Into The Groove (16)

Hello, Into The Groove is all about late eighties hip hop today. The catchy pop rap from Young MC who supporting Tone Loc's hits made a name and successfully followed up with stone cold rhymin', but as the nature of hiphop changed fell to the wayside in the early nineties. The 7A3 never got that far, they fell apart after just one album the potential it showed wasn't recognised by their label Geffen and that was it. 3rd Bass are still a real treat, great samples , clever lyrics.. power. Why they didnt go on beats me, they sure were on par with say the Beastie Boys at the time..well hindsight..still maybe they werent that hit orientated and that as we know brings in the bucks, that shortsighted measuring stick that, specially in the US, rules. Poor artists ..how romantic.

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Young MC - Stone Cold Rhymin' (89 ^ 99mb)

Intelligent and middle-class, rapper Marvin Young earned a degree in economics from USC, where he met Michael Ross and Matt Dike, co-founders of the fledgling Delicious Vinyl rap label. He made his debut as Young MC on the single "I Let 'Em Know." In 1989, Young collaborated with Tone-Loc on "Wild Thing," the first Top Ten pop hit for a black rapper, and the follow-up smash "Funky Cold Medina." He stepped out on his own later in the year with the Top Ten smash "Bust a Move," a good-natured examination of romantic successes and failures spiced by his sense of humor and quick-tongued rapping. The song won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance. Stone Cold Rhymin' is a product of its time, particularly in its sound and lyrical references, it comes off as one of the catchiest, friendliest pop-rap records and it's still an infectious party record years after its release.

Following Young's success, he split acrimoniously from Delicious Vinyl, citing restrictions on his work and unwanted tinkering with his album; the label sued him for breach of contract and eventually settled out of court. Young signed with Capitol and released Brainstorm in 1991, expanding into message tracks promoting personal responsibility. The album didn't fare as well, and by 1993, audience tastes had shifted towards harder-edged hip-hop, rendering What's the Flavor? a flop. In late 2000, he attempted a return with Ain't Going Out Like That on the indie label Young Man Moving. It didn't make much of an impression in the rap world, but Young tried again in the summer of 2002 with Engage the Enzyme.



01 - I Come Off (4:05)
02 - Principals Office (4:14)
03 - Bust A Move (4:23)
04 - Non Stop (3:26)
05 - Fastest Rhyme (0:49)
06 - My Name Is Young (4:23)
07 - Know How (4:01)
08 - Roll With The Punches (4:30)
09 - I Let 'Em Know (5:00)
10 - Pick Up The Pace (3:17)
11 - Got More Rhymes (4:51)
12 - Stone Cold Buggin' (1:41)
13 - Just Say No (2:55)

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The 7A3 - Coolin' In Cali

The short-lived hip-hop group out of California released one album in 1988. DJ Mixmaster Muggs was a mobile DJ in Southern California in 1985 and soon teamed up with rappers Brett B and Sean B forming the 7A3 crew. After pushing some material through the independent label Macola Records the group tried pushing a demo to major labels. The rock label Geffen Records tried to infiltrate the growing hip-hop market and was turned on by 7A3's non-threatening and radio-friendly party rap style, they recieved moderate notice for their single "Mad Mad World" which appeared on the Colors soundtrack. After the group broke up DJ Mixmaster Muggs hooked up producing for Mellowman Ace but gained wide recognition with his role in Cypress Hill as producer/DJ and for his work on House of Pain's "Jump Around". In the 90's Mixmaster Muggs is more commonly recognized simply as "DJ Muggs"



01 - Coolin' In Cali (4:02)
02 - That's How We're Livin' (3:59)
03 - Everybody Get Loose (3:55)
04 - A Man's Gotta Do What A Man's Gotta Do (3:59)
05 - Freestyle '88 (2:55)
06 - Express The Mind (3:44)
07 - Hit 'Em Again (5:42)
08 - Drums Of Steel (4:19)
09 - Goes Like Dis (3:58)
10 - 1/2 Bouldin, The Other 1/2 Ince (5:21)
11 - Groovin' (4:24)
12 - Lucifer (5:24)

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3rd Bass - The Cactus Album (89 * 99mb)

3rd Bass was formed by Queens-born MC Serch (born Michael Berrin) and Brooklyn-native Prime Minister Pete Nice (born Pete Nash), along with African-American DJ Richie Rich (born Richard Lawson). Nice had been an English major at Columbia University and hosted a short-lived hip-hop show on radio station WKCR. Serch, meanwhile, had honed his skills battle-rapping at clubs and block parties and had previously released a solo single called "Hey Boy" on the small independent Idlers label. Both Serch and Nice were working as solo acts until producer Sam Sever convinced the two 20 year olds to join forces in 1987. Along with Prince Paul and the Bomb Squad, Sever produced their 1989 Def Jam debut, The Cactus Album (aka Cee/D), which was greeted with enthusiastic reviews in most quarters. MC Serch's bombastic, goofy good nature and Prime Minister Pete Nice's gritty, English-trained wordsmithery put together a great debut album full of great songs, alternately upbeat rollers, casual-but-sincere disses, razor-sharp street didacticism, and sweaty city anthems . With A-plus production by heavyweights Prince Paul , Bomb Squad and Sam Sever.

They followed it in 1991 with Derelicts of Dialect, which featured one of the first recorded appearances by Nas and contained a viciously funny jab at Vanilla Ice called "Pop Goes the Weasel." Accompanied by an equally humorous video, "Pop Goes the Weasel" became 3rd Bass's biggest chart single and performed some much-needed damage control in the hip-hop community: not only did it prevent 3rd Bass from getting lumped in with Ice, but by extension, it also distanced at least some of the Caucasian race from the whole phenomenon, opening doors for greater inclusiveness later on. Despite their success, 3rd Bass disbanded in 1992 when MC Serch went solo. He issued Return of the Product later that year, and the remainder of the group, billed as Prime Minister Pete Nice & DJ Daddy Rich, teamed up for Dust to Dust in 1993. Neither was as successful or high-profile as the two gold-selling 3rd Bass albums. Serch, interested in discovering new talent, became the head of A&R at the respected, now-defunct Wild Pitch label, and later founded his own label, Serchlight Productions. Nice, meanwhile, dropped out of the music business.



01 - Stymie's Theme (0:13)
02 - Sons Of 3rd Bass (4:46)
03 - Russell Rush (0:24)
04 - The Gas Face (3:49)
05 - Monte Hall (5:26)
06 - Oval Office (3:32)
07 - Hoods (0:17)
08 - Soul in the Hole
09 - Triple Stage Darkness (4:10)
10 - M.C. Disagree (0:44)
11 - Wordz Of Wizdom (6:31)
12 - Product Of The Environment (6:15)
13 - Desert Boots (0:21)
14 - The Cactus (4:40)
15 - Jim Backus (0:04)
16 - Flippin' Off The Wall Like Lucy Ball (3:16)
17 - Brooklyn-Queens (3:37)
18 - Steppin' To The A.M. (4:50)
19 - Episode #3 (0:11)
20 - Who's On Third (0:59)
21 - Wordz Of Wizdom (II) (7:56)


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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

Ernest Dawkins's UnTill Emmett Till @ Velvet Lounge

Silence: not the best way to maintain a blog, but wordless, what can I do?

Nevertheless, here's a try. On Monday night I headed down to the Velvet Lounge to catch the world premiere of composer Ernest Dawkins's UnTill Emmett Till. I'm not sure how to describe it, except to say that Dawkins melded spoken word poetry (performed by Khari B) with a range of pieces falling within the larger rubric of jazz and blues, including swing, some New Orleans-style Dixieland (as filtered through Chicago), and even some holy-roller gospel. The highlights of the piece for me were Dee Alexander's vocals, which managed to transform everything she sang, or hummed, or vocalized, into poetry, and the various solos, especially by the saxophonists Greg Ward and Kevin Nabors. (The baritone saxiphonist Aaron Getsug's solo initially provoked laughter among the musicians, though it was unclear why.) I was less a fan of the spoken word portion, which Khari B performed with real gusto and soul. At times, however, it sounded like a little too much rehashed rhetoric from way back when. (When referencing Black history, for example, why not talk about the more direct links in the Diaspora, in addition to references to Egypt (I know, I know...I'm not hating on the Afrocentrists and Kemetists, don't get me wrong)? Like, say, oh, I don't know, the Congo-Angola region, where Emmett Till's ancestor's very well may have come from?)

Anyways, Dawkins's piece, which was a continuous collage, invoked Chicago's Black musical traditions as much as it did Till, or maybe it's better to say that Till's being a Chicagoan, his mythic and symbolic status to the narrative of Black Chicago life, and music and culture, came through in Dawkins's formidable and rich musical weave. I'd thought it might be more somber, but it was really shot through, even when acknowledging the singular and collective tragedies of our past, with joy and awe. Joy and awe at Mamie Till Mobley's courage and heroism, joy and awe at the possibility of memorializing Till and celebrating his brief life, joy and awe that we can still find joy and awe amidst the continuous maelstroms of Atlantic and American history. Chatted with poet Ed Roberson afterwards I told him that I felt energized and elated, though the word "enjoyed," perhaps in its original etymological sense, was and is as appropriate. Filled, lifted. And, as Dawkins's chanted, "We won't forget: Emmett Till."

Here are some YouTube clips (despite my attempts to reorient them in QuickTime, some of the videos still posted in their original orientation on YouTube--sorry!):


An excerpt from the piece


Kevin Nabors' solo


Khari B performing the text

Alphabet Soup (16)

Hello, Alphabet Soup day, alas my preferred pc is still out..got that Power supply, a dozen useless superflous cables but the geeks at Coolermaster forgot that most of their clients replace the supply on their older systems..which have a 20 pins motherboard connector. That said, the guy in the shop should have told me i needed a 24/20 connector converter, but he didn't warn me ..very frustrating stuff..

Well Rhotation reached P today and that means Primus...if you havent heard them before here's your chance to make up for that, but beware you might become a fan...Pigeonhed was a side project that seems to be put on ice 10 years ago, which is a pity because they made two great albums and a remix album. It often happens, relieved from the pressure of doing whats expected Fisk and Smith let themselves go in Pigeonhed. The eponymous album still gets a couple of spins every year, which -with my extensive and growing collection- is proof i really dig this album. Placebo has had success from the start and released some memorable singles, yet household names they are not, maybe it's their freaky side, i don't know. Here's their millenium release .

