Life As A Rehearsal

Dr. John - Gris-Gris (1968)

2011-08-25T15:40:00.003+02:00

Of course, not all the classics are on this blog yet, this blog's main purpose is to reveal some of the 'classics' that are not certified as being one yet. In my eyes those albums are classics, have sustained the test of time, aurally that is, because they are often not in press anymore, and hard to find. This album is a classic, and most people judge it as such. Every now and then there's room for such classics, because my blog is also my way of paying tribute to the lates and the greats. I admire Dr. John primarily for this album, a lot of his other 70s output is doable, but he has since degraded himself into a sort of novelty, appearing on all the lame blues festivals available.

This is why Dr. John was a great, visionary musician. It influenced so many other artists, yet sounds utterly only like itself.

danse fambeaux
vbr

The Holy Modal Rounders - The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders (1969)

2011-08-25T15:32:00.003+02:00

I've said this a lot of times, but once again it's true: one of the most underrated bands we have here. The Holy Modal Rounders are among The Red Krayola, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, and the like in terms of sheer originality and innovation. There first two albums were very funny takes on folk music, revisiting many classics with emphasized twangs and exaggerated vocal performances. The vocals are still present on this album, one of their strongest point, but in comes a lot of psychedelica, loneliness, anger, anti-nationalistic sympathies, counter culture and society mockery.

One of my favourite albums, I can say, in fact. Enjoy this album, with fresh ears!

dame fortune
192kbps

John Fahey - Volume 6: Days Have Gone By (1967)

2011-08-25T15:24:00.002+02:00

John Fahey is without a doubt one of the greatest musicians who ever lived. The initiator of American Primitivism, his incredible streak of albums can be seen as among the best instrumental music albums, not being jazz. This is one of his more experimental albums, with some very fine fragments of found sound he adds to the record. A train driving past, a dog barking, all contributing to the mood pieces here present.

John Fahey has made many, many albums as great or in the vicinity of this album. Please look for more of his work, because he has a lot to offer.

my grandfather's clock
192kbps

Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can (1970)

2011-08-25T15:16:00.003+02:00

Someone at Rate Your Music said it best: "At one point or another you've most certainly asked yourself what exactly is funk? Surely, you've thought, real funk can't just be a bunch of over-energized showmen strutting back and forth on stage yelling "let's git funkahy!" right? Right. Just like water doesn't have to tell you it's wet, funk doesn't have to tell you it's funky. You can just feel it man, and when you hear the pure hard funk and New Orleans soul of Yes We Can, nothing else really matters."

He goes on to say many other clever things, why this album is what it is, but I guess listening to it will reveal the truth soon enough. All songs written by Allen Toussaint, who also produced this record, with the backing band being The Meters. Can't go wrong. Lee Dorsey is a hero! Even I can't possibly sit still during this record.

occapella
320kbps

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken (1972)

2011-08-25T14:26:00.002+02:00

In 1972 The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band asked a whole string of old-timers to record music with them. They a few tapes running all the time, one of them recording the dialogues from the studio. Most of the songs begin with the dialogues about how to play the songs, the history of the song, etc. Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Bashful Brother Oswald, Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Mother Maybelle Carter, Vassar Clements, all these crazy old red necks are present on this album. But hey, let's not talk about the political ideas of these lunatics, but praise the fact that they made fine music. Bluegrass is a form of music that hasn't develop a bit in hundred years, so this album can be seen as one of the most important blueprints for bluegrass.

A triple-album, it will take you a while to hear it all, but everything here is beautiful.

will the circle be unbroken part i
will the circle be unbroken part ii
320kbps

Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes (1968)

2011-08-25T14:08:00.002+02:00

Once again: when this record would've been done in Europe or North America, it would've sounded less exotic, less adventurous, less innovative. Less good. By far the best this band put out, and helped by the fantastic Rogério Duprat, who made up all the arrangements, this record has been hyped for years and years, and with good reason. Os Mutantes have created on this album a fantastic blend between found sounds, musique concrète, pop music, their own Brazilian ingredients, and psychedelia.

This is the classic it deserves to be.

ave genghis khan
320kbps

Sandy Bull - Fantasias for Guitar & Banjo (1963)

2011-08-25T13:44:00.003+02:00

The music that American Primitivism has brought forth, cost me a long while to like. Despite representing so few musicians (American Primitivism can be seen as primarily John Fahey, Leo Kottke, Sandy Bull, Robbie Basho, some other minor figures in the 60s and 70s and a new generation that brought us the solo records of Sir Richard Bishop, Jim O'Rourke and Jack Rose. And that's sort of it), it is extremely rich in ideas and output.

Here is one of the earliest examples of what American Primitivism is: solo guitar pieces. Sandy Bull sometimes accompanies these pieces with drums, and live he used to work with taping and looping other instruments as well. Serene and heavenly, that is what American Primitivism is.

gospel time
192kbps

Shirley Collins - False True Lovers (1960)

2011-08-25T13:32:00.002+02:00

Without a doubt, I'm more for American folk, but still, this record is one of the most beautiful folk records ever made. Her crystal clear voice is what makes this most distinctive, the sparse arrangements and production are what will draw your attention right after it. This record was released by Folkways, as a sort of ethnic document of English rural folk music. Shirley Collins went on to make some more beautiful records, with her sister Dolly, with Davy Graham, in groups, and solo.

The only really long song on this record, The Cruel Mother, is one of my favourite songs whatsoever. A beautiful piece of music that needs attention and hopefully gets it from some enthusiasts in the weeks following this post.

mowing the barley
192kbps

Tom Zé - Todos os Olhos (1973)

2011-08-25T13:18:00.003+02:00

This album is one of the more divine one's available in pop music. Tom Zé is the most experimental and innovative of all the MPB artists. Tom Zé surpasses Gil, Veloso, Ben and Costa in originality and on this record he truly shines. He was already an accomplished artist in Brazil when this record came out, and on this record he went a bit too far, concerning the mainstream position MPB kept in Brazil. Which, I would like to emphasize, is nothing short of a miracle. Such an innovative, avant-garde musical genre being the mainstream music available. Brazil must've been fantastic in the 60s, and 70s. Music-wise, that is!

Listen to all the complex tunings, rhythm shifts, you name it. Especially song 4 to 9 are absolutely astonishing. This is difficult music that sounds easy.

brigitte bardot
192kbps

Ya Ho Wa 13 - Penetration, An Aquarian Symphony (1974)

2011-08-25T13:02:00.002+02:00

There's only one thing I can do right now, and that is to describe the history of this group. The guy you see on the picture is Jim Baker. He fought the Second World War, was a Vedantic monk, followed Yogi Bhajan, a Sikh leader and teacher of Kundalini yoga, so it goes. He was born in 1922, so in 1973 he was already an old guy, especially for having a hippie band. He had a highly succesful organic vegetarian restaurant on Sunset Strip, Laurel Canyon, LA. Celebrity regulars: Marlon Brando, John Lennon, Julie Christie. At the peak his restaurant made 10,000$ a day. Oh, and he called himself Father Yod at this time, or YaHoWha, and he was the leader of a commune called the Source Family. After eating raw carrots and drinking home-made tea, they used to record psychedical space-rock in the early morning. These records were pressed only 500 or 1000 pieces a record, and they were sold in a corner of the restaurant. This is their best album. So it goes. Oh, in 1975 Father Yod moved to Hawaii, and went hang-gliding off a 1300-foot cliff, without experience. He crash-landed on the beach and died the next day. The Source Family made a few albums after his death, mostly containing laments about the death of Father Yod. So it goes.

journey through an eternal kingdom
192kbps

The Dillards - Wheatstraw Suite (1968)

2011-08-25T12:53:00.003+02:00

I'm going to post all the album that truly need to be posted on Life at the moment. All the following albums are the ones that I've been hooked on all summer, and haven't yet been posted on this blog. I wish you all the best with them, because these following albums are my absolute favourites at the moment.

In the late 60s it was a big deal to connect the first generation of bluegrass and country players to the electric new generation. The Byrds tried it with Gram Parsons by paying tribute to the old time, and Gram Parsons tried it solo, with his Flying Burrito Brothers, but they didn't quite succeed as The Dillards and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did. What we have here is a mind-blowing album that has been completely forgotten. It is on par, to say the least, with the best works of The Byrds (and I love! the Byrds!). Just listen to this album, especially the first five songs will hammer this into your favourite albums ever selection.

listen to the sound
192kbps

Laura Nyro - New York Tendaberry (1969)

2011-08-01T23:17:00.002+02:00

A Joni Mitchell voice, combined with a more adventurous take on composing, and a New York-background, Laura Nyro created one of the most honest, heart-breaking records in 1969. Immensely, immensely important for what women could do on a record, I want to emphasise how important this record is. Without Laura Nyro we wouldn't have had, for instance, someone like Tori Amos, and the whole bunch of women that followed her and came before her. Brilliant production also makes this record a very special one. I was struck by the beautiful shifts in tone and feeling, and also by the layers of her vocals.

