griffin, which is unfailingly packed with ridiculousness, which is to say, hilarious). Those who know me well know that I am, or was, a longtime baseball fan; I used to memorize stats, read boxscores daily in the newspaper, and follow the on-field minutiae of various players I championed. But this season, as has been increasingly the case over the last few years, my interest has waned substantially. Part of it has been the ongoing doping-steroid scandal, which MLB, the Players Union, Congress, and the courts have all handled poorly. Part of it is, I think, my own personal maturity and a shift in interests, along with a general dwindling enthusiasm about most professional sports and athletes. Part of it is my recognition that in these incredibly difficult and uncertain economic times, most of the people on these teams are making millions of dollars per year, and many still want and crave more. And part of it is outrage at situations like the one Willie Randolph faced with the New York Mets' ownership and hierarchy. The net result is that while I do still check the box scores regularly, I've yet to attend a baseball game this season or watch a complete one on TV, and can go days without knowing whether the Cardinals or Yankees or any other team won or lost (that is, if I miss the late evening news sports wrap ups.) The All Star Game came and went; I barely recognized half this year's players--a sign I'm getting old and haven't kept up--and even when I learned that the American League had yet again won, thus giving that league's eventual champion the home field advantage in the World Series, I didn't bother to check the game's box score. I guess I really should try to catch a game in Yankee Stadium by the end of the year, though, since I haven't been there in years. As for Shea....
+++
By this point last summer, I think I'd read about 4-5 books I'd had on my waiting shelf, but this year it's been slow going. I'm not sure, but I think I'm still trying to get up to gear. I have browsed a number of books for my work, and my little bookshelf at the library stays full with volumes for projects. One book I've been reading for pleasure is Nathalie Stephens's Je Nathanaël, which imagines and embodies the eponymous, absent assistant from André Gide's Les nourritures terrestres (The Fruits of the Earth) (L'Hexagone, 2003). Queer, hybrid and challenging its core, it's a lyrical text in which substitution and transformation in and as language repeatedly take form before one's eyes in the shifts between words, passages, forms, genres--languages. Stephens writes in both French and English, and has the mastery of both languages to draw as much out of both as possible. I've been studying and luxuriating in the book's French and thinking about how it differs from the English of Stephens's other works, but also considering how the deep(er) knowledge of the other language frees up hidden possibilities in English, how it colors and queers it. Here is one little passage, in French:
Entre deux mots le souffle.
Entre deux corps le chagrin.
Entre deux villes la douleur.
Entre deux voix le désir.
Entre nous le livre à feuilleter. (p. 59)
And, quite appropriately of Gide himself, and what he did write and couldn't in his era:
Je suis un livre qui a déjà été écrit.
Je suis le livre que personne n'ose écrire.
Qui es-tu Nathanaël? (p.65)
Who are you, Nathanaël, a question Gide asks of the assistant, but that Stephens raises reflexively, for the lyric's speaker, as the author, to the reader. Who are you?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
From the Garden (Finished Post)
Passing Strange unfortunately is closing on July 20, 2008, so if you can, catch it! Spike Lee is going to film it on Saturday, so it ought to be available on DVD soon, but if you can, see it live!
===
Some photos of the garden's fruits:
A few days ago, a tomato and the first ripe blackberries and blueberries
Today, many more blackberries and a blueberry
An alpine strawberry (aka squirrels' desert)
Some of the ripe blueberries
More blackberries, ripe and unripe
Interestingly enough, the blackberries have provided an opportunity to watch evolution in action. We originally planted two different types of blackberry bushes, one thorned, the other not. I don't believe anyone told C or me that the former was hardier than the latter, but in any case we soon saw that the thorned bushes were more aggressive (and more capable of keeping away animals--those thorns are like tiny razors, I kid you not), though both plants kept growing and originally bore fruit. But we cut both back, and eventually the thorned ones have taken over. They have crept underneath and across the yard, underneath the fence and into our neighbor's yard, and are full of fruit. The thornless bushes have almost completely disappeared, and last year, were virtually fruitless. Which is unfortunately, because the fruit was just as good, and much easier to pick.
===
Some photos of the garden's fruits:
A few days ago, a tomato and the first ripe blackberries and blueberries
Today, many more blackberries and a blueberry
An alpine strawberry (aka squirrels' desert)
Some of the ripe blueberries
More blackberries, ripe and unripe
Interestingly enough, the blackberries have provided an opportunity to watch evolution in action. We originally planted two different types of blackberry bushes, one thorned, the other not. I don't believe anyone told C or me that the former was hardier than the latter, but in any case we soon saw that the thorned bushes were more aggressive (and more capable of keeping away animals--those thorns are like tiny razors, I kid you not), though both plants kept growing and originally bore fruit. But we cut both back, and eventually the thorned ones have taken over. They have crept underneath and across the yard, underneath the fence and into our neighbor's yard, and are full of fruit. The thornless bushes have almost completely disappeared, and last year, were virtually fruitless. Which is unfortunately, because the fruit was just as good, and much easier to pick.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Rhovacation
Hello, Rho-Xs will be taking a short holiday break, in the meantime i'm sure, if you'd track back, you'll find plenty of interesting stuff you weren't in the mood for earlier...then there's the simple fact that taking in(not just downloading) the amount of music that, on this blog alone, comes around everyweek (about 18 titles) is too much..even for a semi-professional.....Now i started the audioplay of William Gibson's Neuromancer last monday, and i see no reason to leave the fans hanging upon Rho-Xs return, so you'll get the concluding part 2 here today...
Finally i gladly give way here to a movie that's made some inroads into public awareness, though not nearly enough yet. Big media owners dont like it, so their editors silence anyone mentioning it. In the movie/documentairy Zeitgeist images and music were put together in a powerful and artistic way, it assures the 2 hours it takes to tell the story pass quickly. It's an essentiel movie if you want to grasp what has been and is going on in our world. Our world where once again the drums of war and destruction are sounded loudly by the same deluded materialists. They will stop at nothing now there hand is out in the open, counting on the gullible and ignorant for support. Dont be one those, enlighten them. This movie is a good place to start gaining some understanding. Make a difference ! 25 $ buys you 6 dvd's to distribute among friends and family..this will amount to much more than ranting at a blog or demonstrating at a rally.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
William Gibson - Neuromancer pt 2 ( 57:38, 33mb)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Zeitgeist was first released on June 26, 2007 and topped the Google video charts most viewed videos. It's been translated into many languages and is distributed officially via Google Video, BitTorrent, aswell being obtainable on DVD. Zeitgeist won the top award of Best Feature Documentary/Artivist Spirit at the 4th Annual Artivists Awards in 2008 in Hollywood, CA. An upcoming sequel has been announced for October 2008.
The film starts with a speech by Chögyam Trungpa about spirituality, followed by a series of musically synchronized clips of war and explosions. It quotes Jordan Maxwell's Inner World of the Occult, criticizing religious institutions, governments, and the banking cartels who "have misled [the people] away from the true and divine presence in the universe."
Part I: The Greatest Story Ever Told
Part I evaluates the historicity of the Bible. In furtherance of the Jesus myth hypothesis, this part argues that the historical Jesus is a literary and astrological hybrid, and that the Bible is based on astrological principles documented by many ancient civilizations, especially pertaining to the movement of the sun through the sky and stars.
Part II: All the World's a Stage
Part II of the documentary claims 9/11 was engineered to generate mass fear, justify going to war with Afghanistan and Iraq, to remove civil liberties from the general public, and to make more money for the people in power.
Part III: Don't Mind the Men Behind the Curtain
Part III shows how powerful bankers have been conspiring for world domination and increased power while the rich of society have been using their wealth to increase financial panic and foster a consolidation of independent competing banks. It explores war profiteering by banking cartels and defense and military contractors. It describes the goal of these bankers as world power over a chipped public.
*****
Zeitgeist, produced by Peter Joseph, was created as a nonprofit expression to inspire people to start looking at the world from a more critical perspective and to understand that very often things are not what the population at large think they are. The information in Zeitgeist was established over a year long period of research and the current Source page on the site lists the basic sources used / referenced and the developing Interactive Transcript includes exact source references and further information. A Q & A page is also developped.
View online
ZEITGEIST movie ( 122min)
Order
ZEITGEIST - Final Edition ( 701mb -XVID (640 x 480) Torrent DL)
Click above link and select "Save to Disk" or "Open with Bittorent"( if / when you have the program installed).
Using the BITTORENT File Transfer Medium:
The medium of file transfer being utilized here is known as "Bittorrent", which requires a separate program. You can download the program Here . It is recommended you install this program first, and then download the "Torrent reference file" above. Once you have the program installed, you can open the Torrent file you have downloaded, and it will begin the transfer.The file will be downloaded to a folder specified by the program.
Also- You will need the XVID CODEC to play the file.
*****
Finally i gladly give way here to a movie that's made some inroads into public awareness, though not nearly enough yet. Big media owners dont like it, so their editors silence anyone mentioning it. In the movie/documentairy Zeitgeist images and music were put together in a powerful and artistic way, it assures the 2 hours it takes to tell the story pass quickly. It's an essentiel movie if you want to grasp what has been and is going on in our world. Our world where once again the drums of war and destruction are sounded loudly by the same deluded materialists. They will stop at nothing now there hand is out in the open, counting on the gullible and ignorant for support. Dont be one those, enlighten them. This movie is a good place to start gaining some understanding. Make a difference ! 25 $ buys you 6 dvd's to distribute among friends and family..this will amount to much more than ranting at a blog or demonstrating at a rally.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
William Gibson - Neuromancer pt 2 ( 57:38, 33mb)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Zeitgeist was first released on June 26, 2007 and topped the Google video charts most viewed videos. It's been translated into many languages and is distributed officially via Google Video, BitTorrent, aswell being obtainable on DVD. Zeitgeist won the top award of Best Feature Documentary/Artivist Spirit at the 4th Annual Artivists Awards in 2008 in Hollywood, CA. An upcoming sequel has been announced for October 2008.
The film starts with a speech by Chögyam Trungpa about spirituality, followed by a series of musically synchronized clips of war and explosions. It quotes Jordan Maxwell's Inner World of the Occult, criticizing religious institutions, governments, and the banking cartels who "have misled [the people] away from the true and divine presence in the universe."
Part I: The Greatest Story Ever Told
Part I evaluates the historicity of the Bible. In furtherance of the Jesus myth hypothesis, this part argues that the historical Jesus is a literary and astrological hybrid, and that the Bible is based on astrological principles documented by many ancient civilizations, especially pertaining to the movement of the sun through the sky and stars.
Part II: All the World's a Stage
Part II of the documentary claims 9/11 was engineered to generate mass fear, justify going to war with Afghanistan and Iraq, to remove civil liberties from the general public, and to make more money for the people in power.
Part III: Don't Mind the Men Behind the Curtain
Part III shows how powerful bankers have been conspiring for world domination and increased power while the rich of society have been using their wealth to increase financial panic and foster a consolidation of independent competing banks. It explores war profiteering by banking cartels and defense and military contractors. It describes the goal of these bankers as world power over a chipped public.
*****
Zeitgeist, produced by Peter Joseph, was created as a nonprofit expression to inspire people to start looking at the world from a more critical perspective and to understand that very often things are not what the population at large think they are. The information in Zeitgeist was established over a year long period of research and the current Source page on the site lists the basic sources used / referenced and the developing Interactive Transcript includes exact source references and further information. A Q & A page is also developped.
View online
ZEITGEIST movie ( 122min)
Order
ZEITGEIST , The Movie DVD, Full Resolution Remastered Version - Price 5 $+ 2$ P&P
*****
2nd august UPDATE
I've recoded and split the movie into its 3 original parts for easy download, parts 2 and 3 give you an idea on whats currently going on, part 1 in my opinion is essential to understand what has controlled the masses these last millenia , and why the illuminate, who know all that whats been portrayed in part 1, feel and act so superior towards the sheep. Just 40 min ..and its not that new btw in 88 PBS broadcast The Naked Truth 110min, which goes more into depth on this subject. Whatever, you owe it to yourself to be aware, and free your mind from the lies.
Zeitgeist the movie part 1 ( 40 min, AVI 85mb) (Christians take note !)
Zeitgeist the movie part 2 ( 34 min, AVI 69mb) (all the world's a stage)
Zeitgeist the movie part 3 ( 48 min, AVI 106mb (bankers bank for themselves, vampires that will bleed you dry)
ZEITGEIST - Final Edition ( 701mb -XVID (640 x 480) Torrent DL)
Click above link and select "Save to Disk" or "Open with Bittorent"( if / when you have the program installed).
Using the BITTORENT File Transfer Medium:
The medium of file transfer being utilized here is known as "Bittorrent", which requires a separate program. You can download the program Here . It is recommended you install this program first, and then download the "Torrent reference file" above. Once you have the program installed, you can open the Torrent file you have downloaded, and it will begin the transfer.The file will be downloaded to a folder specified by the program.
Also- You will need the XVID CODEC to play the file.
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The world is OUR oyster.
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Thursday, July 10, 2008
Into The Groove (39)
Hello, Into the Groove, finishes the Laswell week with three expressions of his collision funk....Material, the avant-garde downtown ensemble organized around bassist him and keyboardist Michael Beinhorn was where Laswell first showed his talents....15 years later he played in and produced Praxis, combining metal and funk into a fusion that embodies his credo “Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permitted”... a year later he worked with a whole body of artists, again producing a clash between the P-funk of yesteryear and the artists that he worked with previously, in Praxis, Material and others , the result Funkcronomicon.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Material - Temporary Music (1979-1981)
One of the most high-profile projects of the endlessly prolific bassist and producer Bill Laswell, Material pioneered a groundbreaking fusion of jazz, funk, and punk that also incorporated elements of hip-hop and world music well before either's entrance into the mass cultural consciousness. Formed in 1979, the first Material lineup consisted of Laswell, multi-instrumentalist Michael Beinhorn, and drummer Fred Maher, all three staples of the downtown New York City underground music scene. After Material's debut LP under their own name, Temporary Music, the group's ranks swelled to include figures ranging from Sonny Sharrock to Henry Threadgill to Fred Frith, additions which yielded 1981's superb Memory Serves.