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Primus - Sailing The Seas Of Cheese ( 91 ^ 99mb)

Primus is all about Les Claypooln not to deny guitarist Larry LaLonde or drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander any credit; no drummer could weave in and around Claypool's convoluted patterns as effortlessly as Alexander, and few guitarists would willingly push the spotlight away. Primus' songs are secondary to showcasing their instrumental prowess. Their music is willfully weird and experimental, yet it's not alienating; the band was able to turn their goofy weirdness into pop stardom. At first, the band was strictly an underground phenomenon, but in the years between their third and fourth albums, their cult grew rapidly. 1991's Sailing the Seas of Cheese went gold shortly before the release of Pork Soda. It had completely redefined the possibilities of the electric bass in rock music for those who'd never heard the group before. Slapping like a funk player, but strumming power chords and finger-tapping like a metal guitar hero, Les Claypool coaxed sounds from his instrument that had rarely if ever been made the focus of a rock band. Claypool's riffs were so full and dominant that they hardly needed to be doubled by guitarist Larry LaLonde, which freed him up on most songs to launch into dissonant, atonal solos that essentially functioned as texture, complementing Claypool's oddly whimsical sense of melody. The combination results in a weird atmosphere that could be transformed into something dark or eerie, but Claypool's thin, nasal voice and demented blue-collar persona place the record firmly in the realm of the cheerfully bizarre. The compositions are mostly riff-driven, fleshing out their heavy metal roots with prog rock tricks added with some of Zappa's sense of humor. However the willful goofiness never detracts from the band's frequently stunning musicianship

By the time of Pork Soda' s 1993 release, Primus had enough devoted fans to make Pork Soda debut in the Top Ten. After touring for a year -- including a headlining spot on Lollapalooza 1993 . In the summer of 1995, Primus released their fifth album, Tales From the Punch Bowl. It was another success, going gold before the end of the year. In the summer of 1996, Primus announced they were parting ways with their drummer, Tim Alexander. He was replaced by Brian "Brain" Mantia, who made his debut on The Brown Album, which was released in the summer of 1997. The covers EP Rhinoplasty followed in 1998, and a year later, Primus returned with Antipop. Antipop was a departure from previous Primus albums, as different producers were used on almost each track. After a supporting tour wrapped up in 2000, Mantia left the band to join Guns N' Roses. In 2003, re-united with Tim "Herb" Alexander, Claypool and LaLonde released the EP "Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People" as well as a DVD compilation featuring all of the bands videos, as well as studio footage and rare performance bootlegs, but shortly afterward announced that Primus was going on indefinite hiatus. During the ensuing break, Claypool focused on recording the debut album by his side project, Oyster Head (who also included Copeland and Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio), as well as releasing his two-part solo outing, Live Frogs: Set 1 and Set 2. 2006 saw the band release another DVD; "Blame It On The Fish" featuring a live recording of the band live on their 2003 tour, as well as a greatest hits package "They Can't All Be Zingers: The Best Of Primus". In November 2006 Primus began touring again on the "The Beat A Dead Horse Tour 2006", according to sources, the band plans to return to the studio on completion of the tour and record a new album.



01 - Seas Of Cheese (0:42)
02 - Here Come The Bastards (2:54)
03 - Sgt. Baker (4:16)
04 - American Life (4:32)
05 - Jerry Was A Race Car Driver (3:10)
06 - Eleven (4:19)
07 - Is It Luck ? (3:27)
08 - Grandad's Little Ditty (0:37)
09 - Tommy The Cat (4:15)
10 - Sathington Waltz (1:42)
11 - Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers (5:19)
12 - Fish On (Fisherman Chronicles, Chapter II) (7:45)
13 - Los Bastardos (2:38)

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Pigeonhed - Pigeonhed ( 93 99mb)

The Pigeonhed project is the result of a collaboration between two of Seattle's more credified figures: Steve Fisk, a member of Pell-Mell and one of the area's best producers (Nirvana, Beat Happening, Soundgarden, Unwound, Screaming Trees); plus Shawn Smith, the vocalist for Brad and Satchel. It's not surprising that a band on Sub Pop's roster looked to the '70s for musical inspiration, but instead of the one-two Stooges/Sabbath punch of Soundgarden and Nirvana, the recordings of Pigeonhed look to Sly Stone, Al Green and Prince. With a large roster of vintage keyboards, Pigeonhed debuted in 1993 branching way out for influences and sonic textures on this eponymous debut, the pair of highly respected artists put together a detailed and evocative landscape that was praised by critics for its rich material and sweeping yet earthy sound. Smith's exceptionally soulful voice is haunting, rich, and especially effective on standouts like "Her" and "Grace," while Fisk's compositional and production chops are shown off nicely on the retro funk of "Lovely Lines" and the more modern electronic trip, "Theme From Pigeonhed." A spectacular debut from two of the Pacific Northwest's most committed artists, Pigeonhed plays like a neo-R&B joyride filtered through Pink Floyd-esque mood swings and some genuinely alternative electronics.

Four years later, the pair reunited for The Full Sentence this time combining drum machines with live drums and percussion, heavy guitar riffs (courtesy of some of Seattle's finest) and analog synth sounds of every color to anchor this remarkably consistent collection of songs. Often reminiscent of Prince's early work, this album is at is best when Smith is on target, a gospel and rock inflected throwback to the funk of yesteryear. they follewed that up with a remixalbum "Flash Bulb Emergency Overflow Cavalcade of Remixes" . Many of the alternate versions -- culled from Pigeonhed's release from the same year, The Full Sentence -- out-funk their predecessors with nifty dancefloor arrangements and well-utilized sonic bells and whistles. Highlights include the Lo Fidelity Allstars' treatment of the famous "Battle Flag," a track that LFA took to the heights of alt-radio success when they released a rendition of the song on their Columbia debut. Two versions of "Marry Me" also stand out, the space funk "Fisk-Goodmanson Prenuptial Trash Heap" remix and "Dave Ruffy's Blissed out Ambient Mix"
Since, no news from Pigeonhed as Fisk and Smith concentrate on other projects.



01 - Theme From Pigeonhed (3:31)
02 - Ain't It So (6:29)
03 - Special Way (3:22)
04 - Her (4:22)
05 - Lovely Lines (3:30)
06 - Cadillac (6:29)
07 - Trial By Sex (4:41)
08 - Salomé (7:10)
09 - Brothers (7:34)
10 - Buzz (5:51)
11 - Grace (2:42)

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Placebo - Black Market Music (00 ^ 99mb)

Placebo was formed by singer/guitarist Brian Molko (part Scottish and American, but raised in Britain) and bassist Stefan Olsdal (originally from Sweden). Briefly called Ashtray Heart and influenced by the likes of Sonic Youth, the Pixies, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Nirvana, Placebo's drum slot was filled alternately early on by Robert Schultzberg and Steve Hewitt. Placebo signed a recording contract with Caroline Records, which had issued the trio's self-titled debut in 1996. The album was a surprise hit in the U.K., as the group became the toast of the British music weeklies and supported their debut with opening for such outfits as a the reunited Sex Pistols, U2, and Weezer.

Despite their flying start, Schultzberg wasn't seeing eye to eye with the other bandmembers, who by this point were able to convince Hewitt to come back onboard full-time, prompting Schultzberg's exit from the band. Placebo switched over to the major-label division of Caroline, Virgin Records, and issued Without You I'm Nothing in November. The album was another large seller in England and initially appeared to be the group's breakthrough in the U.S. Placebo's third release, Black Market Music added hip-hop and disco elements to the band's tense rock sound. It finds Molko in such moody lust that his strangled, androgynous wailing rivals anything the band has previously flashed to the world. Whether it's the dripping, slithery punk circle of songs like "Black Eyed" or the choir-boy enthusiasm of others like "Special K" , they seem to have finally found that sweet wet spot between beauty and perversion.

In spring 2003, Placebo showcased a harder edge with the release of their fourth album, Sleeping with Ghosts. The album went Top Ten in the U.K. and sold 1.4 million copies worldwide. Australian tour dates with Elbow and U.K. shows with Har Mar Superstar followed in 2004. Placebo's singles collection, Once More with Feeling: Singles 1996-2004, was released before the year's end. Dimitri Tikovoi, who mixed select songs on Once More with Feeling, produced Placebo's fifth effort, 2006's Meds.



01 - Taste In Men (4:15)
02 - Days Before You Came (2:33)
03 - Special K (3:52)
04 - Spite & Malice (3:37)
05 - Passive Aggressive (5:24)
06 - Black-Eyed (3:48)
07 - Blue American (3:31)
08 - Slave To The Wage (4:06)
09 - Commercial For Levi (2:20)
10 - Haemoglobin (3:46)
11 - Narcoleptic (4:22)
12 - Peeping Tom (5:13)
13 - Black Market Blood (3:47)
--Xs-K special
14 - Dub Psychosis (3:39)
15 - Passive Agressive (Brothers In Rhythm Remix) (9:07)
16 - Special K (Timo Maas Remix) (7:32)
17 - Little Mo (3:03)
18 - Slave To The Wage (I Can't Believe It's A Remix) (3:31)

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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

Quote: Adrienne Kennedy

    We never got to see Frantz.  Alice
and I went to the hospital
in Washington where we thought he was.
We were not admitted.
  I still read from his life and
search for the cause of his
illnesses and death.
  My romantic sister-in-law, up until
her death we all lived
on 16th Street.  I see her writing
scripts, arranging us all
for the camera.
  We never had a film club again.
After David's imprisonment
Alice didn't make films much.
  Several years ago at Thanksgiving
we looked for Alice's
favorite scene of Now Voyager; it
was missing.  She
believed she lost it that winter
in London.

  I continue to read long passages
from Fanon, but for now a brief segment:

             "But the war goes on:
      and we will have to bind
      up for years to come the
      many sometimes
      inneffaceable wounds that
      the colonialist onslaught
      has inflicted on our
      people."

From The Film Club (A Monologue by Suzanne Alexander), in The Adrienne Kennedy Reader, introduction by Werner Sollors, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 180-181.