Like a session on the couch of a shrink, this record is 100% Laura Nyro at her most earnest and heart-felt. She was a very special songwriter, singer and artist and she died way too early of the same disease her mother also caught: cancer.

you don't love me when i cry
192kbps

Lucio Battisti - Anima latina (1974)

2011-08-01T23:02:00.003+02:00

I'm about to do something really special. This blog is going to feature the three freshest, most exciting, and downright greatest records it has featured in a long time. I have held these three albums back for quite some time, to build up a momentum with the three of them together and cause a landmark moment in the musical history of my followers. I am well aware that these three albums are not the three most obscure records ever, so therefore I realise that a lot of people will have heard of these albums, or have them already on their computer. Still, statistically, the chances are very, very likely that the majority of the people following this blog have not heard any of these records, and have long planned to do so. Let today be the day! Because I have something really special coming. Here we go!

Lucio Battisti. Italian pop-singer. That's what you should think at first. Just like you would call Caetano a Brazilian pop-singer. Think again, because on Anima latina we have possibly the greatest ever hybrid between pop and experimentalism. This record is so incredibly rich in sound and atmosphere, and air! for that matter, that I will not even bother to describe it. Just listen to this record on a beautiful morning when the sun is shining and you have nothing to do. And also the day after today you will be free, totally carelessly listening to this record, preferably in the garden, when it's still chilly, the grass is still wet.. Etc! Make it happen!

due mondi
320kbps

Negativland - Escape From Noise (1987)

2011-07-27T23:12:00.002+02:00

The Godfathers of Plunderphonics. Ah men, do we really have to find a superlative for every single artist. No, we don't need to. At least I don't need to. But because these anti-heroes, these meta-musicians, deserve a superlative, I have granted them one. We have here a collective of tape geniuses, copy-pasters, who crafted a well-built manifesto for their own musical genre. To be compared with The Residents from the 70s and The Avalanches from the 90s, Negativland (named after a NEU! song), reached their creative peak in the 80s.

Also to be remembered for a radio-show called Over the Edge. They released 9 records full of material from this show. Escape From Noise offers you a collection of the most far-out, demented, meta-music available. Shockingly hilarious!

michael jackson
320kbps

Nara Leão - Dez Anos Depois (1971)

2011-07-26T17:36:00.002+02:00

Here we have one of the pillars of MPB, the popular music of Brazil. MPB is, in my opinion, one of the most sympathetic musical genres, and also one of the more out-there musical genres that come from the mainstream. Caetano Veloso, as we know, didn't only craft hits, he also pushed the boundaries of pop music. This record, a more safe affair, is one of the longest records. A double album, clocking in at precisely an hour, with 24 songs to offer, it's still an ambitious outing.

Hinting more at bossa nova, this is a beautifully crafted, tasty, baroque album from the peek of Brazilian pop music. Enjoy this album, and hope for the sun!

fotografia
192kbps

Fred Lane - From the One That Cut You (1983)

2011-07-01T12:43:00.002+02:00

Welcome to the wonderful world of Shimmy-Disc, a label that released some of the most out-there music available. This is the first release of Shimmy-Disc and it took the label three years after this release to release something new again. Maybe set back by the reactions this record evoked, I don't know.

This is a big-band record. Crazy stuff. Ill subject matter, with song titles like I Talk to My Haircut and Danger Is My Beer. This is my sort of humor, packing very sick subject matter in 'catchy' big-band songs. Bringing the sick stuff to you with a smile. Gotta love it. Mind you though that the music itself is also very great, at times catchy, at times as free as we expect from experimental big bands.

fun in the fundus
192kbps

Charlie Haden - Liberation Musical Orchestra (1970)

2011-06-22T12:33:00.002+02:00

Without a doubt I can say that everything is here on this record. Charlie Haden, Don Cherry, Carla Bley, Dewey Redman, Roswell Rudd, Andrew Cyrille, Michael Mantler, Gato Barbieri, and many more. So half of the BYG crew is here, and some crazy people from the Europe jazz field. This is free jazz, in a big band, very chaotic at times, with hints of melody, even fragments of old Spanish folk songs. An Ornette Coleman track is here, a song for Ché Guevara.

Haden got inspiration for this album from songs he heard from the Spanish Civil War. This album is one big aural free jazz party, although definitely not as harsh and challenging as you are used from me, the BYG stuff, etc. (I warn you though that BYG/tough free-jazz is still on its way, many records waiting!) Have fun with this record! Have a great afternoon, evening, or morning! I'm so glad I'm back. :D

drinking music
192kbps

Dreamies - Auralgraphic Entertainment (1974)

2011-06-22T12:09:00.003+02:00

And we start again with a blast: HERE WE ARE AGAIN! I checked my Mediafire-account yesterday for the first time in a year to discover that Life As A Rehearsal has had over 400.000 downloads, which amazed me, just like it will amaze you. I know that a lot of albums have been taken offline and that a lot of people will have forgotten about me and my blog, but I'm sharing some albums once again. I'm still a student from Amsterdam, and in three months time a start my new study: Philosophy. I have been reading in the meantime, many novels and other works of literature, so it would be more logical to start a literature blog right now. But as Life As A Rehearsal is my old love, and music is still something I like a lot, I am trying it again. I still search for the music with the heart, the soul, the sounds.

Here we have Bill Holt, a simple state employee from Wilmington, Delaware, who quit his job in 1972 to buy some instruments, learn how to play them, and recorded this album in the next two years. It is a raw sound collage, one of the first in fact. We have Beatles-snippets here, weird R. Stevie Moore proto-moogery, some hints of library music, and the like. (On a little technical note: the artist is called Dreamies, the monniker of Bill Holt, but I have tagged this as Bill Holt, because that's how Last.fm scrobbles it. Oh well.) Enjoy this people, I love you for all your support, downloads and admiration for reggae, free jazz, and every other weird genre that I feed you. Love from me to you!

dreamies
320kbps

Auburn Lull - Alone I Admire (1999)

2010-08-23T12:28:00.003+02:00

When I die, I'd like something apocalyptic to be the last music I hear. Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, Stravinsky, Beethoven's 9th, recollections of these musical miracles spring to mind when I think about me taking my last breath. To hear Don Van Vliet grate my eardrums, and Pachuco Cadaver and the whole circus of the Magic Band, would be a beautiful last experience. Well, normal people would probably be satisfied with the ethereal tunes of the criminally unknown Auburn Lull.

Auburn Lull qualifies as dream-pop, ambient-pop, something like that. It's beautiful, just listen.

stockard drive
192kbps

Dog Faced Hermans - Those Deep Buds (1994)

2010-08-15T15:18:00.002+02:00

I am not entirely sure at the moment if I have once told you all how much I love the Dutch band called The Ex. Anyway, they are a highly influential band who have made everything ranging from hardcore punk to African tribal music over the span of 30 years. This band, Dog Faced Hermans, is a band from Edinburgh, Scotland, who moved to Amsterdam and are closely related to The Ex. Andy Moor, formerly an Ex-member, has been in the band from 1990 until the disbandment in 1995.

Their music is just us powerful, underrated and unusual as the music of The Ex. This is their last album, because they disbanded a year later. Great band, hear this!

human spark
192kbps

Lee Scratch Perry - Arkology (1997)

2010-08-12T14:01:00.004+02:00

I'm about to do something quite special, although I hope that everything that I post is in some way special. It's special because it is a unique document about Lee Scratch Perry. Lee Perry used to have a recording studio called The Black Ark, established in 1973, where he founded dub. Bob Marley and a shitload of other reggae artists recorded some of their music over there, but Perry was at its best when he was reworking these pieces, and that's what dub is about. In 1979, after a tough time for Perry, he took a magic marker, scribbled the walls full of unreadable doodlings, and burned The Black Ark down to the ground. All the Upsetters records were made there, Junior Byles' stuff, you name it.

On this 3-CD collection, all the best stuff that was created inside The Black Ark, a place that didn't have the best equipment available, but that still created some of the most sonically daring and innovative sounds in electronic music. Have a shitload of fun with this! It's all tagged the way it should be by the way, so just throw it into iTunes and listen away.

arkology part 1
arkology part 2
arkology part 3
320kbps

This Heat - This Heat (1979)

2010-08-12T11:36:00.003+02:00

I posted the post-punk masterpiece Deceit a few months ago, and that album is one of those album that everyone just has to love. Marquee Moon is another example out of the post-punk field. Deceit is fantastic. It is haunting, it is tribal, and it's downright scary at times. I'm giving you a great quality version of their first album, called This Heat now. This Heat, the album, is not as magnificent as Deceit is, but it still is a very fresh studio document on how great this band was functioning around this time.

