North Anglolia

Automation - Espionage

oh for the love of god

eevolute flavor

We're still active here, and I've just found a new deck to rip vinyl from, so stay tuned here! In the meantime:

If you're still seeing this

and you haven't got this: Frankie Knuckles - Ministry of Sound 1991

Update

I'm still alive! Unfortunately the last few months have been very involved, between classes and music I've been making a point of treasuring my isolationary time. Posts will be, as they have been (for entirely too long now), sporadic. I'll try to make a point of throwing out the kind of thing that keeps this blog on your rss feed (or at least keeps bringing you back to check on it).

I first heard this when I was 17, which was after I'd gotten my first car. This is one of the two defining songs of the time when I drove a car. I really miss driving when I listen to this one.

DL it, pop it on cdr, tape, whatever you use to play music in your car. Flip it on on the interstate and enjoy the feeling of pressing that pedal down as far as it'll go.

floor it

Loronix

I've been way busy lately, and haven't had the patience or will to rip some of my records due to both [not wanting to bother my roommates] and [my only audio input is real noisy now that i'm using a macbook pro].

Therefore, here's a link from a blog which I've loved for years, and which I fear might now be done. The proprietor was an older gentleman from Brazil who adored Brazilian popular music from about 1950 to around 2000, and facilitated the distribution of high quality rips of hard to find records from throughout that period. This is my absolute favorite post he ever made, which still seems to be up:

Paulinho Nogueira - Sambas de Ontem e Hoje (1961)

As I said, it's been about a year since he or any of the other contributors to Loronix have posted anything new. I hope that you'll download this from his blog, as it's my favorite bossanova album and easily in my top five albums ever; and i hope that you'll share my supportive sentiment for whatever he and his family might be going through, might have gone through, or indeed might need.

N-Joi - Live in Manchester

N-Joi - Live in Manchester (1992)

This and an album tonight. Half-hour non-stop live set from N-Joi circa 1992, all the hits in great quality.

bonus link: jackpot!

Post 101

Hey, last post was #100 and I didn't even notice. Nothing new just yet, except to remind that the twitter is (comparatively) much more active and to link up this mix I just rediscovered. Hit up this blog, maybe we can convince this guy to post up some more mixes.

DB1233 - Boogie Control

And the twitter again.

McCarthy - Banking, Violence, and the Inner Life Today

McCarthy - Banking, Violence, and the Inner Life Today (1990)

Here's something out of left field for you. McCarthy is probably best known today for being the indie pop band where Tim Gane & Laetetia Sadier of Stereolab met, or something like that. It's been on my mind lately since getting that Un-Kommunity tape from NLFM blog (linked in a previous post). Perhaps my favorite indie-twee group of the late 80s era, McCarthy combined polished pop tunes with clever, biting lyrics and a heavy anti-Thatcher/pro-Labour bent. Anti-capitalism is always ++ in my book, but they also touch on gay rights, sexism, and pretty much everything else a proper young socialist ought to care about. First track on the album is my favorite:

CJ Bolland - The 4th Sign

CJ Bolland - The 4th Sign (1992)

Here's CJ Bolland's debut full-length off R&S, lot of classic bits of uptempo house in the dutch post-new-beat vein (Trance before it became "Trance" and people started doing that dour face whenever anyone mentions it). This rip is off the japanese CD re-release from '95. Here's a discogs review:

The 4th Sign, CJ Bolland's full-length debut for R&S, is notably — and refreshingly — free of his previous singles successes for the label. Instead of padding out the LP with a few of the club hits he'd recorded during his four-plus years on R&S, Bolland uses the opportunity to explore new methods and construct an album of tracks that work together as well as apart. True, there's not that much different here musically; it's a nine-track course through much of the same hard techno and pummeling trance he'd been known for. But the effects programming is inventive and just a bit leftfield for the dancefloor (at least circa 1992), and Bolland ranges from sleek trance ("Aquadrive"), to hardcore ("Spring Yard"), to symphonic progressive house ("Camargue"). Though the best tracks ("Nightbreed," "Mantra," "Thrust") come with help from the Advent's Cisco Ferreira (maybe this should've been released as a Space Opera LP instead), The 4th Sign is a near-perfect debut.





and the inevitable tacky 90s techno music vid:


Snag it above.

Also, check out the legowelt site on the 12 July post for some raw 808 beats, goes great with the Willesden Dodgers post from back in January. I just wish he'd included the track BPMs. And if you haven't gotten it already, get the second hour of this Rush Hour Radio podcast for a ton of rare chi-town tracks



haha sampling an alpha juno hoover into an emulator iii. classic.

