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Borderlinebooks - Vernon Joynson: Comprehensive Guide to Garage, R&B and Psychedelic Music.


Aaaabsolutnie obowiązkowa lektura dla wszystkich zainteresowanych tym, co działo się w szeroko pojętej muzyce psychedelicznej, garażowej i progresywnej. Mnóstwo informacji o mało znanych - a czasem w ogóle nieznanych - zespołach i artystach, dyskografie, składy etc ....

The Tapestry Of Delights — A Comprehensive Guide to British music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive eras 1963 — 1976.

This third edition includes the original 600 pages of text, plus a new 90 page section containing around 1,000 new entries and/or updates to existing entries with lots of illustrations. There's also an expanded section on relevant sixties and early seventies compilation/soundtracks, plus an updated index. In total this 734 page guide comes with full discographies, personnel details, reissue information, comment on artistes, compilation listings and rarity scale. Over 3,200 entries and profusely illustrated with 12 pages of full colour.


Fuzz Acid And Flowers — A Comprehensive Guide to American Garage, Psychedelic and Hippie Rock (1964 — 1975).

The 4th edition of our guide to American Garage, Psychedelic and Hippie rock includes the original 403 pages of text, plus a new 163 page section containing over 1,400 new entries and/or updates to existing entries with lots of illustrations. There is also a vastly expanded section on relevant sixties and early seventies compilation/sound tracks plus recent retrospective compilations. Profusely illustrated with 8 pages of full colour.


Dreams Fantasies And Nightmares — From Far Away Lands — Canadian, Australasian and Latin American Rock and Pop 1963-75 (by Vernon Joynson).

A detailed enclopedic guide to the rock and pop music of the golden era from the early sixties to mid-seventies. Covering rock, pop, beat, folk, folk-rock, blues-rock, psychedelia, flower-pop, garage, progressive rock and more from Canada and Australasia 1963-76. It also includes a general introduction to Latin American beat, psychedelia, garage and progressive rock. Each section includes an A-Z listing of the artistes with discographies, personnel details and, for most entries, comment on the music. Details of relevant sixties and early seventies compilations and recent retrospective compilations are also included.The book is profusely illustrated throughout with black and white illustrations and there is also a 12-page colour section.



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Andrzej Korzyński - Man of Marble [Człowiek z marmuru] (1977)


Opening further doors in the sprawling labyrinth of unreleased music by Polish composer Andrzej Korzyński, Finders Keepers Records present the soundtrack to the 1977 Polish film Man Of Marble by ‘national filmmaker’ and long-term collaborator Andrzej Wajda. Presented for the first time ever on vinyl (featuring exclusive unreleased bonus tracks) this synthesiser fuelled soundtrack marks a distinct stylistic manoeuvre towards a unique brand of Polish cosmic disco, celebrating the cinematic debut of Korzyński’s Arp-Life project – widely respected as Poland’s first “synthesiser orchestra.”

Begging direct comparison to Russia’s Zodiac and sharing an uncanny resemblance to other 1970s European post rock cinematic disco bands like France’s Arpadys (formerly Jean-Claude Vannier’s Insolitudes) or the later projects of Italy’s Goblin (such as Discocross) this soundtrack witnesses Korzyński and Arp-Life at their halcyon; making fantastical and experimental musical approximations of the burgeoning synth funk disco boom which had erupted on the other side of the Iron Curtain.

Man Of Marble unearths Korzyński’s first steps into electronic dance music, and with the addition of bonus tracks from the 1981 sequel Man Of Iron, provides the perfect companion piece to his recently liberated score to Possession (directed by Andrzej Żuławski) which blends the same ingredients through another darker corridor of this versatile composer’s creative mind.

Having given Korzyński his first big domestic theatrical break with the soundtrack to the 1969 Fellini-esque film Everything For Sale (with the Łódź based beat group Trubadurzy), Man Of Marble marked the composer’s fourth collaboration with Andrzej Wajda, a partnership which spanned an eventful eight year pop cultural climate change and bridged the composer’s journey from orch/psych/rock to synthesised Polish cosmic disco – climaxing with the big screen debut of Poland’s first-ever dedicated synthesiser ensemble collectively known as Arp-Life, deriving their name from the first synth to arrive in Poland which hit Warsaw like a meteorite from another planet.


Initially assembled as a one-stop music machine to make library themes and inexpensive TV scores, the “group” (consisting of members from Korzyński’s previous beat combo, Ricercar 62, alongside the female choir known as Ali-Babki) would quickly gain critical acclaim in their own right – leading to a well respected, but slightly ahead of its time, moderately distributed LP (within communist territories) entitled Jumbo Jet.

Experimental and fantastique by definition and taking creative gambles as a necessity, these over-the-top synth-heavy techniques were deployed in filmic form for Man Of Marble to depict a stark, ultramodern contrast, accentuating a plot that switches between past and present tense, illustrating a 1970s researcher who retraces spurious political events that occurred forty years earlier. As with most communist stateowned record labels, Polskie Nagrania rarely encouraged the commercial promotion of film composers. Although Korzyński was an occasional exception to this rule (due to his previous career as a radio programmer, pop musician and writer), Man Of Marble would never be commercially released outside of the context of the film, rendering this Finders Keepers release as another vinyl milestone and providing new context for these latter-day misunderstood instrumentals which have arguably never sounded as relevant as they do in today’s climate.

Alongside Andrzej Żuławski (Possession and Third Part Of The Night), Wajda was one of Korzyński’s two consistent returning collaborators when it came to composing for film, providing a yin and yang for Korzyński’s musical multiple personalities. Where Żuławski (as a former schoolmate) would link Korzyński to controversy with his consistently banned domestic films, it was Wajda who would be the first to put Korzyński’s name on the colourful film posters that adorned Polish streets.

Accompanying Finders Keepers’ first anthology of rare Korzyński archive material Tajemnica Enigmy/Secret Enigma (FKR055), the aforementioned Possession (FKR062) and Third Part Of The Night (FKR063) soundtracks, Man Of Marble provides further glimpses into a deeper archive of electronic pop. This release captures prime-era Korzyński as a forward- thinking keyboard artist and experimentalist who managed to move with global musical and technological trends under the stifling communist regime while still displaying compositional versatility polarised by Poland’s most famous and infamous national directors. (source)



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Olga Bell - Krai (2014)


Olga Bell is a Russian-born, New York-based composer/producer.Born in Moscow and raised in Alaska, Olga Bell is an American composer, producer and performer based in Brooklyn. A prodigious classical pianist as a child and teenager, Bell graduated from the New England Conservatory at age 21 before moving to New York City to pursue electronic composition and songwriting.

Bell makes original music, remixes and videos under her own name. As half of Nothankyou, Bell makes electronic music with British musician Tom Vek. In 2012 Bell joined Dirty Projectors for the band’s Swing Lo Magellan cycle and remains a keyboardist and singer with the band today.

Край (Krai) is Olga Bell's fond tribute to backwaters, to half-forgotten towns.  In Russian, the album title means "edge" or "limit", referring to the areas away from cities and cultural centers where you can walk into a kitchen and find your grandparents' culture still very much alive. Bell's album, written entirely in Russian, evokes crowded rooms where the air is thick with unfamiliar food smells, where heated conversations you can't quite follow take place in a language you no longer quite remember.


Olga Bell · voices, synths, samples, jaw harp
Andrea Lee · cello
Logan Coale · electric bass
Grey McMurray · electric guitar
Gunnar Olsen · drum kit, percussion, samples
Jason Nazary · drum kit, vibraphone, glockenspiel, percussion, samples

A composer and singer/songwriter who joined the ranks of Dirty Projectors for the tour behind 2012's Swing Lo Magellan, Bell moved to Alaska from the Soviet Union when she was younger. Край (Krai) is a dizzy collision of her past and her present, a meeting space where the oldest sounds she knows haunt the music she makes now. The result occupies some gnarly middle ground between Russian folk song, chamber music, and avant-garde rock music.