I recommend the John Peel sessions they recorded as well, and they did a very nice EP and an album called Repeat with three 20-minute songs on it. A band that has not a large oeuvre, but that still has made so much different music.

horizontal hold
320kbps

Gong - Flying Teapot (1973)

2010-08-11T09:31:00.003+02:00

I posted the second album of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy a few months back, and I have to say that I like this album, the first in the trilogy, even more. I just think that Gong is, though part of the Canterbury scene, so much a band on their own, that is hardly a matter of being a prog-fan or not to appreciate this band. On the Flying Teapot there is so much going on, and I see the same going with bands like Magma and the Soft Machine, who's image is suffering, just because they are called prog.

Let Daevid Allen and his Gong do his stuff for you, and you'll see that you will automatically start to like them sometime.

the pot head pixies
VBR

Junior Delahaye - Reggae (1982)

2010-08-10T08:31:00.002+02:00

So this is the real hidden gem we all were waiting for. Junior Delahaye was picked up by the American indie-reggae label Wackie's in the 80s, but apart from that, little is known of this fabulous record. Recollections of Junior Murvin spring to mind when one hears the voice of Delahaye and the six lengthy compositions are all very laid back (even for reggae) and mellow. But boy, it is so well executed.

And so our journey into reggae continues.

all i need is jah
VBR

Prince Far I - Dub To Africa (1979)

2010-08-08T11:24:00.003+02:00

This is not a normal Prince Far I album, I warn you. On this record, Prince Far I's band plays amazing dub versions of his songs. The only thing Prince Far I himself does on this record, is announce the songs at the start of 'em. He does that marvelously, off course. His raw jungle voice is only needed at the start of each song to create the same effect that some singers need the whole song for to create.

And what's better than Prince Far I dedicating a whole LP to my favourite continent. Oh, and by the way: I'm going to Africa in April for a month. And as far as reggae and this blog goes: I've tried everything to keep reggae at a distance for a while, but it is just too strong at the moment. So I'm afraid Life As A Rehearsal is kind of turning into a reggae blog, if that is in any way a bad thing.

good music brother
224kbps

Big Youth - Screaming Target (1972)

2010-08-07T11:07:00.002+02:00

I have to admit: this album owns it merit more to being revolutionary, than being the best in it sort. If you want you some good toasting, you should check out U-Roy or I-Roy, or wait until I post them, but Big Youth was arguably the first one who committed it to the tape machine. His delivery tends to get a bit same-ish, but still, his raw vocals do seem to have influenced Prince Far I. Big Youth also plays one of the bigger roles in the best reggae movie ever, called Rockers. Everyone who has been downloading my reggae over the months, should watch that movie! This week, I tell you!

Dr. Alimantado, Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace, Gregory Isaacs, Jacob Miller, Winston Rodney, Lee Perry, they all star in the film! Absolutely unmissable. In listen to this record in the meantime.

honesty
192kbps

Atahualpa Yupanqui - ¡Soy libre! ¡Soy bueno! (1968)

2010-08-05T11:33:00.002+02:00

I'm so awfully sorry that I haven't posted anything in almost a month. I'm afraid that the eternal flame concerning my love for music, has been dying a bit in my heart. I have experienced this fact about three times before, and music always comes back to me. Anyway, I wanted to post this album for a long time. It is a low quality version of this record (128). I am pretty sure that it is the best quality version available on the internet, so please forgive me.

The music is too great to leave it unposted. Atahualpa Yupanqui is the artist name Héctor Roberto Chavero Aramburo, and he is an Argentinian folk singer. Very beautiful little songs, and I hope you will enjoy this record. And, if someone ever finds a better copy, please let me know.

soy libre
128kbps

The Gladiators - Trenchtown Mix Up (1976)

2010-07-17T14:07:00.002+02:00

So, I went to Sweden: Stockholm and Göteborg for a week. That's why I kind of disappeared. But here I am, I am appearing again. Let's move on with a very fine roots reggae album, that is quite well-known in the reggae scene, but therefore still too unknown off course, because reggae albums don't quite surface outside the reggae field. I will post some more obscure albums in the upcoming weeks, because that was what I wanted to do with this summer, but I love this album so much at the moment, that the only thing I can do is just post it.

Very, very high quality reggae, definitely one of the four or five real reggae classics, besides Bob Marley. The others being Marcus Garvey by Burning Spear (already posted), Satta Massagana by the Abyssinians (stay tuned), and Right Time by the Mighty Diamonds (I think I've posted it). Enjoy this album, because most of the time I post more unknown reggae, but one has to know where to got it from as well! Also: listen to Thief in the Night, at the moment my favourite reggae tune.

thief in the night
256kbps

Sugar Minott - Showcase (1977)

2010-06-30T09:56:00.002+02:00

Almost all of the reggae records that I know of (with the exception of Ijahman) have 10 or sometimes 11 or 12 songs on it. This one only has 6, but still takes up a half hour. On this record are some longer versions of classics like 'Roof over my Head' and they are all six really nice, smooth and loungy. I don't like that the name Sugar Minott isn't integrated more into the reggae library of nowadays, so let me put him back into it.

His vocals just seem very effortless, that's what struck me about this record. It all seems very natural and fluid. Beautiful dozing reggae record.

guidance
VBR

Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker - Tubman Goodtype Songs of Liberia (1971)

2010-06-29T13:33:00.002+02:00

This EP came out from the leftfield when I discovered it. Where the hell did this come from, was the only coherent thought that crossed my mind. So what we have here, is a former congress-member from Liberia, sitting behind a piano, performing songs for half an hour. Not always in tune, not always playing the piano in a perfect way, but always intriguing. She is one of these outsider artists, that can't be compared to any other artist at all. I know that that's basically the deal with outsider art, but I guess this woman is an exception in every way.

Stunningly unknown off course, because the commercial value of this record is as important nowadays as the karaoke fitness record by Hulk Hogan (which I in fact own, requests are welcome).

bush cow milk
320kbps

Le Nimba De N' Zerekore - Gon Bia Bia (1980)

2010-06-28T13:43:00.003+02:00

I was going to start delving into obscurity by posting an album by the Argentinian folk singer Atahualpa Yupanqui, because I have an album of his that I have enjoyed thoroughly for the last few years. I noticed that I only had a 128-copy of it though, and as I'm trying to keep this blog free of bad quality copies (although it doesn't really matter in these cases: most of these are vinyl rips anyway), a moral dilemma occurred and I have decided to share this fantastic African group from Guinea.

Their music is, as you will expect, very rhythmical and just plain funky. I hear some Caribbean influences as well, it sounds familiar to the calypso at times. Very enjoyable, and totally unknown.

gon bia bia
VBR

Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Head (1971)

2010-06-26T13:40:00.003+02:00

Yesterday I said that I would be posting less albums in the coming months, and I still think that this will happen, but I had a daydream today and it told me that I have to focus more on albums that are so extremely obscure that they don't get no attention at all at the moment, whereas the most albums I post at the moment are mainly albums that are great, but don't get enough attention. So that's what I'm going to do the next few weeks. But before I do so, I just want to sneak in this fan-tas-tic album by the Flamin' Groovies. They were an early garage rock band from San Fransisco, but who had the same snarl as punk had ten year later.

The vocalist also reminds me a lot of Beefheart, as does the bottleneck guitar. They were a rougher version of the Stones, and at times they actually beat Sticky Fingers. Mick Jagger admitted.

high flyin' baby
192kbps

Yabby You - Conquering Lion (1975)

2010-06-24T14:50:00.002+02:00

Sweat is pouring off my face as I write these words. Summer has officially begun in Amsterdam. I feel that the time has come for you to listen to all the music I've posted, instead of having to download new one's every day. Therefor I hope everyone will not be surprised that I'll take it easy in the summer time. Two or three albums a week will be the maximum up until August, so please enjoy everything that I've posted so far and keep discovering new artists in the time I that I am going slow with this blog.

Here is one of the greatest reggae performers, who passed away this January. This is his best album and the man is called Yabby You. His songs are great and his place in reggae is important, though underrated. And remember: I will be back, probably even this week, but not as frequent as you're used to. But I will be again.

conquering lion
192kbps

Angry Samoans - Back From Samoa (1982)

2010-06-22T15:46:00.002+02:00

As a connaiseur of hardcore punk from the United States, I can say that the Angry Samoans weren't among the most 'scene' bands around. Nor were they the most 'hardcore' band ever. But they definitely were one of the most fun bands around, although I wasn't there: I know it. The music is, although extremely tight, very funny. They hit the nail on the head with this album, and that makes it among my favourite hardcore releases (I have to admit that this list is long).

They Saved Hitlers Cock may well be one of the funniest song titles in hardcore and Anal Cunt has had a hard time to beat that funny title.

gas chamber
192kbps

Popol Vuh - Hosianna Mantra (1972)

2010-06-21T15:43:00.002+02:00

This album is so mesmerizingly beautiful, the music it contains so sacred, that it often makes me think that higher spirits do exist. This music sounds like if it was made by angels, especially the second part of Kyrie, the second song. Popol Vuh is considered among the best krautrock-bands, although they don't have much in common with the other bands in the genre. But that was the nice thing of krautrock: it doesn't sound like anything, it's just a bunch of amazing bands from Germany. Damn the Brits who dared to call it krautrock.