Their next album "One Down" marked a distinct shift in sound, the edgy experimentalism that characterized their earlier efforts is downplayed here in favor of funk and disco tunes delivered with less weirdness. Laswell is a master of funk bass, and with guests like drummer Yogi Horton, guitarist Nile Rodgers and singers Nona Hendryx and Whitney Houston (just before she became a superstar on her own), he didn't really have much chance to go wrong. Laswell finally reassembled the troops in 1989 to record the atmospheric Seven Souls, which spotlighted the spoken word performances of the legendary William S. Burroughs. 1991's The Third Power brought the group back to its soulful roots, with guests including Herbie Hancock, Sly & Robbie, Maceo Parker, and the Jungle Brothers; after 1994's Hallucination Engine, another four-year hiatus preceded the release of the remix collection The Road to the Western Lands. Intonarumori followed in 1999.
Temporary Music 1 (12") (1 - 4 recorded 23 to 25 July 1979) at Eddy Offord's Studio, Woodstock, New York.
Discourse / Slow Murder (7") (5 & 6 recorded March 1980).
Temporary Music Compilation (LP) ( 7 -10 recorded 25 & 26 September 1980) at Lindon Studio, Pennsylvania.
American Songs (12") ( 11 & 12 recorded 1981).
+-.jpg)
01 - O. A. O. (4:43)
02 - White Man (7:40)
03 - On Sadism (5:04)
04 - Process/ Motion (4:34)
05 - Discourse (4:05)
06 - Slow Murder (3:59)
07 - Secret Life (5:45)
08 - Reduction (5:30)
09 - Heritage (3:33)
10 - Dark Things (5:10)
11 - Detached (5:02)
12 - Ciquiri (6:22)
Material - Temporary Music (1979-1981)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Praxis - Metatron (94 ^ 99mb)
Praxis is the name of an ever-changing Bill Laswell musical project. Praxis combines elements of different musical genres such as funk, jazz, hip-hop and heavy metal into highly improvised music. First appearing in 1992 with the critically acclaimed Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis), Buckethead, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell and Brain have defined the direction of the band over the last 15 years. Between the influence of Laswell and Buckethead, Praxis's musical experimentation in both studio, street and live settings have combined elements of mid-70’s Funkadelic & Miles Davis, hip-hop’s more avant-garde leanings, and Last Exit's ferocious yet organic jazz/metal aesthetic. Many of these experiments defined (and in some sense, invented) diverse, eclectic, and freeform genres including avant-garde, heavy metal, funk and jazz-fusion.
For the third manifestation of Praxis, Metatron, Laswell returned from the cut-and-paste trash metal of the second album, Sacrifist, to a band approach, as on the first, Transmutation. Concentrating on the core band of Buckethead, Brain and himself, he created an album which is close in spirit to the first one, but covers very different ground, and is also much weirder. Throughout the album, Buckethead is awe-inspiring, playing not only with lightning speed and enormous precision, but also with dangerous intensity. The production, however, is the record's second star: there are interesting sounds abound (drilling sounds, oscillators, wind etc.), and each track (and virtually every guitar part) has a sonic identity of its own. Metatron is an incredible album (although beginners should start with Transmutation) and easily one of Buckethead's best showcases.
01 - Wake The Dead (3:41)
02 - Skull Crack (We Are Not Sick Men) (5:16)
03 - Meta-Matic (2:30)
04 - Cathedral Space (Soft Hail Of Electrons) (1:20)
05 - Turbine (2:36)
06 - Vacuum-Mass (1:01)
07 - Cannibal (Heart Shape Of The Iron Blade) (3:07)
08 - Inferno/Heatseeker/Exploded Heart (9:21)
09 - Warm Time Machine/Low End Transmission/Over The Foaming Deep (4:14)
10 - Double Vision (3:11)
11 - Armed (Tsa Agent #5) (2:16)
12 - Warcraft (Bruce Lee's Black Hour Of Chaos) (3:07)
13 - Triad (The Saw Is Family) (3:13)
14 - Space After (The Conciousness That Dances And Kills) (2:54)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Axiom Funk - Funkcronomicon (95 ^ 198mb)
This album features heavy participation from various members of Parliament-Funkadelic, to the point where "Funkcronomicon" could be considered a fully fledged P-Funk album. The album features what may be Pedro Bell's last authentic artistic renderings, as well as P-Funk guitarist Eddie Hazel's last recordings. Funkcronomicon is comprised of newly recorded tracks, as well as tracks that have been featured on other Bill Laswell productions.
So who's aboard ?
Bill Laswell , Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar , Aiyb Dieng , Anton Fier , Bernie Worrell, Herbie Hancock, J.D. Parron, Bootsy Collins , George Clinton, Nicky Skopelitis , Garry Shider , Michael Hampton, Buckethead, Maceo Parker , Sly Stone, Menace, Eddie Hazel and more...
+-.jpg)
Axiom Funk - Funkcronomicon (^ 99mb)
01 - Order Within The Universe (3:17)
02 - Under The Influence (5:45)
03 - If 6 Was 9 (6:00)
04 - Orbitron Attack (12:29)
05 - Cosmic Slop (5:16)
06 - Free-Bass (Godzillatron Cush) (5:43)
07 - Tell The World (3:53)
08 - Pray My Soul (5:08)
Axiom Funk - Funkcronomicon (^ 98mb
09 - Hideous Mutant Freekz (7:25)
10 - Sax Machine (7:47)
11 - Animal Behavior (7:09)
12 - Trumpets And Violins, Violins (3:38)
13 - Telling Time (4:57)
14 - Jungle Free-Bass (5:38)
15 - Blackout (3:44)
16 - Sacred To The Pain (4:54)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Material - Temporary Music (1979-1981)
One of the most high-profile projects of the endlessly prolific bassist and producer Bill Laswell, Material pioneered a groundbreaking fusion of jazz, funk, and punk that also incorporated elements of hip-hop and world music well before either's entrance into the mass cultural consciousness. Formed in 1979, the first Material lineup consisted of Laswell, multi-instrumentalist Michael Beinhorn, and drummer Fred Maher, all three staples of the downtown New York City underground music scene. After Material's debut LP under their own name, Temporary Music, the group's ranks swelled to include figures ranging from Sonny Sharrock to Henry Threadgill to Fred Frith, additions which yielded 1981's superb Memory Serves.
Their next album "One Down" marked a distinct shift in sound, the edgy experimentalism that characterized their earlier efforts is downplayed here in favor of funk and disco tunes delivered with less weirdness. Laswell is a master of funk bass, and with guests like drummer Yogi Horton, guitarist Nile Rodgers and singers Nona Hendryx and Whitney Houston (just before she became a superstar on her own), he didn't really have much chance to go wrong. Laswell finally reassembled the troops in 1989 to record the atmospheric Seven Souls, which spotlighted the spoken word performances of the legendary William S. Burroughs. 1991's The Third Power brought the group back to its soulful roots, with guests including Herbie Hancock, Sly & Robbie, Maceo Parker, and the Jungle Brothers; after 1994's Hallucination Engine, another four-year hiatus preceded the release of the remix collection The Road to the Western Lands. Intonarumori followed in 1999.
Temporary Music 1 (12") (1 - 4 recorded 23 to 25 July 1979) at Eddy Offord's Studio, Woodstock, New York.
Discourse / Slow Murder (7") (5 & 6 recorded March 1980).
Temporary Music Compilation (LP) ( 7 -10 recorded 25 & 26 September 1980) at Lindon Studio, Pennsylvania.
American Songs (12") ( 11 & 12 recorded 1981).
01 - O. A. O. (4:43)
02 - White Man (7:40)
03 - On Sadism (5:04)
04 - Process/ Motion (4:34)
05 - Discourse (4:05)
06 - Slow Murder (3:59)
07 - Secret Life (5:45)
08 - Reduction (5:30)
09 - Heritage (3:33)
10 - Dark Things (5:10)
11 - Detached (5:02)
12 - Ciquiri (6:22)
Material - Temporary Music (1979-1981)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Praxis - Metatron (94 ^ 99mb)
Praxis is the name of an ever-changing Bill Laswell musical project. Praxis combines elements of different musical genres such as funk, jazz, hip-hop and heavy metal into highly improvised music. First appearing in 1992 with the critically acclaimed Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis), Buckethead, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell and Brain have defined the direction of the band over the last 15 years. Between the influence of Laswell and Buckethead, Praxis's musical experimentation in both studio, street and live settings have combined elements of mid-70’s Funkadelic & Miles Davis, hip-hop’s more avant-garde leanings, and Last Exit's ferocious yet organic jazz/metal aesthetic. Many of these experiments defined (and in some sense, invented) diverse, eclectic, and freeform genres including avant-garde, heavy metal, funk and jazz-fusion.
For the third manifestation of Praxis, Metatron, Laswell returned from the cut-and-paste trash metal of the second album, Sacrifist, to a band approach, as on the first, Transmutation. Concentrating on the core band of Buckethead, Brain and himself, he created an album which is close in spirit to the first one, but covers very different ground, and is also much weirder. Throughout the album, Buckethead is awe-inspiring, playing not only with lightning speed and enormous precision, but also with dangerous intensity. The production, however, is the record's second star: there are interesting sounds abound (drilling sounds, oscillators, wind etc.), and each track (and virtually every guitar part) has a sonic identity of its own. Metatron is an incredible album (although beginners should start with Transmutation) and easily one of Buckethead's best showcases.
01 - Wake The Dead (3:41)
02 - Skull Crack (We Are Not Sick Men) (5:16)
03 - Meta-Matic (2:30)
04 - Cathedral Space (Soft Hail Of Electrons) (1:20)
05 - Turbine (2:36)
06 - Vacuum-Mass (1:01)
07 - Cannibal (Heart Shape Of The Iron Blade) (3:07)
08 - Inferno/Heatseeker/Exploded Heart (9:21)
09 - Warm Time Machine/Low End Transmission/Over The Foaming Deep (4:14)
10 - Double Vision (3:11)
11 - Armed (Tsa Agent #5) (2:16)
12 - Warcraft (Bruce Lee's Black Hour Of Chaos) (3:07)
13 - Triad (The Saw Is Family) (3:13)
14 - Space After (The Conciousness That Dances And Kills) (2:54)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Axiom Funk - Funkcronomicon (95 ^ 198mb)
This album features heavy participation from various members of Parliament-Funkadelic, to the point where "Funkcronomicon" could be considered a fully fledged P-Funk album. The album features what may be Pedro Bell's last authentic artistic renderings, as well as P-Funk guitarist Eddie Hazel's last recordings. Funkcronomicon is comprised of newly recorded tracks, as well as tracks that have been featured on other Bill Laswell productions.
So who's aboard ?
Bill Laswell , Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar , Aiyb Dieng , Anton Fier , Bernie Worrell, Herbie Hancock, J.D. Parron, Bootsy Collins , George Clinton, Nicky Skopelitis , Garry Shider , Michael Hampton, Buckethead, Maceo Parker , Sly Stone, Menace, Eddie Hazel and more...
Axiom Funk - Funkcronomicon (^ 99mb)
01 - Order Within The Universe (3:17)
02 - Under The Influence (5:45)
03 - If 6 Was 9 (6:00)
04 - Orbitron Attack (12:29)
05 - Cosmic Slop (5:16)
06 - Free-Bass (Godzillatron Cush) (5:43)
07 - Tell The World (3:53)
08 - Pray My Soul (5:08)
Axiom Funk - Funkcronomicon (^ 98mb
09 - Hideous Mutant Freekz (7:25)
10 - Sax Machine (7:47)
11 - Animal Behavior (7:09)
12 - Trumpets And Violins, Violins (3:38)
13 - Telling Time (4:57)
14 - Jungle Free-Bass (5:38)
15 - Blackout (3:44)
16 - Sacred To The Pain (4:54)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Alphabet Soup II (M)
Hello, more Alphabet Soup today Mmm. The seventies space cowboy is up first, after scoring a megahit with The Joker, Steve Miller had the means to take it easy and record his classic Fly Like an Eagle at his new ranch. It turned out a very fruitful time as he recorded his two most succesful albums there, basicly in one go, even if Book of Dreams was released a year later....Psychospacerock visionaries Monster Magnet spent much of the 1990s struggling against the prejudices imposed upon image and sound by the alternative rock critics. In the meantime, Monster Magnet still managed to become one of the most successful and influential bands associated with the so-called underground "stoner rock" scene. And yet, their influences span much further than that scene's foundations in '70s hard rock and metal, delving into space rock, psychedelia, and beyond. Dopes to Infinity deserved much more credit than it got..convince yourself....Finally Mecano a dutch band who's early eighties work i posted 18 months ago (see Eurotour-stage 12), they were shocked out of their slumber 4 years ago after the brutal murder of a friend, they took up their pen again and recorded a new album, Snake Tales For Dragon, they quickly found out they had still fans out there, specially in Greece and France. Last year they released another album "Those Revolutianairy Days" .....