Eight-X (16)

Hello, Eight-X time again, it caused me some more trouble as i had to switch computers again, the new powersupply was so noisy it made my ears ring for almost an hour afterwards, < 20 db my ass, white noise is just not my thing, anyway naturally in the current economic model shops don't do just in time they just sell no, 4 pc shops and just one decent powersupply but you guessed it much more expensive , hopefully i have a new silent power supply running tomorrow. As i don't have access to a record player with this pc i had to look out for some Eight-X cd's for source material. Mink Deville sure is a different New Yorker as he's shown his love for cajun and delta blues. However in the beginning of his career he recorded in New York before moving to New Orleans via Paris. With his third album his record label lost faith in his cashcow capabilities and Willy Deville went elsewhere, however they milked him some more and released this compilation of his Capitol years (77-80), Savoir Faire. My next band, Propaganda was treated much worse by their label, put on hold for a year after their first hit, a remix album released against their wishes, and when they finally got to reading the fine print they found out they / their work were fully owned by the label and no money would be forthcoming-ever..Exploitation at an unbelievable level, the Germans just didnt have that much grasp of legal english. Legal battles followed, turned out label Frankie GTH were screwed by ZTT aswell. It was the end for Propaganda, they never recovered the ground they had won. Hunters & Collectors were big in Australia finding a foothold in Europe or the US eluded them..the world was a lot bigger back then and reaching out to the public (their strong point) was just not possible in a world without the internet and you tube... so here's your chance beyond the great music barrier reef..


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Mink DeVille - Savoir Faire ( 81 ^ 99mb)

Willy DeVille (born William Boray in 1953), a native New Yorker who in 1971 travelled to London to form a band; unable to find compatible musicians, he worked as a solo performer before returning to the U.S. and settling in San Francisco, where he founded the first incarnation of Mink DeVille in 1974 with bassist Ruben Siguenza and drummer Tom "Manfred" Allen. After playing in Bay Area leather bars and lounges under a variety of names including Billy DeSade & the Marquis and the Lazy Eights, the trio read a music magazine feature spotlighting the Ramones; duly inspired, Mink DeVille relocated to New York, where they recruited guitarist Louie X. Erlanger. After debuting with three tracks on the Live at CBGB's compilation, the band entered the studio with legendary producer Jack Nitzsche and surfaced in 1977 with Cabretta, an energetic, soulful outing highlighted by "Spanish Stroll" .

After recording 1978's Return to Magenta, Willy DeVille dismissed his bandmates (save for Erlanger) and moved to Paris to record Le Chat Bleu, a record steeped in traditional French-Cajun romantic ballads -- complete with accordion backing -- and recorded with session luminaries including bassist Jerry Scheff, saxophonist Teenage Steve Douglas and drummer Ron Tutt. Dismayed with the results, the group's label, Capitol, delayed its American release for over a year, prompting Mink DeVille to jump to Atlantic for 1981's Coup de Grace. Despite a new, young band and a reunion with Nitzsche, the magic seems absent. Meanwhile Capitol released this -Savoir Faire- a compilation of Mink Deville's first three (Capitol) albums.

Where Angels Fear to Tread is a great comeback record of new DeVille originals, starting with the soulful and sweet "Each Word's a Beat of My Heart." This uncluttered and uncomplicated tribute to DeVille's chosen forebears — Sam Cooke, Phil Spector, the Drifters, Joe Tex, James Brown — also includes forays into Spanish Harlem and other wondrously nostalgic time warps. DeVille's songwriting and singing have returned to top strength, and the record burns with sincerity and warmth. After the release of 1985's Sportin' Life, Mink DeVille had ceased to be an actual group long before Willy stopped using the "Mink" moniker on 1987's bland and gimmicky Mark Knopfler-produced Miracle. A rootsy covers collection, Victory Mixture, provides a welcome antidote to Miracle's misguided modernity, making the most of the singer's relocation to New Orleans with backup from such local legends as Allen Toussaint, Eddie Bo and Dr. John. By contrast, the mostly self-penned Backstreets of Desire skillfully draws on DeVille's prior genre explorations to create music that's wholly contemporary.

Big Easy Fantasy, a mixture of studio tracks and New York concert recordings, is another successful exploration of New Orleans' musical heritage; the re-energized DeVille holds his own while sharing the stage and the spotlight with an even more impressive array of Crescent City luminaries. A decade later, and DeVille's still at it, growing into soul music and Delta blues. He begins Crow Jane Alley with "Chieva," a song about recovering from heroin addiction, but soon turns his attention to romance and getting it all night. Why DeVille isn't as popular in America as Europe, will always be a mystery to his fans, he suffered from drug addiction for many years, which surely stifled his career, but among musicians and songwriters, he is highly respected artist.



01 - This Must Be The Night (2:50)
02 - "A" Train Lady (3:24)
03 - Spanish Stroll (3:38)
04 - Cadillac Walk (3:16)
05 - Soul Twist (2:35)
06 - Just Your Friends (4:10)
07 - Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl (3:47)
08 - Guardian Angel (3:13)
09 - Savoir Faire (3:08)
10 - Gunslinger (2:10)
11 - One Way Street (2:50)
12 - Mazurka (2:30)
13 - I Broke That Promise (3:00)
14 - Just To Walk That Little Girl Home (3:51

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Propaganda - A Secret Wish (85 ^ 99mb)

Propaganda was formed in Germany by vocalist Claudia Brücken and drummer Michael Mertens plus keyboard players Susanne Freytag and Ralf Dorper. The quartet moved to England in 1983 and signed to ZTT Records, their first single, "Dr. Mabuse," reached the British Top 30 in early 1984, but the band's second release was more than a year in coming ZTT had no time (and money) for them. Finally, in May 1985, "Duel" trumped the debut single and found them in the spotlights again. This time their debut album A Secret Wish appeared soon after. The group (again, minus Ralf Dörper) spent the rest of the year on their "Outside World" tour, taking in Europe and America. They were joined once again by Derek Forbes on bass, his fellow ex-Simple Minds cohort Brian McGee on drums, and Kevin Armstrong on guitar, with backing tapes used for most of the keyboard parts.

In the meantime a remix album, Wishful Thinking, was compiled by Paul Morley and Bob Kraushaar, and released in November 1985. Originally intended for the American club market, the album was also released in Europe, against the wishes of the group themselves. In late 1985 their management introduced them to the London based music lawyer Brian Carr of Compton Carr, who studied both contracts Propaganda have been given to by ZTT Records and Perfect Songs, contracts which had been signed by the band members without legal advice. The lawyer explained to the group that under these contracts, the members of the group could go on making records for the rest of their lives and never make any money from them (total exploitation !). Dorper became the first original member to leave the band, and Propaganda splintered soon after, Claudia Brücken left Propaganda her postion became impossible, having married the ZTT co owner and publicist Paul Morley. She joined Thomas Leer to form Act, who in 1988 released their only album Laughter, Tears and Rage. The rest successfully sued to be released of the contract (as did Frankie Goes to Hollywood) but obviously something was broken.

In 1990, the band signed to Virgin Records and Mertens returned with a new Propaganda lineup which included vocalist Betsi Miller, and two former Simple Minds members, bassist Derek Forbes and drummer Brian McGee. The result was a new album called 1234, a good album , but the new Propaganda were not a huge success, times were changing, house was hip.
In 1998, Mertens, Brücken and Freytag reunited, and began working on new material. Several tracks were completed, even a video for one song, "No Return", was produced in Morocco late 1998. However, no album materialized, and in January 2002, Brücken announced, "The reunion was worth a try, but did not work out." Later that year, an untitled nine-track CD was leaked via file-sharing networks on the Internet. In early 2005, Propaganda, now Susanne Freytag and Michael Mertens, started to release new material on the German independent label Amontillado-Music. Meanwhile ZTT is still exploiting their
catalogue and have released A remastered Secret Wish aswell as a SACD version should this compressed version have you wanting the bigger then the real thing version.



1 - Dream Within A Dream (9:10)
2 - The Murder Of Love (5:12)
3 - Jewel (6:22)
4 - Duel (4:41)
5 - Frozen Faces (4:21)
6 - p: Machinery (3:50)
7 - Sorry For Laughing (3:27)
8 - The Chase (4:04)
9 - Dr. Mabuse (10:41)

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Hunters & Collectors - Collected Works (90 * 99mb )


The band took its name from "Hunters & Collectors", a song by the German band Can on the album Landed. As that suggests, the original band was influenced by the Krautrock genre and the productions of Conny Plank, featuring strong percussive influences, noisy guitar, and driving bass lines. The group was originally formed in post-punk 1981 in Melbourne as a collective rather than a band, an excursion into funk-rock rhythms and industrial Krautrock. Mark Seymour (guitar & vocals), John Archer (bass), and Doug Falconer (drums) met at the University of Melbourne in the late 1970s. The first version of Hunters and Collectors included Seymour, Archer, Falconer, Geoff Crosby (keyboards), Greg Perano (percussion), Ray Tosti-Gueira (guitar), and Robert Miles (their sound engineer and art director, he stayed with the band throughout their career.) Tosti-Gueira was later replaced by Martin Lubran, then by Barry Palmer.

The group's early performances are remembered as chaotic, with audience members encouraged to join in on the banging rubbish bin lids or fire extinguishers. The extended line-up included a massed horn section known as the Horns of Contempt. Inside all this was lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter, Seymour--the older brother of bassist Nick Seymour of Crowded House--was the linchpin of the group, with an ear for a melody and a taste for lyrical poetry. The Hunters' reputation spread to Europe where a stripped-back band spent six months in 1983, recording a second album The Fireman's Curse in Germany with producer Conny Plank (Can, Kraftwerk). Pruned back to its essentials the band recorded another album with Plank, The Jaws of Life and a single-only song "Throw Your Arms Around Me" in the ""Talking to a Stranger" mould. Hunters And Collectors was at a crossroads.

Their breakthrough commercial success in Australia came in 1986, with the release of the album Human Frailty where singer Mark Seymour's deep songs about alienation and sexual politics came to the fore. It featured the single "Throw Your Arms Around Me", as well as other fan favourites such as "Say Goodbye" and "Everything's on Fire". It was at this point that the band signed a parallel deal with I.R.S. Records for North America. "Throw Your Arms Around Me" remained one of the most popular songs in Australia for years. From now until their end Hunters And Collectors would remain one of Australian rock's favourite live attractions.The next album, What's a Few Men?, was released in 1987, the American configuration of the album, was retitled Fate. Guitarist Barry Palmer (ex-Harem Scarem) joined the band in 1988. Ghost Nation was released in 1989 , Hunters & Collectors supported Midnight Oil on that band's North American tour of 1990. Although the band struggled to find success in the US and elsewhere, they maintained their status in Australia.