The album is a stirring collection of strange, thrilling noises where it's difficult to know, exactly, what is going on at any given moment. Vibraphones and glockenspiel melt into synthesizers, and Bell's vocals dip, moan, and smear into lower registers with the help of pitch-shifting software. You can imagine you're hearing some of the Knife's last album in the blur, Holly Herndon's work with the sound of human breath caught in a digital blender, or an artfully curdled, Cubist take on Bell's current band.

Bell scored the album for a colorful menagerie of instruments; cello, mallet percussion, guitar, electric bass, and more sample and more crawl across its surface. The instruments sound suspended on some steep dunking line between past and present that Bell's located—new sounds plunge into the deep and come up old, and old sounds become freshly strange. The synth on "Stavropol Krai" strongly resembles a wailing clarinet; on "Krasnoyarsk Krai", the vibes and glockenspiel tinkle in a minor key above a throbbing cello and Bell's ghostly, pitched-down vocals. A chiming electric guitar picks up the figure the vibes were playing and carries them around, dropping them all over the surface of the music like pulverized glass.

Bell's voice, spread across in various octaves, plays the role of every single townsperson of every krai in her memory. Her multitracked vocals spread out to every corner of the mix. Many of the lyrics, translated into English, probe the feeling of being forgotten or left behind: "God's too high for us/Moscow's far too distant," she laments on "Primorsky Krai". "Kransnador Krai" tells the story of a Cossack warrior riding home on an old path: "Ancestral glory is gone/ New people are here/ Not a pleasant thought." The "blinking township lights" on "Krasnoyarsk Krai" are, implicitly, seen from a distance—and distance is what Bell is working to close on Край (Krai). Her mesmerizing, eventful, and strange album brings these remote voices close enough to feel their breath in our ears. --- Jayson Greene


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Barn Owl & The Infinite Strings Ensemble - The Headlands (2010)


Full length collaboration between Ellen Fullman, Theresa Wong, and Barn Owl produced by The Norman Conquest.  Barn Owl's extended drones and Theresa and The Norman Conquest's strings are the perfect accompaniment to Fullman's Long Stringed Instrument; a product of her own invention. This is an album of deep material of a complexly emotional nature. Eternal ragas for the infinite now. Recorded in the pastoral setting of the Headlands Center For The Arts."

In 1981 Ellen Fullman began developing the “Long String Instrument,” an installation of dozens of wires fifty feet or more in length, tuned in Just Intonation and ‘bowed’ with rosin coated fingers. Fullman has developed a unique notation system to choreograph the performer’s movements, exploring sonic events that occur at specific nodal point locations along the string-length of the instrument. She has recorded extensively with this unusual instrument and has collaborated with such luminary figures as composer Pauline Oliveros, choreographer Deborah Hay, the Kronos Quartet, and Keiji Haino.

Barn Owl are Evan Caminiti and Jon Porras. Looking over America from their nest in San Francisco the pair stretch out hazy, devotional drones. (importantrecords)

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Quiet Days In Clichy (1970) [OST]


A footloose American author drinks in the joys of the Bohemian life in this screen adaptation of the autobiographical novel by Henry Miller. Joey (Paul Valjean) is an aspiring writer from the United States who is living in Clichy, a small town near Paris, France, with his friend Carl (Wayne Rodda), a schoolteacher. Joey and Carl share a passionate enthusiasm for women, and in Chichy, a place where he can sense lust in the breeze, Joey can revel in his obsessions with both sex and the written word, with his only obstacle being scaring up the money for a square meal. During his days in Clichy, Joey becomes involved with easygoing Bohemian Nys (Ulla Lemvigh-Müller) and melancholy streetwalker Mara (Avi Sagild), while Carl becomes obsessed with Christine (Susanne Krage), an eccentric teenage runaway who seems to live in a world of her own. Stille Dage i Clichy was shot on-location in Clichy, in many of the locations Miller described in his book; oddly enough, another Miller adaptation, Tropic of Cancer, was being shot by different filmmakers in Paris at the same time. Like many of Miller's best-known books, Stille Dage i Clichy ran afoul of censors in the United States, and prints were seized by federal officials when the film was first imported to America, though obscenity charges were eventually overturned in federal courts. Country Joe McDonald, of the pioneering psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish, wrote and performed several songs for the film's soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi




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The Nightcrawlers -The Little Black Egg (1965-1966)


The Nightcrawlers were a regional Daytona Beach, Florida band with a hit single, "The Little Black Egg", which was written in 1965 for an Easter concert in which the band opened for The Beach Boys. The single ultimately reached 85 on the national charts after its third re-release in 1967. The group released three other singles: "Cry," "A Basket of Flowers," and "I Don't Remember." The five original members were Tommy Ruger (drums); Rob Rouse (vocal, harmonica tambourine); Charlie Conlon (bass, vocal); Sylvan Wells (lead guitar); and Pete Thomason (rhythm guitar, vocal).

Their sound is described as sparse folk rock, popularized by The Byrds, The Beau Brummels, and other post-British Invasion mid-1960s bands. They released one LP on Kapp Records, but the original lineup disbanded in 1966, before the final (and most popular) release of "The Little Black Egg." The reformed Nightcrawlers did one more single for Kapp, "My Butterfly" written by band members Sylvan Wells and Rick Hollinger, in a more hard rock vein and then disbanded. The original main songwriter, Charlie Conlon, later reformed the group under the name "Conlon and the Crawlers", although the group did not record after 1967. The group continued with different members including Marshall Letter and eventually disbanded in 1970. In 2000, a retrospective CD with 24 cuts was released by Big Beat/London, England.

Although the group never gained wide fame, the simple hook of "The Little Black Egg" made it a favorite cover for garage bands of each musical era since the '60s. It was covered in the 1990s by The Lemonheads. The Cars also covered "The Little Black Egg." On September 19, 2008, the world premier of the film "Cracking The Egg: The Untold Story of The Nightcrawlers" was held at the 6th annual Daytona Beach Film Festival. Outsider music specialist Irwin Chusid claimed that when he was a teen the record sparked his interest in "odd songs".

At the behest of Ajaye Agency in Cincinnati, Rick Hollinger reformed the Nightcrawlers in 1968 in Tallahassee, Florida, for the express purpose of taking them to Ohio because the song "Little Black Egg" was enjoying a resurgence. Besides Rick, the group members were Gary Sockwell on drums, Eddie Everette on lead guitar and vocals, Rod Vaillancourt on keyboards and vocals and Steve Flacy on bass guitar. They worked for years in a multi-state area but never issued additional recordings. Rod Vaillancourt and Steve Flacy went on to work with Adrian Belew in a band called Sweetheart and Rod later recorded with Artimus Pyle. Drummer Tommy Ruger died from complications of diabetes in Port Orange, Florida on December 11, 2013.



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Chris Watson - Weather Report (2003)


Co ma pogoda do dźwięku? Watson intrygująco pogłębia to zagadnienie. Współtwórca legendy wojowniczego undergroundu, Cabaret Voltaire i Hafler Trio, stał się specjalistą od nagrań otoczenia pracującym dla BBC (m. in. dźwięk w filmach Davida Attenborough). W drugiej połowie lat 90. zaczął publikować płyty z nagraniami surowej natury zbieranymi na całym świecie, przełomowe dla nowej wizji muzyki otoczenia. Wydana po 5 latach przerwy dźwiękowa prognoza pogody przynosi trzy dłuższe studia. Watson podkreśla, iż jego poprzednie płyty były studiami konkretnych środowisk brzmieniowych. Teraz po raz pierwszy komponuje – budując dłuższe kolaże. I tak w trzech kolejnych kilkunastominutowych odsłonach słuchamy nagrań z kenijskiego buszu, szkockich gór, lodowych załomów dalekiej Północy. Te studia są próbą wychwycenia równocześnie pewnej cykliczności oraz całej wrzącej palety brzmień dźwiękowego życia natury w konkretnym środowisku. Śledzą jak owe dźwiękowe środowiska reagują na pogodowe zmiany, jak brzmienie natury zmienia się wraz z klimatem. Taka pełna kontrastów dźwiękowa podróż podpowiadając jak pogoda i klimat kształtują środowisko dźwiękowe, inspiruje by przyjrzeć się temu jak ta dźwiękowa geograficzna specyfika kształtuje kulturę. (Rafał Księżyk/Antena Krzyku)


Those of us with long memories may remember Chris Watson as the third member of the original line-up of Sheffield electronic punk funkers Cabaret Voltaire and later with 'industrial' noise scientists The Hafler Trio.