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Steve Miller - Fly Like An Eagle (76 ^90mb)
Miller was born( October 5, 1943) to Dr George "Sonny" Miller, a pathologist, jazz enthusiast, hat salesman and amateur recording engineer, and Bertha, a jazz-influenced singer. In 1950, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. His first guitar chords were taught to him when he was five years old by his godfather Les Paul, pioneer of the electric guitar and multitrack recording. Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford were regular visitors at the Miller house and Dr Miller's father was best man at their wedding. Les Paul encouraged young Miller to use his prodigious talents, and much of Miller's success has been attributed to Paul's tutelage.
While at highschool, Miller formed his first band, The Marksmen. Miller taught classmate Royce Scaggs — better known later by his nickname Boz — guitar chords so that he could join the band. Miller graduated in 1961 and later, while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Miller formed The Ardells. Scaggs joined the Ardells the next year; and Ben Sidran became the band's keyboardist the year after. After attending the University of Copenhagen in Denmark for a semester in his senior year, he dropped out six credit hours shy of a literature degree. Upon his return to the United States, Miller moved to Chicago where he immersed himself in the city's blues scene, teaming with Barry Goldberg for two years. He then moved to San Francisco and formed the first incarnation of the Steve Miller Blues Band, featuring guitarist James "Curly" Cooke, bassist Lonnie Turner, and drummer Tim Davis. The band built a local following through a series of free concerts and backed Chuck Berry in 1967 at a Fillmore date later released as a live album. Scaggs moved to San Francisco later that year and replaced Cooke in time to play the Monterey Pop Festival; it was the first of many personnel changes. Capitol signed the group as the Steve Miller Band following the festival.
In 1968 they released an album, Children of the Future, the first in a series of discs rooted solidly in the psychedelic blues style that then dominated the San Francisco scene. The group followed the release of their second album, Sailor, with a series of high-quality albums ( Brave New World, Your Saving Grace and Number 5) with similar chart placements followed. Miller remained a popular artist, but pop radio failed to pick up on any of his material at this time, even though tracks like "Space Cowboy" and "Brave New World" had become FM rock staples.with the albums Brave New World, Your Saving Grace and Number 5. In this first period Miller established his personae of the "Gangster of Love" (from Sailor) and the "Space Cowboy" (from Brave New World), which were reused in later works. In 1972, Miller recorded the album Recall the Beginning, A Journey from Eden, in which a third persona, "Maurice," was introduced in the tune "Enter Maurice." Things began to look bleak for Miller when he broke his neck in a car accident and subsequently developed hepatitis, which put him out of commission for most of 1972 and early 1973.
Miller spent his recuperation time reinventing himself as a blues-influenced pop-rocker, writing compact, melodic, catchy songs. This approach was introduced on his 1973 LP The Joker and was an instant success, with the album going platinum and the title track hitting number one on the pop charts. Now an established star, Miller elected to take three years off. He purchased a farm and built his own recording studio, at which he crafted the wildly successful albums Fly Like an Eagle and Book of Dreams at approximately the same time. Fly Like an Eagle was released in 1976 and eclipsed its predecessor in terms of quality and sales in spite of the long downtime in between. Fly Like an Eagle is where Miller took flight, creating his definitive slice of space blues, stylish, trippy, plus a detailed atmospheric production where everything fits. It gave Miller his second number one hit with "Rock'n Me," plus several other hitsingles. Book Of Dreams (77) was almost as successful, selling over three million copies and producing several hits as well.
On the heels of this massive success, Miller took a long hiatus from recording and touring, emerging in 1981 with Circle of Love, an ambitious album possibly intended to appease critics of his new style. Sales were disappointing, however, and in 1982 he returned to the pop formula with another hit album, Abracadabra. The title track gave him his third number one single and proved to be his last major commercial success. A series of collections, live albums and attempts to find a new style appeared in 1984 (Italian X-Rays), 1986 (Living in the 20th Century and 1988 (Born 2B Blue), none of these albums were consistent enough to be critically or commercially successful, after 1993's effort, Wide River, Miller gave up producing records altogether.
Millers popularity fueled very successful concert tours throughout the 80s and 90s, often with large numbers of younger people being present at the concerts. Miller would often headline shows with other classic rock acts and played a variety of his music including a good selection of his blues work dating from the late 60s. Prior to the start of his 2007 tour it has been revealed that a new studio album titled Loose Tether is being recorded.
01 - Space Intro (1:15)
02 - Fly Like An Eagle (4:42)
03 - Wild Mountain Honey (4:50)
04 - Serenade (3:10)
05 - Dance, Dance, Dance (2:16)
06 - Mercury Blues (3:43)
07 - Take The Money And Run (2:48)
08 - Rock 'N Me (3:05)
09 - You Send Me (2:40)
10 - Blue Odyssey (1:00)
11 - Sweet Maree (4:16)
12 - The Window (4:19)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity (95 ^157mb)
New Jersey native Dave Wyndorf was already a rock & roll veteran by the time he formed Monster Magnet in 1989, having cut his teeth with little-known punk band Shrapnel (also featuring future punk producer Daniel Rey on guitars) in the late '70s before retiring from music altogether. But, after teaching himself guitar, Wyndorf began assembling Monster Magnet with a handful of fellow New Jersey natives, vocalist Tim Cronin, guitarist John McBain, bassist Joe Callandra, and drummer Jon Kleiman. Fusing their metal, punk, space rock, and psychedelic influences, the band developed a sludgy, feedback-heavy hard rock sound that helped them stand out from the era's burgeoning retro-rock movement. In 1989, Monster Magnet released two demo cassettes: Forget About Life, I'm High on Dope and I'm Stoned, What Ya Gonna Do About It?. The band's first "official" release was a 6 track self-titled EP from Glitterhouse Records of Germany. After which Wyndorf assumed all vocal responsibilities, while Cronin retreated to a behind the scenes "conceptual consultant" position.
In the meantime, Monster Magnet had signed with independent label Caroline Records in 1992, and recorded their first full-length album: the very impressive, uniquely dark psychedelic masterpiece Spine of God. The productive sessions also yielded a number of extensive space rock jams that would later be issued as the Tab album in 1993. A support tour with the fast-rising Soundgarden also helped attract powerhouse A&M Records, but even as they prepared to sign with the label, Wyndorf had a serious falling-out with guitarist McBain, who was soon replaced by Ed Mundell. 1993's Superjudge proved to be a stellar major-label debut. Unfortunately, the group's retro-rock image had become highly unfashionable at the time, arriving at the height of the post-Nirvana grunge boom, and the album sold poorly.
Dopes to Infinity (1995), the follow-up record, was more accessible, and had a hit single in "Negasonic Teenage Warhead", which benefitted from a music video showing Dave Wyndorf travelling through Outer Space that received rotation on MTV. Dopes to Infinity is about as far apart from Superjudge as the original Siamese twins were to each other. Wyndorf's singing is a touch crisper in the mix this time out, while the guitar playing is even more powerfully direct and epic amidst all the space-out swirl and rockets to the moon. It's the secret weapon of the album as a whole, turning Monster Magnet's gift for the large scale into something that's almost uplifting, often connecting with a listener instead of dominating one. Still, the record was not the success the band had hoped for, partly because other innovative tracks like "Dead Christmas" and the title track, received little or no airplay. In the end the album sold only slightly better than its predecessor.
After the Dopes to Infinity tour, Wyndorf moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in order to begin working on Powertrip (1998), a breakthrough hit that earned the band a gold certification. Powertrip saw the band departing from its usual lo-fi, stoner metal fare, and enter into an era with a more hard rock-type sound. Guitarist Phil Cavaino joined the band in 1998. "Space Lord", the first single, was a major radio hit and the band went on tour with bands like Aerosmith, Metallica, Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson. Powertrip channeled all of Sin City's vice, greed, and sex into its hedonistic but surprisingly accessible tracks. Monster Magnet then embarked on a marathon two-year world tour, both as a headliner and as support . By the year 2000, the band had contributed the track "Silver Future" to the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack and completed work on their fifth album, God Says No, released in Europe in October. But their new American record label, Interscope (which had swallowed A&M in a hostile takeover the year before) inexplicably fussed and messed with the album before finally releasing it domestically in April 2001. Ultimately Monster Magnet found themselves rudely dropped.
Monster Magnet duly reunited for a short North American tour in early 2002 and, a year later, a new deal with the German SPV label was announced. Recorded in late 2003, the group's sixth full-length album, 2004's Monolithic Baby!, would be recorded with a new rhythm section, these being bassist Jim Baglino and drummer Bob Pantella. In 2005, Phil Caivano left the band amicably, and the rest of the group started recording in L.A. with producer Matt Hyde. A followup to Monolithic Baby! was expected in March 2006 to coincide with their European Tour, along with rereleases of Spine of God and Tab, both featuring new artwork and liner notes, however the tour and album release did not go ahead. On February 27, 2006 Dave Wyndorf overdosed on prescription drugs. In 2007, it was announced that Monster Magnet would release a new album, 4-Way Diablo, which had been put back for a year because of Wyndorf's overdose. It was released later that year. Later in 2007, another greatest hits collection, 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Monster Magnet, was released.
01 - Dopes To Infinity (5:43)
02 - Negasonic Teenage Warhead (4:28)
03 - Look To Your Orb For The Warning (6:32)
04 - All Friends And Kingdom Come (5:38)
05 - Ego, The Living Planet (5:07)
06 - Blow 'Em Off (3:51)
07 - Third Alternative (8:33)
08 - I Control, I Fly (3:18)
09 - King Of Mars (4:33)
10 - Dead Christmas (3:54)
11 - Theme From "Masterburner" (5:06)
12 - Vertigo (11:15)
diet version
Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity ( * 99mb)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Mecano - Snake Tales For Dragon (05 ^ 134mb)
The story of Mecano starts with a painting, made in 1977 by founder Dirk Polak after finding an old booklet belonging to a Meccano construction box, as fabricated and sold in the thirties.While scanning the booklet, Dirk was struck by a vision of a world built out of Meccano, in painting, sculpture and even lyrics and music.
The examples in the instruction booklet set Dirk to paint his Meccano figures, surrounded by surrealistic landscapes and interiors. In those days punk was booming and Dirk thought it was time to start a band and together with Pieter Kooyman and a few hired guns he recorded Face Cover Face, b/w Fools as Mecano Ltd. for the “No Fun” label. But Dirk wanted a real band and so he asked Ton Lebbink to be the drummer. Ton, immediately introduced the brothers Tejo and Cor Bolten, who also worked at Paradiso, Tejo as floor-manager and Cor, the band was formed in the blink of an eye. Another advantage of Ton and the Bolten brothers, beside their musical abilities, was that they had unlimited acces to Paradiso, the best rehearsing place a band could think of and they started experimenting and putting the music together, mainly based on the ideas of Dirk and the Bolten brothers.
Emerging from the punk-era, Mecano is best described as new wave, adding poetry and remarkable arrangements, colored with unusual guitar harmonies, converting into an ashtonishing eclectric blend. Early 1980 newly founded Torso Records had released the mini-lp Untitled and in that same year Subtitled (see Eurotour-stage 12), both nowadays reaching high prices amongst collectors . After that the band split up, to be reunited in 1982 without Ton Lebbink and Pieter Kooyman and a smaller size Mecano started recording Autoportrait, which came out early ‘83 and on which Pieter Kooyman is present on Suggestive Sleep and To Life's Reunion.
Mecano released, The Half Inch Universe, a double cd containing their remastered eighties work with some unreleased (live) material in 2002. But then after 22 years of comparative silence Mecano released 'Snake Tales for Dragon 'in 2005 . For a long time, Tejo Bolten had felt the will to start Mecano again… there was a mission to fulfill and it was unfinished. Sadly, it was the murder of the Dutch film director Theo van Gogh in 2004 by a radical Islamist who had felt offended by the artist’s stance. This loss triggered singer Dirk Polak a promise upon his dead body that he would sing again. In January 2005 Tejo Bolten and Dirk Polak, brought their music and lyrics to another level with the release of the album 'Snake Tales for Dragon'. As a metaphore of the Meccano toy found years ago “for the engineer of tomorrow”, Tejo and Dirk reassembled the parts of the original structure and began to build a whole new story for Mecano. They presented it along with older material in Athens, Greece where they are rather popular, the following year at the capital’s long-running annual Rockwave Festival.
Fall 2007 Mecano released “Those Revolutionary Days”, a continuation of the album Autoportrait. According to the band, its new album was conceived as “the scenario for nostalgia enlightened with a modern vision.” Mecano shares with the audience a reacting to society instead of assuming a passive attitude towards it. The extraordinary voice of their music communicate many important messages for all to listen. A voice that comes through the ages, to speak of truth and justice, and hope.
01 - Intro / Dustry Soul (5:13)
02 - Treasure Lost And Found (4:01)
03 - Drag On (5:13)
04 - Excluded From The Heart (3:19)
05 - Saint Of Sorrow (4:54)
06 - Love You One In A Million (4:09)
07 - November 2 (5:40)
08 - Painted Words (5:08)
09 - Clarity I Guess (5:03)
10 - Le Chant Du Cygne Du Serpent (6:50)
11 - New Skin (5:50)
12 - Love You One In A Million (xxl remix) (24:12 ^ 55mb)
diet version
Mecano - Snake Tales For Dragon (* 90mb)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Steve Miller - Fly Like An Eagle (76 ^90mb)
Miller was born( October 5, 1943) to Dr George "Sonny" Miller, a pathologist, jazz enthusiast, hat salesman and amateur recording engineer, and Bertha, a jazz-influenced singer. In 1950, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. His first guitar chords were taught to him when he was five years old by his godfather Les Paul, pioneer of the electric guitar and multitrack recording. Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford were regular visitors at the Miller house and Dr Miller's father was best man at their wedding. Les Paul encouraged young Miller to use his prodigious talents, and much of Miller's success has been attributed to Paul's tutelage.