Rapidshare Issues

I've got a few things I'd like to upload, but Rapidshare has gone and switched from the monthly pass setup to some kind of totally incomprehensible points-based system (while, might I add, deleting my 14000+ already useless 'rapidpoints' (fuck your mousepads)) so until I can grasp what the hell is going on here I'm just going to push a few links for the sake of a new post.

Un-kommunity - In The Shithouse (1984)
http://433rpm.blogspot.com/2010/06/un-kommunity-in-shithouse-tape-black.html

This was a tape I've been looking for for ages, ever since I got the Freedom in a Vacuum comp a few years ago. Top notch tape noise from three english students, featuring McCarthy/Stereolab guru Tim Gane in his first musical(?) outing.


Tantra - Double Album (1980)
http://retrodisco-hi-nrg.blogspot.com/2010/06/tantra-double-album-2lp-album-1980.html

Featuring two side-long proto-italo epics, one of which being the timeless Hills of Katmandu, this one gets dropped regularly by a good friend whenever he does a vinyl set out & about.



also another reminder that i'm posting up videos to the twitter on the regular now: http://twitter.com/spaceodeon

VA - Kickin Mental Detergent

VA - Kickin Mental Detergent (1992)

Classic comp from my personal favorite '92 label, Kickin Records. Proper cuts of some serious breakbeat hardcore tunes here. As the cover says, 100% TECHNO.


Liner Notes:

WARNING: This record contains 11 tracks of 100% pure techno energy. This is the sound of KICKIN' RECORDS, one of the most uncompromising underground labels in the world today. The artists on this compilation are pushing the boundaries of contemporary music, creating an exciting and original new sound. Since the beginning KICKIN' has released one ground breaking track after another. Starting with THE SCIENTIST's "Exorcist", every KICKIN' single has gone top 10 in the British dance charts and five have hit number one! This amazing string of hits has earned KICKIN' a loyal following worldwide.

Mental Detergent kicks off with "Temple Of Dreams" by MESSIAH. This intoxicating song threatens to make pop stars out of the lads. Moving straight into the top 20 of the UK pop chart and number 1 on the dance chart, "Temple Of Dreams" weaves dreamy vocals with raw techno energy. Next up the chilling voodoo of "Evil Surrounds Us" by WISHDOKTA, followed by "World Famous", an unrelenting hardcore track from the Manchester duo ZERO ZERO.

THIRD MIND really start to cook with "Beans And Barley" then it's back to MESSIAH with their massive "There Is No Law". The sonic assault continues with ZERO ZERO's breakthrough US release "Zeroxed". The hypnotic "Just Makes Me" from THIRD MIND will take you over the edge just before WISHDOKTA casts his spell on you once again with "Sunrise". THE SCIENTIST slams his number one dance hit "Exorcist", followed by the ragga-acid sound of "You Think It's Over" by DEA. Finally THE SCIENTIST takes it to the limit with another number one dance track "The Bee".

Until now most of these songs have only been available as import singles from London. Finally together on one record this collection of hit singles will take you on a journey to the center of the KICKIN' sound. Get ready to get mental.

Mix #1 - Hardcore Rave Techno

I've finally had time to sit down and figure out the basics of Live, here's the rough draft of my first mix. I'll replace it later if I decide to go back and patch up the rough spots, but it's nothing I'm going to be shopping around for gigs so I'll probably work on something more useful instead.

It's not contemporaneous and it's not all rave techno, but it's got some (a lot of) floor burners and I'm pretty pleased with it for a first go. If anyone wants a tracklist, drop a comment and I'll write it up.

DOWN FOR NOW until i find some host that doesn't wipe things out as quick as zshare

Patrick Cowley & Upload Issues

I've had a couple albums in the queue but my connection has been awful for some reason for the last few days (three failed uploads on the first up!). It's driving me a bit crazy since I have such amazing tracks to share. In the meantime, here's a taste of that first album. If anyone has the proper mp3 of the second vid please please post it in the comments or get it to me somehow, because it's unreal. The man was brilliant, and the fact that he isn't as known as Moroder is a testament to the miserable state of the American aesthetic taste, then and now.

Wherever you are, Mr. Cowley, we love you.





