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Procol Harum - The Best (2001)

duna29 — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:59:21 +0100

Procol Harum
The Best
2001
Baroque Rock, Art Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock, Symphonic Rock, Blues Rock
EAC-APE / MP3(245)
419mb / 132mb
RAO / CDD 01-034

01. A Whiter Shade Of Pale [0:04:08.68]
02. Conquistador [0:02:40.47]
03. Cerdes (Outside The Gates Of) [0:05:02.31]
04. Kaleidoscope [0:02:55.42]
05. Salad Days (Are Here Again) [0:03:39.28]
06. Repent Walpurgis [0:05:02.48]
07. Lime Street Blues [0:03:02.05]
08. Homburg [0:03:57.46]
09. Quite Rightly So [0:03:41.54]
10. Shine On Brightly [0:03:32.01]
11. Rambling On [0:04:31.30]
12. Magdalena [0:02:50.42]
13. II Tuo Diamante [0:03:29.16]
14. A Salty Dog [0:04:40.14]
15. The Milk Of Human Kindness [0:03:49.11]
16. All This And More [0:03:51.50]
17. Pilgrim's Progress [0:04:33.24]
18. The Dead Man's Dream [0:04:46.02]
19. About To Die [0:03:35.46]
20. Your Own Choice [0:03:10.31]

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Nina Simone - I Put A Spell On You (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

Nina Simone can be considered an acquired taste--like black coffee, fine brandy, or good cigars. With a voice that's less than perfect, she's nevertheless full of passion and pain, joy and raunchiness in her music. This album covers all those emotions set against the background her of well-arranged orchestration and her exceptional skill as a pianist.

Nina is a genre all her own. Her style varies broadly--from blues to jazz to gospel to folk and political music. This album is not a showcase that variety, merely one facet of it. This album has more of a fun feel to it than some of her other recordings--with songs like 'Marriage is for Old Folks' and 'Gimme Some' as well as the child-like 'Beautiful Land.' Nina is certainly no idealist, though, showing her passion and her pain in songs like 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' and 'You've Got to Learn.'

For Nina fans, this album is a nice break away from some of her moodier, darker work. For those just discovering Nina, this album would be an excellent way to ease into acquiring the taste for her music--splashing a little cream into one's black coffee, as it were.

As a dedicated fan of Nina's musical uniqueness, I've found this to be a very pleasant album that's just right for lifting the stresses of day away and losing myself in a little bit of fun.

http://lix.in/-a9c3da

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The Flaming Lips - Zaireeka (superior 5-in-1 stereo mix FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

When a band is already one of the most unique, and among the most innovative in the music biz, what can they do to get even more innovative? The Flaming Lips answer that question in a unique and surreal way in "Zaireeka," which may be the most unique album ever recorded. Whether it's genius depends on how you view music.

Four discs make up "Zaireeka." When played simultaneously, they create a maelstrom of sound. Setting it up with four CD players sounds a bit arduous, but the experience is worth it when songs like the brilliant "Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (You're Invisible Now)" burst out of the multiple speakers. It gives an expansive feeling to the music, as if it's billowing out like smoke and surrounding the listener in a big cushy wall of sound.

The songs have an experimental feeling to them. Some, like "Okay I'll Admit I Really Don't Understand" and "Machine in India" are lacking in complexity when compared to the remaining songs. But in every song, the shimmering multiple layers of sound interweave together, befuddling and dazzling me. A mere disc couldn't hold this much sound. Dogs barking, surreal guitars, gothic organs and pounding drums are much louder here than anywhere else.

It's hard to tell how clear the sound is because of its intensity; it sounds like there are dozens of melodies being played together at times. And fans of the Lips' masterpiece "Soft Bulletin" should check this out. The sound of Zaireeka, once I got used to it, made me think of reminiscent of a bigger, more complicated twin of "Soft Bulletin."

"Zaireeka" is an unparalleled experience that few bands could even dream of, let alone actually make. If you're in the mood for 4-D surreal soundscapes, then this is your thing. A marvelous album.

http://lix.in/-ab4fd5

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Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

The quintessential urban European artpop album. GTP is one of the era's creamiest, capturing the lite angst and rainy balustrades of being a young alien being in a big city. A lot of credit for the splendid sound of the album goes to producer John Punter and to the musicianship that fleshes out Sylvian's rather loose songs -- intricate and forcefully played drums and percussion, Mick Karn's Chaplinesque bass, beautifully programmed synthesizers, and key guest spots by Simon House on violin and Ruichi Sakamoto (on all of Taking Islands in Africa), and several female vocalists. Completed when the band was still shimmying under the eyeshadow of Roxy Music, there's nevertheless not a dud in the collection (except, perhaps, the sombre Bowie-Eno pastiche, Burning Bridges) and this version benefits from the inclusion of two 7"-only instrumentals not on the original. Many of the tracks have become firm fan favourites (the title track, Swing, Methods of Dance and the utterly beguiling Nighporter, which sticks Erik Satie at a bar with a south-London Baudelaire, to deliciously maudlin effect) but special mention has to go to My New Career (one of Sylvian's most underrated) and the cover of Ain't That Peculiar, which swings in a special moody, distracted, late night way.

http://lix.in/-a6e0b4

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Lee Morgan - The Gigolo (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

As much as I love "the procrastinator", "cornbread", and "the sidewinder", this is the definative Lee Morgan album for me. As with all post-sidewinder albums the knock on this one by the jazz-police (the great defenders of cliche and self-important snobbery) is the sidewinderesque first track: "Yes I can, No you can't". For people who can look past labels (and the head of the tune) what you'll find with this track is something very similar to Hank Mobley's "Dippin'", namely a very soulful, very engaging, slice of jazz-funk, done as only Lee Morgan could do it. However the person who makes this album a classic isn't so much the usual suspect of excellence: Wayne Shorter and his brilliant compositional skills and jagged tenor, but rather the pure-hot-fire drumming of Billy Higgins. I think a pretty good case could be made that no one in the history of jazz was a player in more quality recorded sessions than Higgins, one of the two or three greatest ever drummers in jazz. This is a man who could truely do it all, from the high speed Tony Williams like drumming on this album, to, fast forward forty years, his verging on languid, anticipating-improv with Charles Lloyd. Billy Higgins kept the fire burning for a long time, and under many different jazz-pots, but with this album we get Higgins at his most vital, his most alive and immediate. We also get Lee Morgan at his most engaged, no hint here of some of the going-through-the-motions-tiredness of some sideman sessions, or the hesitant tone of late sixties post-swimming accident Lee. This is Lee reaching into his bag of tricks and shooting them all out of his shining horn. He even throws in a ballad just to show that he can. In short this is an album for people who can see past the cheese of the title, the tired criticisms of the self-superior, and who can deal with an album on its own terms. If you can do that what you'll find is a master on the trumpet doing what he does best. And that is a thing to behold.