Popol Vuh makes ethereal music and they composed the soundtracks for the best movies of Werner Herzog (such as Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, probably my favourite film of all time), and they did it like no one would ever be capable of. The music fits the movies so intensely, that it seems like it's part of the Amazon rain forest, where Aguirre was shot. Go see that movie by the way!

hosianna mantra
VBR

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star (1973)

2010-06-21T10:20:00.002+02:00

Ignore the ridiculously out-of-fashion album cover. Why is there a third ear coming out of the right eye of Todd, I hear you ask. Well, I have in fact no idea. So leave that stupid album cover be. It's the music that I want to talk about here. Something/Anything? may be has masterpiece, purely looking at the length of the piece, but A Wizard, A True Star is better. It is in fact an experience that you will never forget if your ears allow you to enjoy it to the fullest.

It has in fact everything: Spectorian wall-of-sound space pop, dizzying electronic experiments, heavy metal snippets, goofy novelty tunes, a sixty-five second vaudevillian number, an avant-garde noise piece, and last, but definitely not least: a ten minute medley belter consisting of doo-wop and soul classics. If I haven't convinced you by now, please leave this blog alone.

when the shit hits the fan
192kbps

Bernard Fevre - The Strange World Of Bernard Fevre (1975)

2010-06-19T08:38:00.002+02:00

If I haven't told you about Library Music yet, I will do it now quick. I have been listening to this music a lot and what is, is this: it's music made by guys like Bernard Fevre and the rights of this music aren't owned by the composers, but by music libraries and the music is most often used for soundtrack purposes.

Bernard Fevre's world isn't strange at all: it's incredible. He creates a world consisting of 23 minutes of the purest melodies ever created on synthesizers. Take a song like Molecule Dance, this could well have been something Daft Punk builds their career upon. Absolutely essential listen.

cosmic rays
192kbps

Wild Man Fischer - An Evening With Wild Man Fischer (1969)

2010-06-18T15:44:00.002+02:00

Let me introduce Wild Man Fischer. He's actually a guy from Los Angeles, who is in fact called Larry Fischer, and who has a bipolar disorder and a severe form of schizophrenia. He attacked his mother with a knife when he was only 16 and was then institutionalized. So, yeah. A weird guy. He used to walk down the streets selling 'completely original songs' for a small amount of money. Frank Zappa was intrigued by him and followed him around across the streets and recorded what he had to say and sing. This has lead up to an album of 80+ minutes full of the philosophical musings of Wild Man Fischer.

All I can say to you is: enjoy!

new kind of songs for sale!
320kbps

Cabaret Voltaire - Red Mecca (1981)

2010-06-18T12:55:00.003+02:00

Red Mecca is the most important and most praised album recorded by the industrial band from Sheffield, UK, called Cabaret Voltaire. They recorded and released an incredible amount of albums, as a lot of industrial acts from the early 80s did, like Clock DVA, Throbbing Gristle and Coil, and they explored the likes of dub and house in their music as well.

This album is far from flawless and I think a lot of industrial music can be pretty boring at times, but still this album has some unknown quality that makes me come back to this band every time again. I own this album on vinyl and if I spin this record, I always become moved by the haunting qualities of the vocals on this album. I recently coined a term with a friend of mine, called Monster Vocals and I'd like to stuff this album into that category as well.

black mask
224kbps

The Pop Group - We Are All Prostitutes (1998)

2010-06-16T12:42:00.002+02:00

I really hate the fact that The Pop Group is only remembered because of one album: Y. Indeed: why? Because they made a bunch of other great records, of which this one, a compilation from 1998, is great example. The album they made after Y, was just as good as their first one if you ask me and on this compilation, the best songs of their second album are combined with some leftovers from that period. Still as funky as on Y, and at times even more splintered, with great saxophone performances that once again remind me of the great sax work by Captain Beefheart.

A great and highly underrated band that made a lot of great music apart from Y. Go listen to this stuff, because it seems people are forgetting the complete picture of this band.

we are all prostitutes
VBR

Scientist - Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires (1981)

2010-06-16T12:32:00.002+02:00

Scientist is the one who took dub to a higher level for me. It is not per se better, or heavier, but it is different no less. I like that. Development, good or bad, development is always better than standing still. On this album, a concept album on vampires, there are a lot of monster vocals done by the Scientist himself present and this album is his most praised and arguably his best.

If you feel that dub and reggae are starting to sound a bit same-ish, having heard all the posts I did on reggae, please listen to this record and revive your love for reggae. By the way, even if every reggae record sounded the same, it'd still be one of my favourite genres!

your teeth in my neck
192kbps

Harmonia - Deluxe (1975)

2010-06-15T12:05:00.002+02:00

One of the greatest krautrock records combined with one of my favourite album covers. This album cover is such an exact description of this record, it's beyond words. It's like the cover of Instellar Space by Coltrane: the sky is not the limit. This records takes you to such epic heights, by the ever growing guitar solos, very pleasant. The band name and title seems to be spelled in honey, dripping from the cover. It looks as sweet as honey, and I actually would like to lick it off the cover.

This supergroup consists of krautrock mastodonts Michael Rother from Neu! and both men from Cluster. A lovely band that eventually also added Brian Eno to their line-up.

immer wieder rauf und runter
320kbps

Alexander "Skip" Spence - Oar (1969)

2010-06-15T11:30:00.002+02:00

Skip Spence is a key figure in the music scene from the late 60s. He was the first drummer and thus a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and he was also one of the guitarists in the great Moby Grape. He is one of the best examples of a hippie who couldn't cope with all the drugs that went around in the scene. At one point, he was completely unbearable to his friends and verging on going insane, so he was put away in a mental asylum. He wrote this album in Manhattan, when he was on the brink of mental collapse.

When he was released, he drove his motor bike all the way to Nashville and recorded the album in a few hours. And that was the end of his career. This, his final statement in rock music, is a bewildering rollercoaster through the worlds of schizophrenia and paranoia.

lawrence of euphoria
192kbps

Blind Lemon Jefferson - King Of The Country Blues (1985)

2010-06-13T15:52:00.005+02:00

Today, I want to introduce everyone to one of the greatest blues players that has ever lived. It is a blind fellow from Texas, who lived in the first decades of the previous century. His name was Blind Lemon Jefferson. He was a blind man with a very fat belly and he played his guitar like no one else did in that day. He wrote an epic amount of blues evergreens, covered by all the great other Delta-players in the years coming. Lightnin' Hopkins was taught how to play by Blind Lemon Jefferson when he was a little kid.

On this collection are 23 songs, all really awesome, if you think away the often abominable sound quality. But hey, we're talking about 1926 here, so don't bother about the sound quality. Be glad it exists!

one dime blues
VBR

Emitt Rhodes - Emitt Rhodes (1970)

2010-06-11T13:56:00.002+02:00

If you're tired of the Beatles, here's Emitt Rhodes. Emitt Rhodes is a guy from California who could best be described as a 'one man's Beatles'. His voice sounds extremely like Paul McCartney's voice, and the songs are very alike of the Beatles' repertoire. But hey, he does it fantastically, so why bother?

12 very catchy songs make for a nice 30 minutes of 70s pop music. He plays all the instruments on the record: all of them. He recorded the album at home when he was only 19 years old, but still it sounds very mature and confident. I also like the innocence that comes with this record.

with my face on the floor
320kbps

Van Dyke Parks - Discover America (1972)

2010-06-11T10:55:00.003+02:00

Because Van Dyke Parks is a goddamn hero, as big a hero for me as Brian Wilson, with whom he made important music, and also because he is totally unknown for our generation, I'm posting another Van Dyke Parks album. I posted Song Cycle a while ago, which remains one of my favourite albums ever, I'm actually listening to it as we speak and I have goosebumps!

This album was made by Parks when he had made a trip to Trinidad, where the roots of calypso are to be found, so this album is heavily calypso-influenced, and at times pure calypso. Van Dyke Parks has the gift to create American landscapes in his songs, he makes me understand America better, so it remains bearable that I haven't been there yet.

sweet trinidad
320kbps

Alice Cooper - Killer (1971)

2010-06-08T17:09:00.002+02:00

As for glam-rock, I have decided that I like Alice Cooper about as much as I love David Bowie. Alice Cooper is the ultimate bad-ass rocker and he makes all these Aerosmith and Guns 'n Roses guys look like Peter Pan. He started on Straight Records, the experimental hippielabel of Frank Zappa, where he released a lot of obscure stuff like Wild Man Fischer and The G.T.O.'s. Captain Beefheart eventually left Straight Records because he thought he was among freaks when he found out what Alice Cooper did on a stage.