In 1992, Hunters & Collectors recorded the album Cut with the producer Don Gehman, it became the band's most successful album, retaining a balance between the band's artistic core and its commercial ambitions. It was marked by the anthemic single "Holy Grail", inspired by Napoleon's march to Russia in 1812. The song has since become an Australian anthem due to being broadcast at the start of Australian rules football broadcasts. Cut was followed in 1994 with Demon Flower, which was dominated by themes relating to the politics. A double live album, Living ... In Large Rooms and Lounges, was released in 1995, with one disc consisting of an acoustic set the other being a more typical pub performance. Juggernaut, their last studio album, was recorded and released in 1997. Hunters & Collectors embarked on their final tour of Australia in 1998, with the last concert being performed at one of their favourite venues from over the years, Selina's at the Coogee Bay Hotel, Sydney. This gig was recorded for posterity and released on CD and DVD as Under One Roof. Hunters & Collectors retains a reputation as one of the premier acts in Australian rock music history.



01 - Talking To A Stranger (3:51)
02 - Run Run Run (9:14)
03 - Lumps Of Lead (4:10)
04 - Wheels (3:20)
05 - Carry Me (4:11)
06 - The Slab (3:57)
07 - Say Goodbye (3:50)
08 - Everything's On Fire (4:25)
09 - Throw Your Arms Around Me (4:11)
10 - This Morning (6:43)
11 - January Rain (4:26)
12 - Faraway Man (3:08)
13 - Do You See What I See? (3:37)
14 - Blind Eye (4:29)
15 - When The River Runs Dry (5:01)

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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

Around The World (16)

Hello, Around The World comes from London today, where dub sound system Zion Train was formed in 1990 , since they've released albums and singles and toured around europe causing considerable global warming as their gigs tend to rise tempertures to sauna levels, yes i had my baths in them. Anyway this one is their original first album, Passage To Indica, it needed some remastering, something had not going right there.Initially as the vinylversion had basicly 2 mixed thru sides with 8 tracks, the cd master version got 3 singles and dubversion added which obviously had a diffferent original mastering output. Meanwhile the album has been rereleased , presumably corrected this time. Well book your passage...

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Zion Train - Passage To Indica ( 93 * 99mb)

Formed in North London in 1990, Zion Train was founded by Perch (live dub mixing/production), in 1990 and he was later joined by Cod (melodica/production), Tench (production), Molara (voice), Hake (trumpet), and Forkbeard (trombone). Zion Train's members initially came together as a dub sound system; their first single, the limited-edition roots 7" "Power One" (issued on their own Zion Records imprint), immediately sold out, while its follow-up "Power Two" was a major favorite at shaka dances throughout 1992. It led to the release of their debut LP, the mellow dub outing Passage to Indica. Between 2001 and 2005 Dubdadda added extra live vocals and Bigga replaced Forkbeard on trombone in 2001. The live line-up has always been very flexible, varying from Perch and a vocalist for sound-system gigs, to the full lineup for larger events. From 2006 Molara concentrated on her solo projects and Zion Train live features a variety of renowned vocalists including Dubdadda and Earl 16 alongside Marlene Johnoson, and YT.

Zion Train have been one of the planet's most prolific groups, along with a mammoth recorded output and innumerable production credits, remixes and song writing collaborations they have produced magazines, CD-ROMs, Internet sites and built sound systems. Their early releases were on their own Universal Egg label, until in 1995 they signed to China Records. They caused a furore with the publicity campaign for their 'Homegrown fantasy' album. Zion Train are one of the finest live dub acts in the world and promote the practice of dynamic onstage dub mixing which they perform alongside acoustic instruments and singers. Back on their own Universal Egg label since 1999, they have continued to release quality dub, electronica and world dance music. Their work from the past decade and a half still sounds fresh to today's discerning ears. 2005 saw the reissue of the bands seminal and long unavailable first and second albums; 'A Passage To Indica' and 'Natural Wonders Of The World In Dub' remastered and redesigned. 2006 saw the re-release of the third album 'Siren', which was thought by many to herald the birth of the dub-dance vibe that swept the globe in the 1990s. A new album entitled 'Live As One' was released in September 2007.



01 - Shining Light Steppers (4:19)
02 - Plunging into Darkness (4:21)
03 - Earthrush (3:28)
04 - Watching Deep Water (5:32 )
05 - Customs Check (6:18 )
06 - Daybreak (4:51)
07 - Arrival (7:02)
08 - Burning Indica (4:53)
09 - Power One / Dub Power (7:46)
10 - Power Two / Dub to Power (9:09 )
11 - Revival / Sending out a Positive Message (8:45)

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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

The Winters + Obama's SC Blowout + Eugene Sawyer RIP

I wake up screaming. Well, not actually (and I must credit C for that phrase, which applied to a very different situation a very long time ago), but rather I do wake up wondering how I've made it so far through these winter days that vie to outstrip each preceding one in terms of persistent gloom and sunlessness, the cold that seems to issue from one of hell's antechambers, the endlessly ramped up schedule of tasks and responsibilities.... One of my students wrote to say the other day that he was suffering from "the winters," and asked permission to miss class--his winters, unfortunately turned into the sort of flu that has been laying out number of people of late--and I totally understood. The winters indeed.

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Several longtime correspondents (an old friend, one of my mentors) and some new ones have written me enthusiastically about the Obama campaign (at right, Senator Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, at his victory celebration in South Carolina, Getty Images), championing in particular success in Iowa and New Hampshire, where he finished second, and, on Saturday night, the blowout in South Carolina. (He received 55% of the vote to Hillary Clinton's 27% and John Edwards's 18%.) They've all made great points about his ability to win over young voters, the enthusiasm he inspires (which had frothed up to a mania a few weeks ago), and his appeal, based on the Iowa voting breakdowns, to white voters. One noted, as some news accounts and pundits also have, that he received more votes than the top two Republicans, McCain and Mittens, combined--shades of his Illinois US Senate primary victory, where his vote total alone exceeded that of all the Republicans combined--while another pointed out that for the fourth straight contest, not counting the Michigan balloting, the Democrats have drawn more voters than the Republicans, in part because of interest in Obama. Disgust with George W. Bush would also have something to do with it, but I do agree that Obama is generating a lot of excitement, and his victory in South Carolina was pretty stunning, because of the margin of victory, because of the demographic breakdown of his votes, because of what it might say about possible outcomes there or in more moderate Southern states, like Virginia and Arkansas. None of my correspondents seem in the least worried about Obama's rhetoric--beyond the brilliant speeches, and his victory speech in South Carolina was one of the best I've ever heard him give--or his policies, whatever they may be, they don't seem troubled by his overt use of Republican discourse or ideological and policy vagueness, they don't think that Republican smear machine, coupled with the establishment media (I'm always trying to find the right name for these folks), will wring and wrack him in the same way that it did Gore and Kerry. They all seem more concerned with the strategies and actions of the Clintons, who, no surprise to me, are fighting with lead gloves to ensure Hillary's nomination.

I guess I should be more concerned with the Clintons' actions, especially their racialization of the campaign, exemplified most recently by Bill Clinton's Barack Obama = Jesse Jackson and "black candidate" comments last night, but to me, what Obama, if he's going to be the nominee, needs more than anything is to experience the sort of political fight, complete with racist commentary, smears, distortions of his legislative and personal record, what have you, that he'll be encountering in the general election. Anyone who thinks the Republican Party and its surrogates in the establishment media are going to play fair, especially if the party's choice, Mittens, gets the nod, or the media's beloved McCain, somehow becomes the Republican nominee, has been asleep these past two decades. The Republicans know how to jack up racist and socially-based appeals like there's no tomorrow, and time and again, voters have shown they are gullible enough to fall for it. I know this sounds cynical, and I'm trying not to be, but as I keep saying, I hope Obama's team, and the candidate himself, is gearing up for what's coming. Whining, demanding fairness, and trying to appeal to better angels and angles doesn't work most of the time with these folks. They are ruthless, and if they weren't, we'd never have been plagued with the worst president in US history (and yes, that includes the abysmal roster of James Buchanan, Warren Harding, Franklin Pierce, etc.). Whether Obama's really battle-toughened yet isn't clear to me, but I am coming to grasp that his sustained highminded, above-the-fray pose, which he dropped recently to deal with the Clintons' tactics, does appear to have tremendous appeal across partisan lines, and not just to the punditocracy, who have been looking for any reason to go after the former president Clinton, and continue their attacks on Hillary. He has been mentioning a bit more policy in some of the clips I've seen recently, and he did openly state that it's the politics of Washington today and the policies of the current administration that he wants to change, whose rejection he represents, so maybe there is hope.

As 1,000 and more articles have already noted by now, the real test will come on February 5, when he'll be competing in two dozen states, only a few of which--Alabama, Georgia, and Tennesee--have demographics like South Carolina (though all three are considerably larger). There's Illinois, which he should win without breaking a sweat, but also the diverse behemoths of New York and California, and a range of other states like Massachusetts (where the dual Caroline-Teddy Kennedy endorsements might help), Minnesota, Delaware, and Connecticut, where he has a good opportunity to do well, and others, like Missouri, Alaska, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, where he may not. I'm especially curious to see how my conservative native state, Missouri, votes, especially since its Democratic junior senator, the very moderate Claire McCaskill, and former moderate Democratic Senator, Jean Carnahan, have endorsed Obama and are now actively campaigning for him. I'm as curious about New Jersey, which I think I once read is the one of the most ethnically diverse and balanced states in the US, and could be swayed by Hillary's proximity as much as by an energized youth vote and higher turnouts among African-American voters and Latinos, if they chose to vote for Obama over Hillary Clinton. (I filled out my absentee ballot and have mailed it off, a process that New Jersey has streamlined considerably in the last few years.)

So we'll see how it turns out. I'm on the edge of my seat. Really.