http://lix.in/-a88541

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The Go Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

That the Go-Betweens ended their career around 1989 after they had released their absolute masterpiece is a bit of a puzzle and a tragedy. "16 Lovers Lane" is transcendent and breathtaking. The opening cuts from Grant McLennan, "Love Goes On!" and "Quiet Heart", are so exquisite, it's hard for me to do them justice in words. Elsewhere, Robert Forster offers up some stunners as well ("Love Is a Sign", "Clouds"), and Amanda Brown proves to be a brilliant accompaniment with her oboe, violin and shimmering backing vocals. "Streets of Your Town" is *THE* pop masterpiece, even if it disguises something sinister and ironic beneath its optimistic veneer.

http://lix.in/-a70bfc

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Ornette Coleman - This Is Our Music (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

"This Is Our Music" is one of the essential discs Ornette Coleman recorded for Atlantic from 1959 to 1961, and the most important thing about it is that it reunites Ornette with Ed Blackwell for the first time on record. Blackwell was the first drummer to collaborate in making Ornette's music, and played a critical role, but was not able to play on the first several albums. Billy Higgins is a phenomenal drummer, and added something special of his own to "The Shape of Jazz to Come" and "Change of the Century," but Blackwell's New Orleans polyrhythms are documented for the first time with "This Is Our Music." As the story goes, Ornette, from Ft. Worth, was touring the South with an R&B band. Some locals objected to his innovative style, beat him up, and threw his tenor off a hill, leaving him stranded in New Orleans in 1949. He stayed with a friend's family for several months, borrowing his friend's brother's horn so he could practice while he tried to secure another gig. It was during that time that he met Ed Blackwell, and they played together as Ornette first developed his innovative style. Later in the mid-50s they were both in L.A., and played together, practicing Ornette's large and growing number of compositions, along with Don Cherry and Charlie Haden.

It takes some effort to piece together the chronology of Ornette's recordings, and so here is the list of the Atlantic records (the first two on Contemporary, "Something Else!" and "Tomorrow Is the Question" were compromises, not featuring Ornette's regular band):

The Shape of Jazz to Come -- recorded 5/22/59, released October, 1959

Change of the Century -- recorded 10/8-9/59, released June, 1960

This Is Our Music -- recorded 7/19, 7/26, 8/2/60, released February, 1961

Free Jazz -- recorded 12/21/60, released September, 1961

Ornette! -- recorded 1/31/61, released February, 1962

Ornette On Tenor -- recorded 3/22, 3/27/61, released December, 1962

Blackwell played drums on the last two dates, "Ornette!" and "Ornette on Tenor," and both Blackwell and Higgins played on "Free Jazz," with a double quartet. One of the tracks on "Ornette!" features a long Blackwell solo. Higgins, with a solid background in swing and bop, went on to play with many a jazz leader over the years. Blackwell was always associated with Ornette, playing with him later in the 1960s, and then forming "Old and New Dreams" with Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Dewey Redman in the 1970s to play music that extended the Coleman Quartet in the direction of pan-African styles. Cherry and Blackwell made two excellent duet albums as well, "Mu" in 1969 (see my review) and "El Corazon" in 1982. Ed Blackwell, who suffered from kidney disease and underwent kidney dialysis for many years, died in 1992. Don Cherry died in 1995.

Anyone who decides that they seriously dig Ornette's music should save up and get "Beauty Is a Rare Thing," a 6-disc box that contains ALL the Atlantic recordings, not only the 6 original releases, but all the additional tracks that were collected in the later "Art of Improvisers" (released in 1970) and "Twins" (released in 1971), as well as tracks that were released only in Japan and some that were never released in any form. The summer 1960 sessions with Blackwell that produced "This Is Our Music" include more rare and never-before-heard tracks than any of the other dates. (A warehouse fire in 1976 destroyed tapes of additional Atlantic sessions, perhaps twice as much material as was saved.) The 70-page booklet, with great black-and-white photos, includes a 28-page essay by Robert Palmer, which is my source for much of the above information.

One further note to those interested in Ornette -- start with "Free Jazz" at your peril. It is the most difficult of his recordings, not his most successful, and should be heard only after hearing his fantastic quartet sessions. Personally, I recommend beginning with "The Shape of Jazz to Come" with Billy Higgins and "This Is Our Music" with Ed Blackwell. Peace.

Beauty Is A Rare Thing

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Family - Music In A Doll\'s House (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

This may have actually been a concept album. The concept would have been "We're doing drugs and, although we like them, they are really confusing us." Music In a Doll's House is a raging slab of psychedelia run through a blender. It is an astonishing piece of work filled with paranoia, minor keys, and snippets of themes that recur in drastically altered forms listed as "Variations On A Theme of ..." Acid flashbacks, perhaps.

This would all be so much hippie marginalia but for the fact that Family's musicianship, songwriting and vision were incomparable. Although unmistakably a product of the '60's, Music In A Doll's House doesn't sound retro -- it still sounds visionary. This album would sound cutting-edge-original if it were released today, tomorrow or next year. There is nothing else like it, and probably never will be. Family never attempted to repeat this, although one could say the same of any other album they released.

Voyage

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The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

What an astonishingly perfect album.

I first discovered "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" back in 1991. I was in my early 20's, and had no idea what I was buying back then. I knew I loved "Fifth Dimension" and "Younger Than Yesterday". I probably just bought it to fill out my Byrds collection while hoping that it had a good tune or two, like "The Ballad of Easy Rider" or "Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde" has. I got much more than I bargained for, because it is one of the greatest efforts I've heard in all of rock-n-roll. It has become more and more special and significant with time. This would be one of my "Desert Island Discs", even if I was only allowed 10 albums, this would make that list, simply because it sounds so timeless and it never gets old.

From a marketing standpoint, it is not that well positioned in the pantheon of Byrds albums and singles. There is no hit single, and the album's cover doesn't really hint at the treasures that lie within. Combined with the album's title, someone who doesn't know any better might think it would sound more like "Sweetheart of the Rodeo", or not know what to think at all. This book cannot be judged by its cover, my friends. The only faults with this album may only be the packaging. However, as a fan, I would not change a thing. I only wish David Crosby had been allowed to finish this record before he was fired by Chris and Roger. Dave makes great contributions to this record, and the last track on the new expanded CD has a shocking glimpse into their studio world, exposing much unrest and friction in the group. Michael Clarke sounds like a royal pain-in-the-butt, and only in the Byrds for the money, and he refuses to play properly like a spoiled brat. Poor Gary Usher, the producer, probably had a hard time babysitting this guy and keeping everyone from killing each other.

Out of all the confusion and animosity, the end result is just pure magic. Was it accidental? Or was it very deliberate? It was everything the Beach Boys' "Smile" was supposed to be. It was America's best response to "Sgt. Peppers", and it more than met the challenge, albeit after several years. (At the time of its original release, the record was a commercial failure and was overlooked and underappreciated.) I wish teenagers and young adults who love rock-n-roll would listen to this record. There is nothing "oldie but goody" about it. I feel it has stood the test of time even better than "Sgt Pepper".