The music is fantastic, he is so powerful on this record, as well as on the other early records. The music is like a campy version of Black Sabbath. I absolutely love that description and if I were you, I would definitely download this record because of it. Especially that first song really makes you feel like a winner!

under my wheels
320kbps

Todd Rundgren - Something / Anything? (1972)

2010-06-08T09:42:00.005+02:00

This. Is. Something. (/Anything?). One of the greatest pop records ever made. On par with Stevie Wonder's Innervisions and Van Dyke Parks' Song Cycle, but the good thing is: it is twice as long! This record consists of 4 sides of incredible alternative pop songs, and 3 of the 4 sides are completely made by Rundgren himself. Every sound you hear, every guitar, piano, banjo, drum, is produced by Todd himself. On the 4th side a big orchestra takes over and gives the record yet another push to gain its classic status.

Todd Rundgren is one of my favourite performers from the 70s, it was a time when you could make pop music and not be totally corny. Like Steely Dan, and others, but Todd Rundgren perfected it. He was not only uncorny, he was 100% cool with it. He plays guitar like Hendrix, he creates songs like McCartney and he has the voice of a genius. Must listen! You must!

something / anything? part 1
something / anything? part 2
320kbps

Aaron Copland - The Complete Music For Solo Piano (1979)

2010-06-04T09:22:00.002+02:00

Aaron Copland is one of the greatest American composers. He was born in 1900 and died two weeks after his 90th birthday in 1990. I was almost a year old when he died. As did other American composers, he combined the modern classical with American folk styles. His piano music is very beautiful, complex and you can hear that he is an American composer. American composers just have that American thing going on which is hard to describe, listen to Charles Ives for instance.

His complete piano music, composed from the late 10s to the mid 70s, is here performed by Leo Smit and the recording is from 1979. Enjoy this one, it is important, it is beautiful music and it is necessary.

complete music for solo piano part 1
complete music for solo piano part 2
256kbps

Harry Pussy - A In an Emergency You Can Shit on a Puerto Rican Whore (1993)

2010-06-03T09:45:00.002+02:00

I gave you all some time to download the massive load of albums that I posted on this blog over the last four months. It may be time to take it easy for some time, as summer is coming up et al. So don't expect as much albums from me as you're used to, but keep checking off course!

I can also imagine that when I say noise rock, noise isn't quite what you were thinking when you heard Shellac and The Jesus Lizard. Both great bands, but noise. Noise means irritating and harsh sounds. So here is Harry Pussy, real noise. Check this EP out and you're ears will beg for mercy. Great, classic 90s EP!

i don't care about sleep anymore
192kbps

Pharoah Sanders - Karma (1969)

2010-05-27T10:13:00.003+02:00

I was about to quit posting jazz for the coming time, because I have posted enough of it over the last month now, when I was just in time reminded by myself to post this album: one of the greatest. Pharoah Sanders is a goddamn animal when he has a saxophone in his hands, and on this album that's quite noticeable. He builds up to an enormous free jazz explosion by playing some of the nicest music ever heard. Incorporating a lot of spiritual elements and even lyrics and thus, vocals.

One of the greatest free jazz, and even jazz, records. I hope you will like this as much as I do. It is truly a masterpiece, I promise.

the creator has a master plan
VBR

X - Wild Gift (1981)

2010-05-25T10:21:00.002+02:00

When I posted the debut album by the great punk rock band X awhile ago, about three months ago already I guess. When the blog had just started. Time goes fast. Anyway, when I posted their debut I got some nice reactions about their music. They are really catchy, and not just catchy, but really catchy. They have interesting riffs and melodies to give us and they are, apart from that, important pioneers in the hardcore punk field.

This is their second album, almost as good, and at some days even better. It has 13 songs where the debut had 10, so there's even more to love here. Enjoy your day and enjoy X!

in this house that i call home
192kbps

Squirrel Bait - Skag Heaven (1987)

2010-05-23T18:54:00.002+02:00

Because the word 'emo' became associated with horrible musical acts like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, it used to stand for a group of emotional hardcore bands that came out of the United States during the second half of the 80s as a supplement of hardcore punk. One of the best bands of that era was Squirrel Bait. Squirrel Bait became popular just after bands like Rites Of Spring and Hüsker Dü created and popularized the genre.

One of the most original bands of that time, Squirrel Bait, gives you 25 minutes of great hardcore songs. This is their only studio album, and they released an EP as well during that time. Short-lived band, great songs.

tape from california
320kbps

The Art Ensemble Of Chicago - A Jackson In Your House (1969)

2010-05-23T11:45:00.004+02:00

The second album to be released on BYG Actuel, and also the debut album of The Art Ensemble Of Chicago, under the name they got famous for. The Art Ensemble Of Chicago is a really unique group of people that make free jazz as close to art as possible. When this group toured Europe in 1969, the year this record came out, they used over 500 instruments on their tour. A performance by this collective is as much an aural experience as it is a visual spectacle.

I really like this album, it is definitely not their best, nor is it their most famous, but it shows you how great BYG used to be and how much talent this group of people had together. All multi-instrumentalists and up for the experiment.

get in line
VBR

Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure (1965)

2010-05-22T18:29:00.002+02:00

When this album happened in 1965, the year of the invention of free jazz, the hip jazz world was more and more descending into free jazz territory. This album was made by Andrew Hill with a sextet that, among others, had Eric Dolphy playing the saxophone, the bass clarinet and the flute. Dolphy was and will always be considered as one of the greatest players in jazz, and the albums he made as a leader are among my favourite jazz material.

So yeah, this album is a great mixture of avant-garde jazz going a wee bit free jazz at times, but most of all it is a balanced set of compositions that Andrew Hill made when he was at the top of his career.

spectrum
256kbps

Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 5 (1997)

2010-05-22T10:50:00.002+02:00

One of the most important composers of the late-Romantic time, and being a bridge between the music of the late 19th century and the start of modernism. What I'm giving you here is a great performance by the Wiener Philharmonic, conducted by Pierre Boulez (not only a great conductor, but one of the nicest composers of the 20th century) from 1997.

This 5th Symphony contains the fourth movement Adagietto, and that movement is probably the most recognizable music Mahler ever made. The 5th Symphony overall is also his most important work and Mahler is still considered as one of the greatest today.

trauermarsch
192kbps

Rashied Ali & Frank Lowe - Duo Exchange (1972)

2010-05-21T17:45:00.002+02:00

Another really free album that came out of the free jazz burst at the end of the 60s. Easiest comparison to this album is Interstellar Space by John Coltrane, on which Coltrane and Ali played together as a duo. One of the greatest duo performances this is, ever. Although totally obscure, that doesn't mean it isn't any good. Frank Lowe is not Coltrane, obviously, but his way of playing is really fresh, free, and most important of all: great. Rashied Ali plays more structured than he does on Interstellar Space, and Duo Exchange is a much more urgent listen than Interstellar Space.

I guess you have all noticed that I've been posting a lot of (free) jazz lately. I hope you all like it, if not, bear with me, because I really want to post this masterpieces and I want people to like them. There aren't enough people listening to this kind of music, and I hate that. I'm writing an essay about free jazz at the moment, so this is all I really listen to.

duo exchange
VBR

Peter Brötzmann - Machine Gun (1968)

2010-05-20T22:44:00.002+02:00

Machine Gun, the greatest ever European free jazz record, is not only alike of the sound machine guns, it also sounds a lot like a bunch of wild African elephants coming down the stairs. This record is so bombastic, so brutal and so over the top, that it's hard to imagine it was made in 1968, before the BYG Actuel storm, before a lot of great American free jazz happened. The Europeans were influenced by the Afro-American cats like Ayler and Sanders, who wanted more out of jazz then great, coherent melodies.

The urgency of this record was never topped by Peter Brötzmann and his fluctuating crew (on this album, an in-cre-di-ble line-up: Evan Paker, Han Bennink, Willem Breuker, Fred Van Hove, Peter Kowald, you name them) afterwards. This record catches the time it was made in: a ferocious time with a lot of uncertainties, and a lot of anger, as well. This record is as much an essential as most of the output by Ayler and his buddies.

machine gun
VBR

Miles Davis - Nefertiti (1968)

2010-05-20T10:15:00.003+02:00

Before Miles Davis went crazy with creating fusion, Bitches Brew and all those dark fusion-jazz albums that came after it, he made some lovely little albums with some of the people who would go on to create the fusion in jazz with him. Present on this albums are Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams and Ron Carter. This line-up is also known as 'the second classic quintet'.

On this album there are some fine moments when the horn section plays the rhythm and the rhythm section improvises underneath it. Most noticeable on the title track. This album is really the missing link between post-bop and fusion-jazz, as this sounds really fusion, while remaining completely acoustic.

madness
192kbps

Dave Burrell - Echo (1969)

2010-05-19T14:08:00.003+02:00

The quintessential wild free jazz album lies here in front of you. Free jazz is all about the abstract creation of freedom. Through sounds, through forms, shapes, a free jazz player tries to escape the material world to just exist within the song and his instrument. On the first side of Echo, we have a very wild piece of 20 minutes called Echo on which all the players (BYG all stars Clifford Thornton, Alan Silva, Archie Shepp, Grachan Moncur III, Sunny Murray, Arthur Jones and leader Dave Burrell) are going completely over the top. You have to hear it to believe me.