Since then he's got a proper job as a TV and radio sound recordist. Two CDs have presented his wildlife recordings, made in locations that range from the Scottish highlands to the Serengeti and documenting the activities of creatures from whales to deathwatch beetles.

Weather Report is slightly different (and in case you were wondering, has nothing to do with Joe Zawinul). Here, Watson documents meterological phenomena, and has for the first time opted to edit his recorded material (or 'time compress' it), ending up with three 18 minute pieces sourced from hours of material. This seems like a big step; though Watson hasn't treated his recordings in any way, this collage process hints at an artistic or editorial intent that wasn't apparent on the earlier records.

This is cinema for the ears. Episodes of rain, thunder and wind are rendered in stunning fidelity; headphones and closed eyes are essential. Watson's way with a microphone is nothing short of awe inspiring. Animals, birds and for a brief moment, human sounds flit in and out, seemingly at the mercy of the elements and without an umbrella in earshot. A strong sense of narrative, coupled with the extended lengths of these pieces makes for a much more engaging listen than Watson's previous CDs, which despite their extraordinary contents seemed more like BBC sound effects discs than anything else.

The third piece presents the sound of Icelandic ice floes cracking and melting. It's hard to imagine that these muted scrapes, cracks, whooshes and soft, ghostly moans are the result of natural processes (there's a very nice kick drum sound in there that Richard D. James would be proud of),but maybe that's only to be expected in our primarily visual culture.Watson's work argues for the equality of the ear with the eye, and maybe even its supremacy. Listen. (bbc)

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Vavel Underground - Demo (circa 1989)


Vavel Underground, początkowo działający pod nazwą Dwie Dorotki z Nowej Huty – powstał w 1985 roku. – W pierwszym okresie graliśmy we dwóch: Mietek „Kanar”, znany nowohucki hipis, na instrumentach perkusyjnych, i ja na gitarze – opowiada lider Krzysztof „Brudas” Piskadło. – Wymyśliliśmy, że imiona pierwszych dziewczyn, które zaczepimy podczas spaceru, utworzą nazwę naszego zespołu. Następnie do grupy dołączyli wokalista Grzegorz „Python” Drozd i mieszkający w Krakowie uzdolniony basista Waldek Raźny. Wspólnie z „Pythonem” pisałem muzykę i teksty. W NCK uznano je za dość kontrowersyjne, ale w końcu udało się zagrać tam parę koncertów.

Grupa zyskała lokalną popularność i muzycy postanowili wypłynąć na szerokie wody. Już pod szyldem Vavel Underground zaangażowali opolskiego basistę Artura Niestroja i rozpoczęli intensywną pracę nad nowym materiałem. Regularne ośmiogodzinne próby przyniosły efekt w postaci czwartego miejsca w Jarocinie w 1988 roku i wtłoczenia w rowki państwowej fonografii. Utwór „Nasza Nina” znalazł się na płycie dokumentującej tę edycję festiwalu. W Jarocinie zespół został dostrzeżony przez Jerzego Owsiaka, który na początku następnego roku zadebiutował jako organizator koncertów imprezą „Letnia zadyma w środku zimy”, zapraszając różnych wykonawców do przedstawienia własnych wersji rodzimych i zagranicznych standardów rockowych. Również to wydarzenie utrwalono na płycie, gdzie Vavel Underground objawił się, interpretując „Przygodę bez miłości” grupy Test – krajowych pionierów hard-rocka. Udało mu się też zamieścić własną kompozycję „Żegnamy was – Prawdziwy blues z Nowej Huty”, wbrew tytułowi, za to w zgodzie z przewrotnym humorem Owsiaka-happenera, otwierającą całe wydawnictwo.

Zespół grający muzykę zakorzenioną w punku i rock and rollu, w rubaszny sposób podejmujący temat używek czy higieny osobistej, zakończył działalność na początku następnej dekady. (source)





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Arcesia - Reachin' (1968)


Arcesia -Reachin (1968): Johnny Arcessi was a Rhode Island big band belter in the 1940s and 1950s, who moved to California and underwent lysergic revelations in the late 1960s. He reinvented himself-at age 52-as Arcesia, a navel-gazing acid folk rocker, and hooked up with a Doors-influenced band that backed his psychedelic lounge-rock histrionics. He recorded one legendary and now astronomically priced collectible LP called 'Reachin'.




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Ilitch - 10 Suicides (1980)


Like other 1970s European electronic rock artists from Heldon to Conrad Schnitzer, Ilitch owes more to the avant-garde experiments of Stockhausen and Xenakis than to the rock and roll of Chuck Berry or even the Beatles. The comparisons with Heldon are apt, since like Heldon, Ilitch came out of France, was the work of mostly one person, Thierry Muller, and the music is quite similar to Heldon as well, using unconventional guitars as well as keyboards and other electronics to create strange textures and sounds. Muller was a photographer and graphic artist from Paris who started making recordings in the early 1970s using prepared guitars, harmonium, and even using the tape recorder as another instrument. Initially he worked completely solo but by late 1975 he was being helped by Ruth Ellyeri. In 1976 his brother Patrick Muller on EMS synthisizer and treated guitar joined Ilitch, for a live performance at the Café La Manille, in Paris, and the duo also played there the following two years as well. In October and November of that year, Ilitch recorded the material for the LP Periodikmindtrouble, but by the time the LP was released, in 1978, the original second side was scrapped for other more recent material. This album featured abstract music that was completely instrumental and with a heavy use of electronics. Though this is considered the first Ilitch LP, in fact a year earlier Muller released Portraits in an extremely limited edition of one with hand painted cover. By 1980 Ellyeri, on guitars, vocals and electronics, became more integral to the Ilitch sound, and Muller occasionally added in synth player Philippe Doray and saxophonist Patrick Dubot into Ilitch as well. They released a second LP, 10 Suicides that year, a more varied album that included some heavily processed vocals as well as a sixteen page booklet with many of Muller?s photo-collages. The same year under the Ilitch name Thierry released the cassette only PTM Works, as well as the one-sided LP Culture, which was credited to him and Edouard Nono. After this Muller took a break from music for a couple years, but in 1982 he began work on a new project. The project eventually became the group Ruth (though Ruth Ellyeri wasn?t a part of it), as Muller began collaborating with many more musicians for recordings done in 1984 and 1985. Ruth?s music was far more polished and accessible, adding a quirky new wave twist to Muller?s textured guitar and synth treatments. The Ruth LP Polaroid-Romans-Photos came out in 1985 with a 12-page booklet with more of Muller?s photomontages. That same year Muller released an EP with Doray called Pile on Face. Muller stopped pursuing music for the most part to devote more time to graphic arts after the Ruth album, though he did release three more extremely limited records, D. Prune Tributes Volumes 1 through 3, under his own name between 1989 and 1991. Though his records had limited releases and have long been out of print, much of his music has recently been made available on CD by the Fractal label. (amg)


The 10 compositions of this concept album are musical transpositions of 10 suicides situations, 10 suicides feelings. It can sound like a real hymn to suicide but, like in any suicides, on the road to death you can always feel a strong and deep idea of inner life. It is in fact a logic suite to the first album “Periodikmindtrouble”, but with more maturity,ideas in his construction and more various instruments used : vocoder guitar, sequencer, synthetizer, bass, saxophone, piano, harmonium, noise, treatments, vocals. (soundohm)
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Lonesome Shack - City Man (2013)


When I was twelve years old I was in a fictitious band called Tangerine.  Though they didn’t know about it my four best friends were in it.  We put out one album called Garden Gnomes, which included songs titled, UFO, Mr. Candy Man, and Mothership.  Oh yeah, and it was a live album. Because at that time I loved live music, I don’t know why, I’d never been to a concert that didn’t feature Tickle Toon Typhoon or Tim Noah, but Iloved the idea of Live recorded albums.