434:49 minutes remaining in the upload... (See Below)

Patrick Cowley - The Ultimate Collection

Finally, the first upload I've had in nearly a week that hasn't failed. Today I present you with a legendary collection of the greatest tracks by America's greatest electronic disco producer. Before his untimely death in 1982 (at age 32! so young.) Patrick Cowley did a world tour with Sylvester and started the superb hi-nrg label, Megatone records. I've re-written this post a dozen times it feels like so just check him on wikipedia if you want to know more.

Patrick Cowley - The Ultimate Collection (1991)

Theo Vaness - Back to Music

Number 2 in the spacer disco series isn't from our friends at the Disco2Go blog, but discovered elsewhere online and posted as a follow up to a post ages ago of my rip of the 7" single from this album.

Theo Vaness - Back to Music (1978)

Back to Music is a 4 track 1978 disco album from Theo Vaness, but frankly tracks 2-4, though solid tunes, are just here to fill out the album. The first track is the draw, and it is epic. 16:31 side-long disco medley, kicking off with a cosmic narrative about time travel and rolling into a medley as follows:

Back To Music 7:35
I Who Have Nothing 1:15
Feelings 1:15
Yesterday :55
Brahms : Third Symphony :45
It's Now Or Never 1:30
What Did I Say :04
Blue Suede Shoes :12
Shake Rattle and Roll :12
Johnny Be Good :12
Tutti Frutti :12

This is the US version, I haven't found the Euro version but apparently it's considerably worse (though given the tracklist I can't really imagine that being true). No, this is indeed the Euro version. My god.

This is one of those projects that results from a massive budget and a very good connection.




Vaness was better known for his gay disco anthem As Long As It's Love, unfortunately not included on this album (if it were, I would have to declare this the Gayest Disco LP Ever. As it stands, Sylvester retains that title).



I've got a few more to go, don't know that I'll get up another one tonight but we'll see how temperamental rapidshare is being. Anyway, enjoy.

Space Project - Disco from Another Galaxy

Good evening spacers & runaways! I've got a few more neat bits of far-out disco for you this week, mostly mp3 encodes of lossless files provided by the wonderful Disco2Go blog (Tonight's post found lossless here). The originals even come with .cues for your burning/ripping pleasure, so hit him up if you'd like the pristine originals or you want them in another encoding format.

First up is this four-track four-on-the-floor effort from Quebec. Supposedly involves an ex-member of seminal French Synthpop/Disco group Droids, although I can't seem to track down any more info on that and discogs is being less than helpful.

Laid-back spaced vibes throughout, with one of my absolute favorite 'sounds' when it comes to disco: the TV Soundtrack. Perfect for listening, lots of analog synth twiddles and production fun on two sides featuring a dozen separate snippets that could have been in the OST for Battlestar Galactica 1980. Superb. Once I get around to ripping vinyl again I'll have to start in on my small collection of this sort of thing. The French (and Quebecois, obviously) had a good handle on it, but frankly the Italians and the Japanese were the masters. Refer to my old post of that Digital Trip synth soundtrack for a prime demonstration of Japan's direction, or my very first post of Nights of Babylon for another example of French efforts to a similar end. Anyhow, check out the youtubes below. Beyond Orion is my clear favorite, but none of them fall short of expectations. Enjoy.

Space Project - Disco from Another Galaxy (1978)




Speaking of synthy-stuff and that Digital Trip album, the lucidmedia blog reposted it along with SIX more similar albums. The Macross one is particularly good for this kind of music (Silver Moon, Red Moon on the same is a great example of this kind of this soundtrackish disco sound, as is O-G Love although both are much more 'late-80s' in style). This also has an example or two.

Supermax - Types of Skin & Meets the Almighty

AGH! Crazy time of year for me. Forgot what it was like to be a student again, then tax season came along. Here's another bit I've nabbed over time, between projects and class I haven't had time to rip anything new. That said, I'll not do you wrong. Lordy.

CD rip of two albums of disco-style funk-punk-rock-whatever. Imagine the Talking Heads around this period, except not afraid either of rocking hard or laying down some proper dance shit. Like Nat Glover (Kid Creole) but freaked like Damião (pick your spelling, I've no idea) doing house. It's not P-Funk, but it could fit in the pantheon. I wouldn't be even remotely surprised if it was produced by Bill Laswell (check this though it's probably on this blog somewhere since I ripped my copy long ago).

Shit, don't take my word for it.



Supermax - Types of Skin & Meets the Almighty (1980/81)

REPOST: VA - Han-Ichi Independents

Reposting this because I've just gone back and compared the version I had before I ripped this and this recording, and the other can't compare. This is the best rip of this tape you'll ever find: original copy and aside from 25 years of wear it still retains fair fidelity. If you have any interest in the japanese avant-garde of the past 50 years or interestingly original music in general, get this. The text of the original post follows.