It also may be an accidental concept album. The sessions for this record obviously started on the heels of the psychedelia craze, but was completed and packaged right as the Byrds were leaning towards country music. It also makes for a nice history lesson by being a fine example of how fast things were moving and changing back in '67-'68. To imagine that the Byrds would be playing the Grand Ole Opry a few months later is astonishing! This record really captures the Byrds doing a 180, and reinventing themselves. You hear these changes unfold right in front of you.

This album is so technically beautiful and full of wonderful harmonies, instrumentation, orchestrations, sound effects, and that wonderful chang-a-langing 12-string Rickenbacker. I think of this album as one long song, because each track blends in with the next so smoothly, and dreamlike. It feels like a very intelligent psychedelic journey with occasional hints of country and bluegrass music. It's hard for me to listen to one or two tracks alone, I normally just play the whole thing. The only track I sometimes skip is the first one, "Artificial Energy". It's a good tune, but if any track fits in the least, it's that one. The transition from "Natural Harmony" into "Draft Morning" is wonderful, and the latter is a beautiful tune with many things happening, like a mandolin, thumping bass, classic Byrds harmonies, a smooth political message, and great sound effects of guns in war.

This album also features two amazing Goffin/King tunes done to perfection. The version of "Goin' Back" is lyrically powerful and "Born To Follow" has wonderful phasing effects. "Change is Now" is another song with wonderful harmonies and a hypnotic bass line and beat. It's psychedelic, but not in an "Iron Butterfly" way. There is nothing hokey or dated about this album. It all sounds so fresh and modern to this day, and the last two tracks really close it out on a peaceful note. The whole record is like a journey. It will take you to different places. It clearly is the Byrds at their Best. The Byrds gave it their best effort and were successful. Their early potential is fully realized with this effort. They did it.

Space Odyssey

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Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

On the one hand this is one of the finest live documents of a performer's work ever recorded. In fact, it may be the best live 2 disc set aside from Young's own 'Live Rust' and Eric Claptons 'Derek and the Dominos - Live At the Fillmore' release. Even without the visual imagery of the 'Weld' video, the nuances that made 'this' Neil Young the 'Godfather of Grunge' can be appreciated through the audible record alone. In particular are the extreme, even by Neil Young standards, use of distortion and feedback, especially in the extended endings of songs. Neil was even inspired by his opening act, Sonic Youth, to string together a number of these finale's into the curious, experimental 'Arc' disc. You may need to garner a taste for such voluminous summations since virtually all of the songs on 'Weld' are punctuated in this manner. On the upside, there is certainly nothing lackluster about the way Young and Crazy Horse are addressing their catalog here. It's pedal to the metal all the way.

The track selection is another story. The setlists detailed on the 'Sugar Mountain' website reveal that on their 1991 tour Young and Crazy Horse offered little variation from one performance to the next. One setlist appears to have been rigidly adhered to. What you're hearing on 'Weld' is pretty much what everyone who attended a concert from this tour heard. But one can certainly take exception with some of the songs Young chose for the shows. While most people who attend a Neil and the Horse concert probably expect to hear certain classics, such as 'Like a Hurricane' and 'Cinnamon Girl', alternate versions of these tracks are readily available on a number of releases. Had Young introduced some variation in the setlist, performances of tracks such as 'Drive Back', 'Southern Pacific', and 'Alabama', he could have filled in those relatively rare performances nicely on these discs in lieu of 'Cortez the Killer', 'Tonight's the Night', 'Welfare Mothers', and 'Hey Hey My My'. Young has such an extensive catalog that releases such as this, and even his 2000 'Live At Red Rocks' disc (both of which feature performances of 'Powderfinger' and 'Tonight's the Night'), render some tracks superfluous for Young's more dedicated fans.

What makes 'Weld' special, however, are the stunning performances of more recent Young compositions, in particular 'Crime In the City', 'Love and Only Love', 'Rockin' In the Free World', 'Mansion On the Hill', 'F*!#IN Up', 'Farmer John', and 'Love To Burn', all of which are better live (and in the case of 'Crime and the City', electrified) than their studio counterparts. It has always been the case with Young and Crazy Horse that taking off whatever polish a studio affords them, 'reducing' the band to their garage-rock sound, enhances their appeal. There is also an electrified, Jimi Hendrix styled version of Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' In the Wind', and the final encore, which Young refers to as "some more trash", 'Roll Another Number', perhaps designed to bring the crowd down from the high-decibel rush Young had rolled over them before sending them on their way.

The new numbers are nicely mixed with the older material across the two discs. It's a particularly nice compilation of Young's work for people who don't own many of his discs. It's also essential to the rabid collector, however, for the great versions of Young's late 1980's production. So while the discriminating collector may disagree with the track selections, perhaps Neil the DJ knows best. He created a 2-disc work that balances the appeal for his new and old fans alike, proving once again that his acumen on the stage extends into the marketplace.

Cinnamon Girl

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Mercury Rev - Boces (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

Yerself Is Steam, Mercury Rev's stunning debut is the basis of Boces. While Yerself Is Steam was a neo-psychedelic, kaleidoscopic mess of styles, unrivalled genius and ear-splitting noise, Boces is the more pop-oriented of these two yet still defiantly experimental. The mind-bending opener "Meth of a Rockette's Kick" goes through sudden volume changes, wordless choirs, brilliantly inane lyrics and a glorious noisy solo and one of the most excruciatingly loud noises ever, suddenly turning into a brass-section filled oddity before crashing into a monstrous wall of noise clearly shows that this band knew no boundaries of creativity. Even more brutal noise is explored on the utterly brilliant "Trickle Down" that ends with the most brutal instrumental noise I've ever come across to.

But Boces is not short of the most astonishing pop songs you'll ever hear. "Bronx Cheer" is the most heavenly slice of noise pop, or any kind of pop to be honest, I've ever come across to. I'm the owner of about 800 cds so this should say quite a lot. "Something For Joey" is a magnificent sunny feedback-drenched pop tune highlighted by Chambers' sublime drum work and Thorpe's flute, and in spite of David Baker's departure, the lyrical content of "Hi-Speed Boats" gives a slight hint to where the group was heading after the singer's departure, while "Downs are Feminine Balloons" hints the same territory to arrive with its quieter approach.

One of the most important things why I rate Boces higher than Yerself Is Steam is that while remaining wildly unpredictable, the group manages to expand their sound drastically. "Boys Peel Out" is a dreamy jazz number and the 11-minute swirling quasi-metal song "Snorry Mouth" is slightly reminiscent of Spacemen 3's longer noise excursions. The closer is of acquired taste however. "Girlfren" is an acid jazz number that you will find hilarious or downright boring. With any sense of humour you'll probably see the joke, but it's indisputable that "Very Sleepy Rivers" off of Yerself Is Steam was a much better album closer.