While at highschool, Miller formed his first band, The Marksmen. Miller taught classmate Royce Scaggs — better known later by his nickname Boz — guitar chords so that he could join the band. Miller graduated in 1961 and later, while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Miller formed The Ardells. Scaggs joined the Ardells the next year; and Ben Sidran became the band's keyboardist the year after. After attending the University of Copenhagen in Denmark for a semester in his senior year, he dropped out six credit hours shy of a literature degree. Upon his return to the United States, Miller moved to Chicago where he immersed himself in the city's blues scene, teaming with Barry Goldberg for two years. He then moved to San Francisco and formed the first incarnation of the Steve Miller Blues Band, featuring guitarist James "Curly" Cooke, bassist Lonnie Turner, and drummer Tim Davis. The band built a local following through a series of free concerts and backed Chuck Berry in 1967 at a Fillmore date later released as a live album. Scaggs moved to San Francisco later that year and replaced Cooke in time to play the Monterey Pop Festival; it was the first of many personnel changes. Capitol signed the group as the Steve Miller Band following the festival.
In 1968 they released an album, Children of the Future, the first in a series of discs rooted solidly in the psychedelic blues style that then dominated the San Francisco scene. The group followed the release of their second album, Sailor, with a series of high-quality albums ( Brave New World, Your Saving Grace and Number 5) with similar chart placements followed. Miller remained a popular artist, but pop radio failed to pick up on any of his material at this time, even though tracks like "Space Cowboy" and "Brave New World" had become FM rock staples.with the albums Brave New World, Your Saving Grace and Number 5. In this first period Miller established his personae of the "Gangster of Love" (from Sailor) and the "Space Cowboy" (from Brave New World), which were reused in later works. In 1972, Miller recorded the album Recall the Beginning, A Journey from Eden, in which a third persona, "Maurice," was introduced in the tune "Enter Maurice." Things began to look bleak for Miller when he broke his neck in a car accident and subsequently developed hepatitis, which put him out of commission for most of 1972 and early 1973.
Miller spent his recuperation time reinventing himself as a blues-influenced pop-rocker, writing compact, melodic, catchy songs. This approach was introduced on his 1973 LP The Joker and was an instant success, with the album going platinum and the title track hitting number one on the pop charts. Now an established star, Miller elected to take three years off. He purchased a farm and built his own recording studio, at which he crafted the wildly successful albums Fly Like an Eagle and Book of Dreams at approximately the same time. Fly Like an Eagle was released in 1976 and eclipsed its predecessor in terms of quality and sales in spite of the long downtime in between. Fly Like an Eagle is where Miller took flight, creating his definitive slice of space blues, stylish, trippy, plus a detailed atmospheric production where everything fits. It gave Miller his second number one hit with "Rock'n Me," plus several other hitsingles. Book Of Dreams (77) was almost as successful, selling over three million copies and producing several hits as well.
On the heels of this massive success, Miller took a long hiatus from recording and touring, emerging in 1981 with Circle of Love, an ambitious album possibly intended to appease critics of his new style. Sales were disappointing, however, and in 1982 he returned to the pop formula with another hit album, Abracadabra. The title track gave him his third number one single and proved to be his last major commercial success. A series of collections, live albums and attempts to find a new style appeared in 1984 (Italian X-Rays), 1986 (Living in the 20th Century and 1988 (Born 2B Blue), none of these albums were consistent enough to be critically or commercially successful, after 1993's effort, Wide River, Miller gave up producing records altogether.
Millers popularity fueled very successful concert tours throughout the 80s and 90s, often with large numbers of younger people being present at the concerts. Miller would often headline shows with other classic rock acts and played a variety of his music including a good selection of his blues work dating from the late 60s. Prior to the start of his 2007 tour it has been revealed that a new studio album titled Loose Tether is being recorded.
01 - Space Intro (1:15)
02 - Fly Like An Eagle (4:42)
03 - Wild Mountain Honey (4:50)
04 - Serenade (3:10)
05 - Dance, Dance, Dance (2:16)
06 - Mercury Blues (3:43)
07 - Take The Money And Run (2:48)
08 - Rock 'N Me (3:05)
09 - You Send Me (2:40)
10 - Blue Odyssey (1:00)
11 - Sweet Maree (4:16)
12 - The Window (4:19)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity (95 ^157mb)
New Jersey native Dave Wyndorf was already a rock & roll veteran by the time he formed Monster Magnet in 1989, having cut his teeth with little-known punk band Shrapnel (also featuring future punk producer Daniel Rey on guitars) in the late '70s before retiring from music altogether. But, after teaching himself guitar, Wyndorf began assembling Monster Magnet with a handful of fellow New Jersey natives, vocalist Tim Cronin, guitarist John McBain, bassist Joe Callandra, and drummer Jon Kleiman. Fusing their metal, punk, space rock, and psychedelic influences, the band developed a sludgy, feedback-heavy hard rock sound that helped them stand out from the era's burgeoning retro-rock movement. In 1989, Monster Magnet released two demo cassettes: Forget About Life, I'm High on Dope and I'm Stoned, What Ya Gonna Do About It?. The band's first "official" release was a 6 track self-titled EP from Glitterhouse Records of Germany. After which Wyndorf assumed all vocal responsibilities, while Cronin retreated to a behind the scenes "conceptual consultant" position.
In the meantime, Monster Magnet had signed with independent label Caroline Records in 1992, and recorded their first full-length album: the very impressive, uniquely dark psychedelic masterpiece Spine of God. The productive sessions also yielded a number of extensive space rock jams that would later be issued as the Tab album in 1993. A support tour with the fast-rising Soundgarden also helped attract powerhouse A&M Records, but even as they prepared to sign with the label, Wyndorf had a serious falling-out with guitarist McBain, who was soon replaced by Ed Mundell. 1993's Superjudge proved to be a stellar major-label debut. Unfortunately, the group's retro-rock image had become highly unfashionable at the time, arriving at the height of the post-Nirvana grunge boom, and the album sold poorly.
Dopes to Infinity (1995), the follow-up record, was more accessible, and had a hit single in "Negasonic Teenage Warhead", which benefitted from a music video showing Dave Wyndorf travelling through Outer Space that received rotation on MTV. Dopes to Infinity is about as far apart from Superjudge as the original Siamese twins were to each other. Wyndorf's singing is a touch crisper in the mix this time out, while the guitar playing is even more powerfully direct and epic amidst all the space-out swirl and rockets to the moon. It's the secret weapon of the album as a whole, turning Monster Magnet's gift for the large scale into something that's almost uplifting, often connecting with a listener instead of dominating one. Still, the record was not the success the band had hoped for, partly because other innovative tracks like "Dead Christmas" and the title track, received little or no airplay. In the end the album sold only slightly better than its predecessor.
After the Dopes to Infinity tour, Wyndorf moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in order to begin working on Powertrip (1998), a breakthrough hit that earned the band a gold certification. Powertrip saw the band departing from its usual lo-fi, stoner metal fare, and enter into an era with a more hard rock-type sound. Guitarist Phil Cavaino joined the band in 1998. "Space Lord", the first single, was a major radio hit and the band went on tour with bands like Aerosmith, Metallica, Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson. Powertrip channeled all of Sin City's vice, greed, and sex into its hedonistic but surprisingly accessible tracks. Monster Magnet then embarked on a marathon two-year world tour, both as a headliner and as support . By the year 2000, the band had contributed the track "Silver Future" to the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack and completed work on their fifth album, God Says No, released in Europe in October. But their new American record label, Interscope (which had swallowed A&M in a hostile takeover the year before) inexplicably fussed and messed with the album before finally releasing it domestically in April 2001. Ultimately Monster Magnet found themselves rudely dropped.
Monster Magnet duly reunited for a short North American tour in early 2002 and, a year later, a new deal with the German SPV label was announced. Recorded in late 2003, the group's sixth full-length album, 2004's Monolithic Baby!, would be recorded with a new rhythm section, these being bassist Jim Baglino and drummer Bob Pantella. In 2005, Phil Caivano left the band amicably, and the rest of the group started recording in L.A. with producer Matt Hyde. A followup to Monolithic Baby! was expected in March 2006 to coincide with their European Tour, along with rereleases of Spine of God and Tab, both featuring new artwork and liner notes, however the tour and album release did not go ahead. On February 27, 2006 Dave Wyndorf overdosed on prescription drugs. In 2007, it was announced that Monster Magnet would release a new album, 4-Way Diablo, which had been put back for a year because of Wyndorf's overdose. It was released later that year. Later in 2007, another greatest hits collection, 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Monster Magnet, was released.
01 - Dopes To Infinity (5:43)
02 - Negasonic Teenage Warhead (4:28)
03 - Look To Your Orb For The Warning (6:32)
04 - All Friends And Kingdom Come (5:38)
05 - Ego, The Living Planet (5:07)
06 - Blow 'Em Off (3:51)
07 - Third Alternative (8:33)
08 - I Control, I Fly (3:18)
09 - King Of Mars (4:33)
10 - Dead Christmas (3:54)
11 - Theme From "Masterburner" (5:06)
12 - Vertigo (11:15)
diet version
Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity ( * 99mb)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Mecano - Snake Tales For Dragon (05 ^ 134mb)
The story of Mecano starts with a painting, made in 1977 by founder Dirk Polak after finding an old booklet belonging to a Meccano construction box, as fabricated and sold in the thirties.While scanning the booklet, Dirk was struck by a vision of a world built out of Meccano, in painting, sculpture and even lyrics and music.
The examples in the instruction booklet set Dirk to paint his Meccano figures, surrounded by surrealistic landscapes and interiors. In those days punk was booming and Dirk thought it was time to start a band and together with Pieter Kooyman and a few hired guns he recorded Face Cover Face, b/w Fools as Mecano Ltd. for the “No Fun” label. But Dirk wanted a real band and so he asked Ton Lebbink to be the drummer. Ton, immediately introduced the brothers Tejo and Cor Bolten, who also worked at Paradiso, Tejo as floor-manager and Cor, the band was formed in the blink of an eye. Another advantage of Ton and the Bolten brothers, beside their musical abilities, was that they had unlimited acces to Paradiso, the best rehearsing place a band could think of and they started experimenting and putting the music together, mainly based on the ideas of Dirk and the Bolten brothers.
Emerging from the punk-era, Mecano is best described as new wave, adding poetry and remarkable arrangements, colored with unusual guitar harmonies, converting into an ashtonishing eclectric blend. Early 1980 newly founded Torso Records had released the mini-lp Untitled and in that same year Subtitled (see Eurotour-stage 12), both nowadays reaching high prices amongst collectors . After that the band split up, to be reunited in 1982 without Ton Lebbink and Pieter Kooyman and a smaller size Mecano started recording Autoportrait, which came out early ‘83 and on which Pieter Kooyman is present on Suggestive Sleep and To Life's Reunion.
Mecano released, The Half Inch Universe, a double cd containing their remastered eighties work with some unreleased (live) material in 2002. But then after 22 years of comparative silence Mecano released 'Snake Tales for Dragon 'in 2005 . For a long time, Tejo Bolten had felt the will to start Mecano again… there was a mission to fulfill and it was unfinished. Sadly, it was the murder of the Dutch film director Theo van Gogh in 2004 by a radical Islamist who had felt offended by the artist’s stance. This loss triggered singer Dirk Polak a promise upon his dead body that he would sing again. In January 2005 Tejo Bolten and Dirk Polak, brought their music and lyrics to another level with the release of the album 'Snake Tales for Dragon'. As a metaphore of the Meccano toy found years ago “for the engineer of tomorrow”, Tejo and Dirk reassembled the parts of the original structure and began to build a whole new story for Mecano. They presented it along with older material in Athens, Greece where they are rather popular, the following year at the capital’s long-running annual Rockwave Festival.
Fall 2007 Mecano released “Those Revolutionary Days”, a continuation of the album Autoportrait. According to the band, its new album was conceived as “the scenario for nostalgia enlightened with a modern vision.” Mecano shares with the audience a reacting to society instead of assuming a passive attitude towards it. The extraordinary voice of their music communicate many important messages for all to listen. A voice that comes through the ages, to speak of truth and justice, and hope.
01 - Intro / Dustry Soul (5:13)
02 - Treasure Lost And Found (4:01)
03 - Drag On (5:13)
04 - Excluded From The Heart (3:19)
05 - Saint Of Sorrow (4:54)
06 - Love You One In A Million (4:09)
07 - November 2 (5:40)
08 - Painted Words (5:08)
09 - Clarity I Guess (5:03)
10 - Le Chant Du Cygne Du Serpent (6:50)
11 - New Skin (5:50)
12 - Love You One In A Million (xxl remix) (24:12 ^ 55mb)
diet version
Mecano - Snake Tales For Dragon (* 90mb)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Eight-X (39)
Hello, Eight-X calling , a bit different in style then usually as all three albums are produced by the same man, Bill Laswell. Well, I have posted other productions of him here, these three rather work well together, as i noticed listening to them back to back last night. First up Herbie Hancock completely overhauling his sound and conquering MTV with his most radical step forward guided by Laswell. It shocked his old fans but the album was a commercial success and got Laswell into the spotlights....Not something my next artist is very keen on, Toshinori Kondo i guess being Japanese there's just too much 'zen' in his blood. The album , in Laswell style crosses over the jazz of the trumpetplayer Kondo into the synth rock arena, Sakamoto seems to be hovering in the background aswell (couldnt find Neo Geo produced by Laswell)....finally P.I.L. or Lydon Ltd because as he states himself: " Album was almost like a solo album, I worked alone with a new bunch of people." Considering the troubles with the band before and after, Album was a success, some thought it a betrayel having real musicians but again Laswell manages to create a great album setting off Lydon's raw singing with powerful musicality.....