VA - Han-Ichi Independents (1983)

Alright, up today we have one of the gems of my tape collection. It's been posted elsewhere in various forms (actually having trouble figuring out where I found it in the first place, come to think of it), but this rip is from my copy of the original cassette. It remains in raw, full-side v0 mp3 form, since I don't think cutting it up into 'tracks' makes any sense. Have a listen and you'll see what I mean.

This release was a recap/medley of live performances for a 1983 Japanese Anarchist festival. Features bands such as A*MUSIK, Skeleton Crew (Fred Frith/Tom Cora), Remedy Control, and at least one or two noteworthy Japanese-name acts who I can't seem to remember and I'm having a surprisingly difficult time digging up the other blogs that have posted this in the past (I BELIEVE one of them is Zuno Keisatsu but I can't read Japanese at all). If anyone wants to translate the cover in the comments, there's a larger copy of the scan in the file. Anyway, I'm hoping to start varying up the posts from my increasingly regular dance single rips, so look for more like this in the future. Enjoy.

Number Girl - Urban Guitar Sayonara (single)

Got a few things coming up. I've been adding my old mp3s to my itunes thing since I shifted over to mac after my PC finally broke, so I've had some old things come up again. Let's call it a retro phase. Track 1 on the B side of this single was the first bit I ever heard from this band, back when I was 15. I was in a (bit of a crap) punk band, and it was a bit of a revelation for me. Fell in love with the rest of Number Girl's discography not long after, but Sentimental Girl's Violent Joke remains a touchstone of my musical evolution. The first time I ever identified with something in a language I didn't understand.


And here I am, ten years later and running a rave disco world music blog. Please give it a chance. (BTW their final live DVD easily ranks among the top 5 live concert videos I've ever seen)

Number Girl - Urban Guitar Sayonara (single) (1998)


(off their prime album Sappukei: this single blew me away, that album made me a fan)

VA - United Stance of Techno

Various Artists - United Stance of Techno (1993)

Probably one of the best hardcore compilations I've ever found. Picked up the tape version from a thrift store a couple of subway stops north of me, was so blown away by the tracklist that I picked up the CD for next to nothing on ebay just to share here! Energy Flash, Sesame's Treet, House is Mine, Trip II the Moon, just a grip of absolute classics from my favorite era for rave. Only complaint is that they used the c.j. bolland mix of NRG's I Need Your Lovin, when the original is much better if you ask me.

That said, get a load of this shit:







I'll never get tired of the intro to this track, rest of it's kind of crap in comparison.

I love the 909

But I felt the 808 would fit my sound needs better. So I bought one. It's everything I'd dreamed it would be. The xoxbox arrives later this week.

That said, here's to the 909 I couldn't afford to go with her. the hats... the hats... oh god the hats...

Dinosaur L - Go Bang (Thank You Arthur Edit) - (First Anniversary Post)

Dinosaur L - Go Bang (Thank You Arthur Edit)

I've got a big post uploading now, but since it doesn't look like it'll finish in time for me to post it tonight here's a great edit of this quintessential disco track I've had on rotation lately. Enjoy.

Hey, it's technically the first anniversary! (Though we did have a big break there for a couple of months) In celebration, here's a track I did on a lark in Reason a week or so ago. I'll try to start ripping some of the new records I've put together in the past year this month. Thanks for reading SRO! Stick around, I'm not going anywhere...

(by the way, this is amazing)

and some other tracks on the day-to-day playlist

Stephen Brooks - The Art of Indirect Suggestion

Seems I was wrong about the time required.



Stephen Brooks - The Art of Indirect Suggestion pt. 1
Stephen Brooks - The Art of Indirect Suggestion pt. 2

Tonight I'm putting up a series of lectures about trance induction, hypnosis, and how to use indirect suggestion. Very long, full of possibility for sampling and throwing over some old acid tracks or just purely for entertainment value. Goes quite well with the Yoga record I posted almost a year ago now. This one comes in two parts and contains no less than 8 90~ minute tapes. It's actually a fairly interesting method to approaching language and speech, though I haven't listened to all 12 hours of it yet. Enjoy.