The second side of the record is calm compared to the first piece, but still beautiful and still far from normal jazz, as most people know it. I'm giving you a vinyl rip that contains some scratches, so bear with me. It is the only digital copy around on the net, so enjoy it.

echo
320kbps

Gene Clark - No Other (1974)

2010-05-17T18:19:00.004+02:00

The story of this album is really simple: Gene Clark was one of the founding members of The Byrds, with whom he made some beautiful records, but he quit the band in the early stages of the late 60s. The Byrds had released their best albums, and Gene Clark left the sinking ship. He released some fairly successful solo records in the early 70s, and when he began recording No Other, expectations were high.

This record was completely dismissed back in the day though, due to its experimental nature, 8 long alt-country compositions, and critics didn't like it for that. But we all know that critics are idiots, especially if you see their reactions to records some thirty years ago. This is now Gene Clark's absolute masterpiece, and it deserves all its praise it gets nowadays.

life's greatest fool
192kbps

Sunny Murray - An Even Break (Never Give A Sucker)

2010-05-17T12:55:00.002+02:00

Sunny Murray could well be the most important drummer in free jazz. He was the drummer on Albert Ayler's Spiritual Unity and he used to hang out a lot with Cecil Taylor. He was, and is, a great and accomplished drummer and an important band leader. He recorded a total of three records for BYG Actuel, of which this is the second one. This is number 32 out of 53. Spoken word is present, a lot of great horns, crazy drumming and some African influences.

Great, great drummer and a total hero for releasing under BYG, because BYG = the shit. He released his most famous records under ESP-Disk, pretty much the only label that released some free jazz in the 60s in America. Spiritual Unity came out on ESP as well.

invisible blues
192kbps

Archie Shepp - Yasmina, A Black Woman (1969)

2010-05-16T20:28:00.002+02:00

After a few years a searching, I have fulfilled my destiny: I own all the 53 studio albums that came out on the French free-jazz label BYG Actuel. All these albums were released in the period of 1969-1971, when a lot of American jazz-players, visited Paris and recorded a lot of music for this epic label. It actually might be my favourite label overall.

To celebrate this fact, I will share some more free jazz with you all. To start of with the 4th of 53 releases, is this very obscure record by Archie Shepp. Archie Shepp was one of the bigger names to release music under BYG. We see Archie at his wildest on this label, because everything on BYG is extremely wild: no American labels were releasing this music back then. (with a few exceptions of course, but not on this scale, 53 records in 2,5 years).

body and soul
VBR

Waylon Jennings - Honky Tonk Heroes (1973)

2010-05-16T14:12:00.002+02:00

Waylon Jennings was one of most important players in the movement called Outlaw Country. The outlaw movement, often referred to as just 'outlaw music', was a reaction to the country made in Nashville, called Nashville Sound. The outlaws made a fundamental distinction between their own outlaw authenticity and the smooth, commercial sound of the Nashvillers.

This album is Waylon Jennings best studio album, and songs 1 to 9 are written by Billy Joe Shaver, another outlaw musician. Apart from song number 10, this whole album was written by Shaver. Jennings makes the songs his own though, and no-one does it as well as he does. Enjoy this lovely country album, because country is: great!

honky tonk heroes
192kbps

Frederic Rzewski - The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (1999)

2010-05-14T22:17:00.002+02:00

Frederic Rzewski has to be one of the most ground breaking composers of our time. This piece, The People United Will Never Be Defeated! from 1975, is a set of 36 variations of the Chilean song with the same name (but in Chilean). This recording that I'm giving you, was performed by Marc-André Hamelin and recorded in 1999. The opening theme is a piano version of the song, but after that: hell breaks loose. 36 epic variations of that theme make this composition of the best of the 20th century, in my opinion.

I think everyone who normally doesn't listen to (modern) classical music, but is interested in Das Experiment, will love this piece. I wish everyone a brilliant first experience.

the people united will never be defeated!
320kbps

Brainiac - Hissing Prigs In Static Couture (1996)

2010-05-14T13:55:00.002+02:00

Brainiac was a cool little band from Dayton, Ohio who disbanded a year after the release of this album because of the death of lead singer Tim Taylor. Taylor died in a car crash in 1997, during the pre-production of their fourth album, an album that has never surfaced since. So that was that. A lot of potential, but what we're left with are three albums, of which the last two are really good.

Brainiac was a notorious live act in their day and they supported The Jesus Lizard, The Breeders and Beck, but their music doesn't sound anything like any of these three bands. I like to call their music synthpunk, because dance punk happened a few years later and sounded a lot shittier than this.

i am a cracked machine
192kbps

Insect Warfare - World Extermination (2007)

2010-05-13T18:57:00.002+02:00

I have noticed that extreme metal is extremely unpopular on my blog, which is a pity, because I love to stress out on grindcore every once in a while. So therefore I'm testing you once again, and let's see if this release can get a lot of downloads. Why is it that you're all so into reggae by the way, I love that.

Anyway, this record is as dark as grindcore gets, the singer's voice is as dark as I've ever heard and the songs are all, 20 of them, grind classics. This is one of the most influential grindcore releases of the last ten years and grindcore is actually one of the genres in music that's blooming the most at the moment.

necessary death
VBR

Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets (1974)

2010-05-13T14:34:00.002+02:00

Ok, this is Eno's debut album, released when he was still in Roxy Music. It sounds very glam-rock, as does his second record, but he totally abandoned that style after the first two records to create ambient, and to do a whole lot of other stuff. But, yeah, what to say: this is an Eno-record, it's his debut even, so off course it's awesome.

Just listen to it, and love it the rest of your life. In my opinion this beats even the first Roxy Music records, so Eno proves that he actually can't do anything wrong, because he even masters the silly genre that glam-rock is. Good stuff.

needles in the camel's eye
VBR

The Books - Music For A French Elevator (2006)

2010-05-12T23:19:00.002+02:00

I told you all about The Books last week, or the week before. Or at least, I told everyone who didn't know The Books about The Books. Because I don't want to sound pretentious, as there are enough people who come here who knew The Books already, who knew them for a long time, and some who even knew them before me. So that doesn't make me pretentious anymore, so I can now go on and tell everyone how much I love this little, tiny EP they made in 2006.

This EP is just a collection of 'found sounds', funny fragments of coincidentally stumbled upon songs, phrases, and other sounds. Great work by The Books, because they always work with very cool samples and their music is practically based upon them, but on this EP they take it a step further: they let the sample be the song. Check, it, out!

you'll never be alone
VBR

U.S. Maple - Talker (1999)

2010-05-11T15:01:00.003+02:00

A concept album about high-school by U.S. Maple, is there anything that could ever top this? This is the band's definitive statement: they made a great debut record, a solid follow-up and one good and one mediocre album after Talker, but Talker defines them as a band. This could be so incredibly dull and pretentious, but because of the individual qualities of this band, they completely pull it off.

Maybe this is my favourite release by this band, but it definitely is their defining moment. High school as seen through U.S. Maple's scope.

breeze, it's your high school
320kbps

U.S. Maple - Long Hair In Three Stages (1995)

2010-05-11T13:11:00.002+02:00

U.S. Maple has always impressed the hell out of me. This band is so scary, it really is incredible that these guys decided to make music instead of working in a slaughterhouse. U.S. Maple is not only about the deconstruction of songs, but the total destruction of songs as well. Every seems starts promising, but stays right there. It never lets go of its nervous surroundings.

A truly amazing band, one of my favourite, in fact. They made another four albums after this one, of which Talker is the best. I will post that one later on today, it's U.S. Maple-Day! Give them a chance!

letter to zz top
192kbps

The Jesus Lizard - Goat (1991)

2010-05-10T22:42:00.003+02:00

Not very often do I post albums that are in my absolute favourite epic albums ever list, but today I do. Goat by The Jesus Lizard is in that Top 100, that I made a while ago, and I'm still not sure whether to post it or not. Anyway: this record is the absolute top of the bill when we're talking about pigfuck/noise rock.

I used to like their album Liar over this for a while, but lately Goat has come to grow on me a lot. I guess, that if I ever get kidnapped by a serial killer, this is the music he's playing in his car. That's probably the best description I could give of this music. Angry, scary, serial killer freaks playing rock music.

nub
192kbps

Flux Of Pink Indians - Strive to Survive Causing Least Suffering Possible (1982)

2010-05-09T18:02:00.002+02:00

If I had to choose, I would pick American hardcore over British hardcore everytime I had to choose a favourite. Flux Of Pink Indians however, are a fantastic British hardcore band from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England. A little shithole is where these fuckers lived, so they became anarchopunks, which seems perfectly logical.

This record has some of the best riffs present in British punk, and at the same time they remain very uncompromising, a fact they would also prove on The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks, their second album. Enjoy this record!

the fun is over
192kbps

Cows - Cunning Stunts (1992)

2010-05-09T13:19:00.003+02:00

At the end of the eighties and the start of the nineties, there was a crazy little scene, mainly based in America, called Pigfuck. Pigfuck is a genre close to noise rock, a term coined by Robert Christgau. It refers to the rough attitude of the pigfuck bands, often spotted in stetson hats and lumberjack outfits.