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Herbie Hancock - Future Shock (83 ^ 95mb)
Herbie Hancock will always be one of the most revered and controversial figures in jazz -- just as his employer/mentor Miles Davis was when he was alive. Unlike Miles, who pressed ahead relentlessly and never looked back until near the very end, Hancock has cut a zigzagging forward path, shuttling between almost every development in electronic and acoustic jazz and R&B over the last third of the 20th century. Though grounded in Bill Evans and able to absorb blues, funk, gospel, and even modern classical influences, Hancock's piano and keyboard voices are entirely his own, with their own urbane harmonic and complex, earthy rhythmic signatures -- and young pianists cop his licks constantly. Having studied engineering and professing to love gadgets and buttons, Hancock was perfectly suited for the electronic age; he was one of the earliest champions of the Rhodes electric piano and Hohner clavinet and would field an ever-growing collection of synthesizers and computers on his electric dates. Yet his love for the grand piano never waned, and despite his peripatetic activities all around the musical map, his piano style continues to evolve into tougher, ever-more-complex forms. He is as much at home trading riffs with a smoking funk band as he is communing with a world-class post-bop rhythm section -- and that drives purists on both sides of the fence up the wall.
Having taken up the piano at age seven, Hancock quickly became known as a prodigy, soloing in the first movement of a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony at the age of 11. After studies at Grinnell College, Hancock was invited by Donald Byrd in 1961 to join his group in New York City, and before long, Blue Note offered him a solo contract. In May 1963, Miles Davis asked him to join his band and he remained there for five years, greatly influencing Miles' evolving direction, loosening up his own style, and upon Miles' suggestion, converting to the Rhodes electric piano.
Having left the Davis band in 1968, Hancock recorded an elegant funk album, Fat Albert Rotunda, and in 1969 formed a sextet that evolved into one of the most exciting, forward-looking jazz-rock groups of the era. Now deeply immersed in electronics, Hancock added the synthesizer of Patrick Gleeson to his Echoplexed, fuzz-wah-pedaled electric piano and clavinet, and the recordings became spacier and more complex rhythmically and structurally, creating its own corner of the avant-garde. The next step, then, was a terrific funk group whose first album, Head Hunters, with its Sly Stone-influenced hit single, "Chameleon," became the biggest-selling jazz LP up to that time. Now handling all of the synthesizers himself, Hancock's heavily rhythmic comping often became part of the rhythm section, leavened by interludes of the old urbane harmonies.
Hancock recorded several electric albums of mostly superior quality in the '70s, followed by a wrong turn into disco around the decade's end. Hancock continued his chameleonic ways in the '80s, completely overhauling his sound and conquering MTV with his most radical step forward since the sextet days. He brought in Bill Laswell of Material as producer, along with Grand Mixer D.ST on turntables -- and the immediate result was "Rockit," which makes quite a post-industrial metallic racket. Frankly, the whole record is an enigma; for all of its dehumanized, mechanized textures and rigid rhythms, it has a vitality and sense of humor that make it difficult to turn off. Moreover, Herbie can't help but inject a subversive funk element when he comps along to the techno beat -- and yes, some real, honest-to-goodness jazz licks on a grand piano show up in the middle of "Auto Drive.".
He launched an exciting partnership with Gambian kora virtuoso Foday Musa Suso that culminated in the swinging 1986 live album Jazz Africa; doing film scores; and playing festivals and tours with the Marsalis brothers, George Benson, Michael Brecker, and many others. After his 1988 techno-pop album, Perfect Machine, Hancock left Columbia (his label since 1973), made a deal with PolyGram in 1994 to record jazz for Verve and release pop albums on Mercury. Well into a youthful middle age, Hancock's curiosity, versatility, and capacity for growth showed no signs of fading, and in 1998 he issued Gershwin's World. His curiosity with the fusion of electronic music and jazz continued with 2001's Future 2 Future, but he also continued to explore the future of straight-ahead contemporary jazz with 2005's Possibilities. An intiguing album of jazz treatments of Joni Mitchell compositions, called River: The Joni Letters, was released in 2007.
01 - Rockit (5:22)
02 - Future Shock (8:02)
03 - TFS (5:15)
04 - Earth Beat (5:10)
05 - Autodrive (6:25)
06 - Rough (6:57)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Toshinori Kondo & IMA - Konton ( 86 ^ 82mb)
Of course, like many avant-garde experimenters and musical iconoclasts, Kondo's early musical influences were largely straight-ahead jazz, especially hard bop. Indeed, the name of his college band, the Funky Beaters, fairly reeks of hard bop attitude. Such was the atmosphere during this artist's college days, when an enormous upheaval took place in the society, fueled on by the radicalism of the '60s. Within the spirit of this music, he developed his own frame of reference which was more strongly influenced by his upbringing and religious studies than any particular musical influences. His father had been a shipbuilder, and this man's combination of bouts of hard work and total relaxation became something of a philosophical view. "Is great: doing nothing" and "Best part: no meaning" were typical summations of the Kondo world view during an era when his mastery of English was still rudimentary.
He played with both British guitarist Derek Bailey and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy prior to his New York sojourn, and continued straddling the fence between conventional jazz collaborations and the outer fringes of free playing through his varied New York relationships. Back in Japan, Kondo formed his own quartet, International Music Activities (IMA), (Tristan Honsinger on cello, Peter Kowald on bass, Sabu Toyozumi on drums) . They released What Are You Talking About? (may 1983 ). Taihen (march 1984) backed the trumpet with the rock format of guitar-drum-bass. Metal Position (april 1985) used a similar setting with the addition of Haruo Togashi's synthesizer and piano. Konton (1986) featured a line-up of trumpet, keyboards, guitar and drums. His proximity to rock music was confirmed by the EP China Boogie (december 1984 ), featuring Bill Laswell, Anton Fier, Fred Frith, etc. The aforementioned return to Japan and great economic success eventually led to a decision to relocate to Amsterdam, where his profile became every bit as low as the Tokyo persona had been extravagantly widespread. Only a handful of Dutch musicians know how to contact him when he is in Holland, and he has made absolutely no effort to become involved in that country's heavily competitive jazz scene; and he is certainly the first immigrant to Holland about which that could be said.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Herbie Hancock - Future Shock (83 ^ 95mb)
Herbie Hancock will always be one of the most revered and controversial figures in jazz -- just as his employer/mentor Miles Davis was when he was alive. Unlike Miles, who pressed ahead relentlessly and never looked back until near the very end, Hancock has cut a zigzagging forward path, shuttling between almost every development in electronic and acoustic jazz and R&B over the last third of the 20th century. Though grounded in Bill Evans and able to absorb blues, funk, gospel, and even modern classical influences, Hancock's piano and keyboard voices are entirely his own, with their own urbane harmonic and complex, earthy rhythmic signatures -- and young pianists cop his licks constantly. Having studied engineering and professing to love gadgets and buttons, Hancock was perfectly suited for the electronic age; he was one of the earliest champions of the Rhodes electric piano and Hohner clavinet and would field an ever-growing collection of synthesizers and computers on his electric dates. Yet his love for the grand piano never waned, and despite his peripatetic activities all around the musical map, his piano style continues to evolve into tougher, ever-more-complex forms. He is as much at home trading riffs with a smoking funk band as he is communing with a world-class post-bop rhythm section -- and that drives purists on both sides of the fence up the wall.
Having taken up the piano at age seven, Hancock quickly became known as a prodigy, soloing in the first movement of a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony at the age of 11. After studies at Grinnell College, Hancock was invited by Donald Byrd in 1961 to join his group in New York City, and before long, Blue Note offered him a solo contract. In May 1963, Miles Davis asked him to join his band and he remained there for five years, greatly influencing Miles' evolving direction, loosening up his own style, and upon Miles' suggestion, converting to the Rhodes electric piano.
Having left the Davis band in 1968, Hancock recorded an elegant funk album, Fat Albert Rotunda, and in 1969 formed a sextet that evolved into one of the most exciting, forward-looking jazz-rock groups of the era. Now deeply immersed in electronics, Hancock added the synthesizer of Patrick Gleeson to his Echoplexed, fuzz-wah-pedaled electric piano and clavinet, and the recordings became spacier and more complex rhythmically and structurally, creating its own corner of the avant-garde. The next step, then, was a terrific funk group whose first album, Head Hunters, with its Sly Stone-influenced hit single, "Chameleon," became the biggest-selling jazz LP up to that time. Now handling all of the synthesizers himself, Hancock's heavily rhythmic comping often became part of the rhythm section, leavened by interludes of the old urbane harmonies.
Hancock recorded several electric albums of mostly superior quality in the '70s, followed by a wrong turn into disco around the decade's end. Hancock continued his chameleonic ways in the '80s, completely overhauling his sound and conquering MTV with his most radical step forward since the sextet days. He brought in Bill Laswell of Material as producer, along with Grand Mixer D.ST on turntables -- and the immediate result was "Rockit," which makes quite a post-industrial metallic racket. Frankly, the whole record is an enigma; for all of its dehumanized, mechanized textures and rigid rhythms, it has a vitality and sense of humor that make it difficult to turn off. Moreover, Herbie can't help but inject a subversive funk element when he comps along to the techno beat -- and yes, some real, honest-to-goodness jazz licks on a grand piano show up in the middle of "Auto Drive.".
He launched an exciting partnership with Gambian kora virtuoso Foday Musa Suso that culminated in the swinging 1986 live album Jazz Africa; doing film scores; and playing festivals and tours with the Marsalis brothers, George Benson, Michael Brecker, and many others. After his 1988 techno-pop album, Perfect Machine, Hancock left Columbia (his label since 1973), made a deal with PolyGram in 1994 to record jazz for Verve and release pop albums on Mercury. Well into a youthful middle age, Hancock's curiosity, versatility, and capacity for growth showed no signs of fading, and in 1998 he issued Gershwin's World. His curiosity with the fusion of electronic music and jazz continued with 2001's Future 2 Future, but he also continued to explore the future of straight-ahead contemporary jazz with 2005's Possibilities. An intiguing album of jazz treatments of Joni Mitchell compositions, called River: The Joni Letters, was released in 2007.
01 - Rockit (5:22)
02 - Future Shock (8:02)
03 - TFS (5:15)
04 - Earth Beat (5:10)
05 - Autodrive (6:25)
06 - Rough (6:57)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Toshinori Kondo & IMA - Konton ( 86 ^ 82mb)
Of course, like many avant-garde experimenters and musical iconoclasts, Kondo's early musical influences were largely straight-ahead jazz, especially hard bop. Indeed, the name of his college band, the Funky Beaters, fairly reeks of hard bop attitude. Such was the atmosphere during this artist's college days, when an enormous upheaval took place in the society, fueled on by the radicalism of the '60s. Within the spirit of this music, he developed his own frame of reference which was more strongly influenced by his upbringing and religious studies than any particular musical influences. His father had been a shipbuilder, and this man's combination of bouts of hard work and total relaxation became something of a philosophical view. "Is great: doing nothing" and "Best part: no meaning" were typical summations of the Kondo world view during an era when his mastery of English was still rudimentary.
He played with both British guitarist Derek Bailey and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy prior to his New York sojourn, and continued straddling the fence between conventional jazz collaborations and the outer fringes of free playing through his varied New York relationships. Back in Japan, Kondo formed his own quartet, International Music Activities (IMA), (Tristan Honsinger on cello, Peter Kowald on bass, Sabu Toyozumi on drums) . They released What Are You Talking About? (may 1983 ). Taihen (march 1984) backed the trumpet with the rock format of guitar-drum-bass. Metal Position (april 1985) used a similar setting with the addition of Haruo Togashi's synthesizer and piano. Konton (1986) featured a line-up of trumpet, keyboards, guitar and drums. His proximity to rock music was confirmed by the EP China Boogie (december 1984 ), featuring Bill Laswell, Anton Fier, Fred Frith, etc. The aforementioned return to Japan and great economic success eventually led to a decision to relocate to Amsterdam, where his profile became every bit as low as the Tokyo persona had been extravagantly widespread. Only a handful of Dutch musicians know how to contact him when he is in Holland, and he has made absolutely no effort to become involved in that country's heavily competitive jazz scene; and he is certainly the first immigrant to Holland about which that could be said.
In the early part of the new millennium, he was approached by the Dalai Lama about organizing an international peace festival in Hiroshima, an event that finally took place in 2002. Kondo continues to be a visionary spirit whose late '90s recordings in both free jazz and electronica have attracted an entirely new audience.
1 - Sundown (5:24)
2 - Yami (5:39)
3 - Y.U. (6:14)
4 - Sandswitch (5:41)
5 - YoYoYo (4:34)
6 - Gan (7:41)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Public Image Ltd. - Compact Disc (86 ^ 95mb)
Following the Sex Pistols' breakup in 1978, Lydon approached Jah Wobble ( John Wardle) about forming a band together. The pair had been friends since attending the same school in the early 1970s, and had sometimes played music together during the final days of the Sex Pistols. Both had similarly broad musical tastes, and were avid fans of reggae and world music. Lydon also approached guitarist Keith Levene, with whom he had toured in mid-1976, while Levene was a member of The Clash. Jim Walker, a Canadian student newly arrived in the UK, was recruited on drums, after answering an ad placed in Melody Maker.
PiL began rehearsing together in May 1978, although the band was still unnamed. In July 1978, Lydon officially named the band "Public Image" (the "Ltd." was added several months later). PiL debuted in October 1978 with "Public Image", a song written while Lydon was still a member of Sex Pistols. The single was well received and reached number 9 on the UK charts. In preparing their debut album, Public Image, the band spent their recording budget well before the record was completed. As a result, the final album comprised eight tracks of varying sound quality, half of which were written and recorded in a rush after the money had run out. The album was considered groundbreaking on its release in December 1978. Grounded in heavy dub reggae, Wobble's bass tone was called "impossibly deep" by contemporary reviews. Levene's sharp guitar sound, played on an aluminium Veleno guitar, was to become widely imitated.