So, if you know Deserter's Songs or All Is Dream, the pure noise scattered across Boces might come as a shock to you. But once you've recovered you might find yourself thinking that this is the best album Mercury Rev have yet released, and as they've moved away from noisy transcendence into the field of symphonic grandeur, Boces will probably always be one of a kind, and to me it is the greatest album ever released. Just approach the album with an open mind if you are not familiar with what it might sound like!

Meth Of A Rockette's Kick

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The Orb - Orbus Terrarum (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

I already wrote a review of this CD awhile back but I don't think it did Orbus Terrarum much justice because now I must say that it is absolutely an amazingly gorgeous album. Much earthier and less spacey than the UFO tributes, Ultraworld and UFOrb, Orbus Terrarum is also a lot brighter and more peaceful than the previous albums with influences from the bizarre humor of the Pomme Fritz "Little Album" EP. I must say that I first said it was their fourth best album but now I would rank this as The Orbs second best album tied alongside Orblivion and ranks just behind UFOrb & Ultraworld as their best album. The music is stunningly creative, exquisit, and I must even say a bit bizarre at times especially. I'm not suprised if fans of UFOrb and Ultraworld are dissapointed with this release or even ended up disliking it but while that's understandable I must say that Orbus Terrarum was a bold move for the Orb in trying whole different terrorities and sounds instead of being stuck. The album cover art sets the general mood of the record: Light but strange.

Valley begins this record and sets the general mood of this record with misty sounds with lots of aquatic sounds giving a feel of a journey through the jungles on the bottom of a valley on a misty day. The best part of the song is at the last 40 seconds with the tingling, dubby keyboards giving a feel of being pelted with raindrops. Plateau is my favorite song off Orbus Terrarum. It begins with the sound of someone announcing the beginning of someone saying "And Now Folks For an old familar favorite. We've had many requests for this. It's a little sentimental song and I surely hope, all you sentimental folks out there are going to enjoy it. Really fellas, Let's Go!" and the voice effects echo away with the misty melody kicking in and continuing the sounds of Valley but with a slightly darker tone and more of a New Agey feel. Ultimately beats come in around the 3 minute mark and culminating with thumping beats and echoing voice effects of someone yelling in the distance. Plateau oddly enough, somewhat reminds me of A Huge Evergrowing Brain That Rules From The Center Of The Universe. I give my hats off to Dr. Paterson for composing this wonderful piece. The next song Oxbow Lakes, is one of the most un-Orblike songs that The Orb have ever made. It starts off with echoing pianos and aquatic watery sounds giving a feel of swimming under the crystal blue sea. The song gradually intensifies and becomes a chaotic rave number while maintaining it's natural atmosphere. The song eventually calms back down like a storm moving out and leaving behind a bit of eerieness not too unlike some of the quieter parts of UFOrb. Montage D'or is a 10 minute, 42 second song with more of a Pomme Fritz-like atmosphere. It starts off with someone ranting about leaving for Constantinople tonight before a strange guitar lick comes in with boiling water sound effects. Around the 4:30 mark a defined rhythm comes in and blasts into a chaotic track with metallic beats and a slightly jazzy feel. An explosive sound ends Montagne D'Or and it ushers in the next track White River Junction. White River Junction is more laid back and less intense than the previous two track. I could swear I hear a voice effect repeating the quote "Listen To The Radio". A melody comes in with a very relaxing melody and a sort of 'humid' feel like the sun breaking out after a thunderstorm. Then it sort of becomes an electronic rave-like song with a darker minor note feel. Overall it's probably the mellowest song on Orbus Terrarum. The next track Occidental while not a mistake like a previous reviewer said, it doesn't quite belong on Orbus Terrarum but yes, Occidental fits more on Pomme Fritz with the bizarre flutelike sounds and crazy sound effects. However there are many great sound effects in this track. The last few minutes though drag on though with muddle up noise effects and it and kind of dogs the track down a little. A lowering voice effect ends Occidental and begins Slug Dub. Slug Dub is probably one of the dubbiest tracks the Orb have ever done. It's a bizarrely arranged track with lots of voice effects of different pitches almost like two disaster approaching from two different directions. The voices stop around the two minute mark and then light beats come in with a relatively somber minor note feel and blasting into a rock/pop oriented song with melodie. I don't want to give too much away about this song because while I could, I find it difficult to explain how Slug Dub really is. The sound effects later in the song can be a bit grating at times though. I love the bird sound effects around the 10 & a half minute mark and how the melodies morph throught out the song. Slug Dub ends Orbus Terrarum at 17: minutes and 3 seconds.

I can't really explain how much I really recommend getting Orbus Terrarum because it's an absolutely beautiful album that unfortunately was overlooked during it's release.

Occidental

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The Hot Dogs- Say What You Mean (FLAC) Japanese Remaster

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

JVC Victor Japan ~ 2003/1973

The Hot Dogs were a Memphis power-pop band who were label-mates with Big Star at Ardent Records in the early seventies. While lacking the edgy off-center quality of the legendary work of Chris Bell and Alex Chilton, The Hot Dogs' brand of power-pop was more obviously influenced by Memphis soul. Lead guitarist and producer Terry Manning did a wonderful job of giving this album the same sumptuous sound that is found on Big Star's debut (which he also had a hand in creating). A rare Memphis power-pop gem that you don't want to miss if you like Big Star.

Tracklist/Info

Say What You Mean (Japanese Remaster) in FLAC:

Here's the Shit

Hype Williams - Untitled x One Nation (v0)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

Good day peoples who follow HFS40k. Haven't posted here in months so I figured I'd drop by to say hi and give you some music I've been digging. Enter Hype Williams: "Onstage, online, and on film, the band likes to maintain an aura of cut-and-paste mystery: they perform wearing elaborate DIY masks on stage (often made out of aluminium foil), call themselves D. Blunt and Inga Copeland, are practically impossible to catch for an interview. When you do corner them with questions, they respond something totally (or rather, seemingly) unrelated."

Their music is very distinct and difficult to pin-point, mostly lo-fi dub-influenced psychedelia. All the tracks have this haze and fuzziness that really creates the feel of a warm Boards of Canada track melted through a tin can and fucked with by different influences: some being new age, some being aggressive like Black Dice, and some including clips of passages of dialogue (some philosophical, some just utter nonsense). Made by potheads for potheads (and odd people like me :D). Their 2010 untitled release is more experimental and their 2011 album One Nation is definitely more "catchy" and accessible as a whole. I love both and own both on vinyl. Their newest full release is to be out in April on Hyperdub. Hope you all enjoy.