Billy Cancel/White Wave - Hidden House Split EP

Billy Cancel - Scan Cluster Scan Scatter, Hidden House - S/t, White Wave - To The Hidden Life (2010)

This is a split/collab I was given yesterday evening by two very good friends of mine. Billy Cancel is an Anglo-to-Brooklyn transplant spoken word artist and half of the power electronics group Farms, who I'd highly recommend to anyone with a taste for Broken Flag or most of the first generation groups. White Wave is someone I've collaborated with on shows, recordings, and various other things often over the past few years (did a thing with Billy once but always a bit more of a schedule issue for us, go figure). Classically trained in viola with an interest in Deluze, Situationism, and loop-based improvisational music, the latter four tracks are densely layered lo-fidelity psychedelic minimalism done as only we of the starving Brooklyn set can do. That is, properly beautiful. The two central tracks are from their new collaborative effort, Hidden House.

This record was put together to celebrate (or at least finished at the time of) their engagement, sadly I can't seem to figure out where the hell the various other related myspace pages are so I'll have to update this at some point in the next week or two (the two Hidden House tracks are on the White Wave myspace). True shame that I haven't got my scanner anymore, as the handmade xerox art is 'legit as fuck' as you might say, and the liner notes are sweetly touched to boot. Cannot possibly recommend this highly enough, both as up-to-the-minute proof that people around north Brooklyn are still doing interesting things lo these many years and as simply excellent work by some of the most creative and interesting artists I've had the privilege to meet.

Congratulations!

Series 2: Pick & Choose

Until I get my ripping setup back in action, I'm going to make a go of posting the better bits of my mp3 single rip collection. That'll mean picking through the larger batch torrent stuff I've got. To kick this little project off, here's a bunch of Altern-8 tracks you can't get on CD (and which I'm pretty sure haven't been posted anywhere else (oh look, I'm wrong.)).



Altern-8 - Overload EP, Infiltrate-202 & Activ-8 Singles (1990-91)

Comes off quite a bit closer to their more 'serious' (and lower tempo) Nexus 21 project than the more jump-up raver tracks Altern-8 were known for. Great stuff, but the mixes are much more spacey and come off almost like some bleep shit really (especially the EP). I almost like it more than the usual style they had, since they tended to fill out a mix instead of leaving a bit of headroom like these tracks do. Hell, Passion Devotion nearly hits a Chicago feel. Probably for lack of breakbeat samples. Dig the Freestyle sample on the Infiltrate 202 Vertigo edit and the chill piano house of Re Indulge off the Activ-8 single.

VA - Balearic Beats Vol. 1

VA - Balearic Beats Vol. 1 (1988)

This one is courtesy of the once magnificent, now defunct audio.out blog. So much great music lost to the void (that I hadn't gotten hold of yet...) when he went offline. This is probably up someplace else, but since I've been mentioning it to friends so much and it fits SRO's style such as it does I'm tossing it up here just for simplicity's sake. Cover blurb:

balearic beats by farley

"wot shall i file this BALEARIC BEATS under?" so young joe public, y.t.s., go-getter at yo-price megastore hits his first problem in pigeon-holeing the black vinyl. now seeing that the only "MATEY" joe's "EVER GOT RIGHT ON" is the rubbery balloon type his guv'nor sells, i think we should explain this happy, happy, groove a little more.

now while it's true that the balearic beat was born in IBIZAN clubs, such as AMNESIA and PASHA, it's breeding took place in a small, sweaty, strobby, smokey south london club called ..... THE SHOOM. the hardcore original shoomers, along with another london club THE FUTURE, had discovered the JOY'S of balearic beats, during several previous "summers of love" (sic), and had brought the music and the attitude back to london with them. the kinectic style of dancing now associated with balearics ugly brother, ACID HOUSE, is pure ibizan in origin. The loudest screams at SPECTRUM are always reserved for NITZER EBB and the RESIDENTS while hearing ENZO AVITABILE booming through the smoke at JOY is an ecstatic experience one step away, (some say forward) from sex.

THE FINI TRIBE and MANDY SMITH have become anthems all over clubland, whilst my personal faves are the fast euro-rhythms of CODE 61 and the post-punk thrashing of THE WOODENTOPS. every track of this album will fill floors and put smiles on faces, Throughout the balearic underground. look, i wonder if poor joe's getting the gist of all this, for joe and the yet uninitiated, balearic is the following and much, much more.....