The album Metal Box (1979) was a more focused effort. In addition to the drugs and disorganization that were the normal condition of the band, Jim Walker had quit from general disillusionment, making way for a series of drummers. Metal Box was originally released as three untitled 12-inch records packaged in a metal film canister (later reissued as 2LP set, Second Edition), and features the band's trademark hypnotic dub reggae bass lines, glassy, arpeggiated guitar, and bleak, paranoid, stream of consciousness vocals.
The third album, not released in the U.S., was the live Paris au Printemps (1980). Lydon and Levene, plus hired musicians, made up the group by that time. Martin Atkins, who had initially joined at the tail end of the Metal Box sessions was re-recruited to drum on Flowers of Romance, an album considered much stranger and more difficult than the already strange Metal Box. Levene had by then largely abandoned guitar in favour of synthesizer. Levene being incapacitated on heroin much of the time -- had to leave. The aborted fourth album recorded in 1982, was later released by Levene as Commercial Zone. Lydon and Atkins claim Levene stole the master tapes. In 1983, PiL scored its biggest U.K. hit, when "This Is Not a Love Song" , by this time, PIL was a vehicle for John Lydon. Atkins stayed on through a live album, Live in Tokyo -- in which PiL consisted of him, Lydon, and a band of session musicians -- and left in 1984, following the release of This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get.
Anyone's first thousand guesses as to who Lydon would work with next couldn't possibly come close, as the unlisted credits for Album read as a motley crew of established musicians who literally have no business being anywhere near Lydon, let alone in a studio with him or with one another. Well, maybe that made perfect sense, given Lydon's ability to baffle. Bill Laswell--whom he worked with in Time Zone the year before--produced and played bass, which isn't too much of a stretch. But Steve Vai, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Ginger Baker ? With its emphasis on big guitars and big drums, Album was written off by some as PiL going stadium rock, but others remarked that Lydon's confrontational lyrics and caterwaul vocals, and the abundance of Eastern-style melodies, helped steer this album away from the realm of conventional 80s metal. The album is rife with surprising and very effective musical flourishes: never is this more evident than on the closing "Ease," a beautiful, monumental mood/rock piece with synth, sitar, didgeridoo and a Steve Vai guitar solo.
In the liner notes of PiL's Plastic Box compilation (1999), John Lydon remarked that "In some ways . Obviously the most important person was Bill Laswell. But it was during the recording of this album in New York that Miles Davis came into the studio while I was singing, stood behind me and started playing. Later he said that I sang like he played the trumpet, which is still the best thing anyone's ever said to me. To be complimented by the likes of him was special. Funnily enough we didn't use him..."
PiL released Happy? in 1987, and during the spring of 1988 performed throughout the United States as part of the INXS Kick tour. The album was less well received by critics than its immediate predecessor, but still produced the classic single "Seattle" In 1989, PiL toured with New Order and The Sugarcubes as "The Monsters of Alternative Rock". PiL's ninth album, 9, appeared earlier that year. The album was produced by Stephen Hague, Eric "ET" Thorngren, the band, and not as planned by Vigin, Bill Laswell. In 1990, PiL released the compilation album The Greatest Hits, So Far. The band's last album to date, 1991's That What Is Not, saw Atkins also returning to play on the recorded album, but did not remain for the subsequent tour. Lydon disbanded the group a year later after Virgin records refused to pay for the tour supporting the album, and Lydon had to pay for it out of his own pocket. After completing his memoirs in late 1993, Lydon decided to put an end to PiL and pursue a solo career. In 1997 he released a solo album, Psycho's Path.
1 - F.F.F. (5:31)
2 - Rise (6:06)
3 - Fishing (5:19)
4 - Round (4:26)
5 - Bags (5:27)
6 - Home (5:50)
7 - Ease (8:12)
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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
Thanks, Democrats!
(click on the document to see a high-resolution version)
So what can you do?
You can visit this site, Blue America PAC vs. Retroactive Immunity, for more information on this horrible bill, and to donate money for a targeted campaign to oppose several of its most heinous Democratic enablers. So far, the PAC has collected over $200,000 from 4,000 donors. You can write, call or fax your Congressperson or Senator, and demand that she not support this bill, which will be put up for a vote tomorrow.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Around The World (39)
Hello, as announced sunday more Bill Laswell connected today, and it doesnt get closer then this next artist, Mrs Laswell, though at the time this album was recorded she was still single...You could say that working together on this album sparked their flame...need i say more ? Its a great album from a great singer with a beautiful voice....don't miss it.
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Ejigayehu “Gigi” Shibabaw - Gigi (01 ^ 145mb)
Gigi Shibabaw was born and raised amid a family of ten in the north-west Ethiopia, a small town called Chagni. Surrounded by music she grew up singing in the Ethiopian Church, which is actually not allowed for women, but there was a priest who taught Ejigayehu how to sing the songs.Her early determination to become a singer put her at odds with her father, but she never wavered, leaving home for Nairobi (Kenya) before returning after a few tears to Addis Ababa (Ethiopian capital) as a singer and songwriter of instant note. Cast in a French theatre production of the story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, which featured an all-Ethiopian ensemble, Gigi toured East and South Africa, and eventually France, where she was invited to perform at a Paris World Music Festival. Seeing the world stage as her true home, Gigi relocated to San Fransisco at age 24, where she recorded two albums for the Ethiopian expatriate community, which attracted the attention of Palm Pictures owner Chris Blackwell (formerly Island records). At his request, Bill Laswell, well versed in african music since the mid-eighties, oversaw Ethiopian singer Gigi’s debut release for Palm Pictures. Supplementing Gigi’s multilingual, Ethiopian rooted vocals with a vast array of well respected musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Laswell himself, the result was a fusion of contemporary and traditional sounds. The stunning release was a critical success internationally, though it generated some controversy in her home country for such a radical break with Ethiopian popular music. Meanwhile Laswell and Gigi had related strongly, became romantically involved and subsequently married.
This release was soon followed by Illuminated Audio, where Laswell returns to the original Gigi tapes and lays down entirely new tracks ! on top of loops of the old songs. The result is a lovely ambient groove-pop album but more a Laswell album. 2003 saw the release of Zion Roots, under the band name Abyssinia Infinite. Bill Laswell played guitar and keyboard (instead of his usual bass), and several of Gigi's family members contributed vocals. The album was a return to a mainly acoustic sound for Gigi, incorporating instruments such as the krar and the tabla. The track "Gole" is in Agewña, the language of Gigi's father's village. Gigi's voice may be heard in the Hollywood film Beyond Borders (2003), in which Angelina Jolie portrays an aid worker during the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia. She released her sixth album, Gold and Wax on Palm Pictures, in 2006. Where husband/producer Bill Laswell brings together musicians from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, including Bernie Worrell, Karsh Kale, Ustad Sultan Khan, Buckethead, Midival Punditz, and original Swinging Addis saxophonist Moges Habte.
01 - Gud Fella (5:35)
02 - Mengedegna (5:33)
03 - Tew Ante Sew (4:20)
04 - Abay (5:18)
05 - Bale Washintu (5:35)
06 - Guramayle (4:27)
07 - Sew Argen (5:16)
08 - Aynama (5:05)
09 - Kahn (3:47)
10 - Zomaye (4:00)
11 - Abet Wubet (4:07)
12 - Nafeken (5:23)
13 - Adwa (5:02)
diet version
Ejigayehu “Gigi” Shibabaw - Gigi ( 01 * 99mb)
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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Ejigayehu “Gigi” Shibabaw - Gigi (01 ^ 145mb)
Gigi Shibabaw was born and raised amid a family of ten in the north-west Ethiopia, a small town called Chagni. Surrounded by music she grew up singing in the Ethiopian Church, which is actually not allowed for women, but there was a priest who taught Ejigayehu how to sing the songs.Her early determination to become a singer put her at odds with her father, but she never wavered, leaving home for Nairobi (Kenya) before returning after a few tears to Addis Ababa (Ethiopian capital) as a singer and songwriter of instant note. Cast in a French theatre production of the story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, which featured an all-Ethiopian ensemble, Gigi toured East and South Africa, and eventually France, where she was invited to perform at a Paris World Music Festival. Seeing the world stage as her true home, Gigi relocated to San Fransisco at age 24, where she recorded two albums for the Ethiopian expatriate community, which attracted the attention of Palm Pictures owner Chris Blackwell (formerly Island records). At his request, Bill Laswell, well versed in african music since the mid-eighties, oversaw Ethiopian singer Gigi’s debut release for Palm Pictures. Supplementing Gigi’s multilingual, Ethiopian rooted vocals with a vast array of well respected musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Laswell himself, the result was a fusion of contemporary and traditional sounds. The stunning release was a critical success internationally, though it generated some controversy in her home country for such a radical break with Ethiopian popular music. Meanwhile Laswell and Gigi had related strongly, became romantically involved and subsequently married.
This release was soon followed by Illuminated Audio, where Laswell returns to the original Gigi tapes and lays down entirely new tracks ! on top of loops of the old songs. The result is a lovely ambient groove-pop album but more a Laswell album. 2003 saw the release of Zion Roots, under the band name Abyssinia Infinite. Bill Laswell played guitar and keyboard (instead of his usual bass), and several of Gigi's family members contributed vocals. The album was a return to a mainly acoustic sound for Gigi, incorporating instruments such as the krar and the tabla. The track "Gole" is in Agewña, the language of Gigi's father's village. Gigi's voice may be heard in the Hollywood film Beyond Borders (2003), in which Angelina Jolie portrays an aid worker during the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia. She released her sixth album, Gold and Wax on Palm Pictures, in 2006. Where husband/producer Bill Laswell brings together musicians from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, including Bernie Worrell, Karsh Kale, Ustad Sultan Khan, Buckethead, Midival Punditz, and original Swinging Addis saxophonist Moges Habte.
01 - Gud Fella (5:35)
02 - Mengedegna (5:33)
03 - Tew Ante Sew (4:20)
04 - Abay (5:18)
05 - Bale Washintu (5:35)
06 - Guramayle (4:27)
07 - Sew Argen (5:16)
08 - Aynama (5:05)
09 - Kahn (3:47)
10 - Zomaye (4:00)
11 - Abet Wubet (4:07)
12 - Nafeken (5:23)
13 - Adwa (5:02)
diet version
Ejigayehu “Gigi” Shibabaw - Gigi ( 01 * 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 !
Review: Passing Strange
Working backwards through the weeks, I meant to finish an earlier stub about going to see the extraordinary Broadway musical play Passing Strange, which was my birthday gift from C, but rather than tag something onto the end of that, I'll try to restate it without covering a lot of the ground that numerous reviewers, on blogs and elsewhere, have already trodden. Its garland of nominations, for the musical play itself (because, really, it's nothing like most of the "musicals" you'll typically find on Broadway) and for its authors and actors, attest to its excellence, and having seen it and urged others to as well, I can testify that it's one of the freshest, funniest, liveliest, most provocative, smartest, and unforgettable musical stage pieces I've seen. The songs and the performances, by the entire cast, are still in my head weeks later, as is the underlying current of feeling, the riverbed of ideas and wit, that Passing Strange flows along. It's brightened my own work since I've seen it, and almost every creative person I know who's caught it talks about the sparks it's set off in them as well.The musical dramatizes the trajectory, in vivid, song-filled tableaux, of the socially, culturally and aesthetically alienated Youth (an alter ego of the show's remarkable creator, author, lyricist, co-composer, and narrator, Stew [above, from http://www.passingstrangeonbroadway.com], but played by Daniel Breaker), a native black middle-class Angeleno whose distinctive interests, musical and otherwise, set him apart, not only from other kids and members of the community, but from his mother (played by beautiful poet, playwright, singer, and actor--and CCite--Eisa Davis, in a superb performance). Or to describe it better, Youth's non-stereotypical interests, in rock music in particular, match those of many young black kids, only we rarely see them portrayed on the stage, especially in the sort of public forum Broadway affords. After engaging in other aspects of youth, like sex, drugs, and dreaming of becoming a musician and getting far away from home and finding himself, Youth flees (escapes) due east--beyond the prison of middle-class expectations and respectability that have, we learn, constrained his mother's and other in the community's dreams, and beyond the ocean, literally--landing in liberal Amsterdam, and then Berlin, whose ideological extremes are show here to great comic effect, where he interacts with various kooky characters who are richly depicted by the same actors who play his first set of adolescent friends and antagonists: De'Adre Aziza, Colman Domingo (who also appears on Logo's Big Gay Sketch Show), dreadlocked Chad Goodridge, and Rebecca Naomi Jones. Wherever Youth goes, singing, dreaming, wrapping himself in irony and paper-thin confidence, searching for his authentic self and holding moments of emotional reckoning at bay, he conveys in marvelous songs what he's going through, though in Berlin, in hilarious, ironic fashion, he tries to gain currency from the sort of stereotypical identity he's been resisting all his life. Youth also is searching for family, his correct and true family, and the musical suggests that one's blood, at the end, is as important as constructed ties. Ultimately, Youth tragically realizes this too late, though in one of the most incredible scenes, Narrator (Stew) and Mother, from her grave, reconnect, and their plangent exchange, lands right in the center of your heart. "It's all right," Mother says, in what could have been a pat and flat resolution, but Stew repeats it, the two of them going back and forth until not only Stew, but you the spectator, believe them, and him. Yet the final note isn't just one of foregiveness, but of acceptance. Stew's mother had thought his quest was just a "passing phase," but as she and he both come to see, it's the truth of his life, and art, and that acknowledgement grounds the story in truly moving moment of truth.