Untitled (2010)

Download v0 (only exists in v0 at this point, a vinyl-only release)

One Nation (2011)

Download v0 (has a web rip but it's a lossy master so no 100% FLAC can ever exist)

The Jim Carroll Band- Catholic Boy (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

Atco ~ 1989/1980

Tracklist/Info

Catholic Boy in FLAC: Here's the Shit

“Poetry can unleash a terrible fear. I suppose it is the fear of possibilities, too many possibilities, each with its own endless set of variations. It's like looking too closely and too long into a mirror; soon your features distort, then erupt. You look too closely into your poems, or listen too closely to them as they arrive in whispers, and the features inside you - call it heart, call it mind, call it soul - accelerate out of control. They distort and they erupt, and it is one strange pain. You realize, then, that you can't attempt breaking down too many barriers in too short a time, because there are as many horrors waiting to get in at you as there are parts of yourself pushing to break out, and with the same, or more, fevered determination.”

-Jim Carroll

Kayo Dot - Gamma Knife :D

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

http://kayodot.bandcamp.com/

Listen here, and buy it if you can. I'll post a full download here in a bit.

Scott Walker- Scott (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

Fontana ~ 2000/1967

"The girl across the hall makes love, her thoughts lay cold like shattered stone. Her thighs are full of tales to tell, of all the nights she's known."

I've always gotten a kick out of imagining British teenyboppers in 1967 seizing on this album as the latest fix for their Walker Brothers obsession and playing "Montague Terrace (In Blue)" for the first time (sometimes I include pink record players and slumber parties to further develop this theatrical scene of the absurd). While Images, the final Walker Brothers album of the 60s, occasionally hinted at the direction Scott Walker's solo career would take, nothing could have prepared his listeners for this unprecedented leap into Brel and existentialism backed by Wally Stott's gloomy orchestral arrangements. As such, Scott represents the juncture at which Scott Walker began his metamorphosis from teen idol to cult hero, and while often cited as the least consistent of his initial run of solo albums, this is only relative to the genius that would unfold over the next few years.

Tracklist/Info

Scott in FLAC: Here's the Shit

David Johansen- S/T (FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:37:59 +0100

Razor & Tie ~ 1994/1978

First and best solo album from the lead singer of the New York Dolls

Tracklist/Info

David Johansen in FLAC: Here's the Shit

The Beach Boys - Surf\'s Up (FLAC)

GROVER — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:16:28 +0100

People get so caught up over this stuff about which albums Brian Wilson contributed to. I guess if someone is just a Brian Wilson fan that can be instructive for some, but nevertheless, this is in many ways a forgotten treasure.

It is often packaged together with Sunflower, which really makes me wonder what happened to the Beach Boys' market in the early 70's, because both albums were sensational and mostly overlooked.

If I were going to rank the top post-1965 albums by the Beach Boys, I would rank them thusly:

How good is Surf's Up?

Well, Let It Be might not have been the Beatles' best record, but it has some pretty good moments and I would compare Surf's Up very favorably with that release. Feel Flows is an all time classic, as is the title track. There are a couple of out of the mode tunes on here but they generally work within the expermental framework of the integrated album. It was the early 1970's, with Pink Floyd putting barking dogs on their Meddle album from about the same time.

While I can understand someone only downloading Feel Flows and the title track, I certainly can't recommend unless someone has heard the entire album first. Would you rip out your two favorite chapters in Moby Dick and toss the rest? This is an album from a period when artists still had things to say and were attempting to paint pictures and create moods.

Surf's Up is highly recommended.

Take A Load Off Your Feet

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The Beach Boys - Sunflower (FLAC)

GROVER — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:16:28 +0100

Here we go. This is the Beach Boys as I know and love them. Sunflower is a wonderfully inspired effort from the Beach Boys, and includes some of the most stunning harmonies they ever recorded. If all you've ever heard of the Beach Boys is Pet Sounds, I pity you. Their post-Pet Sounds material may not be written about with the same fervor, but they unquestionably had a lot left to offer in the relm of sugary melodies. By this time, Brian Wilson's creative control of the band was no longer such a sure thing, and there were many tracks that were either co-written or entirely composed without Brian's influence. His brother Dennis in particular was coming into his own as an incredible songwriting talent with such tracks as "Slip on Through", the rocker "Got to Know the Woman", and the beautifully tender "Forever". In the 1990s, the musical world saw the Beach Boys in a different light than they had since the 1960s. Their music was revered both commercially and critically for the first time in many years and finally people started to take notice of their early Brother albums, Sunflower and Surf's Up in particular. The arrangements on this album were imaginative and unyielding and it was clear that the Boys were still the creative force the world knew them to be. I understand if you worry that this album couldn't possibly be anything but a disappointment after Pet Sounds. I mean, after all, when do you ever hear the words `Beach Boys' and `70s' in the same sentance? Well, if it is critical reassurance that you need, understand that this record was very well received in Britain, even if America remained oblivious to its genius.

http://lix.in/-a5170b

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The Psychedelic Furs - The Psychedelic Furs (FLAC)

GROVER — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:33:02 +0100

1980 NYC. Sounds at the Mudd Club, Max's and Hurrahs bathed in a wash of post-punk and Stiff Records new wave garbage. Fall of 1980 saw the Furs with their debut turn the tables on all that was "punk". Armed with sneering Bowie-like vocals, heavy back beat and guitars awash in the latest space echo and chorus effects, this album sounded like no other. It was as if post-punk started to become stylised and more pop-oriented. A sound so unique and revolutionary, that most people never gave the band any credit for it. Look who they influenced: Joy Division, U2, Bauhaus and the Bunneymen. FLowers, India and Pulse are out and out post-punk classics. The Furs never sounded as good. One of the great debut albums of any band at any time.

We Love You

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PJ Harvey - Rid Of Me (FLAC)

GROVER — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:33:02 +0100

The cover says it all. Emotions laid bare, defiance incarnate, grimy and harrowing, Rid of Me is a listening experience unlike any other. The closest comparison is probably Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral, except where Trent Reznor's main instruments are intricate sonics and technology, PJ Harvey's weapons are more primal -- Harvey's versatile, devastating voice; a battery-acid guitar sound and technique; volcanic songwriting; and a backbreaking backbeat. Three-chord angst doesn't come on stronger than on title track "Rid of Me", starting off as a faint whisper but plowing into an energetic monster in the veins of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" come chorus time, drummer Robert Ellis supplying a degenerate scream ("Lick my legs, I'm on fire") that sounds like it came straight from a Richard Kern film. And as angry as Harvey is, she backs it up with punk hookery aplenty; "50ft. Queenie" could have been a Ramones hook in all its simplicity and raw adrenalized power, and "Rub It 'til It Bleeds" sounds like the unholy child of Nico and R.E.M.