.....loads of hugs and kisses ... smiley t-shirts and happy faces.... feeling saucey instead of sauced......eating fruits on the dance floor....bashed up converse trainers.....lovely girls with blinding accents.....ice pops.....hedionism....sparklers at the future....indian belly dancers at the shoom....almost everyone finally realising that "only love can conquer hate"....watching the sun set at the café del mar....watching the sun rise on primrose hill....the karma collective....poncho's pony tails and body paint....dj alfredo....new friendships....loads more hugs and kisses....just let this piece of warm anglo-ibizan club culture rush over you, enjoy it mateys!!!

loves & respects to OAKEY, THE RAMPLINGS, GARY HAISMAN, JOHNNY WALKER, STEVE PROCTOR, NANCY NOISE, and to all those out there who truly "shoooom!!!"

xxx hugs and kisses xxx - farley.
BOYS OWN FANZINE

God, don't you just love that knackered proto-raver writing style. This one's even better than the Technorave thing from last month. Anyway, this comp was released by the Boy's Own crew and stands as the defining first-generation balearic collection. Toss it on the monitors and play like you're Rampling at Shoom. Check this out too, I keep forgetting to buy this damn thing and I'm sure by the time I have the spare cash around it'll be sold out and worth a few hundo on ebay or something. Grab the 44-page pdf preview, only a tenth of the full book. Epic shit.

D.D.A.A. - La Famille Des Saltimbanques

D.D.A.A. - La Famille Des Saltimbanques (1984)

One of the jewels of my meager cassette collection here. Includes scans of the packaging and all that. I'll leave the rest up to this short bit off the WFMU blog.

I've raved about DDAA elsewhere on this blog, and also addressed the fact that several of their best releases were cassette-only. La Famille des Saltimbanques was released in a beautiful custom package by the Italian ADN label in 1984, and is among my personal top three DDAA recordings, along with their masterpiece, the Ronsard LP (1988) and their first full-length album, Action and Japanese Demonstration (1982). DDAA's songs have a relentlessly human quality, an emotional intensity that I find lacking in much of the post-punk avant-garde, having more in common with Can or Amon Düül than with DDAA contemporaries like Nurse With Wound and P16.D4. The two lengthy songs that make up most of Face 2 of this tape are mindbending excursions of plodding percussion and monolithic distorted guitar.

This is certainly one of the more rockist outings for DDAA, heavy on the bass and the screaming guitar. I've chopped this rip up into the songs as listed on the packaging, if you'd rather get sidelong rips or grab it from a different source, WFMU has sidelong rips and this blog has their own rips as well. Quality might be better from them, I haven't checked. Tape's a bit spotty at points on my copy, ravages of age and all (can you believe it's really been 25 years since this came out? so much more interesting than most of what's coming out now)

V-Effect - Stop Those Songs

V-Effect - Stop Those Songs! (1983)

This is my personal rip from my copy, one of those 'this looks neat let me check it on the old demo turntable' thrift store buys. Mutant Sounds posted this about three years ago but took it down because some label said they were going to re-release it. Since they never did (so far as I can tell), here it is again. I'll knock it down when someone links me to a press on forced exposure or wherever.

V-Effect straddle the no-wave and downtown scenes, though I imagine they didn't see it that way. The downtown people probably didn't see it that way either, since Mori is still with that downtown set and none of the people involved with this record seem to have kept an explicit presence within the "downtown scene" (or anywhere else I can find). Background established, this is... well... likely an album unlike anything you've heard before. Somewhere between no-wave and post-punk, free jazz and actual revolutionary sentiment. Call and response, self-taught sax squeal, analog clap pads on mic stands to add to the drummers' repertoire, thoroughly DIY and anti-capitalist.

This is what w-burg hipster bullshit should be right now. Enjoy.



first your feet... then your back... then your mind... then heart attack...

Mandrill - Mandrill Is...

Mandrill - Mandrill Is... (1972)

Wild funk, fucked fusion, acid soul. This record easily places among the most impressive achievements of the era, ranging from Sly-style soul-funk (Ape is High), JBs doling out the hard-edge shit (Git it All), to straight up acid narrative tracks (the eminently samplable Universal Rhythms) and psych ballads (Central Park). Hell, forget Universal Rhythms, the whole album is chock full of great breaks and instrumental compositions worthy of breaking out the old MPC. This record is certainly a production of its' time, but only more amazing for it. Honestly, best suited to headphones and a couple of rips rather than dropping at a party. There's a lot here to enjoy, give it your best attention & enjoy.