In recitative fashion, the scenes comprise sets of songs that permit all of the performers opportunities to shine, in singing, acting, and, often enough in dancing, and they do. The afternoon we went, not a single cast member failed to touch the stars at some point, though Stew, Daniel Breaker, and Eisa each blew me away. Stew's guitar-playing and singing left me speechless more than once; the stocky, bespectacled Narrator, in addition to a stage natural's timing, has a voice to outshine almost any of the major rockers out there, and the show offers him many opportunities to showcase not only his singing and acting, but also his gifts as a songwriter and dramatist. In another world, this man might have been a major musical superstar. Breaker could have disappeared in Stew's shadow, but he succeeds in making Youth feel like both a parallel and a separate character. And Eisa! In addition to lighting up the stage when she's on it, her final scene with Stew was one of the musical's show-stoppers. You could probably map out the story's plot points after the first few songs, but Stew and co-composer and co-orchestrator Heidi Rodewald surprise again and again with the complexity of their writing, particularly in terms of lyrics, their knowledge and use of musical styles, and the integration of the funky, spunky music and drama. My musicological knowledge is minimal, of course, but I found so many of the songs' melodies and hooks more infectious, and certainly more creative, than the vast majority of what passes for popular music these days. The incisiveness, breadth and wit of the lyrics' references was also a wonderful surprise--these are some smart folks!--but it was never pretentious. (Even the show's title, which is explained in the accompanying Playbill, demonstrates this.) Instead, Stew's existential plight, rather than being merely enacted, is discursively--and lyrically--created before your eyes and ears.
What also ensures and furthers the musical's achievement is the inventiveness of the staging: using a minimal set with props, with a spaceship-like wall of multicolored, endlessly combinable neon lights as the rear wall, and bassist Rodewald, keyboardists Jon Spurney and Christian Gibbs, and drummer Christian Cassian on risers at the stage's corners, every scene strikes not only the right chord, but often a delightfully unexpected and novel one. One set of lights flare when Stew is in Amsterdam, another mark the passage and arrival in Berlin, and throughout, in coordination with the music, acting, and dancing, they help to create the rock-inflected, existential world Stew aims to portray. I left very thankful that C and I'd had the opportunity to see the show, but also with renewed faith about the possibilities for musical theater, and, dare I say it, Broadway. After the show, C suggested we say hello to Eisa, and we went backstage, got to praise most of the show's actors, and then spend a few minutes speaking with Ms. Davis. (Photo below). I heard recently that Spike Lee is going to film Passing Strange, but I recommend seeing it before the cast changes or...well, let's just hope that Mr. Lee in his groove when he's shooting this one. Thank you, C, and to the entire cast and crew of Passing Strange, thank you as well!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Neuromancer (1)
Hello, last week Aldous Huxley's Brave New World was concluded, time then for a new play and classic aswell be it with a very different futuristic worldview, one that some say has even shaped the past decade with the rise of the internet and movies such as the matrix. The author is William Gibson the man who coined the phrase cyberspace in 82, and stunned the sci-fi world with his debut novel, Neuromancer (84). In 2002 BBC world broadcast this radioplay adaptation, a movie has thusfar not surfaced, perhaps the story is too complex to dumbdown to the Hollywoodlevel, and have anything meaningful left. Still the rumour is a movie will be released next year..we'll see..or not. For now you'll have to make do with this two part almost hour long radioplay adaptation...
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Neuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, notable for being the most famous early cyberpunk novel and winner of the science-fiction "triple crown"—the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It is among the most-honored works of science fiction in recent history, and appeared on Time magazine's list of 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, and sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide.The novel has had significant linguistic influence, popularizing such terms as cyberspace and ICE. Gibson himself coined the term "cyberspace" in his novelette "Burning Chrome", published in 1982 by Omni magazine. It was only through its use in Neuromancer, however, that the term Cyberspace gained enough recognition to become the de facto term for the World Wide Web during the 1990s.
It was Gibson's first novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy. The novel tells the story of a washed-up computer hacker hired by a mysterious employer to work on the ultimate hack. Gibson explores artificial intelligence, virtual reality, genetic engineering, and multinational corporations overpowering the traditional nation-state long before these ideas entered popular culture. The concept of cyberspace makes its first appearance, with Gibson inventing the word to describe "a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions."
William Gibson - Neuromancer pt 1 ( 57:15 33mb)
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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Neuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, notable for being the most famous early cyberpunk novel and winner of the science-fiction "triple crown"—the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It is among the most-honored works of science fiction in recent history, and appeared on Time magazine's list of 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, and sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide.The novel has had significant linguistic influence, popularizing such terms as cyberspace and ICE. Gibson himself coined the term "cyberspace" in his novelette "Burning Chrome", published in 1982 by Omni magazine. It was only through its use in Neuromancer, however, that the term Cyberspace gained enough recognition to become the de facto term for the World Wide Web during the 1990s.
It was Gibson's first novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy. The novel tells the story of a washed-up computer hacker hired by a mysterious employer to work on the ultimate hack. Gibson explores artificial intelligence, virtual reality, genetic engineering, and multinational corporations overpowering the traditional nation-state long before these ideas entered popular culture. The concept of cyberspace makes its first appearance, with Gibson inventing the word to describe "a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions."
William Gibson - Neuromancer pt 1 ( 57:15 33mb)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
Rachid Taha @ SummerStage
So few posts, I know...but perhaps by mid-July or later I'll be back at least half-speed. These days it's all I can do to hammer out a sentence here (let alone a paragraph) before I can the entry and say, maybe tomorrow....
But since I've started, let's see how far I can get.
+++
First, two recent brilliant students I worked with have launched a blog, The Unplanned Adventures of Mir Mir and Bess. (I know them by their given names, which I imagining the rest of the world will soon enough, given their talent, inventiveness, and vision as young authors.) They're on a post-graduate, unplanned cross-country tour that so far has taken them through various cities and towns in the midwest and west, and to attractions both well known, like Four Corners (where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona meet), and thankfully less so, like the "Garden of Eden" in Kansas that features a barbed wire collection (!), and a creepy stuffed two-headed calf. That is, when they're not speeding down deer-laden, pine tree-lined mountain roads to catch sunrise at the Grand Canyon's north rim. I'm looking forward to the rest of their adventures, particularly in California and the deep South, though I imagine their distinctive takes on every place they visit--like trash cans in Las Vegas resembling "daleks" proving that the city is "evil"--will continue. Be safe and have a great time, M & E!
+++
It's been years since I went to a Summerstage concert (the last one I really remembered paired Mos Def and De La Soul--was that before 2001?), but Tisa suggested we catch raï-rock superstar Rachid Taha yesterday, and so we tromped through the rain over to Central Park's Rumsey Fairground and caught what I thought was a sizzler. Yes, Taha appeared unsteady on his feet and teetered at the edge of the stage shortly after he finished his first song. Yes, someone we ran into at the event told us that he had had to be revived, with several hearty splashes of water, for a performance. Yes, he had trouble holding the microphone at one point and expelled several streams of spit in various directions. Yes, the rain showers came and go But when it came to the songs, he was on it. But I'll get to Taha in a minute.
The two intro bands, especially the first, were well worth the trip. Apollo Heights, a group that's been around for two decades, opened first, and I though I'd heard of them during the first Afropunk festival a few years ago, catching them live was a revelation. (Why don't I attend more live concerts?) Playing new pieces as well as songs from their CD, White Songs for Black People, the band, which comprises Danny Chavis (lead guitar), Marvin Levy (drums), Hayato Nakao (bass/programming), Monk (Brother Earth) (3rd guitar), Honeychild Coleman (rhythm guitar), Daniel Chavis (lead vocals), Micah Gaugh (backing vocals, keyboard), and Damali Young (guest drums), set the afternoon off like a round of firecrackers. I was too busy taking photos and trying not to sink into the muddy turf to take notes, but song after song, and especially "Christine," with its drawn out cadences and heavy drone, made an impression, and by the end of their moody, melodious set, I really wanted to hear a lot more. (iTunes or Lavamus!) The second band, Dengue Fever, from Los Angeles, mixes Cambodian pop and lyrics with rock, and while interesting enough, they went on a bit long. I loved lead singer Chhom Nimol's voice and the band's grooves for the first few songs, but after about 6 or so of the songs featuring jumpy B-52-style beats, I was ready for M. Taha.
And then there he was! Bearing a cigarette like a talisman, shambling across the stage as if unsure of where he was, and belting out song after song like a true pro, with breaks from the singing, dancing and posing taken up by his slurping down some sort of yellow-greenish liquid and fiddling with his pants at the back of the stage. He had the entire crowd hopping in short order, so much so that by the time we left, it looked like I'd crossed a mudpatch. But it was great hearing "Habina," "Kelma," "Ecoute-Moi Camarade," and many other hits, as well as one of his most famous and beloved songs, his cover of the Clash's "Rock the Casbah"--"Rock el Casbah," which he ended the concert with, on the best note. My lower body is still sore from all the dancing. Below are some photos from the day. When I post some videos of YouTube, I link one here.
The crowd at SummerStage yesterday
Some of Taha's fans, with Algerian flag
The crowd
Taha performing
Taha crooning
Dengue Fever performing, with lead singer Chhom Nimol at left
Apollo Heights' lead vocalist Daniel Chavis
Honeychild Coleman, Apollo Heights
Apollo Heights
But since I've started, let's see how far I can get.
+++
First, two recent brilliant students I worked with have launched a blog, The Unplanned Adventures of Mir Mir and Bess. (I know them by their given names, which I imagining the rest of the world will soon enough, given their talent, inventiveness, and vision as young authors.) They're on a post-graduate, unplanned cross-country tour that so far has taken them through various cities and towns in the midwest and west, and to attractions both well known, like Four Corners (where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona meet), and thankfully less so, like the "Garden of Eden" in Kansas that features a barbed wire collection (!), and a creepy stuffed two-headed calf. That is, when they're not speeding down deer-laden, pine tree-lined mountain roads to catch sunrise at the Grand Canyon's north rim. I'm looking forward to the rest of their adventures, particularly in California and the deep South, though I imagine their distinctive takes on every place they visit--like trash cans in Las Vegas resembling "daleks" proving that the city is "evil"--will continue. Be safe and have a great time, M & E!
+++
It's been years since I went to a Summerstage concert (the last one I really remembered paired Mos Def and De La Soul--was that before 2001?), but Tisa suggested we catch raï-rock superstar Rachid Taha yesterday, and so we tromped through the rain over to Central Park's Rumsey Fairground and caught what I thought was a sizzler. Yes, Taha appeared unsteady on his feet and teetered at the edge of the stage shortly after he finished his first song. Yes, someone we ran into at the event told us that he had had to be revived, with several hearty splashes of water, for a performance. Yes, he had trouble holding the microphone at one point and expelled several streams of spit in various directions. Yes, the rain showers came and go But when it came to the songs, he was on it. But I'll get to Taha in a minute.
The two intro bands, especially the first, were well worth the trip. Apollo Heights, a group that's been around for two decades, opened first, and I though I'd heard of them during the first Afropunk festival a few years ago, catching them live was a revelation. (Why don't I attend more live concerts?) Playing new pieces as well as songs from their CD, White Songs for Black People, the band, which comprises Danny Chavis (lead guitar), Marvin Levy (drums), Hayato Nakao (bass/programming), Monk (Brother Earth) (3rd guitar), Honeychild Coleman (rhythm guitar), Daniel Chavis (lead vocals), Micah Gaugh (backing vocals, keyboard), and Damali Young (guest drums), set the afternoon off like a round of firecrackers. I was too busy taking photos and trying not to sink into the muddy turf to take notes, but song after song, and especially "Christine," with its drawn out cadences and heavy drone, made an impression, and by the end of their moody, melodious set, I really wanted to hear a lot more. (iTunes or Lavamus!) The second band, Dengue Fever, from Los Angeles, mixes Cambodian pop and lyrics with rock, and while interesting enough, they went on a bit long. I loved lead singer Chhom Nimol's voice and the band's grooves for the first few songs, but after about 6 or so of the songs featuring jumpy B-52-style beats, I was ready for M. Taha.
And then there he was! Bearing a cigarette like a talisman, shambling across the stage as if unsure of where he was, and belting out song after song like a true pro, with breaks from the singing, dancing and posing taken up by his slurping down some sort of yellow-greenish liquid and fiddling with his pants at the back of the stage. He had the entire crowd hopping in short order, so much so that by the time we left, it looked like I'd crossed a mudpatch. But it was great hearing "Habina," "Kelma," "Ecoute-Moi Camarade," and many other hits, as well as one of his most famous and beloved songs, his cover of the Clash's "Rock the Casbah"--"Rock el Casbah," which he ended the concert with, on the best note. My lower body is still sore from all the dancing. Below are some photos from the day. When I post some videos of YouTube, I link one here.
The crowd at SummerStage yesterday
Some of Taha's fans, with Algerian flag
The crowd
Taha performing
Taha crooning
Dengue Fever performing, with lead singer Chhom Nimol at left
Apollo Heights' lead vocalist Daniel Chavis
Honeychild Coleman, Apollo Heights
Apollo Heights
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Sundaze (39)
Hello, Sundaze continues with the final part on Bill Laswell 's ambience. No reason to sulk about that, because Rhotation 39 will be a Bill Laswell week of sorts, Around The World, Eight-X and Into The Groove will all revolve around this creative music genius.