This record, Cunning Stunts by the great Cows, was one of the later masterpieces to come out of the scene. Cows had been part of the scene from the start and they were known for their raucous performances, akin to The Jesus Lizard.

The front cover says it all: a trumpet player with a cowboy hat, takes out his false teeth and starts playing the trumpet. Yeehaw.

yeehaw
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Prince - Dirty Mind (1980)

2010-05-08T09:52:00.003+02:00

I'd like to post an album by one of the greatest artists of all time (Prince himself will say that he actually is the greatest artist of all time, but I'd like to disagree about him actually being the very best), Prince. Prince was born as Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958 and he made this album when he was 21/22. Almost all the instruments on these eight songs are played by Prince himself. He was a very gifted multi-instrumentalist, often forgotten by many.

A great provocateur, but I'd like to see him more as a creator of great music, I don't care so much for the sexual provocation side of his work. But that's just my opinion, because his status is probably 'the male Madonna'. Enjoy this music, that's what I care more about.

when you were mine
192kbps

T.S.O.L. - Dance With Me (1981)

2010-05-05T22:15:00.003+02:00

Great hardcore punk classic from T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) out of Long Beach, California. Led by the Iggy Pop of hardcore punk: Jack Grisham, who was one of the most notorious figures in hardcore punk. Known for his on stage and off stage behavior as a complete enfant terrible. This album is just a collection of one of the strongest set of hardcore punk songs, made in 1981, probably the best year for hardcore punk ever.

In 1981, everything came together, and bands like T.S.O.L., MDC and D.O.A. were able to lift upon the success of great acts like Black Flag and Bad Brains. Hardcore punk at its peek, there isn't anything better than that.

dance with me
192kbps

Mekons - Fear And Whiskey (1985)

2010-05-05T12:21:00.002+02:00

This album is often called alt-country, but it really has nothing to do with what people call alt-country nowadays. This more appropriately sounds like The Pogues mixed with post-punk, without all the stupid bagpipe-stuff in The Pogues. You know, I really, really dislike The Pogues, but I love the Mekons. So there you can see the difference. On this record everything comes together. They made an enormous bunch of albums, but this album is the one that is the most coherent.

Side B especially is absolutely flawless and there are some amazing songs on it. Very unpretentious, fun cowpunk from Britain, so get it while it's hot.

darkness and doubt
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Melvins - Bullhead (1991)

2010-05-04T13:42:00.002+02:00

It is always to have another Melvins album and to know it by heart. Melvins are one of the most original bands in the alternative metal field and I love them to bits. This album is a wee more droney than the album I posted a long while ago. The opening song on this album 'Boris' even inspired the band with the same name to name their band Boris. Only that fact makes this album worthwhile enough for every metal fan across the world I guess.

Sludgy as always, Melvins keep hitting hard. I'll keep posting these Melvins albums every once in a while, because I saw Houdini got downloaded quite a few times.

anaconda
192kbps

Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline (1969)

2010-05-04T12:16:00.003+02:00

You can say that Bob Dylan said 'fuck you' to a lot of people when he went electric and made Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde in a row. When he made Nashville Skyline, he said 'fuck you' to his electric fans though. I see this album as Dylan's first real fuck you-album. This album is as sweet as Highway 61 Revisited is raw.

Extremely short in length, under 28 minutes, containing ten swinging country rock songs, and Johnny Cash sings on the first one! I know that this album isn't as fantastic compared to his electric epics, but see this as a little snack in between opposed to the full meal of Blonde On Blonde.

i threw it all away
192kbps

The Books - Thought For Food (2002)

2010-05-01T20:55:00.002+02:00

Indie music can get pretty awesome at times. When it is done really well, it could well be one of my favourite musical disciplines. On this album, folk(tronica) is combined with a lot of electro, field recordings and weird samples/sounds/noises, etc. I'm very proud at the fact that one of the two guys in The Books is a guy from Holland called Paul de Jong (which is probably the most standard name possible for a Dutch guy in his thirties, but yeah, still)

Great, weird music on this album and a lot to discover after repeated listens. I really like this album because I can listen to it and genuinely enjoy it, and come back to it over two years from today and still have the same fresh experience. Love this band. New album (their 4th) will come out in July.

all bad ends all
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Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising (1985)

2010-04-30T20:01:00.002+02:00

It is Queenday today in Holland, and because I viscerally hate Queensday, our monarchy, our queen, everyone who dresses in orange, all the artists at the Museumplein concert and our to-be-king, Willem-Alexander, I'm posting this very angry post-hardcore record by a great band I told you earlier on about: Hüsker Dü.

Bob Mould, Grant Hart and Greg Norton are a threepiece that has such a unique sound, it's hard to believe they actually helped crafting a new genre. That new genre was called post-hardcore, slower than hardcore, but just as effectively angry. Listen to this great album, pretty please.

i don't know what you're talking about
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Joose Keskitalo - Kaupungit puristuvat puristimissa (2006)

2010-04-29T23:17:00.002+02:00

What we have here is a great, tasteful and quiet solo album by the singer of the experimental folk band Paavoharju, from Finland. The name of this guy is Joose Keskitalo, and once you're used to how to pronounce this difficult Finnish name, please give him a try and see if you like his beautiful ballads. It is not a matter of understanding the words on this album, as they are completely gibberish to everyone outside of Finland, but it's all about getting in the mood of this album. Knowing what Keskitalo's means when he sings his blues.

Great solo exercise of this fantastic artist, I wish more people listened to this guy. I really do.

rajalaulu
192kbps

The Upsetters - Super Ape (1976)

2010-04-28T18:50:00.002+02:00

The Upsetters were the house band of Lee "Scratch" Perry, one of the originators, and most influential people in reggae, and especially in dub. Super Ape is the best album The Upsetters ever made, right at the end of their career. They released a great deal of records in the early 70s as a dub-collective.

Hard to explain what's so great about The Upsetters and all of the other work Lee Perry has ever done. I guess it's just the pure dub feeling that Perry gets. Lee Perry is reggae, and reggae is Lee Perry. He was the first (or at least one of the first) to get it right, and you can sure here his mastership on this beautiful and chilling album.

croaking lizard
192kbps

John Frusciante - Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt (1994)

2010-04-28T15:51:00.002+02:00

John Frusciante made this drug-fueled, stream-of-consciousness album after he quit the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I have always thought that John Frusciante's artistic capabilities are being used the most when he releases his work solo. However, his exceptional lead guitar qualities are just to good to not be in the RHCP. His presence in RHCP makes their music a little more bearable as well, so yeah, the way it went is probably the best way.

This album however, shows Frusciante's heroine side from under a microscope. The first side of the album contains singer/songwriter lo-fi doodlings, the second side is filled with mostly experimental soundscapes. A leftfield masterpiece, and an important document in the life of John Frusciante, who was in serious trouble during this period of his life.

running away into you
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Pumice - Pebbles (2007)

2010-04-27T23:30:00.003+02:00

I'd like to start this little text by saying that this album cover has to be one of my favourite album covers of all time. It is so intriguing, it has a sort of summery, dream-like feeling to it and overall it just makes a fantastic, everlasting impression on me. It makes me think of Sweden, or another country where it normally isn't so hot, where you are hesistant of wearing a t-shirt without sleeves.

Ok, so this album is as good as the cover promises it to be. A lot of genre tags are present: avant-folk, free folk, noise, drone, experimental, lo-fi, psychedelic folk, you name it. But what is important is to know that this band is from New Zealand, that they make music that Phil Elverum of the Microphones can be pretty jealous about and that this album is one of the greatest examples of indie and noise finding each other.

brownbrownbrown
192kbps

Alastair Galbraith - Mirrorwork (1998)

2010-04-27T16:03:00.002+02:00

Alastair Galbraith is a visionary, lonesome singer from New Zealand and his albums breath a calm loneliness that can be found in the work of The Mountain Goats and The Microphones, and more of these American indie acts. What Alastair Galbraith does though, is to be on his own for the whole 24 songs on this album. You feel he's playing, inventing and trying these songs in front of you, just for the fun of entertaining you as an individual.

And that's what makes this album very special. 24 short to very short, minimalistic acoustic guitar tracks, with some noise added to it. A very overwhelming experience, which redefines the meaning of lo-fi recording.

flickering birds
192kbps

Scientist - Scientist Wins The World Cup (1982)

2010-04-26T19:01:00.003+02:00

Scientist is one of the greatest dub musicians of all time, and he made an enormous streak of albums during the period 1980-1982, of which this album is the epic conclusion. On his albums, Scientist tackles different themes: Vampires, Pac-Man, space invaders, and on this album he wins the world cup. The songs are called 'Ten Dangerous Matches', part 1 till 10. And although the titles may suggest that everything will sound the same, the opposite is true. Scientist is able to create some of the richest and dub-drenched albums to ever come out of Jamaica.