>>>

I haven't checked many blogs today, but I didn't see much mention of the passing last night of Eugene Sawyer (at left, CBS file photo) who was Chicago's second Black mayor, serving from 1987-1989. Sawyer, an Alabama native, represented Chicago's 6th Ward on the Chicago City Council from 1971 until 1987, when he was chosen by the council to serve as Mayor after the sudden death of the remarkable Harold Washington. The City Council session that selected him was contentious, and I can recall even now that Sawyer was not the first choice of many of Chicago's Black political class. Many of Washington's supporters wanted councilman Timothy Evans, now Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, named mayor, while many of Washington's fiercest opponents supported Sawyer. Sawyer eventually received 29 votes to Evans's 19, and on December 2, 1987, he was sworn in as mayor. In his brief tenure, he not only managed to ensure a period of political calm, but maintained many of Washington's priorities and saw several enacted, including gay rights legislation and affirmative action opportunities in city contracts. He was defeated in the 1989 by Richard Daley, who has been the mayor ever since, and left government service thereafter. Sawyer was 73 years old.

Don't Panic ! (16)

Hello, Don't Panic ! The HitchHikers Guide To The Galaxy is still answering all the questions you can think of, even if it takes a 1,000 lifetimes. Well is Arthur Dent in need of another improbability event ? Find out in this weeks episode.

Last weeks recap:

Slartibartfast shows Ford and Arthur an Informational Illusion about the Krikkit Wars and the Wikkit Gate, and that the game of cricket on Earth is a "racial memory" of the Wars. Investigating further, they discover that the Krikkitmen, a previously peaceful people, built their first spaceship in a year, after a spaceship landed on their planet. The planet and its sun had been previously obscured in a dust cloud that left the Krikketmen unaware of the existence or even possibility of existence of stars. It is considered remarkable that they constructed a working ship in just a year. After they saw the rest of the universe existed, they decided to annihilate it. Meanwhile, on the Heart of Gold, Zaphod Beeblebrox hears the noise of thousands of people saying "Wop". He intercepts them on the bridge, where he is told they want the "Golden Bail", the ship's Infinite Improbability Drive. They take it, shoot him, and leave.

Back on Slartibartfast's ship, Ford and Arthur watch the Krikkit War Crimes Trial, presided over by Judiciary Pag. Pag's sentence is that Krikkit will be locked in an envelope of "Slo-Time", until the universe has ended, when it will be released, thus saving the universe from attack from Krikkit, and allowing Krikkit to exist in isolation after the end of the universe. However, a Krikkit ship escaped. Slartibartfast notes that parts of the key to the Wikkit Gate, sealing the envelope of Slo-Time, have been re-appearing. After a failed attempt to recover the Wooden Pillar (the Ashes), Slartibartfast plans to go to a party, to locate the Silver Bail. Ford disagrees with this objective but agrees with the concept of going to a party. They teleport from the ship. Arthur does not materialise with Ford and Slartibartfast, but elsewhere, in a gloomy room, with signs such as "DO NOT BE ALARMED. BE VERY VERY FRIGHTENED, ARTHUR DENT". The episode ends on a cliff-hanger, with the previously unintroduced character of Agrajag saying "Bet you weren't expecting to see me again."


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THHGTTG - Fit 16 (20mb)


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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

BOMB's Brazil Issue

I'm slowly making my way through the new, Winter 2008 of BOMB, which is dedicated to Brazil. Tisa B. first alerted me that this was its focus, and Reggie H. directed me to the site, which makes a few of the articles available for free. Years ago I read BOMB regularly, then stopped, and even heard (and read), wrongly it turned out, that the magazine was going under. Reggie would tell me about its issues, which I sometimes still browsed when I would pop into Nico's while in the City, and finally, last fall, I decided to subscribe to it after Reggie sent the photocopies of the informative conversation that Edwidge Danticat conducted with Junot Díaz, and the piec on Isaac Julien's video installation pieces, including his recent Small Boats.

Whenever I hear that a magazine or journal is focusing on Brazil, my question becomes, is the focus essentially going to be the Rio-São Paulo axis, those being the cultural and economic megalopolises (megalopoleis?) or will it look at another region (say the Northeast, the Amazon, the South), will it be a thematic-sociocultural focus (say on Afrobrazilians), or will it mix things up? (Of course there are numerous other ways of approaching Brazil.) This issue, some of which is online, appears to mainly follow the first, most common approach, with a number of the contributors living in either Rio or São Paulo, or coming from there (and now resident in the US). The issue has much of interest, gathering together some of the most notable contemporary plastic artists (Ernesto Neto [whose work enthralls both Tisa and me], Fernanda Gomes, the Campana brothers, Lucia Koch, Marilá Dardot, Laura Lima, Jarba Lopes, OsGemeos,Thiago Rocha Pitta, etc.), filmmakers (Cao Guimarães and Karim Aïnouz [of Madame Satã fame]), writers (Arnaldo Antunes bridging the two fields of literature and music, but also the very distinguished Lydia Fagundes Telles, as well as Bernardo Carvalho and Francisco Alvim), and a very famous architect (Paulo Mendes da Rocha). The "First Proof" literary section features the work of a handful of writers, some of them very well known, like Rubem Fonseca, whose philosophical crime-drenched novels and stories initiated a new style in Portuguese literature and have led to Nobel Prize stirrings, and the subtle poet Adélia Prado, whom I've suggested might be a potential winner. (Below right, Ernesto Neto, Leviathan Thot, 2006, Lycra tulle, polyamide fabric and styrofoam balls, 174×203 x 184’. Pantheon, Paris. Photo: Marcus Wagner. Courtesy of the artist; Galeria Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo; and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, NY.)

As a general introduction to some of Brazil's contemporary stars, music notwithstanding (because really, that would require a year's worth of issue, each covering the four largest cities, São Paulo, Rio, Salvador da Bahia, and Belo Horizonte), it seems pretty good, and some of the plastic artists are probably not well known in the US at all. Mendes da Rocha might be more familiar to people in the know, as he's received the 2006 Pritzker Prize, and I was glad that the editors didn't simply take the easiest route by going with the country's centenarian (yes, he'll be 101 this year!) genius, Oscar Niemeyer, who admittedly and astonishingly is still designing buildings, and has since the 1930s. The writers on the whole might also not be so well recognized in the US, but Fonseca, Telles, Prado, João Ubaldo Ribeiro (a Bahian of African descent), Manoel de Barros, and Salgado Maranhão are all internationally known figures, though none has the profile, I would imagine, of either of Brazil's best known 20th century writers, Jorge Amado, Clarice Lispector, or João Cabral de Melo Neto, or its current phenomenon, Paulo Coelho.

The interviews are pretty informative, and there's a good deal of discussion about Brazilian society and the country's various continuing social problems, though there was considerably less talk about national politics, which, from what I can tell, are in an interesting place right now. I was also hoping that the magazine would feature more writers and artists under 50 (Guimarães fits this criterion, as do novelist Patricia Melo and a few others), but also show more regional diversity, venturing further north and south to find out what's happening outside the Rio-São Paulo axis, and certainly more ethnic diversity. This last problem seems to plague most special issues on Brazil, unless they're devoted to writing by Afrobrazilians or Japanese Brazilians, say, from the favelas, and so on. But who knows, perhaps I've read right past something. I'll keep reading, and perhaps another journal will take up the charge and offer new and exciting angles on what's happening in the arts scenes in the "country of the future."

Sundaze (16)

Hello, SunDaze finalises the seventies story of Cluster and the birth of Krautrock with an album that said out a course for Moebius and Roedelius and even Kraftwerk, Neu ! was new indeed, unfortuantely the two members didnt see eye to eye anymore within a few years and bad blood prefailed for decades, fortunately they did ultimately agree on releasing one of the three remasters they made for every album they did (3), the one here is for their eponymous debut album, some say its a precursers to Kraftwerks Autobahn, well i guess you could drive that one out yourselves...Well Michael Rother was a kindred spirit with Cluster so their cooperation in Harmonia made sense and three great albums were released ( see previous Sundazes). Cluster themselves found themselves a full duo again after Eno had veered off to become a sought after producer, besides releasing his amnient series. At the end of that eventful decade they released Grosses Wasser (big body of water) produced by Tangerine Dream's Peter Baumann not unlike their previous albums. With Curiosum they tried an offbeat path, but considering they stopped working together for eight years afterwards i'd say they considered their chemistry had been used up and they went looking for inspiration elsewhere.

For now this concludes my 4 part special on Cluster and friends, 12 albums some sure made musical history and changed the way electronic music was percieved. I may come back to Cluster and show what they've been up to the years that have passed since.

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Neu! - Neu! (71 ^ 99mb)

Drummer Klaus Dinger had joined Kraftwerk midway through sessions for their eponymous debut album. Guitarist Michael Rother was then recruited to the Kraftwerk line-up on completion of the album.Kraftwerk founder Ralf Hütter left the band at this point, and for a 6 month period, Kraftwerk consisted of a trio of Rother, Dinger & Florian Schneider. Attempted recording sessions at Conny Plank's studio were unsuccessful, and Dinger and Rother parted company from Schneider and began a new project with Plank: Neu! (Schneider rejoined Hütter and the pair continued recording the second Kraftwerk album with Plank.)

Their eponymous first album sold very little by our standards today (though 30,000 records was a lot for a band of their musical nature), yet is today considered a masterpiece by many. It included the Motorik benchmark tracks "Hallogallo" and "Negativland", and bizarre "songs" like "Sonderangebot" (special sale). Dinger's mechanical, cut time drumming and Rother's two-note bass runs adorned with cleverly manipulated and dreamy guitar riffs and fills were the hallmarks of the "motorik" sound that would become the band's trademark.

Their second album, Neu! 2, features some of the earliest examples of musical remixes. The band, excited to record another album, decided to expand their limits by purchasing several instruments. With the money they had left as an advance from the record company, they could only record half an album's worth of material. To rectify the lack of material, the band filled the second side with manipulated versions of their already released single, "Neuschnee"/"Super". Dinger and Rother were both very different , and this showed on their final album of the 1970s, Neu! '75. Side One was Rother's more ambient productions which were similar to the first album, side two was acknowledged as important influence by many later involved in the UK's punk rock scene, with Dinger's sneering, unintelligible vocals searing across a distorted Motorik beat with aggressive single chord guitar poundings. Well they split afterwards..Rother had been working with Cluster in Harmonia and made another album this included Eno aswell (Harmonia 76). before going on solo.. The Neu ! falling out caused it to take 25 years before official cd remastered releases became available.