I’m not twelve anymore, and Tangerine broke up after our drummer overdosed on heroin and we all went off to pursue other musical projects. Despite the fact that I’ve been to plenty of adult concerts, I haven’t really listened to more than the occasional live song in years.  Live music is often sloppy and unpolished, everyones vulnerabilities are laid out on stage for the audience to eviscerate.  Wrong notes can be played, voices can crack, and then you have that fucking audience applauding in the background.

On a case by case basis live recordings can be wonderful, not as a substitute to the polished and pristine meticulously planned and orchestrated studio albums, but as a audio snapshot in time.  It can be fun to listen to songs by an artist that sound exactly as they did the night you saw them live.  Let’s be honest, when friends come over you’re going to put on a studio album, and not a live recording.


Okay, so forget about everything I just said because despite my years of negative feelings toward live albums, one just assaulted my eardrums with sweet melodies and spontaneity unlike I’ve ever heard on a live album before.  Typically a live album is something a band releases to fulfill a contract obligation or as a way to rake in some easy drug money while touring Europe, you probably know all the songs by heart and buy the album only because you’re a fan.  Lonesome Shack’s City Man, is a live recording of brand new music.

After two previous “studio” albums, Slidin’ Boa and Bound To Die/Falling Down on the Floor, which were some of the best retro-blues you’ll hear anywhere, Lonesome Shack is releasing a new album recorded live at Seattle’s Cafe Racer.  The temptation is to say that City Man is delightful for a live album, which is false, it’s exceptional for any album.  It’s like a gritty, toe-tapping tape that was found when it washed up on the red clay banks of the Mississippi.

For their past releases the band was a two piece with Ben Todd stroking the neck of a guitar and Kristian Garrand setting the pace on the drums.  For City Man the band expanded to include Luke Bergman on bass, Andrew Swanson on Saxophone, and Ricky Castellanoz with the obligatory bottle drop in the early moments of the albums opener White Lightning.That bottle drop is what gets this whole thing started.  City Man is straight up gritty blues that sounds just like the classics.  It could be Robert Johnson’s devil owned hands petting the guitar, or Ledbelly’s voice blowing out an ancient microphone.  From the very beginning a tone is set and the album delivers on that promise all the way through.  It reaches a peak with the titular song City Man, where everyone is at their best it seems, including a whaling saxophone.

For me the blues has always been synonymous with a paint-less shack.  The wood rotten and impregnated with termites, moss fills the holes.  Though the great blues records were recorded in studios, I still have this vision of portable generators being pulled up to that shack and songs being birthed. It’s no coincidence that Lonesome Shack’s name immediately evokes this image, but the sound and tone of Lonesome Shack equally paints a similar picture.

These are all new songs, none of which the listener is familiar with so there are no preconceptions of how it is supposed to sound or how it originally sounded.  The live element of the album serves the music far more than it detracts from it, the faint chatter in the background adds atmosphere, and the applause after songs is far from overbearing.  It just feels like this is the way this music was intended to be enjoyed.

It should also be noted that this album was recorded live at Cafe Racer in Seattle on April 6th, just two months later that same cafe would become the sight of a horrific scene as Ian Stawicki shot and killed four people, he would later go on to kill another woman on 8th and Seneca before killing himself in West Seattle.  City Man is dedicated to the Racer family and those killed in the May 30th shoots.  It’s a fitting dedication.

This is a truly wonderful album for any fan of the blues, or just music fans.  It’s live element can be quirky at times, but wholly satisfying.  You can buy the album in all forms (vinyl, cassette, cd, download) at lonesomeshack.com.  They’ll be on a West Coast and South West tour in November, you can find their upcoming shows here.  And tonight (October 26th) you should cancel all your plans and head out to Cafe Racer to see Lonesome Shack with previous guest Shana Cleveland with her all girl surf rock band La Luz. (source)


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Imarhan Timbuktu - Akal Warled (2014)


Those looking for a desert blues fix should check out Imarhan Timbuktu’s Akal Warled out now on the Clermont Music label. Founded in 1993 by lead guitarist and vocalist Mohamed Issa Ag Oumar, Imarhan Timbuktu is the real deal, spending much of their music career traveling throughout northern and southern Mali working the dance club and private party scenes.

Joined by Ousmane Ag Oumar on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Fadimata Walet Oumar on tende hand drum and backing vocals, Zeinabou Walet Oumar on tende hand drum and backing vocals, Baba Traore on bass and Alpha Ousamane Sankare dit Hama on calabash, Imaran Timbuktu has become a traveling musical voice for the trouble people of Mali and a featured group at the Festival au Desert. With all the songs of Akal Warled composed and arranged by Mohamed Issa Ag Oumar El Ansari, this recording captures the continuing will of these musicians and the people of Mali.

Seamlessly blending electric guitar and bass with the traditional hand drums, clapping and ululations familiar to desert blues bands, Imarhan Timbuktu sets up a breezy feel with the revolving rhythms of the opening Aicha Talamomt” surrounded by infectious hand drumming, claps and vocals. That familiar feel good feeling transfers to tracks like title track “Akal Warled,” kick ass guitar licked “Amassakoul In Tenere” and the meaty rhythms of “Ehela Damohele.”

“Taliat Ta Silkhourout” is brimming over with coolness, as does the catchy percussion infused “Taliat Malat” and the closing track “Tidawt” with its shimmering guitar licks that rise like waves of heat off the desert sands.

Packed with those easy rhythms, call and response vocals and hypnotic percussion at the heart of Mali’s musical landscape, Akal Warled delivers the goods. (source)

Buy Akal Warled



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Paul Brett's Sage - Schizophrenia (1972)


PAUL BRETT began his career appearing (while still a teenager) as an uncredited backing guitarist on ROY HARPER's 1966 debut 'Sophisticated Beggar' which is generally acknowledged as contemporary British folk classic although not especially progressive when compared to some of Harper's later work into the mid-seventies and beyond.

The same can be said of AL STEWART's 'Zero She Flies', recorded in 1969 with Brett again appearing as a nameless studio musician while other studio players such as Trevor Lucas and Gerry Conway of FOTHERINGAY do appear in the liner notes.Brett appeared (with credits) on the STRAWBS' 'Dragonfly' studio album which was also recorded in 1969, and cut a couple of singles with ARTHUR BROWN. That same year he played guitar on most of ELMER GANTRY'S VELVET OPERA second and final release 'Ride a Hustler's Dream', and closed out the decade as a member of the short-lived psych band FIRE, largely leading the studio effort for the now ultra-rare 'The Magic Shoemaker' LP.

Paul Brett - lead vocals, acoustic & electric guitar
Stuart Cowell - electric guitar
Dick Dufall - bass, vocals
Bob Voice - percussion, vocals
Dave Lambert - piano (01), organ (05,08,10)
Rod Coomes - drums (04)
Rob Young - piano (04), flute (09), oboe (09)


After his work with the STRAWBS Brett formed his own band (PAUL BRETT SAGE) and released three studio albums between 1970-1972. That group consisted at various times of Nicky Higginbottom (flute, saxophone), Mike Piggot (later of the PENTANGLE), bassist Dick Dufall (STRAWBS, FIRE), Stuart Cowell (guitars) and percussionist Bob Voice (FIRE), among others. The band's sound ranged from contemporary to progressive folk and mildly heavy rock with occasional blues-rock and even a bit of jazz.