Yuri-G

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Sparks - Kimono My House (FLAC)

GROVER — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:11:31 +0100

Ron and Russell Mael tried a curious experiment with their third album. Sparks had established itself in Los Angeles in the very early 1970s as a club act based on their deep appreciation for the early sixties Britpop acts, and in particular the Kinks. They had developed a following at the Whiskey-a-Go-Go, they had released two effective albums with their fellow bandmates the Mankey brothers (yes, the producer and later the Concrete Blonde member), they had had a very minor hit with "Wonder Girl", and they had made some initial media breakthroughs. They had not, unfortunately, sold enough records to earn a living--remember, this was years before new wave bands like the Jam made a living from such homage to an era only eight to ten years removed. The Maels reacted with a daring gambit. They had not impressed America with their Britpop sound--so why not sell their Britpop to Brits? They promptly moved to London, hired a Britpop backing band, tilted the lyrics decisively into rapid-fire Gilbert and Sullivan territory, and changed the sound into, of all things-- guitar-pop Kinks-drenched, ringing guitar, British 19th Century music hall singalong. The band used Russell's fantastically melodic and piercingly high falsetto as the centerpiece and principal driving weapon of the affair. Kimono My House is the first of two resulting records based on this sound. The whole thing improbably works, making this one of the great underappreciated acts of pop genius released in its era. Ron Mael's lyrics are laden with light opera humor, and are intelligent, contemporary, and indelibly odd. Lyrically, Sparks in this era sounds like the Residents might sound if the Residents wrote songs targeted at 12 year old girls. Russell Mael's falsetto is one of those unforgettable things--never critically appreciated, and yet absolutely unique (an analogy might be made with Keith Emerson's live work on keyboards spinning in mid-air during this time period). Kimono My House defies description--the Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" had a similar glampop sound, but Sparks was an altogether different thing. This album is as listenable 25 years after its release as it was when it made the Maels perhaps the most unlikely teenybop idols that Melody Maker ever produced. If you're considering whether you might like Kimono My House, ask yourself the following questions: do you enjoy a band that knows how to parody itself and everything about it? do you like melodic power pop that does not take itself too seriously? do you enjoy an amusing lyric and a band that is willing to try something odd and fun? If your answers were "yes", this is the CD for you. In hindsight, Cheap Trick soon thereafter sorted out how to take the Sparkseque humor and meld it into a wonderful cartoon-metal sound. But nobody did Kinks-as-music-hall-vaudeville as well ever again....

Falling In Love With Myself Again

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Robert Johnson - The Centennial Collection (FLAC)

GROVER — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:11:31 +0100

Robert Johnson, blues pioneer and legend, would turn 100 next month if he were still alive. In celebration of his centennial, his all-too-brief catalog-- 29 master takes and 13 alternates-- has been reissued.

As I'm sure a lot of you reading this already have these recordings in some form or another, I'm going to start by talking about the presentation of this material. Put simply-- this set is a revelation of sound-- it's remarkable, both the 1990 collection (Complete Recordings) and the later reissues of King of Delta Blues Singers all have that "pre-World War II reissue sound". Many of you know what I mean, scratches, pops, microphone hiss, etc. It lends a certain charm to the music, but it can certainly change the listening experience. This recording is remarkably free of that-- crip, clean, clear, no artifacts of age or old media. It's really amazing, I've never heard anything from this era that sounds like this, it has my salivating at the potential for remastering other pre-WWII music and it really brings Johnson to life-- with such clarity, both his singing and guitar playing leap off the recordings.

And really, that brings me back to the recordings, a true treasure of their era, Robert Johnson was a powerfully talented man. Generally recognized for his guitar playing (rumor has it he sold his soul to the Devil to attain such mastery), Johnson was also a singer of fierce power, channeling deep and powerful emotions and demonstrating excellent flexibility in his voice. Accompanying himself on guitar, Johnson demonstrates remarkable technique, instantly recognizable as his own and never really replicated by anyone else. I think it was best summed up by Keith Richards, who famously asked when hearing Johsnon, "who is the other guy playing with him?"

The songs themselves have been covered and re-covered so many times, in many ways they're instantly familiar to us. To hear Johnson perform though is often a revelation-- he can bring forth such emotions seemingly at will, haunted fear ("Hellhound on My Trail"), anxiety ("Ramblin' On My Mind") and ecstacy ("They're Red Hot"). But for me, when he's at his best is when there's almost an acceptance of a dark resolution-- "Me and the Devil Blues" and "Cross Road Blues" come immediately to mind. It's something I've never quite heard in anyone else's music, and certainly the many, many covers of the latter are simply lacking in comparison.

The bottom line is, these recordings are essential parts of music history, it's hard to overstate this, and should be investigated by virtually any serious music fan. For those who have previous issues of these recordings, the sonic upgrade here is to my ears worth the investment. Highly recommended.

Hellhound On My Trail

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Swallow - Blow [FLAC]

GROVER — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:25:18 +0100

My CD purchases for August of '92 netted me His Name is Alive's re-issued "Livonia", Pale Saints' "In Ribbons", and Swallow's only full-length release. For the next several weeks they seemd to be the only discs I listened to, "Blow" no less than the others.
For some reason, this band gets pegged as a lightweight version of the Cocteau Twins. After hundreds of listens the only firm points for comparison that could be made -at a stretch- are that both groups are (or were) signed to 4AD, both featured a guitar-driven sound anchored in textural and atmospheric exploration, and both contained female vocalists who were comfortable at the higher end of the register. All of this is a bit like saying humans and chimpanzees are just alike because we share 99% of the same DNA.
There are obvious qualitative differences here. Robin Guthrie's such heavily-processed guitar effects lent an extremely distinctive sound to the musical palette of the Cocteau Twins; and coupled with the seven-octave range and penchant for glossolalic lyrics possessed by Liz Frazer put an instantly recognizable stamp on their material. Mike Mason and Louise Trehy approach the creation of their own ethereal soundscapes from a different direction. Mason's guitar work, while employing its own set of effects, remains more organic. Sure, there's some reverb, but it's never taken to such extensive lengths that it's merely mimicking Guthrie's trademark sound. The tones emeriging from Mason's guitar, while never power chords, are much heavier and have real depth and expansive quality; and while atmospheric they don't sound as if they were processed through every effects pedal he owned (and this is not meant to be a slur against Guthrie, one of my favorite guitar players). Louise Trehy's voice is not as expressive as Liz Frazer's, but remaining in the upper registers is beguiling nevertheless, and invests each song with quiescent sussurations of real emotion. Swallow also opt for a far more liberal employment of keyboards to augment their sound, something heard on almost every track, and in many different variations.
"Lovesleep", "Peek-a-Boo", "Lacuna", "Oceans and Blue Skies" (familiar perhaps to those who watched MTV's "120 Minutes Into the Future" or "Alternative Nation") , "Follow Me Down" , "Halo", and "Cherry Stars Collide" are the standout tracks. A different version of "Lovesleep", containing intermittent vocals by Trehy, exists, and I wish that it had been chosen rather than the all- instrumental track of the same name that opens the CD, but both build to a powerful crescendo that sets the band's own course, rather than a powerful echo of the Cocteau Twins for the rest of the CD.