01 - Hallogallo (10:07)
02 - Sonderangerbot (4:50)
03 - Weissensee (6:42)
04 - Im Glück (6:52)
05 - Negativland (9:46)
06 - Lieber Honig (7:15)

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Cluster - Grosses Wasser ( 79 ^ 83mb )

Grosses Wasser is the seventh album by the electronic music outfit Cluster. It was co-produced by former Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann. Grosses Wasser marked the return to Cluster working as a duo of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius after two albums collaborating with Brian Eno. Grosses Wasser was recorded and released in 1979 on the Hamburg, Germany based Sky label. It featured a wide variety of styles, including some of the most avant-garde material created by Moebius and Roedelius, particularly during the middle section of the title track, which occupied all of side 2. Other tracks, including "Manchmal" and both the opening and closing sections of "Grosses Wasser" continued the gentle, melodic style of the previous three albums, while others echoed the rhythmic style of Zuckerzeit, albeit with more of an edge.



1 - Avanti (4:32)
2 - Prothese (2:10)
3 - Isodea (4:02)
4 - Breitengrad 20 (4:00)
5 - Manchmal (2:03)
6 - Grosses Wasser (18:34)

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Cluster - Curiosum (81 ^ 74mb)

Curiosum is the eigth album by the electronic music outfit Cluster. It was also the final collaboration between Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius before an eight year hiatus. Curiosum was recorded in May, 1981 at Hamet Hof in Vienna, Austria and released later that year. The album was Cluster's last release for Sky. It lives up to it's name, with the seven relatively short tracks of offbeat and unusual melodies.



01 - Oh Odessa (3:06)
02 - Proantipro (7:00)
03 - Seltsame Gegend (7:31)
04 - Helle Melange (3:36)
05 - Tristan In Der Bar (2:56)
06 - Charlic (4:20)
07 - Ufer (8:13)

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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

Rhotation (16) Into BPM

Hello, after the busiest week on record at Rho-Xs (almost 6,000 unique visits) INTO BPM goes dance 1990 with the Stereo MC's. Everybody knows Connected that great pick-up dance track (not too wild) , but the album they made before that remains my favourite, turns out the US got a censored version, can't get too stoned like when "motherman"Africa Bambaata rambles on about his favourite artists , anyway Supernatural provided the gateway for the following success, specially with remixes, albumwise they seem to have had too little pressures-being their own bosses and as we know smokin lots of weed keeps it in great ideas phase. Well currently they are doing a lot of Dj'íng. Deee-Lite burst on the scene with a great album a mega hit..more great ideas, media darlings, but somehow within 2 years they were yesterdays news, unsure what happened there. Adamski too suffered from the Killer hit on his album, and this when the album could well do without out it . Seal on the other hand , made and still makes tons of big mac from it. Personally i find his 'semenkilling' voice/singing one of the most irritating around, yuk ! Another british dance act that made the music headlines in 90 were the Happy Mondays, i compiled a selection from their 3 hits from their Pills and Thrills and Bellyaches album.

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Stereo MC's - Supernatural ( 90, 70min.^150mb)

Stereo MC's formed in London in 1985, when rapper Rob B. (born Rob Birch) and DJ/producer the Head (Nick Hallam) formed the Gee Street label as a means of promoting their music, with eviction money they were given to leave their London flat. Gee Street soon signed a distribution deal with the New York-based 4th & Broadway label, and a series of singles followed before they recorded the debut Stereo MCs' album 33-45-78 (1989) on a shoestring budget with DJ Cesare, drummer Owen If and backing singer, Cath Coffey.

After the departure of founding member Cesare, the group -- now consisting of Rob B., the Head, drummer Owen If (born Owen Rossiter), and vocalist Cath Coffey -- issued the 1990 single "Elevate My Mind," which became the first British rap single ever to reach the U.S. pop charts. Following the release of the album Supernatural, Stereo MC's toured with the Happy Mondays and EMF. For their live shows, they assembled a live band including singers Andrea Bedassie and Verona Davis, and were one of the few hip hop outfits to play rock music festivals at the time. These acclaimed live shows paved the way for 1992's breakthrough Connected, For their live shows, they assembled a live band including singers Andrea Bedassie and Verona Davis, and were one of the few hip hop outfits to play rock music festivals at the time. These acclaimed live shows paved the way for 1992's breakthrough Connected, a sample-free album recorded completely with live instruments , which spawned the smashes "Connected", "Step It Up", "Creation" and "Ground Level", and won them BRIT Awards for Best Group and Best Album.

Throughout several years of production and remix work, the group's long-awaited (and oft-delayed) follow-up remained unreleased. For their 2000 mix album DJ Kicks, Stereo MC's recorded three new tracks, "Rhino, Pts. 1-3," and finally in 2001 issued a new album, Deep Down & Dirty, after a long nine-year hiatus, followed by a tour, their latest album, Paradise, was released in 2005.



01 - I'm A Believer (4:35)
02 - Scene Of The Crime (4:04)
03 - Declaration (2:55)
04 - Elevate My Mind (Voc.Cath Coffey) (3:19)
05 - Watcha Gonna Do? (Voc. Afrika Baby Bambaataa) (3:55)
06 - Two Horse Town (5:11)
07 - Ain't Got Nobody (4:38)
08 - Goin' Back To The Wild (4:31)
09 - Lost In Music (4:34)
10 - Life On The Line (3:57)
11 - The Other Side (Voc.Lisette Santiago) (4:42)
12 - Set Me Loose (3:29)
13 - What's The Word (3:39)
14 - Early One Morning (3:43)
15 - Smokin' With The Motherman (Voc. Afrika Baby Bambaataa) (7:47)
16 - Relentless (4:43)

diet version
Stereo MC's - Supernatural (90 , 70min.* 99mb)
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Deee-Lite - World Clique (90 ^ 99mb)

Formed in 1986, the trio was led by vocalist Lady Miss Kier (born Kieren Kirby in Youngstown, Ohio) and fleshed out by a pair of DJs, Super DJ Dmitry (a classically-trained guitarist and Russian emigre born Dmitry Brill) and Jungle DJ Towa Towa (born Doug Wa-Chung in Tokyo, Japan). Altogether, they started to compose music using samples, drum loops and sound effects. Fusing house, techno, rap, ambient and funk music with an outrageous visual flair largely influenced by the drag-queen community (Kier's fondness for Fluevog platform shoes helped the 1970s fashion revival gather steam), Deee-Lite became hugely popular among New York club denizens, and the trio's own unique cultural make-up earned them a following which ignored racial and sexual boundaries.

In 1990, they debuted with the album World Clique, a crossover smash thanks to hits like the loping classic "Groove Is in the Heart" it defined the summer of 1990 on radio and MTV with its delicious combination of funk, modern dance sheen, and Lady Miss Kier's smart, sharp diva ways. Add in guest vocals and bass from Bootsy Collins (a pity his hilarious video cameo wasn't represented here), brass from the original Horny Horns duo of Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker, and a smooth mid-song rap from A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip, and the results sounded good then and now. The rest of World Clique offers variations on the song's theme, with Kier's sweet, light vocals and DJs Dimitri and Towa Tei making it work in various ways. It's still a bit surprising that Kier didn't go on to greater fame on her own, because she definitely has not merely the pipes but the personality to carry something on her own .

With their 1992 follow-up Infinity Within, Deee-Lite's music turned overtly political as songs touched base with hot topics like the environment, safe sex and democracy. Towa Towa left the group soon after; rechristened Towa Tei, he released his solo debut Future Listening in 1995. Kier and Dmitry, meanwhile, enlisted DJ Ani for 1994's Dewdrops in the Garden, a sensual outing influenced by the growing rave culture. After the release of 1996's remix album Sampladelic Relics and Dancefloor Oddities, Deee-Lite disbanded.



01 - Deee-Lite Theme (2:09)
02 - Good Beat (4:38)
03 - Power Of Love (4:41)
04 - Try Me On...I'm Very You (5:18)
05 - Smile On (3:58)
06 - What Is Love? (3:40)
07 - World Clique (3:23)
08 - E.S.P. (3:44)
09 - Groove Is In The Heart (Voc.Q-Tip) (3:51)
10 - Who Was That? (4:36)
11 - Deep Ending (3:49)
12 - Build the Bridge (Voc.Bill Coleman) (4:31)

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Adamski - Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy (90mb, 71min. * 99mb)

Born in the late ' 60s, Adamski (born Adam Tinley) appeared to have reached the perfect age for recording twenty years later, square in the middle of Britain's acid house boom. In fact, he had made his chart debut a decade earlier with the adolescent punk band the Stupid Babies and Baby Sitters, with his five-year-old brother Dominic on vocals, even recorded a radio session for John Peel. Also a member of the post-punk hip-hop band Diskord Datkord during the mid- '80s, Tinley became interested in house music by the end of the decade. After meeting Chicagoan Jimi Polo, who learned him the basics of the sequencer , Adam Tinley adopted his stage name after the UFO enthusiast, George Adamski, and began playing live at warehouse parties and raves around London.

He signed with MCA by the end of the decade and debuted with "N-R-G," a number 12 hit in the U.K. Adamski enjoyed modest success with his first release, "Live and Direct" which was a collection of tracks recorded live at a small venue in Kentish Town, London. It contained a short, live version of his first single, "NRG" made the charts, his subsequent single, "Killer," wisely forestalled the (recognizable) samples and hit number one -- it featured the collaboration of his brother, programmer and sound engineer, Mark Tinley. "Killer" crossed over into the mainstream music charts, becoming a massive worldwide hit. It is featured on the album, Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy, with follow-up hits such "The Space Jungle" (which was Adamski singing Elvis' "All Shook Up" to a dance backing) and "Flashback Jack".

Adamski's second album was Naughty. It featured a collaboration with Nina Hagen on "Get Your Body!" and plenty of club tunes, expanding from the artist's acid house roots into the pop and rock genres. Commercially, however, this album was not a big success. His third album, Adamski's Thing, was issued in late 1998 on the ZTT Records label, the style followed the trend started with Naughty, with lots of guitars, strings, raw vocals and introspective lyrics, but maintaining a rhythmic dance sensibility. In the early 2000s, Adam Tinley decided to assume a new identity: He is now producing as Adam Sky, and has released a handful of 12" under this moniker , he set up his own label (Prostitute Records), he currently lives in Spain with his daughters, Bluebell Williams Tinley and Ariella Tinley.