I have this LP, but as I recall this particular rip was one I found on a now defunct blog (that one with four different interconnected blogs I can't remember the name of anymore). The quality is roughly equal to my own rips, but starting in the next week or two I'll finally have myself set up once again to rip records. I've got a grip of house singles, a couple of mix records, and a few LPs. Added to that, I've spent the last few days getting my old MP3 collection transferred from my several old hard drives to my new dual 1.5tb external mirror raid setup, so I've got a few hundred tidbits to share. Stay tuned...

Myriam Makeba - Comme Une Symphone D'Amour

Myriam Makeba - Comme Une Symphone D'Amour (1979/89)

Here's a change of pace from the recent spate of synth music. Myriam Makeba was, as it happens, married to the great Hugh Maskela, a few of whose albums I posted over the summer. If you liked those, you'll find this just as agreeable. Otherwise, I doubt anyone can help themselves from falling for the woman known as Mama Afrika. For some background I'll just toss out some Wikipedia.

Makeba then travelled to London where she met Harry Belafonte, who assisted her in gaining entry to and fame in the United States. She released many of her most famous hits there including "Pata Pata", "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika". In 1966, Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba. The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid.

She discovered that her South African passport was revoked when she tried to return there in 1960 for her mother's funeral. In 1963, after testifying against apartheid before the United Nations, her South African citizenship and her right to return to the country were revoked. She has had nine passports, [3] and was granted honorary citizenship of ten countries.[4]

Her marriage to Trinidadian civil rights activist and Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee leader Stokely Carmichael in 1968 caused controversy in the United States, and her record deals and tours were cancelled. As a result of this, the couple moved to Guinea, where they became close with President Ahmed Sékou Touré and his wife.[5] Makeba separated from Carmichael in 1973, and continued to perform primarily in Africa, South America and Europe. She was one of the African and Afro-American entertainers at the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman held in Zaïre. Makeba also served as a Guinean delegate to the United Nations, for which she won the Dag Hammarskjöld Peace Prize in 1986.

This is the 1989 CD re-release of this album (best of?) featuring 5 bonus tracks including "The Click Song" as mentioned above. It dips between pop, jazz, and traditional numbers in french, english, and xhosa. Wonderful album, here's some youtube vids as a preview for those unacquainted with the 'Mistress of African Song'.



African Convention (on this record)

(Fun tidbit: The Lion Cries seems to have been 'covered'/ripped-off by Paul Simon on Graceland. Guess it wasn't just Ladysmith Black Mambazo then.)

Ruth - Polaroïd/Roman/Photo

Ruth - Polaroïd/Roman/Photo (1985)

Another classic minimal synth rip, delved from a long-lost backup dvd. This is the CD rerelease of Ruth - Polaroïd/Roman/Photo with all the bonus tracks. Got some terrific cuts on this one, even beyond the classic proper Roman Photo single found on my last post. Mabelle, Mots (and the 2001 remix), and the 14 minute original instrumental Roman Photo mix. This numbers among the greatest minimal synth albums ever produced, perhaps even surpassing those of Ensemble Pittoresque.

VA - So Young But So Cold

Various Artists - So Young But So Cold

Well, guess who just discovered a dvd backup of mp3 rips from 3 years back? This is a (now complete) repost of the terrifically hard-to-find french minimal synth/coldwave comp put out by tigersushi back in '04 featuring some of the best tracks of the era. Don't forget to hit up Artefact's site if you like the M.A.E. track on this comp, you can download the full album from there. (recommended above all for their version of the internationale!)

CBS Top 100

Nothing new from me tonight, but I wanted to point this out to anyone who follows SRO (especially anyone interested enough to be reading me now after that months-long break). The CBS Top 100 is pretty much the definitive italo/electro/house/etc recc list. If you've noticed the new IFM widget on the side, IFM is what CBS evolved into last year. Four channels of amazing music and shows from some of the best talents in the West Coast of Holland scene (perhaps the best thing going at the moment), 24 hours a day 365 days a year. They didn't do the Top 100 show the last two years due to the switchover to IFM, which is kind of a shame, but there's still three years out there to download. Obviously these aren't my original posts, just strong endorsements.

2005
2006
2007

VA - Street Buzz

VA - Street Buzz (1990)

Last one for tonight. Here's the '90 acid/piano/bleep house comp mentioned previously. First half is chock full of cheese house, I'd swear I remember half of them from the yearly dance at my elementary school. Picks up quite well in the second half. I should mention that this comp is actually structured and mixed rather than just being a collection of singles, so it works pretty well all around even if the track selection isn't perfect. That Jet Lag track is killer though (still a sucker for 303), and the pianos on Mary had a little Boy are straight off of "Going Back to my Roots."