Tastes Like Honey

Alyosha - Foreign Universe [2011] (320kbps)

GROVER — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:25:18 +0100

new album. no samples. unusual. honest. out of left field. a foreign universe of beats.

hope you dig it.

love,
alyosha

begin

Pink Floyd - Amsterdam \'69 (FLAC)

GROVER — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:38:44 +0100

Recorded live at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, on September 19th, 1969. Stoned out. No vocals.

Careful With That Axe Eugene

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Cerberus Shoal - Crash My Moon Yacht [FLAC]

GROVER — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:38:44 +0100

The fifth album by progressive rock minimalists Cerberus Shoal is an interesting mix of polyrhythms and Eastern instrumentation, employing over 30 instruments in the process. Alternately soothing and abrasive, a sinister rip chord seems to lie submerged in tracks like the gamelan-inspired tinkling of "Changabang I" and the eerie streaking horns of "Elle Besh," covering a lot of ground sonically and texturally, quietly blurring into one another in the process. After four minutes of atmospheric drones and fading heartbeats, "Breathing Machines" explodes into a hail of dissonant guitar and hand drums, making for one of the album's more intense moments. While the tracks are generally not expansive, the smooth jazzy quality of "Yes Sir, No Sir" and the simple acoustic textures of "Asphodel" more than fill the spaces allowed them. All in all, a highly compelling example of sophisticated experimentation.

Breathing Machines

Cerberus Shoal - The Land We All Believe In [FLAC]

GROVER — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:38:44 +0100

Somewhere on this disc there's a hit record. It was produced by the same guy who does the Animal Collective, if that gives you a reference point, and the similarities between the bands are few but important: Cerberus Shoal, like the AC, makes a special place for percussion and strives to look for new sounds. Unlike the Animal Collective, they tend toward now-ancient prog-rock epic songs-- hence my first comment: somewhere among these ten to twenty minute pieces, each with several movements, you could pick out several fantastic movements, stretching in style from later Tom Waits to late 60's psychedelic folk (Fairpoint Convention or Incredible String Band). My major complaint is that they combine all these styles into long pieces, ala 70's prog-rock, which seems a little bit cheesy in this day and age. Combined with the 'Satan-voice' interludes, it can reach the fringe of embarassing the listener. It's not hard to picture them on stage, dancing around a miniture stone-henge :) Despite them maybe taking things a little seriously (serious is passe, right? Unless you're Pink Floyd or Radiohead, which they're not) it's certainly interesting what these guys and girl(s) are doing and their style is really good if you're in a darker sort of mood. I'm reminded very much of unpolished Frog Eyes or Wilderness, but not as compact. They need to lose the epic songs or at least turn them into a cohesive album instead of releasing a series of songs that in themselves have a beginning, middle and end. It's like listening to a bunch of EP's in succession. But who's to say they're trying to please ME? What they're doing is really good, original, heavy stuff. I like it for the most part, but I'll recommend it on a dare.

The Ghosts Are Greedy

Ride - Nowhere (20th Anniversary Edition FLAC)

GROVER — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:38:44 +0100

Vaportrail

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DJ Shadow - In Time and On Tune Live (FLAC)

GROVER — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:38:44 +0100

This is the best of DJ Shadow.

Alright, Shadow may be a bit of an acquired taste, but this set is essential to anyone even remotely interested in hip-hop, breaks, basslines, or beats. In Tune and On Time is basically Dj Shadow's resume, because it includes the gist of most of his best material. 90% of the tracks are only 2-3 minutes in length, some of which are condensed from 10-14 minutes, originally. So, any repetition or slowness in the music is streamlined and eliminated. Not only that, but Shadow has mixed and matched to create a performance-in 5 acts-that maintains a flow so constant that it all feels like one, 2 hour track.
For those of you who own most of Shadow's material and are wondering if it is worth it, let me guarantee you that In Tune and On Time is like a whole 'nother album. Josh has taken the opportunity to add and subtract from ALL the material included in this set, injecting brand new samples and innovations so subtly and completely that they become new pieces altogether, the highlights of which are acts two, four, and five, which include versions of Blood on the Motorway and Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain that shatter all his previous productions. In Tune and On Time is a masterpiece because it rewards even more on repeated listens, where you can pick apart the layers and grow a whole new respect for the music. If you want to hear Dj Shadow at his best, this is all you need.

Walkie Talkie

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Aphrodite's Child - End Of The World (Esoteric Remaster) (1968)

oldman — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:24:51 +0100

Format: flac | Size: 263,8 MB | Covers included

01 - End of the World
02 - Don't Try to Catch a River
03 - Mister Thomas
04 - Rain and Tears
05 - The Grass Is No Green
06 - Valley of Sadness
07 - You Always Stand in My Way
08 - The Shepherd and the Moon
09 - Day of the Fool
10 - Plastics Nevermore (Bonus)
11 - The Other People (Bonus)

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Aphrodite's Child - It's Five O' Clock (Esoteric Remaster) (1969)

oldman — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 21:42:41 +0100

Format: mp3-320 Kbit/s | Size: 136,6 MB | Covers included
Format: flac | Size: 356,3 MB | Covers included

01 - It's Five O'Clock
02 - Wake Up
03 - Take Your Time
04 - Annabella
05 - Let Me Love, Let Me Live
06 - Funky Mary
07 - Good Time So Fine
08 - Marie Jolie
09 - Such a Funny Night
10 - I Want to Live
11 - Magic Mirror
12 - Lontano Dagli Occhi
13 - Quando L'Amore Diventa Poesia
14 - Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall
15 - Air

mediafire-MP3
or
data-MP3

data-FLAC part 1
data-FLAC part 2

Ravi Shankar - India\'s Master Musician (FLAC)

GROVER — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:04:48 +0100

I wish I could have all of the "REMASTERED CDs" that have been released now and perhaps one day I will. But this was the first one I got which started off my Ravi Shankar collection. This is an excellent CD because it gives you five completely different raags including a "dhun" and a "thumri" style. What is great about these old recordings is that Panditji has condensed every raag in a shorter version of a fully blown concert which is usually about an hour long.
Listening to Puriya Dhanashri one is automatically taken to an evening setting. My favourite in this CD is the raag "Charu Keshi" I haven't experienced such a beautiful introduction to a raag, there is so much in the first five or six seconds of this piece that I could hear just that again and again.
If you hear any poor digital remastering, you are not paying attention.

Charu Keshi

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Captain Beefheart - Lick My Decals Off Baby (24-bit/96khz Vinyl)

GROVER — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:38:58 +0100

Transfered by vertigoswirl, December 2010.