01 - Flashback Jack (4:23)
02 - Eighth House (4:18)
03 - Future Freak (3:15)
04 - Squiggy Groove (4:44)
05 - Soul Kitsch Inc (5:28)
06 - Killer (Voc.Seal )(4:10)
07 - Space Jungle (3:50)
08 - Future Freak (Supernova Bossanova) (7:18)
09 - Everything Is Fine (4:19)
10 - I Want You Back (Voc.Kurtis Blow) (5:26)
11 - N.R.G. Symphony In F Minor (8:24)
12 - Pipe Groover (4:32)
13 - Space Jungle (Earthquake Mix) (6:09)
14 - Over Killer (4:54)


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Happy Mondays - P,T,B, Twelvers (90 ^ 99mb)

Late eighties/early nineties party animals Happy Mondays all but ruined Factory Records with their doped up outlook on life, no wonder then that Monday meant just the start of another party week to them, therefore the name Happy Mondays is self evident. Here are three cd singles from their Pills and Thrills and Bellyaches album, which recently has been remastered and refitted with extra tracks, a bonus disk and a dvd , all to entice you to buy it again..well consider this a teaser i omitted the Kinky Afro Radio version and mixed the 3x3 tracks into a sensible order.



01 - Step On (One Louder Mix) (6:14)
02 - Loose Fit (edit (3:55)
03 - Kinky Afro (12"mix) (5:07)
04 - Step On (Twistin My Melon Mix) (5:55)
05 - Bob's Yer Uncle (ext) (6:15)
06 - Kinky Afro (euro mix) (7:32)
07 - Step On (Stuff It In Mix) (5:54)
08 - Kinky Afro (Live) (6:36)

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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

Into The Groove (15)

Hello, Into The Groove takes you behind the Prince extended musical family screen today. At the time-early eighties Prince was just bubbling over with music and ideas, not everything fitted his own 'style' and so many a musician suffered the fate of being the brilliant masters mouthpiece-as it where. Now this is putting it rather sharp but Prince really had no time to argue as it where, and as he was generous in giving the songwriting credits(money) away..whats there to complain. So Apollonia (Kotero) lost out big after she gave the impression not being in on it, just the one-this album then. Sheila E however had her own skills and background and did write her own stuff, and she and Prince would have made a great duo but then there can be only one...oh well i guess Erotic City remained a Prince fantasy. Now The Family was a Prince vehicle from start to finish, a great album and afterwards the lifting off point for Sinead O'Connors career with nothing compares to u, it has to be said Sineads dramatic female voice comes across a lot more intense, though i feel Prince himself would convince, anyway he's present on the album (incognito). ( All 3 vinyl rips btw)

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Apollonia 6 - Apollonia 6 ( 84 ^ 79mb)

After a number of disputes with Prince, Denise Matthews, also known as Vanity, the lead singer of Prince-created Vanity 6, fled the Prince entourage in 1983 to pursue solo endeavors recording with Motown Records and acting in films. She left open an acting position for the role written for her by Prince in the film Purple Rain. After a frantic casting call actress and model Patricia Kotero, renamed as "Apollonia" by Prince stepped into Vanity's role, as well as in the fragmented group, Vanity 6. The other two members of Vanity 6, Brenda Bennett and Susan Moonsie, joined Apollonia and reformed the group as Apollonia 6 for the film and one album, Jill Jones and Wendy and Lisa did the backing vocals. Apollonia 6 had a top 10 pop and R&B hit with the single "Sex Shooter" in 1984. Prince had originally intended his classic tracks "Manic Monday" (The Bangles), "17 Days", and "The Glamorous Life" (Sheila E. in 1984) for the Apollonia 6 album, but he soon lost interest in the project when he became convinced that Apollonia was only there to fulfill her job's obligations and would not be continuing with his group after her contractual obligations to completing the film and one album were fulfilled. And so ended the short and sharp career of Apollonia 6, even though their one album had been a certified platinum success.



1 - Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian (7:05)
2 - Sex Shooter (3:37)
3 - Blue Limousine (6:14)
4 - A Million Miles (I Love You) (5:48)
5 - Oo She She Wa Wa (4:09)
6 - Some Kinda Lover (4:44)
7 - In A Spanish Villa (2:09)

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Sheila E. - Romance 1600 (85 ^ 95mb)

Sheila Escovedo is the daughter of percussionist Pete Escovedo, with whom she frequently performs. Sheila E's uncle is Alejandro Escovedo, formerly with Delphine Neid's first-wave punk rock group The Nuns, now with The Alejandro Escovedo Orchestra. The late Tito Puente was Sheila's godfather. Escovedo is of Mexican, African American, and Creole heritage. Coke Escovedo was also her uncle. She made her recording debut with jazz bassist Alphonso Johnson, "Yesterday's Dream" (1976). She is a drummer and percussionist and also plays violin and guitar.

Prince saw Sheila performing at a concert with her father in the early 80s and was thoroughly impressed by her talent, after the show he met her. The two would eventually join forces during the Purple Rain recording sessions, though taken under Prince's wing, she proved to be a successful artist in her own right. In 1984 she scored hits with "The Glamorous Life" and "The Belle Of St. Mark" In 1985 she scored another hit with "A Love Bizarre" . She opened for Prince on his wildly successful Purple Rain Tour in 1984–85. Sheila recorded three albums during the '80s, The Glamorous Life, Romance 1600, and Sheila E. and, she is well-known for her co-vocals with Prince on his most famous B-side single, "Erotic City" from 1984.

During the Prince's Sign 'O' the Times and the Lovesexy World Tour she served as musical director and drummer in his highly regarded backup band, dubbed the New Power Generation not long after her departure. She also served as a writer and musician on many of Prince's records, as well as on the albums of his protégées such as Madhouse. After leaving the Prince organization in 1989, Sheila recorded a few more albums, Sex Cymbal, Writes of Passage, and Heaven. However, the albums garnered little attention, i guess the music biz has no use for independent, smart, talented and (very) good looking latino women ( "role models-please no we need druggies that bend over"). Whatever, Sheila E is a musician and she still performs, occasionally backing Prince aswell, but i guess you'll have to check her website for her gigs.



1 - Sister Fate (3:52)
2 - Dear Michaelangelo (4:37)
3 - A Love Bizarre (12:08)
4 - Toy Box (5:31)
5 - Yellow (2:09)
6 - Romance 1600 (3:53)
7 - Merci For The Speed Of A Mad Clown In Summer (Instrumental) (2:45)
8 - Bedtime Story (3:38)

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The Family - The Family (85 ^ 85mb)

The band's origins started with the disintegration of The Time in 1984. Lead singer Morris Day had left the band to pursue a solo careeras did guitarist Jesse Johnson soon after. The Time had served as an outlet for Prince to release more music, he invited the remaining members of The Time: Jellybean Johnson, Jerome Benton and Paul Peterson to his home and presented them with his new project, with Peterson (renamed St. Paul) as the new frontman and bassist, Johnson and Benton reprised their familiar roles from The Time. To the mix, Prince added his then girlfriend Susannah Melvoin as a backing singer and keyboardist. The fifth member was Eric Leeds, the brother of Prince's tour manager Alan Leeds, who provided saxophone and flute. Guitarist Miko Weaver was credited in the album's booklet but for some reason he wasn't officially a member of the band (Prince didnt want to be credited at all.) The band's name, "The Family."

Much like The Time, the band's material was composed nearly entirely by Prince, with the exception of "River Run Dry", which was written by Revolution drummer, Bobby Z. Prince wrote and performed all the other tracks and simply overdubbed Peterson's and Melvoin's vocals and added saxophone and flute by Leeds. Indeed, on several tracks, Prince's vocals can be clearly heard. As on other associates' albums, Prince falsely gave credit to the various band members for writing credits, though he kept his name on "Nothing Compares 2 U." The tracks were all recorded in a few weeks' span, at the end of the year 1984, after Prince had finished sessions for Around The World In A Day and just before he started to record music for Sheila E.'s Romance 1600 and his own Parade. Although the band performed a single concert and released a self-titled album and a single (of which the video shows Eric Leeds playing bass because this particular track contained no saxophone!), the project turned out to be short-lived. Peterson felt constricted by Prince's control and opted to pursue his own career. Without a lead singer, Prince lost interest and absorbed most of the remaining members into the expanded Revolution.

"The Family" was a relatively important album in Prince's musical career because it allowed him to test several musical concepts that he would later fully integrate in his music. First, it was the true beginning of his long-term collaboration with Eric Leeds. Leeds co-wrote the two instrumental tracks on the album, which were Prince's first step into jazz fusion, a genre he'd later explore even more with his Madhouse side-project,it also marks Prince's first collaboration with composer and arranger Clare Fischer, as well as the first time Prince added a symphonic orchestra to his music.



1 - High Fashion (5:04)
2 - Mutiny (3:53)
3 - The Screams of Passion (5:21)
4 - Yes (4:20)
5 - River Runs Dry (3:28)
6 - Nothing Compares 2 U (4:28)
7 - Susannah's Pajamas (3:55)
8 - Desire (4:54)

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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

Alphabet Soup (15)

Hello, Alphabet Soup day reaching O today, hmm i had to think whether i should post the first one, i admit i got a lot of mixed feelings about Oasis as their career progressed, i was beginning to think it was all hot air spread by the UK tabloid music press, always ready for hype and scandal, that said they were the radio sound of 94, so...Beth Orton seems to have a knack for being on the right place at the right time..it certainly started of her music career, and the musicpress immediately had a sweet spot for her aswell. However, dont think her life is all rosy, far from it, but then a serious artist needs inspiration, niot that she derieves it all from her own aches , she's a well known opponent of the War on Terror, and refuses to sell her face for advertising. All of her recent releases are "carbon neutral", whereby a tree is planted in a poor area of Mexico for every 1000 (?) cdees sold. Oceansize's mission statement was to make the biggest music possible, those Mancunians sure think big, well they impressed me with their 'etheral wall of noise' .