Brett would go on to a lengthy solo career as a mostly 12-string guitarist, recording contemporary rock albums, along with a few progressive works including the complex guitar instrumentals 'Earth Birth' and 'Interlife'. In later years he would release a number of modern folk, instructional and mainstream albums including several K-Tel records. He also amassed a lengthy body of work as a session and touring musician, appearing with the likes of STEVE HILLAGE, JIMI HENDRIX, VAN DER GRAFF GENERATOR, MOTT THE HOOOPLE, STATUS QUO, FREE and many others. --- Bob Moore




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Tolerance - Anonym (1979)


Tolerance were a mysterious Japanese duo consisting of Junko Tange on voice, synth, and piano and Masami Yoshikawa on guitar. There's a good chance both performed on other electronics too. For this, their first LP, Tolerance created an absolute masterpiece of minimal electronic atmospherics. The guitars alone cover a large variety of styles, ranging from gentle sliding to folky noodling to full-on skronk. The accompanying sounds also manage to cover quite a range, while all being decidedly experimental. Spoken female vocals (which seem to be in French!) mix in effortlessly with strange electronic rhythms and gentle Satie-esque piano, creating a unique sound. The electronics used truly aren't easy to identify, and may even be homemade. Each track is excellent, and they have some truly odd and interesting names. "I Wanna Be A Homicide", "Laughin In The Shadows", "Tecno-Room"... really, the song titles alone should tell you this is great! This could even be considered Japan's krautrock album! Loose comparisons to such other visionaries as the Sperm and Moolah can be made, and this definitely holds a place as one of those truly unusual albums that every serious avant-gardist should hear. They went on to record another album, DIVIN, which is almost as good... (anotherworldofsound)

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[OST] The Source Family [Father Yod Family & Yahowa 13 story] (2012)


The Source Family’s outlandish lifestyle, popular celebrity hangout restaurant, rock band, and beautiful women made them the darlings of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip; but their outsider ideals, controversial spiritual leader Father Yod, along with his 13 wives, instigated local authorities. They fled to Hawaii, leading to their dramatic demise. Years later, family members surface and the rock band reforms, revealing how their time with Father Yod shaped their lives in the most unexpected ways. These personal accounts, along with interviews with outsiders, make up the interviews in the film. However, the story is largely cinematic, expressed through the use of the group’s extensive film and audio archive maintained by Isis Aquarian, one of Father's wives, Family documentarian, and a central character in the documentary (as well as being associate producer). The film’s soundtrack is composed entirely of original Source Family music produced from 1971-1975.


Father Yod’s flower-powered ego trips and the utopian wet dreams of The Source Family

At the age of 18 I thumbed my way from Northern Virginia to Los Angeles. Picked up by long-haul truckers, who introduced me to Black Beauties, and an ex-con in a Rambler American who generously shared his Lucky Strikes, I managed to make the trip in three sleepless days and nights. When I got to the City Of Angels, I made my way to The Source restaurant, a hub of hippie activity that I was anxious to experience. The place had a rep for being a very cool gathering place for spiritually-inclined hipsters, Laurel Canyon rockers and Hollywood celebrities. John and Yoko frequented the joint. They liked the menu’s wide selection of salads and protein drinks. Woody Allen satirized the place in a scene in Annie Hall when he orders bean sprouts and “mashed yeast.”

The Source had energy and its long-haired white-robed staff generated some genuinely good vibes. For a hippie from the downcast East Coast, The Source radiated a sunny magnetism that drew you in and made you feel that the future might be golden.  And for awhile, The Source was golden. It made money (as much as ten grand a day) and it made converts to the Aquarian Age philosophy spun from the ego of the restaurant’s massively charismatic owner, Jim Baker (Father Yod).

Baker was a former WW2 war hero, martial arts expert, bank robber and an acquitted killer (two quick karate chops, two dead bodies). He possessed the well-honed patter of a con man and an unquenchable lust for life. When he discovered the hippie movement, it was like a hardboiled character out of a Jim Thompson novel wandering into Richard Brautigan’s world of LSD, poetry and hippie pussy. A few hits of Orange Sunshine, some classes in Kundalini yoga and the scent of patchouli-basted pubes propelled Baker into a spiritual phantasmagoria that transmogrified the warrior into the cosmic Father Yod.

Father Yod and his 13 wives
Baker attracted a following of young hippies looking for alternatives to their suburban alienation and middle-class angst. In Father Yod they found both a guru and a sense of paternal security. He established a commune of about 150 flower children, the Source Family.

Transfixed by his personality and lulled into blissful acceptance of his “Enlightenment For Dummies” distillation of the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, Alan Watts, Swami Satchidananda, Krishnamurti etc., his followers got a brain-addling dose of the cosmic warm and fuzzies. Throw in some exotic rituals involving group sex and ganja and you had one very happy cult-like collective with the usual misogynistic tendencies lurking under the groovy free love surface. Yod ended up with 13 submissive wives, most in their late teens and early twenties. He was 50 years old and he knew how to nasty.

Despite Baker’s power-tripping ways, the Source Family was to many of its members the real fucking deal. In the downhome archival footage that comprises much of the new movie, The Source Family, you can see genuine happiness on the faces of Baker’s followers. In filmed interviews conducted in recent years with core members of the family, few have any serious regrets. Many attribute their successes in life (several are millionaires) to Baker’s teachings. Some, on the other hand, do bear scars, most of whom are women. Their deep love of Baker was betrayed by his lust for the seemingly endless flow of teenyboppers streaming through his bedroom door. Baker displayed the classic behavior of many new age gurus during the ‘60s and ‘70s. From Rajneesh to Chogyam Trungpa, these cosmic poonhounds couldn’t resist the power and glory of the peach-fuzzed meat pit of mortal delight.

The Source Family is a fair-minded film that benefits from a motherlode of footage and photographs taken over the course of several years documenting the group from its beginning to its bittersweet end. Behind the scenes at the restaurant, home births, group gropes, concerts by the Source Family’s psychedelic rock band (Sky Saxon was briefly a member) and various westernized tantric practices were filmed by one of Baker’s wives, Isis Aquarian, who also wrote a very fine book on the commune. This makes the movie uniquely intimate and powerful (even Baker’s death is filmed).

The Source Family is opening theatrically and on demand in May. I urge you to see it. It’s refreshing to experience a movie about American counter-culture, particularly the hippies, that doesn’t present its subject with a snicker and a sidelong glance. This is an honest exploration of something real and significant: the search to find what we already are but have forgotten, the search for the self. It ain’t easy and it can get sloppy, but it’s the only game in town worth playing.

In Alejandro Jodorowsky’s masterpiece El Topo , a cosmic gunslinger goes in search of his spiritual master in order to kill him. The idea being that in order to really be free, we must be free of our masters, our gurus. In the case of Jim Baker, he didn’t wait for his students to kill him. He did the job himself. After years of proclaiming his Godhood, he awoke to the revelation that he was a mere man and had nothing left to offer his followers. He calmly flew off a mountain cliff in a hang glider that he had no idea how to operate. The God literally crashed to earth and died nine hours later. The coroner found no broken bones or internal bleeding. His body was whole and intact. For three days his corpse was attended to by his beautiful young wives. As in life, Father Yod died with a contented smile on his face. (source)


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Re: Wigwam - Live From The Twilight Zone (1975)


Starzy bluesowi wyjadacze pamiętają zapewne sygnał audycji - "Bielszego odcienia bluesa" Jana Chojnackiego i Wojciecha Manna. To BYŁA jedna z moich ulubionych audycji, która kształtowała moją muzyczną wrażliwość (i nie tylko muzyczną). Podkreślam - była. Zawsze bardzo mnie intrygował i inspirowała "muzyczna etykietka" nadawana na początku. Fragment pochodzi z koncertu nagrania grupy Wigwam. Niestety z czasem zatarły się pewne szczegóły - z jakiej płyty? tytuł? etc - i tu nagle ... Trafiony Zatopiony. Nagranie pochodzi właśnie z tej płyty i jest to znany bluesowy standard (choćby z wykonania Ten Years After) - Help Me. Smacznego !!!