Taught by King Tubby at the age of 16, he released his best albums from his 20th to his 22nd, and that makes him, together with Hugh Mundell, one of the real naturals of reggae music. One of the greatest. Oh, and I've included the bonus tracks on this one as well. Extra Time 1-5 and Golden Goal.

ten dangerous matches
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Gong - Angel's Egg (1973)

2010-04-26T16:36:00.002+02:00

Gong is band that is best placed in the progrock genre, but they show signs of avant-prog as well. They are, together with the Soft Machine, the most important band from the Canterbury scene. Canterbury was the place to be in the early 70s when it came to prog rock that didn't become dull like Genesis, Yes and a lot of other bands in their later days. The Canterbury bands remained true to their roots and some of them are still making the music they made back then.

Gong went to France and made and recorded most of their music over there, collaborating with dozens of great musicians, changing their line-up as much as the change of the seasons. This album is their second of the Radio Gnome Invisle trilogy, their three-part masterpiece.

i never glid before
320kbps

Dr. Alimantado - Best Dressed Chicken In Town (1978)

2010-04-25T14:36:00.002+02:00

Best Dressed Chicken In Town is one of the best reggae albums I know of. Dr. Alimantado, born as Winston James Thompson, became popular to white audiences when John Lydon (then still known as Johnny Rotten) praised this album in an interview.

Alimantado's take on roots reggae adds a lot of dub to it. That makes this album groove deeper and even more laid back. You can hear the influence this album had on John Lydon and especially on his dub-influenced work with Public Image Ltd. That makes this an essential reggae album, with an immensely cool album cover and an important influence on the white reggae listeners.

gimmie mi gun
320kbps

Exuma - Exuma (1970)

2010-04-23T16:43:00.002+02:00

Whereas Jamaica has reggae, Trinidad and Tobago has calypso, the Bahamas are more rooted in folk music. Exuma (née McFarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey, a mouthful) proves this lovely fact on this album. It may sound like freak folk, as we know it now, but what Exuma is doing is just making music that is close to his upbringing, close to his homeland and close to himself.

The album sounds like sitting around a campfire in the jungle with your friends, a fact that I haven't experienced often, but I have been in Africa and sleeping and living and discussing life in the jungle is something so elimentary, it is hard to describe. This album deals with typical Caribbean themes, such as life and death, religion, higher spirits. And above all, it's incredibly catchy, and plain lovely music.

exuma, the obeah man
320kbps

Broadcast - Tender Buttons (2005)

2010-04-22T12:57:00.003+02:00

My previous post was the second official studio album by Broadcast, now I'm posting their third. Singer Trish Keenan still has the prettiest voice in the history of the world, and she shows it again on this album. Her sublime voice takes you into a dreamy pseudo-world where there's only one band making music and it's Broadcast. Really impressed by the atmospheres they come up with on the different albums.

Once again: awesome band that everyone needs to hear and therefore I'm giving them a big bump today! Have fun with it.

you and me in time
192kbps

Broadcast - HaHa Sound (2003)

2010-04-22T12:37:00.002+02:00

Broadcast are an electronic music band, based in Birmingham, England. Their music is best described as a hybrid of Stereolab, library music, avant-pop with 60s influenced vocals. Their utterly unique sound is what attracted me to Broadcast in the first place. It all sound very dream-poppy at first, but on closer inspectation, you experience the rough, dark and edgy side of the band. They released three major studio albums so far, two compilations and a bunch of EPs.

This album, HaHa Sound from 2003, is still my favourite album by Broadcast. I really love the eased vocals, and the often pretty harsh electronics that fill the space up. An actually quite brilliant band, that is underappreciated in my opinion, so please give them a spin.

oh how i miss you
320kbps

Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (1971)

2010-04-21T16:27:00.002+02:00

Two sides of the best lengthy krautrock jamming is what this record has to give you. Manuel Göttsching totally rips his guitar to pieces on this one, and the very fast drumming makes it all very energetic. Great build-up on both of the tracks and fantastic pay-offs that take you to psychedelic heavens.

Krautrock, a genre that's not really a genre, but more a name for the experimental music scene in Germany, is able to hit me on a lot of different levels. Ash Ra Tempel has the best of both worlds I think. I really enjoy this band, and the absence of lyrics doesn't cross my mind a single time when I listen to this record. It is so full of noise experimentations and guitar extravaganza. It is actually a really good record.

traummaschine
192kbps

Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen (1972)

2010-04-21T15:56:00.002+02:00

Ash Ra Tempel could best be described as a krautrock band that combines the jamming improvisation of Can with the long ambient compositions of Tangerine Dream. Founded by the great guitarist Manuel Göttsching and keyboardist/drummer Klaus Schulze (who both went on to make essential solo albums), they became one of the most influential krautrock/space-rock (whatever genre you want to put them in) bands of the early 70s.

The first side, Light & Darkness, is very funky and the songs on Side 1 are so great, it's a pity they only last for 17 minutes. The second side, Schwingungen, consists of a lengthy ambient track, filled up with sparse, but effective percussion. Lovely alltogether.

flowers must die
256kbps

The KLF - Chill Out (1990)

2010-04-19T12:14:00.002+02:00

A short history of The KLF: notorious band from the early 90s, made ambient techno and house music. Left the music business in 1992 by performing with Extreme Noise Terror and afterwards firing machine gun blanks into the audience at the BRIT Awards. Burnt a million pounds, just for the heck of it. Deleted their entire back catalogue and published The Manual, a guide on how to score an easy number one hit.

They made two major albums in that period. The first Chill Out, the masterpiece I'm posting today, a collection of samples, forming a fantastic ambient record, and The White Room, a classic house album.

Chill Out sounds like a night-ride through the highways of America. When Elvis sings 'As the snow flies, on a cold an grey Chicago morning, a poor little baby child is born in the ghetto', the impact is devestating. This is one of my favourite records people, h-e-a-r it!

elvis on the radio, steel guitar in my soul
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Black Eyes - Cough (2004)

2010-04-18T17:29:00.002+02:00

A few years ago, browsing through the catalogue of Dischord Records (found by Ian MacKaye, singer of Minor Threat and Fugazi), one of the most important record labels back in the early 80s, when hardcore punk was at its peak, I found this band: Black Eyes. Black Eyes is a band that relies heavily on a tight rhythm section, with a spastic drum that's always hitting stuff, and a funky bass that makes this hardcore punk band something more of an improvisational tool for the musicians.

Their first record, self-titled, was very effective in turning up with 10 songs in the vein of the hip art rock tradition, but this, their second and last record, dives into free jazz territory. And that makes this release by Black Eyes the best release on Dischord of this century so far. My Beefheartian heart skips a beat when I hear this record, I love it.

scrapes and scratches
192kbps

R. Stevie Moore - Phonography (1976)

2010-04-17T20:15:00.002+02:00

R. Stevie Moore is on one hand part of the lo-fi outsider art scene (which is not really a scene, more a collection of musicians who are alltogether quite weird), and on the other hand he creates melodies and riffs on his electronic instruments (most often keyboards and synthesizers) that are so incredibly catchy that artists like Todd Rundgren and Big Star would be quite jealous of Moore's gift of creating melodies. Todd Rundgren and Big Star aren't half bad either by the way, but still.

R. Stevie Moore is the son of Elvis Presley's long-time sideman and bassist, Bob Moore. He has self-released over 400 CD-R's, cassettes, home videos and a lot more. This album can be considered as his commercial peek. It's the only album that's really remembered by a lot of people as of today. Unfortunately.

i wish i could sing
320kbps

Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer (1970)

2010-04-17T19:58:00.002+02:00

When you've heard the first track from this record, you will realise how completely un-original acts like Daft Punk are. Daft Punk (great band though) may sound quite far out, but it is hard to believe that a stellar 40 (!!!) years before this day, this record came out and stunned everyone who heard it back in the day.

Bruce Haack was a 39 year old guy in 1970 and he had made a lot of electronical music for children, and then he made The Electric Lucifer, an electronic album, sounding very cool still, using a lot of moogs, and even a vocoder. Highly recommended!

national anthem to the moon
192kbps

Butthole Surfers - Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac (1984)

2010-04-16T09:53:00.002+02:00

And this is the debut album by the Butthole Surfers, where they were still being quite serious about their music and making epic songs. These 11 songs are probably their artistical high-point. After this it all became more sarcastic, more trashy and especially less epic. Still, albums like Hairway to Steven and Locust Abortion Technician are essential listens when you want to understand this band, but this is the real deal.

butthole surfer
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Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician (1987)

2010-04-16T09:30:00.004+02:00

Apart from being pretty weird and making a hybrid of noise and experimental music, Butthole Surfers are kind of disturbing. Their music is often a very sick combination of dark, satirical humor and more frightening themes.

I guess I love them best for their music, rather their lyrics. They often seem to be not so serious about the music they're making and it's all a bunch of sarcasm, but still, when they play a Black Sabbath cover, they do it in style. So, you're not supposed to take them seriously, but please enjoy the music they're making.

22 going on 23
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