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Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory (95 ^ 99mb)

Oasis evolved from an earlier band called The Rain, comprised of Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass guitar), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Tony McCarroll (drums) and Chris Hutton (vocals). Unsatisfied with Hutton, Arthurs auditioned acquaintance Liam Gallagher as a replacement. After Gallagher joined the group, the band's name was changed to Oasis. Noel Gallagher, who was a roadie for Inspiral Carpets, went with the band to watch his youngest brother's band play, he began to consider his brother's group as a possible outlet for songs he had been writing for years. Noel approached the group about joining, with the provision that he would become the band's sole songwriter and leader, and that they would commit to an earnest pursuit of commercial success.
After over a year of live shows, rehearsals and even taking the time out to record a proper demo (known as the Live Demonstration tape), the band's big break came in May 1993 when they were spotted by Creation Records co-owner Alan McGee. Due to problems securing an American contract, Oasis ended up signing a worldwide contract with Sony, which in turn licensed Oasis to Creation in the UK.

Oasis first single, "Supersonic", was released in April 1994, followed by "Shakermaker". Their third single, "Live Forever", was their first to enter the Top 10 of the UK charts. After troubled recording and mixing sessions, their debut album, Definitely Maybe, was released in September 1994, entering the charts at number one. Oasis had their first UK number one in April 1995 with "Some Might Say", the first single from their second album. At the same time, drummer Tony McCarroll was ousted from the band, replaced by Londoner Alan White. Oasis began recording material for their second album in May of that year during this period, the English press hyped Oasis some more and supposed rivalry between Oasis and fellow Britpop band Blur. Oasis' second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? was a commercial success, becoming the third largest selling album of all time in the UK with over four million copies sold, despite a softer sound had led to mixed reviews. Oasis spent the end of 1996 and the first quarter of 1997 at Abbey Road Studios in London and Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey recording their third album. Be Here Now was released in August 1997.

Although early media reviews were positive, once the hype had died down, the album was criticised for being bloated and derivative with most of the critics focused on the extensive length of several songs, the heavier sound, and overproduction. The Britpop movement was over and the band failed to meet expectations with Be Here Now. After the conclusion of the disastrous Be Here Now tour, amidst huge media criticism the group decided to stay clear of each other and kept a low profile throughout 1998. In early 1999, the band began work on their fourth studio album, founding member Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs departure was announced in August. Two weeks later the departure of bassist Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan was announced. The now three-piece Oasis chose to continue recording the album, with Noel Gallagher re-recording most of Arthurs' guitar and McGuigan's bass parts.

The first new member to be announced was new lead/rhythm guitarist Colin "Gem" Archer, formerly of Heavy Stereo, they brought in Andy Bell, as their new bassist. Bell had never played bass before and had to learn to play it, along with a handful of songs from Oasis' back catalogue, in preparation for a scheduled tour of America in December 1999. With the folding of Creation Records, Oasis formed their own label, Big Brother, which released all of Oasis' subsequent records in the UK and Ireland. Oasis' fourth album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, was released in February 2000 to good first-week sales, but turned out their lowest selling album ever. The album, Heathen Chemistry, Oasis' first album with new members Andy Bell and Gem Archer, was released in July 2002. it reached number one in the UK and number 23 in US, despite mixed reviews. The record blended the band's sonic experiments from their last albums, but also went for a more basic rock sound, with all of the members, apart from White, penning songs.

After the album's release, the band embarked on a successful world tour that as usual again filled with incidents. Early 2004 longtime drummer Alan White, who at this time had played on nearly all of the band's material, left the band he was replaced by Zak Starkey, drummer of The Who and the son of Beatles' Ringo Starr. After much turbulence, the band's sixth album was finally recorded in Los Angeles-based Capitol Studios from October to December the same year. Spring 05 Oasis released their sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth, fulfilling their contract with Sony BMG, like Heathen Chemistry it was a collaborative project again, rather than a Noel-written album. The record was generally hailed as the band's best effort since (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by fans and critics alike. In May 2005, the band's new line-up, with all original core members gone, embarked on a large scale year long world tour, headlining 110 shows and playing to 1.7 million people. Surprisingly the tour passed without any major incidents. Oasis' seventh studio album has been confirmed for a 2008 release.....



01 - Hello (3:21)
02 - Roll With It (3:59)
03 - Wonderwall (4:18)
04 - Don't Look Back In Anger (4:48)
05 - Hey Now! (5:41)
06 - (the Swamp Song) (0:44)
07 - Some Might Say (5:29)
08 - Cast No Shadow (4:51)
09 - She's Electric (3:40)
10 - Morning Glory (5:08)
11 - (the Swamp Song) (0:39)
12 - Champagne Supernova (7:27)

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Beth Orton - Central Reservation (99

Orton was born in East Dereham, Norfolk, but raised on a pig farm in Norwich for her formative years, before moving to East London at age fourteen. Her mother died from cancer in 1989, when Beth was aged 19, which led to her travelling to Thailand for a short period, residing with Buddhist nuns. Orton found success as a musician relatively late, having first worked at menial jobs such as waitressing at Pizza Hut and even owning her own catering company. Her first contribution in music came when she met William Orbit at a London nightclub, when he tried to borrow a cigarette from her. Orbit's pick up line worked and a relationship came about shortly after. Before long he invited her to do some spoken word for his current Strange Cargo project, but she drunkenly decided to sing also. Shortly after, Orton and Orbit began experimenting to pull an L.P. together. "Don't Wanna Know 'Bout Evil" became the first track on that album, called SuperPinkyMandy, named after a rag doll which she bought at a jumble sale at the age of six, the album was released in Japan alone, in extremely limited numbers.

It was roughly at this time that she met Ed and Tom of the Chemical Brothers in a pub, and began the first in a series of collaborations, supplying vocals to the track "Alive Alone" on 1995's Exit Planet Dust. Her first solo release, what she herself considers to be her debut L.P. Trailer Park, was released October 1996. This release was well received by critics, and sold modestly well, it earned her nominations for two BRIT Awards (best British newcomer, best British female), and the Mercury Music Prize in 1997. The album was produced by Andrew Weatherall, whom she selected based on his production of one of her favourite records at the time, Primal Scream's Screamadelica. The album was far removed from her electronic roots, with a lot more pop/folk tunes present. Central Reservation, her second album, helped Orton build on the success of her debut. Although retaining the electronic edge of the former, this record showed a notably more acoustic side with several tracks consisting purely of Beth's vocal accompanied by a solitary acoustic guitar, with subject matters becoming more introspective. The album earned Orton a second Mercury Music Prize nomination and the Best Female Artist award at the 2000 BRIT Awards.

In July 2002 she released the album Daybreaker, which again blended the early electronica style, with up tempo pop songs and acoustic ballads. It featured guest appearances from musicians such as The Chemical Brothers, Emmylou Harris, it was her greatest commercial success.Orton's fourth studio album Comfort of Strangers was released in February 2006, it sees her move away from the electronica element that she is usually associated with, to a more stripped down traditional alt-folk album.



01 - Stolen Car (5:25)
02 - Sweetest Decline (5:39)
03 - Couldn't Cause Me Harm (4:48)
04 - So Much More (5:41)
05 - Pass In Time (7:17)
06 - Central Reservation (Original Version) (4:50)
07 - Stars All Seem To Weep (4:39)
08 - Love Like Laughter (3:07)
09 - Blood Red River (4:15)
10 - Devil Song (5:04)
11 - Feel To Believe (4:04)
12 - Central Reservation (The Then Again Version) (4:01)


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Oceansize - Effloresce ( 03, 75 min. ^ 175mb)

When Oceansize christened themselves back at the start of the third millennium, they didn’t just pick a name, they set themselves a challenge. Their mission statement was to make the biggest music possible, adventures on the high seas of future-rock giganticism that could never, ever stop. It also meant that every album they made would have to be even bigger, heavier, than the last one.

Formed in Manchester, England, the band featured vocalist/guitarist Mike Vennart, guitarists Gambler and Steve Durose, bassist Jon Ellis, and drummer Mark Herrin. Quickly building a local following, they issued several independent releases -- the "Saturday Morning Breakfast Show" single, the 2000 EP Amputee, the 2001 EP A Very Still Movement -- that got them named Manchester's best unsigned band. Until Beggar's Banquet signed Oceansize that year and quickly issued their first widely distributed EP, Relapse. A tour with Cave In followed, and in early 2003 Oceansize delivered another EP, One Day All This Could Be Yours, which served as a teaser for their first full-length and received much positive response from the press. That first album, Effloresce bursts forth epic, moody soundscapes with feverish punk edges and ethereal electronics for an aggressive guitar storm. Influences range from Jane's Addiction, The Verve, Swervedriver, Tool and Tortoise.to Mogwai and My Bloody Valentine.

The dark and moody ‘Everyone Into Position’ follow up album (05), proved Manchester’s kings of post-metal had succeeded squarely on their own terms. Their song Meredith was featured on the popular television drama The O.C., and Music For A Nurse became the soundtrack to an Orange advertising campaign entitled Fish during summer 2006 . Meanwhile Oceansize found themselves at a new crossroads, a change in personal circumstances led to the departure of founding bass player Jon Ellis. This in itself invoked plenty of soul-searching, since the band’s peculiar, five-brained alchemy had seen them seal an early pact where if one member was to leave, the band would split. However, Jon was insistent they should continue. The search for a new fifth member was far and wide, until they realised the answer was right on their own doorstep. Steven Hodson, who had been playing bass in Mark’s hardcore side project, Kong. A ‘wisecracking weirdo’ from a hardcore punk background.

With a revised line-up and a renewed sense of purpose came a new home. After a successful two-album relationship with Beggars Banquet, Oceansize have moved on to Superball, a new imprint created in their honour, and with a mandate to sign up like-minded bands from all over Europe. Their third sense of adventure ‘Frames’,(07) uncompromising in its heaviosity, of bonecrushing experimentation, mixing, erm, ultimate warrior wrestling music but also beautiful classical flourishes weaving magic out of unfamiliar time signatures.



01 - I Am The Morning (4:18)
02 - Catalyst (6:40)
03 - One Day All This Could Be Yours (4:19)
04 - Massive Bereavement (9:59)
05 - Rinsed (3:58)
06 - You Wish (6:00)
07 - Remember Where You Are (5:22)
08 - Amputee (5:32)
09 - Unravel (2:50)
10 - Women Who Love Men Who Love Drugs (8:30)
11 - Saturday Morning Breakfast Show (9:04)
12 - Long Forgotten (8:57)

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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