Transfer info:

Source: Original usa promo LP>
Table: Micro Seiki MB-15 w/ Shure HI TRACK cartridge & N95HE stylus>
Pre: Yaqin MS-22B*RIAA (w/ NOS GE JG-12AY7 tubes)
Interface: Edirol UA-101 interface (recorded in full 24/192 resolution)>
Software: Sound Forge 10 Pro>
Click Repair>
dBpoweramp (flac 24/96)>
Tag * Rename>
Traders Little Helper - md5 & ffp>
Yourself.

Coming off of the liberating heels of 1970's "Trout Mask Replica", Don Van Vliet first changed the name of his band from "His Magic Band" to "The Magic Band" and proceeded to record another tight, vigorous, arrhythmic sonic landscape. Though this album doesn't have quite the free form feeling of its precedessor (which included tape recorder chants, false starts, off microphone chatter, and lots of interesting other random tidbits), it stretches the boundaries of rock music in much the same manner. "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" includes 15 autonomous and amazingly crafted songs. Almost as if someone took the "Trout Mask" sessions, applied a razor to the inbetweens and said "THERE! Those are the songs! Now stop it with all that other nonsense!" In this way "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" sounds like an "organized" and only slightly less spontaneous "Trout Mask". This more structured arrangement may have emerged from Van Vliet's alleged desire to actually start making money from The Magic Band. Apparently the previous drummer left after "Trout Mask" and was lured back by a promise of potential cash. In some ways Van Vliet succeeded. The album climbed to number 20 on the UK charts.

Regardless of its commercial status, this album remains one of the band's true masterpieces. The angular and staccato rhythms of "Trout Mask" clank and crunge here with an equal intensity. The title track finds Van Vliet squacking fervently about removing the labels that society affixes to us distracted folk. Apparently many in the early 1970s read the title saliciously (and lines such as "She stuck out her tongue 'n the fun begun" probably didn't help). But some claim that an executive dubbed the title "obscene" just to avoid having to play the album's surreal promotional film (the original of which now belongs to a museum) on the air. "Woe-is-uh-Me-Bop" provides one of the best examples of Van Vliet's fusion of free jazz and blues. The hilarious world play in "I Wanna Find a Woman That'll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have To Go" approaches a psychic toungue-twisting level. And "The Smithsonian Institute Blues" continues Van Vliet's theme of humanity's impending downfall - unless we change our ways: "The new dinosaur is walkin' in the old one's shoes" and "All you new dinosaurs / Now it's up t'you t'choose / 'fore your feet hit the tar, you better kick off them old shoes". "The Clouds Are Full of Wine" features Van Vliet's vocals floating rather pleasantly over a layer of cacophony like a bird soaring over a bomb site. And "Flash Gordon's Ape" pulls out all of the stops. A literal typhoon of sound rises up and mercilessly attacks. Somehow it still manages to hold together as a song, incredible as that seems. It definitely leaves an impression at the album's closing.

"Lick My Decals Off, Baby" marks the end of The Magic Band's early extrusions into the avant garde. Beefheart's next four albums gradually toned down his trademark cacophony and angularity. Some fans even accused him of "going commercial". Not until 1978's "Shiny Beast" did Beefheart once again begin to re-explore the musical terrain he left behind here. Why the shift occurred remains open to speculation. And Van Vliet continued to give vague cryptic answers as to why. Regardless, he left behind a string of masterpieces upon his "retirement" in 1982. "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" remains one of them.

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Captain Beefheart - Lick My Decals Off Baby (24-bit/96khz Vinyl)

GROVER — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:38:58 +0100

Ferre Grignard - Captain Disaster

SWIMP — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:34:46 +0100

Genre: Psychedelic
Extensie: Mp3
Bitrate: 160
Cover: Front
Jaar: 1969
Grootte: zie tracklist
Aantal CD's: 1
Overige bijzonderheden:

Tracklisting

1. (00:03:51) Ferre Grignard - I Won't Have A Dance
2. (00:03:07) Ferre Grignard - Tell Me Now
3. (00:02:14) Ferre Grignard - Yama Hey
4. (00:04:48) Ferre Grignard - My Friend
5. (00:02:41) Ferre Grignard - Hansie Pansy
6. (00:04:13) Ferre Grignard - Down In The Valley
7. (00:03:57) Ferre Grignard - The Pirate Song
8. (00:03:02) Ferre Grignard - Pleasure Train
9. (00:03:05) Ferre Grignard - Captain Disaster
10. (00:01:58) Ferre Grignard - The Lost Affair

Playing Time.........: 00:32:56
Total Size...........: 37,71 MB

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Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (Mastersound Gold FLAC)

GROVER — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:09:09 +0200

That thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold.

Dylan’s psychedelic, kaleidoscopic, hallucinatory masterpiece.

With 4 different mono masters, and 5 different stereo mixes of Blonde on Blonde – which one should you get? Well unfortunately there is no definitive version, but the Mastersound Gold version offers the best compromise. It utilises the benefits of stereo (using 20-bit Super Bit Mapping), all the while preserving the tone and feel of the original mono pressings.

It is important to note that Dylan himself was present at the mastering of the original mono pressings, revealing how the artist himself wanted the album to sound. The problem with mono is that it lacks the depth and clarity of stereo. At worst, the mono pressings of Blonde on Blonde sound rather dusty and dull (the Sundazed edition in particular sounds muted and colorless). The stereo remasters have the advantage of better detail and recreate the various positions of the instruments in space.

The Mastersound edition has a rounded, warm, full sound. The sound is very detailed and defined, with individual instruments more discernible. The subtle, unobtrusive dynamics illuminate the quieter passages of music and avoid the jarring effect on other stereo masters. Everything seems up front and close, sometimes at the expense of the depth and soundstage of other stereo masters. And while this version sometimes lacks the punchy bass and harder rhythmic guitar of other pressings, in my view it better utilises the advantages of stereo over mono without compromising Dylan’s vision of Blonde on Blonde.

By comparison, the Remaster available on the SACD (mixed by Michael H. Brauer), is aggressive sounding, sharp, jarring and fatiguing to listen to. Brauer puts his own emphasis on elements of the music - the harmonicas sound unnatural and shrill, the lead guitar dominates the mix, while the bass is overbearing. This approach is not without its merits (for example tracks like Sooner or Later benefit from the chunky bass), but it is too unlike Dylan’s conception of how the album should sound.

Guitars jangle like neon lights

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (24-bit/96hz Vinyl)

GROVER — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:43:38 +0200

Original pressing on Factory UK from 1979

NOTE: This is far superior sounding than either of the Rhino reissues!

Process-
Rega P2 (glass plinth), Denon 301mkII Moving Coil Cartridge -> Denon DRA-550 Preamp -> MAudio Delta 10/10, Cubase SX3, .WAV -> dBpoweramp, .FLAC

No processing, clicks removed manually

1

2

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John Coltrane – Africa Brass (24-bit/96khz)

GROVER — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:43:38 +0200

Includes all liner notes

1

2

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