With the talents of Jim Pembroke and bass maestro and The Band fan Pekka Pohjola, Wigwam are one of the biggest Finnish bands ever, a classic of the Scandinavian progressive scene. Their music is dominated by piano and organ, with somewhat of a Canterbury feel to it, though it is unmistakebly Scandinavian in nature. Wigwam's existence as a band was divided into two periods; first with Pekka Pohjola and Jukka Gustavson as creative forces, then a second period with guitarist Rekku Reckhardt and Jim Pembroke. Pohjola and Gustavson left the band after an English tour about 1975, Gustavson for religious reasons and Pohjola for his solo career. Wigwam's first albums were heavily influenced by the Beatles, the Band and Stevie Winwood. The group reunited in the '90s after fifteen years with the studio album Light Ages, and continues straight from where they left in '78.

Their 17-minute epic version of The Band's "The Moon Struck One" on Live Music from the Twilight Zone is one of Wigwam's very few published The Band covers, but they used to perform many during their live sessions. The lineup for the cover version was Ronnie Osterberg (dr), Jim Pembroke (voc, piano), Jukka Gustavson (voc, org), Pekka Pohjola (bass), and Pekka Rechardt (gtr).

This album marked a period of transition for the band, with the first appearance of Rechardt on a Wigwam album and the final recordings with Pohjola and keyboardist Jukka Gustavson. Pembroke and drummer Ronnie Osterberg were constants during Wigwam's main run from 1969-1977. Osterberg died in 1980. In recent years, Gustavson has been known to sit in with the band on occasion as they play dates around Finland.


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Eugene Chadbourne - Country Protest (1985)


Most people here in Greensboro, NC probably couldn't care less about our should be hometown hero, Eugene Chadbourne, if they even know who he is. This includes "indie"-"rockers," "punks," "artists," etc. But in a way it's got to be nice to tour and be known all over the world and be left alone in your hometown, I guess.

This record sounds like Greensboro to me. Seems like you've got to get weird or give in before you go crazy(er), and most of them are drunk singing like a flat Willie Nelson. What am I talking about?
With Eugene's music, like any experimental art-form, you have to accept the flaws before you can truly appreciate it as a whole. The review of this album on all music is a good example. It does make a difference, probably, being familiar with the places mentioned in "Perverts On Northridge," and if that reviewer knew that street, the song would make a lot more sense, that it's more about frustration than humor, and just creative personal expression. It's a great song regardless.

To me a lot of the originals (every weirdo pot-head is bound to enjoy "Choppin' Down Weeds") especially those that deal with Greensboro, or NC are just venting frustration in a less aggressive way, rather than trying to be an album of "funny" songs (even though they are). People always seem to take everything too seriously to notice a different sense of humor. God forbid these "liberals" open their minds to different ways of thinking...

The opening medley (Always On My Mind/Whiter Shade Of Pale/San Francisco Nights/Ain't Misbehavin'/Imagine/TV Party/Misty/Dang Me/England Swings/I Started A Joke/To Sir With Love/Some Guys Have All The Luck/Waltz Across Texas/The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey's Grave) is a weird start, and kind of makes it take longer for the album to unfold, but I like this. I must say that I'm not a big fan of Buffy St. Marie or Phil Ochs, but I'd rather listen to Eugene's versions any day of the week. However, there are great Merle Haggard and Ernest Tubb covers.

I'll just shut up now...let's get weird and humorously serious, southern style...Greensboro style.



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The People's Temple - Musical Garden (2014)


So at this point, the Lansing, MI band, PEOPLE’S TEMPLE are pretty much an institution here at HoZac, and their anxiously awaited third LP is finally here and ready for you to sink your teeth into. Not necessarily an album formed in pre-conceived theme, akin to their debut, and More For the Masses, but similar to how the Rolling Stones' Between The Buttons or The Seeds' Fallin' Off The Edge albums represented a collective of songs put together with vasty different styles, due to the sheer abundance of material, yet an impressively cohesive arrangement of their always expanding strains of rock'n roll. With Musical Garden, the band shows no signs of slowing down in their increasingly dynamic range of songwriting, bridging across various sonic experiments with textures through their effortlessly effective delivery, and their increasingly apparent studio prowess, which shines even brighter on this explosive new full length.  Both sets of brothers in People's Temple are integrally active in the songwriting process, and there are more than a few curveballs in this new album. The game-changing 'Male Secretary,' almost unrecognizable compared to the bulk to the PT output, throbs forward as a sizzling slab of gnarly, progressively fuzzed-out glam rock, meticulously built around an atypical song structure that deftly challenges the boundaries of their contemporaries. And with the recent 21 year-old status reached by the band's youngest member GEORGE, they quickly proved that they didn't even have to play the "teenage band" card over the past few years to garner any attention they rightful deserved in the first place. After your initial listen to Musical Garden, it will be painfully apparent that this band has nowhere to go but up, and this unflinching and bombastic third LP is their inevitable next step in solidifying their status as one of the Midwest's brightest examples of exciting underground rock'n roll. (source)



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Luke Haines - New York in the '70s (2014)


Luke Haines has made a career out of being an outsider. It’s a fact that even a non-fan can gauge by simply reading the title of his second memoir, Post-Everything:  Outsider Rock ‘n’ Roll. He has also been a faithful mythologizer, in more recent years applying this skill to specific cultural icons and moments rather than on himself. Haines’ last two solo albums, comprising the “psychedelic trilogy” which ends with New York in the ‘70s, have concerned themselves with British wrestlers (2011’s 9 1 Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s and Early ‘80s), and recasting Gene Vincent, Nick Lowe, and Sham 69 frontman Jimmy Pursey as a cat, a badger, and a fox, respectively (2013’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Animals). Now Haines is back to tackle a point in time that has been mythologized liberally, the explosion of debauchery and rock ‘n’ roll that was 1970s New York. If someone who grew up in southern England and didn’t set foot in New York until the ‘90s has the chutzpah to cover such an integral time in cultural and counter-cultural history, you would hope they’re going to stamp their signature all over it, which Haines of course does – liberally.

A Haines newcomer may find New York in the ‘70s feather light if taking a cursory listen, but Google the album’s title and “press release”, and the numerous levels Haines is operating on becomes apparent. Legendary British hill figure the Cerne Abbas Giant is cited, as is a Television-reciting bird left over from Rock ‘n’ Roll Animals, and a Kaballistic order invoking the New York Dolls, among others. It’s a trip on concept alone, but Haines remains a deft enough producer of ear worms to make a listener feel like the majority of New York in the ‘70s’s dozen tracks are on permanent vacation within the recesses of his or her brain.

Haines has often employed almost jingle-like hooks to counter cruel and biting lyrics, but New York in the ‘70s appears to be somewhat of a departure in that its handling of its subjects is almost as sweet as its melodies. Haines himself has even stated , “I’m not joking on any of this ... I see it as a love letter to all those bands.” That’s not to say subjects such as Jim Carroll, William Burroughs, the New York Dolls, and Suicide’s Alan Vega are all treated with treacly sincerity. Haines’ way with words means something like “If variety is all that you’re after / Then get out of the church of repetition, man, because you’re interrupting a master,” on “Alan Vega Says”, is delivered in a way that is equal parts irreverent and oddly sweet.


“Lou Reed Lou Reed” is almost poignant: with lyrics that largely consist of nothing more than the title refrain, it seems to suggest that there’s nothing left to say about certain legends. Then again, Haines is unafraid to also point out the ludicrousness of idol worship, singing that he has a “hard on like the Cerne Abbas Man in the endless sea of rock ‘n’ roll” in closing track “NY Stars” (because, really). Then again, the listener may wonder whether something like “Doll’s Forever” isn’t entirely in jest, but it goes so far beyond being an invocation of the titular decade and brings forth the sensation of being a teenager with an altar to David Johanson in their bedroom (as some undoubtedly did – Morrissey?) so faithfully, that you can’t help but engage in a game of second guessing.