*****
Continued from last week
With Palm Pictures slowly moving into film and away from music with the changing landscape of the industry, Laswell lost a major supporter of his more high-concept albums as well as the Axiom imprint. Under Palm’s umbrella, though, four highly regarded albums and a DVD set were released. Of those releases there was a DVD set, a studio release and a live 2-disc set from Tabla Beat Science. At the request of Chris Blackwell, Laswell oversaw Ethiopian singer Gigi’s debut release for Palm Pictures. Supplementing Gigi’s multilingual, Ethiopian rooted vocals with a vast array of well respected musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Laswell himself, they created a strong release that was very well-received. Laswell and Gigi also became romantically involved and were later married. She has figured in a number of his releases and concerts over the years, and he has produced further outings by Gigi such as her Abyssinia Infinite grouping and her second solo release for Palm, Gold & Wax.
Laswell founded a second label imprint as a critical proving ground for radically new, and in fact revolutionary, sound. Innerhythmic is a label conceived as an alternative outlet for musicians from a variety of different backgrounds, dedicated to exploring the recombinant possibilities of music. With a scope of influence that welcomes the traditional and “trance” rhythms of far-flung cultures as openly as the hip-hop, dub, jungle, jazz, funk and electronic cyber-styles emanating from the DJ underground and beyond, the label stands out as an active realization of the “collage system” - a system where entirely new forms can emerge almost at will from fusions of the familiar, an ecstatic journey into known and unknown worlds of sound.
1999 saw the first release (Eraldo Bernocchi and Toshinori Kondo’s Charged project) on Innerythmic. After a brief inactive period, the label re-started again in earnest in 2001, releasing over the next few years a slew of innovative albums from the likes Nicky Skopelitis/Raoul Bjorkenheim, James Blood Ulmer, Shine and Gonervill among others.
Though touching on the realm of drum n bass in the ‘90s with his Oscillations releases and the compilation Submerged: Tetragramaton, the last few years have seen Laswell step up his work in this area. Starting with Brutal Calling, a hard drum n bass release with OHM Resistance label owner Submerged, a series of releases and live dates have cropped up. Laswell’s new project in this vein is Method of Defiance. The first release focused on the core of Laswell and Submerged once again (with contributions from Toshinori Kondo and Guy Licata) but the recent Inamorata stretched the concept out, pairing Laswell’s bass with a different combination of respected jazz and world musicians and drum n bass producers on each track. Artists like Herbie Hancock, John Zorn, Pharoah Sanders, Nils Petter Molvaer, Toshinori Kondo and Buckethead
Along with frequent live dates around the world with Method of Defiance, Material, Painkiller and the reformed in the late ‘90s Massacre (with This Heat’s Charles Hayward now in the drummchair) Laswell still makes numerous trips to Japan each year for various recordings and live dates, including his ongoing Tokyo Rotation mini-festivals at the Shinjuku Pit-Inn. In 2004, Laswell signed a multi-album label deal with the Sanctuary Records group. The deal spawned his new label, Nagual. Through Sanctuary's earlier acquisition of the seminal reggae label Trojan, Laswell now had access to the Jamaican label's sizeable back catalog. Picking some of his favorite cuts and remixing them, Laswell issued the Trojan-sourced Dub Massive: Chapter One and Chapter Two in May 2005.
In 2005, Laswell was invited to appear on the PBS series Soundstage. The show featured a host of the musicians he has played with over the years including incarnations of his Praxis and Tabla Beat Science projects. Though Laswell mixed the show in 5.1, to date no DVD or official recording has been released.
The New York-based producer, bassist and visionary is responsible for some of the most interesting and influential recordings of the last 20 years. But unlike other sonic architects, he has no rulebook or pre-defined codes. The range of Bill Laswell’s music has demanded a new openness from musician and listener alike, and through his work points of congruence between genres have become clearer and we now have new hybrid forms to reckon with. “Hitting people on a real level and trying to lift their awareness up a notch or two, to get them to think beyond the conventionally held beliefs that certain musics only work in certain ways. That’s the driving force behind most of what I do, and if it means sacrificing notoriety and acceptance for freedom, creativity and integrity, I’ll do it every time.”
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Bill Laswell - Dub Chamber 3 (00 ^ 99mb)
Laswell's grounding in reggae is evident in every note he plays, and his mystical, experimental production style has always been heavily influenced by such dubmasters as King Tubby, Scientist, and Lee "Scratch" Perry. The third volume in his Sacred System trilogy (called, confusingly, Dub Chamber 3) is more muscular than some of his other dubwise excursions, and although there's not much here to challenge the mind, the dreamy flavor of this music is consistently fortified by sturdy beats and Laswell's inimitably tasty basslines. The album consists of four long tracks; on all of them, he's joined by guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, and two of them also feature the playing of Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, whose treated trumpet gives everything a beautiful, eerie sheen. Other guests include bassist Jah Wobble, percussionist Karsh Kale, and pianist Craig Taborn.
1 - Beyond The Zero (9:09)
2 - Cybotron (9:27)
3 - Devil Syndrome (11:53)
4 - A Screaming Comes Across The Sky (17:34)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Bill Laswell / Sacred System - Book Of Exit : Dub Chamber 4 (02 ^ 99mb)
While the previous "Dub Chamber" releases leaned more toward Jamaican-style dub music, with instruments dropping in and out and plenty of reverb and delay, this is altogether a different beat, in large part due to the vocals of Ethiopian singer Gigi. And what Laswell, Gigi, drummer/tabla player Karsh Kale, and percussionist Aiyb Dieng end up with is really ambient dub -- something lighter and more flowing because it adapts itself to the vocals. And Gigi is in excellent form, possibly better than on her own debut, whether on "Ethiopia" or the memorable, beautiful and ethereal "Jerusalem,". Laswell's light hand at the controls works subtly -- shifts happen gradually, making for a sense of movement and focus about the pieces. This dub chamber is a place worth exploring....
1 - Ethiopia (Voc.Gigi) (6:14)
2 - Lower Ground (7:34)
3 - Shashamani (7:29)
4 - Bati (Voc.Gigi) (7:47)
5 - Land Of Look Behind (6:45)
6 - Jerusalem (12:29)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Bill Laswell - Version 2 Version - A Dub Transmission (04 ^ 99mb)
Version 2 Version: A Dub Transmission finds the veteran bassist/producer offering yet another dose of his intriguing neo-dub experimentation. Instead of giving an exact replica of grooves from dub's classic era, Laswell combines dub with modern electronica and takes it to a trippy, hypnotic, atmospheric place -- a place where the reggae beat interacts with ambient club/dance grooves. Version 2 Version doesn't cater to dub purists by any means, but then, Laswell is known for shaking things up, which is why his vision of dubwise is experimental rather than traditional.
1 - Dystopia (8:39)
2 - Simulacra (8:55)
3 - Space-Time Paradox (8:43)
4 - Babylon Site (6:18)
5 - Night City (8:57)
6 - System Malfunction (9:43)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
*****
Continued from last week
With Palm Pictures slowly moving into film and away from music with the changing landscape of the industry, Laswell lost a major supporter of his more high-concept albums as well as the Axiom imprint. Under Palm’s umbrella, though, four highly regarded albums and a DVD set were released. Of those releases there was a DVD set, a studio release and a live 2-disc set from Tabla Beat Science. At the request of Chris Blackwell, Laswell oversaw Ethiopian singer Gigi’s debut release for Palm Pictures. Supplementing Gigi’s multilingual, Ethiopian rooted vocals with a vast array of well respected musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Laswell himself, they created a strong release that was very well-received. Laswell and Gigi also became romantically involved and were later married. She has figured in a number of his releases and concerts over the years, and he has produced further outings by Gigi such as her Abyssinia Infinite grouping and her second solo release for Palm, Gold & Wax.
Laswell founded a second label imprint as a critical proving ground for radically new, and in fact revolutionary, sound. Innerhythmic is a label conceived as an alternative outlet for musicians from a variety of different backgrounds, dedicated to exploring the recombinant possibilities of music. With a scope of influence that welcomes the traditional and “trance” rhythms of far-flung cultures as openly as the hip-hop, dub, jungle, jazz, funk and electronic cyber-styles emanating from the DJ underground and beyond, the label stands out as an active realization of the “collage system” - a system where entirely new forms can emerge almost at will from fusions of the familiar, an ecstatic journey into known and unknown worlds of sound.
1999 saw the first release (Eraldo Bernocchi and Toshinori Kondo’s Charged project) on Innerythmic. After a brief inactive period, the label re-started again in earnest in 2001, releasing over the next few years a slew of innovative albums from the likes Nicky Skopelitis/Raoul Bjorkenheim, James Blood Ulmer, Shine and Gonervill among others.
Though touching on the realm of drum n bass in the ‘90s with his Oscillations releases and the compilation Submerged: Tetragramaton, the last few years have seen Laswell step up his work in this area. Starting with Brutal Calling, a hard drum n bass release with OHM Resistance label owner Submerged, a series of releases and live dates have cropped up. Laswell’s new project in this vein is Method of Defiance. The first release focused on the core of Laswell and Submerged once again (with contributions from Toshinori Kondo and Guy Licata) but the recent Inamorata stretched the concept out, pairing Laswell’s bass with a different combination of respected jazz and world musicians and drum n bass producers on each track. Artists like Herbie Hancock, John Zorn, Pharoah Sanders, Nils Petter Molvaer, Toshinori Kondo and Buckethead
Along with frequent live dates around the world with Method of Defiance, Material, Painkiller and the reformed in the late ‘90s Massacre (with This Heat’s Charles Hayward now in the drummchair) Laswell still makes numerous trips to Japan each year for various recordings and live dates, including his ongoing Tokyo Rotation mini-festivals at the Shinjuku Pit-Inn. In 2004, Laswell signed a multi-album label deal with the Sanctuary Records group. The deal spawned his new label, Nagual. Through Sanctuary's earlier acquisition of the seminal reggae label Trojan, Laswell now had access to the Jamaican label's sizeable back catalog. Picking some of his favorite cuts and remixing them, Laswell issued the Trojan-sourced Dub Massive: Chapter One and Chapter Two in May 2005.
In 2005, Laswell was invited to appear on the PBS series Soundstage. The show featured a host of the musicians he has played with over the years including incarnations of his Praxis and Tabla Beat Science projects. Though Laswell mixed the show in 5.1, to date no DVD or official recording has been released.
The New York-based producer, bassist and visionary is responsible for some of the most interesting and influential recordings of the last 20 years. But unlike other sonic architects, he has no rulebook or pre-defined codes. The range of Bill Laswell’s music has demanded a new openness from musician and listener alike, and through his work points of congruence between genres have become clearer and we now have new hybrid forms to reckon with. “Hitting people on a real level and trying to lift their awareness up a notch or two, to get them to think beyond the conventionally held beliefs that certain musics only work in certain ways. That’s the driving force behind most of what I do, and if it means sacrificing notoriety and acceptance for freedom, creativity and integrity, I’ll do it every time.”
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Bill Laswell - Dub Chamber 3 (00 ^ 99mb)
Laswell's grounding in reggae is evident in every note he plays, and his mystical, experimental production style has always been heavily influenced by such dubmasters as King Tubby, Scientist, and Lee "Scratch" Perry. The third volume in his Sacred System trilogy (called, confusingly, Dub Chamber 3) is more muscular than some of his other dubwise excursions, and although there's not much here to challenge the mind, the dreamy flavor of this music is consistently fortified by sturdy beats and Laswell's inimitably tasty basslines. The album consists of four long tracks; on all of them, he's joined by guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, and two of them also feature the playing of Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, whose treated trumpet gives everything a beautiful, eerie sheen. Other guests include bassist Jah Wobble, percussionist Karsh Kale, and pianist Craig Taborn.
1 - Beyond The Zero (9:09)
2 - Cybotron (9:27)
3 - Devil Syndrome (11:53)
4 - A Screaming Comes Across The Sky (17:34)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Bill Laswell / Sacred System - Book Of Exit : Dub Chamber 4 (02 ^ 99mb)
While the previous "Dub Chamber" releases leaned more toward Jamaican-style dub music, with instruments dropping in and out and plenty of reverb and delay, this is altogether a different beat, in large part due to the vocals of Ethiopian singer Gigi. And what Laswell, Gigi, drummer/tabla player Karsh Kale, and percussionist Aiyb Dieng end up with is really ambient dub -- something lighter and more flowing because it adapts itself to the vocals. And Gigi is in excellent form, possibly better than on her own debut, whether on "Ethiopia" or the memorable, beautiful and ethereal "Jerusalem,". Laswell's light hand at the controls works subtly -- shifts happen gradually, making for a sense of movement and focus about the pieces. This dub chamber is a place worth exploring....
1 - Ethiopia (Voc.Gigi) (6:14)
2 - Lower Ground (7:34)
3 - Shashamani (7:29)
4 - Bati (Voc.Gigi) (7:47)
5 - Land Of Look Behind (6:45)
6 - Jerusalem (12:29)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Bill Laswell - Version 2 Version - A Dub Transmission (04 ^ 99mb)
Version 2 Version: A Dub Transmission finds the veteran bassist/producer offering yet another dose of his intriguing neo-dub experimentation. Instead of giving an exact replica of grooves from dub's classic era, Laswell combines dub with modern electronica and takes it to a trippy, hypnotic, atmospheric place -- a place where the reggae beat interacts with ambient club/dance grooves. Version 2 Version doesn't cater to dub purists by any means, but then, Laswell is known for shaking things up, which is why his vision of dubwise is experimental rather than traditional.
1 - Dystopia (8:39)
2 - Simulacra (8:55)
3 - Space-Time Paradox (8:43)
4 - Babylon Site (6:18)
5 - Night City (8:57)
6 - System Malfunction (9:43)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
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