List:
1. Love's Calling - Sybil (remix)
2. Independant - Salt 'N Pepa (Brixton remix)
3. Nothing Compares 2 U - MXM (remix)
4. Simba Groove - Hi Power
5. Give In To The Fight - Ready For Reality (remix)
6. Take Back The Love - Samaria
7. Nitro - Ambassadors of Funk (London Symph Bleep House mix)
8. Falling In Love - Sybil (dub) <- picks up here
9. Kick Your Legs In The Air - Adam Ice/Poor Pocket Productions
10. You're No Good For Me - Kelly Charles (previously unreleased)
11. Get Your Thing Together - Urban Rhythm
12. Do You Want Me Baby (Dirty Love) - Lipstick/Lee Marrow
13. Mary Had A Little Boy - Stax (remix)
14. Jet Lag - Northern Lights

Can't find any album art online, but the disc can be had at amazon for about $4. ASIN B000008L7T

The Willesden Dodgers - Jive Rhythm Trax Vol. 1

The Willesden Dodgers - Jive Rhythm Trax Vol. 1 (1982 - '89 CD)

This is a CD rip of this absolute classic of electro & hip-hop. The DJ lp that has at least one song that everyone recognizes, either because it's based on some older track or because it was later sampled off this. You won't get this in better quality anywhere else. Perfect for the laptop DJ or the producer looking for some new samples too.

VA - Technorave 2: Trance Atlantic

VA - Technorave 2: Trance Atlantic (1992)

Found a nice stack of CDs today, 2 '92 Hardcore comps, a '90 bleep comp and an absolutely classic electro library record I'll be posting later tonight. First, though, is this Network/Next Plateau comp from '92 featuring Altern-8, Forgemasters, and 10 of the best cuts of stripped down bleep-style Hardcore from the year it peaked (and it can be had for pennies over at amazon. Chock full of Mentasm too, have you no doubt. I'll let this bit from the inside cover say the rest:

They call it rave. They call it techno. The fast forward electronic dance music that has dominated UK club culture for the past two years has been named, named and named again. What does it really matter? When the tones begin and the bass kicks, instinct tackes over and the limbs move involuntarily. This aural avalanche is the wave of the future. This post-Dusseldorf hyperactivity starts a new chapter in club culture on both sides of the Atlantic. "trance atlantic" is your passport to the future. Within the space of forty minutes your understanding of this underground phenomenon will be complete. You will then laugh as inferior bleep parodies are presented to you dressed as the real thing. All the artists featured here record for Network Records, based in Birmingham, England. Since the mid-eighties, label owners Dave Barker and Neil Rushton have encouraged the music, releasing classic early techno from Detroit and the then-fledgling English scene. Neil and Dave encouraged Detroit innovators Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson without whom this music would be very different. They set up Network in 1990 - a label with a crystal clear identity, sharp from the grooves to the sleevs - to cope with the increasing number of bedroom techno creators whose tapes often found their way to Birmingham before the London majors. Such was the reputation Network was developing, the UK's leading independent. altern 8's "frequency" available previously only as a limited edition white label pressing wastes no time in applying the pressure. You are the brick and this is the mineshaft. Altern 8's "Activ 8" was a Number Three pop hit in the UK which shows just how far things have gone. Altern 8 dresses in nuclear fallout suits and wear bright yellow dust masks. They hail from the UK's own Techno City, Stafford. They like to travel from rave to rave by hot air balloon. Sometimes the underground is a surreal place to be. nexus 21's "sychologic p.s.p." shows a more reflective side of the sound. "rhythmatix" is mathematic in its digital precision. The ghost of Kraftwerk somewhere in the new machine. The forgemasters' "stress" is the sound of Sheffield. Sheffield was once a major industrial centre. Sheffield made metal. Nobody wants metal anymore. Plastic will do. The Forgemasters make music like metal. There's respect to the past with an eye on the future. "stream" is a moment of relaxation. Can't dance forever. xon's "dissonance" fascinates with its twists and turns. In its complexity it reminds of the work of Derrick May who is in there somewhere. "turbo" and "heavyweight apply the pressure, both brutally futuristic electronic dance anthems, both hard, loud, insistent. This music isn't going away. This music is the wave of the future.

- John McCready, London, 1992

There's some seriously hard cuts on this comp, miles better than most of the hardcore I've posted in the past.




Keep an ear out for the samples and post all the lifted bits you recognize in the comments!