The proliferation of synthesizers on New York in the ‘70s may make some fans yearn for Haines in his more baroque phases, but through such blatant Suicide tributes as “Drone City”, the instrument is justified. The shift that Haines’ output has taken in more recent years has pointed to an artist totally in control of his own direction. Acerbic and oblique tales of life’s darknesses have been replaced by songs singular in concept, accompanied by a more stream-of-consciousness lyrical approach, with Haines remaining steadfast in his outsider stance. The nearly self-deprecating statement of Haines’ heritage in the press release (“A mythical re-imagining of a long gone age, by a man who hails from Surrey, Southern UK“) seems to celebrate how the New York of the titular era looked to anyone who considered themselves a misfit or intrigued by excess. It may not be the final word in this specific chapter of rock ‘n’ roll history, but it certainly is one of the most colorful ones. (source)


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Emiter - Microsillon (2009)


Emiter to pseudonim artystyczny Marcina Dymitera, muzyka i improwizatora. Jego muzyczna droga prowadziła od prekursorskiego zespołu polskiego noise'u gitarowego - Ewy Braun, przez dziesiątki innych zespołów i projektów (min. Mapa, Mordy, Voice Electronic Duo...).

»Płyta "microsillon" powstawała w ciągu dość długiego czasu. Jest zapisem fascynacji akustycznym brzmieniem i elektroniką. To, co nie dawało mi spokoju to myśl, aby połączyć, scalić brzmieniowo te sfery tak, aby stały się wspólnym brzmieniem. Na płycie są  prace fieldrecordingowe, współpraca akustycznych instrumentów i elektronikii.  Ważnym elementem muzyki jest gitara. Ona stanowi sonorystyczne źródło, buduje coś na kształt pomostu brzmieniowego. Motto płyty koresponduje z poszukiwaniami i studiowaniem brzmienia. Fenomen dźwięku przyrody, przestrzeni akustycznej, żywiołów aż w końcu samej muzyki jako języka. Ważnym aspektem pracy nad płytą jest akustyczna przestrzeń - płyta powstawała w różnych miejscach , budynkach - także w historycznych przestrzeniach Gdańska. Tu i teraz jako wyraz muzycznego języka. Na płycie wystąpili muzycy: Tomasz Chołoniewski, Wojciech Jachna, Tomasz Gadomski« - mówi o płycie Marcin Dymiter.

Emiter porusza się w obszarze elektroniki, muzyki improwizowanej. To projekt  oparty na elektroakustycznych i elektronicznych improwizacjach. Eksperymentuje z brzmieniem, przetwarzaniem dźwięków towarzyszących naszemu życiu, poszukuje nowego pola dźwiękowego dla gitary elektrycznej. Emiter używa i łączy różne jakości – lo-fi/ hi-fi, czy też  dźwięki powszechnie uznawane za  zakłócenia. Tworzy instalacje dźwiękowe, słuchowiska radiowe, muzykę do filmów, spektakli i przestrzeni publicznych. Gra do filmów niemych. Współpracuje z artystami wizualnymi i tancerzami. Prowadzi autorskie warsztaty dźwiękowe...(gusstaff)
***

Musician, improviser. Emiter moves within electronics, and improvised music. He experiments with sound, transforming sound present in our life. He uses and combines different qualities – lo-fi/hi-fi or sounds commonly seen as interference. He creates sound installations, radio plays, soundtracks for films, performances and public spaces. He plays for dumb films. He conducts audio trainings and promotes field recording. He works with visual artists and dancers, such as: Anna Baumgart, Joanna Rajkowska, Anna Witkowska, Ludomir Franczak, Risa Takita, Jacek Krawczyk, poet Marcin Swietlicki and writer Daniel Odija, with whom he creates literary-musical form North Lines and "Listen with your ear" project – a cycle of live radio plays. He plays in such projects as: niski szum, emiter_franczak audio video performance, voice electronic duo.

He is a music producer. He created and manages – together with Ludomir Franczak – mikro_makro festival. He took part in trainings organized in Poland and abroad conducted by: Le Quan Ninh, Andrew Sharpley, John Butcher, Robin Minarda. He is a holder of Berlin Art Univeristy scholarship, a finalist of Netmage International Multimedia Festival in Bologne. He is a holder of scholarships granted by Marshal of the Pomorskie Region and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. He is a member of Polish Association of Electroacoustic Music.

He has been creating music since ewa braun band was formed in 1990. Before that, from the middle of 1980s, he had formed first bands. He cooperated with such bands as: MORDY, gamadisco, Chlupot mózgu, Ludzie and worked on emiter.arszyn project. Together with Paul Wirkus he formed a Gdansk-Cologne duet MAPA, whose “Fudo” album was well received in Europe. He is one of the few Polish musicians, whose creative activity was described by British magazine “The Wire” – one of the most influential in Europe. Emiter’s recordings were published in a compilation for “The Wire”. He is connected with Polish electronic, experimental and improvised music scene. (emiter)
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Alpha & Omega – The Half That's Never Been Told (2014)


Długo zastanawiałem się, czy powinienem pisać recenzję tego albumu. Recenzja, przynajmniej w założeniu, zakłada jakieś krytyczne podejście ale ja nie jestem fanem Alphy&Omegi – jestem ich wyznawcą i błogosławię dzień, w którym poznałem ich muzykę. Dlatego też raczej ciężko będzie z jakąś bardziej obiektywną opinią…

„The Half That’s Never Been Told” nie jeste reedycją, nie jest represem, nie jest też tyle co skomponowanym od zera albumem. Utwory na to wydawnictwo powstały między 1989 a 1995 rokiem i zostały zremasterowane i wydane dzięki Steppas Records. I dzięki Steppas Records dostałem wiecej Alphy&Omegi z mojego ulubionego brzmieniowo okresu lat 90. Pierwsze przesłuchanie i po „What About the Half” byłem już pod urokiem dubowej magii, otoczony gęstą mgłą basu, zahipnotyzowany echem i pogłosem roznoszącym się po tym muzycznym krajobrazie.

Wielokrotnie słuchając różnych utworów Alphy&Omegi mam wrażenie podróży po jakiejś baśniowej, muzycznej krainie pełnej hipnotycznych wibracji i tak jest też z tą płytą.

Wydaje mi się, że ten album byłby dobry dla kogoś nowego, kto chciałby poznać Alpha&Omegę. Ale i zatwardziali fani znajdą tu jakieś nowe smaczki (zwłaszcza na rozszerzonej wersji CD). Podsumowując: więcej, więcej Alphy&Omegi! (źródło)


UK dub heavyweights since the 1980′s Alpha & Omega are amongst the earliest of the UK dub and reggae pioneers. With releases on the legendary Greensleeves label and their own Alpha & Omega records they played a vital role in the global rise of reggae music and soundsystem culture. Steppas Records presents a very unique A&O release: It’s not a re-issue, it’s not a re-press, it’s not a compilation: it’s ‘The Half That’s Never Been Told’, an unreleased ‘lost’ Alpha & Omega LP produced between 1989 and 1995, painstakingly remastered and featuring original A&O artwork, coming early 2014. (source)


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Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - The Legendary A & M Sessions (1986)


This EP was collated and originally released by A&M in 1984; it contains the A and B sides of two singles put out on the label in 1966 by Lancaster, California phenoms Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, plus one previously unreleased track recorded for the label. Is this stuff worth tracking down? Yes, I believe that it is.

The 1966 edition of the Magic Band did not deal in the type of jazz-inflected, multi-layered compositions which later editions of the band became known for. They were a hard-edged, straight ahead and muscular band interested in fusing blues with rock in a manner not unlike what the Rolling Stones were up to. The band's focal point was their singer, Don van Vliet, who had an astonishingly powerful blues voice (capable of perfectly mimicking Howlin' Wolf - which would have to that point been thought impossible) and who blew a mean harmonica as well. The band became very popular in parts of Southern California for their live shows, which included impressive electrified renditions of tunes by artists like Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker. A box set on the Revenant label planned for Spring of 1999 should bring more of this band's sound to light - at their best they were extraordinary.

During the band's short tenure with A&M, they worked with producer David Gates, later a member of the band Bread. Off the bat, they had a local hit with a rendition of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy" (originally cut in 1955). The song could be described as a sleeper in Diddley's original version, which is a bit aimless. But when speeded up, given a vicious bass undertow, and given the benefit of Don's powerful low-register singing and harmonica playing, it turns into something at least mildly interesting. More impressive was the B-side, "Who Do You Think You're Fooling", which was written by Don and played up-tempo in an energetic and somewhat sinewy pop style. The vocal is again impressive, and in fact is catchy enough to make this one of those songs that you could find yourself singing in the shower from time to time over the years. The lyric asks its rhetorical question to some apparently female figure who the singer has lost respect for - the Statue of Liberty perhaps?

The second A&M single was even better. On the A-side we have "Moonchild", written by David Gates. The song itself is melancholy and capable of descending into cliché, however the band gives a strong, angular performance that makes this into a memorable cut. There's a real mix of blues authenticism and rock power present herein. The B-side, a Van Vliet composition entitled "Frying Pan", is an up-tempo scorcher and their best cut yet. The music swings along with a forceful undertow as Don decries (in blues voice and character) the type of society where the (black) man who discovered medicinal use for blood plasma would eventually be left to die outside a hospital for want of treatment. The EP's final track, "Here I Am I Always Am", unfortunately fails to gel - it's the sound of some young men playing with tempo and trying to do something different, but failing to lay down anything memorable, topped off with a strained vocal which approaches romantic cliche.

A & M bypassed on the band after this, figuring (correctly) that the modicum of commercial success obtained by "Diddy Wah Diddy" would not be repeated. The band began the path towards the multi-dimensional "Safe As Milk", which is generally regarded as a progression forward from the blues-rock sound of the band in 1966. If you talk to some residents of Lancaster, though, even down to some members of future editions of the Magic Band, they'll tell you that Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band never sounded better than when they were slamming their way through tunes in 1966. Happily, between the songs on here and the material to be released soon on Revenant, at least some of that magic has found its way onto vinyl and disc.  --- Scott McFarland


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Pierre Bastein - Les Premieres Machines (1968-1988)


Niewielu jest artystów, o których muzyce powiedzieć można: absolutnie niepowtarzalna. Tak jest z pewnością z Pierre'em Bastienem. Ten Francuz jest twórcą Mecanium, orkiestry robotów. Każda z jego konstrukcji, a jest ich 70, przywodzi na myśl wizje wynalazców z początku XX wieku.

I nic dziwnego, bo inspiracją Bastiena była ekscentryczna proza Raymonda Russella i sztuka Marcela Duchampa. Roboty Mecanium to mechanizmy złożone z silniczków, które wydobywają dźwięki z małych afrykańskich i azjatyckich instrumentów akustycznych.

Powstają proste, monotonne motywy, które przy zestawieniu kilkunastu takich robotów dają jednak zaskakująco oryginalny i barwny efekt. Zawiązuje się tajemniczy, egzotyczny groove, a Bastien przygrywa swym robotom na trąbce. Przypomina to o muzyce elektronicznej budowanej na bazie pętli.

I pewnie dlatego twórczość Bastiena urzekła samego Aphex Twina, który w swej wytwórni Rephlex wydaje już drugi album Francuza. (Rafał Ksieżyk)

[ENG]

Pierre Bastien (France, 1953), a trumpeter who was a long-time member of Pascal Comelade's Bel Canto Orquesta appearing on Bel Canto Orchestra (Ding Dong, 1984), Detail Monochrome (DSA, 1984), Bel Canto (1986), El Primitivismo (DSA, 1987), 33 Bars (Wave, 1990), Danses et Chants de Syldavie (1993), Traffic d'Abstraction (1993), and Un Samedi sur la Terre (1996), and who had already released two collaborations with Bernard Pruvost under the moniker Nu Creative Methods, Nu Jungle Dances (Dav05, 1978) and Le Marchand de Calicot (Dav05, 1981), and composed music for dance pieces and for string quartet, became famous when (1986) he built his first mechanical orchestra, "Mecanium", an ensemble of musical automata capable of playing traditional instruments.

Mecanium (ADN, 1988), Musiques Machinales (SMI, 1993), Eggs Air Sister Steel (InPolysons, 1995), Musiques Paralloidres (Lowlands, 1998), that added a sampler to the arsenal, and Mecanoid (Rephlex, 2001) document these robotic experiments. Many of the results are simple, warm, humorous vignettes that originate from the contrast between Bastien's trumpet and the robotic orchestra. For example Musiques Machinales includes Inanga Conga for jazzy trumpet and jungle percussion, the melodic quasi-gamelan Musique Machinale, Vipers, for trombone and violin (Bastiene) backed by harmonium, xylophone and percussion (Mecanium), bordering on the ethnic chamber music of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, the folkish lullaby Temps Meles, and high-quality jazz imitations (whether the nocturnal nostalgic Woolloomooloo Bay or the festive nostalgic Marchin' Band). It also features Mecanium's nine-minute harp solo Mangbetu.

Oblique Sessions (1997) was a collaboration with Comelade, Berrocal & Liebezeit. Mecanologie Portative (1999) was a collaboration with the duo Klimperei. Musique Cyrillique (SoLyd, 2001) was a collaboration with Alexei Aigui. Mots d'Heures (InPolysons, 2002) was a collaboration with Lukas Simonis.

Pop (Rephlex, 2005) was his most varied and ebullient set of mechanical symphonies yet. The common factor is a hypnotic rhythm that comes from the fact that these are players fueled by motors.

Teleconcerts (2005) collects three "teleconcerts" that mirror the structure of classical concertos and their division in movements called "largo", "moderato", "presto", etc.

Visions Of Doing (Western Vinyl, 2008) collects soundtracks for films.

Les Premieres Machines 1968-1988 (Gazul, 2009) collects early bricolage-based compositions.

Machinations (Rephlex, 2012) collects ten atmospheric pieces composed for soundtracks and installations, It also includes a DVD of videos about Bastiens' kinetic sculptures and robotic instruments that basically illustrates the process behind the music. (source)


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Zoppo Trump (1971-1976)


Zoppo Trump from Dortmund are known in collectors’ circles only for the sampler LP “Scena Westphalica” (Forderturm Records UP I/76), on which they are represented with their highly praised pieces “Wellengang” and “Fluktuation”. In addition to these tracks, the CD contains another seven tracks of a perfect sound which had been studio recordings and had not been released until then. Style: progressive rock slightly influenced by jazz and classical music, however mostly without any wind instruments. There was a sporadic use of the Mellotron and English vocals. Comparable to Streetmark. Udo Preising had come from Electric Mud. Nicky Gebhard later joined Wallenstein, and Martin Buschmann, son of the well-known jazz- musician Rainer Glen Buschmann, joined Cochise. For some time, by the way, Dieter Gorny was on bass for Zoppo Trump. There are, however, no recordings from this period of their band history.


The first two tracks here are when Zoppo Trump still existed as a guitar/keys-bass-drums trio. The music has a certain sophistication, but is also quite informed by the West Coast USA psych sound. At this point, they could be considered a parallel group to Walpurgis. Summary: Good not great. However change was on the horizon. Adding dedicated guitarist Ulrich Beck in 1972, which freed up band leader Ferdi Eberth on the Hammond organ, resulted in a remarkable progression for the band. As represented by tracks 3 to 7, Zoppo Trump sound more like their Krautrock contemporaries who adopted jazz characteristics as additives to their psychedelic Krautrock stew. Comparisons to bands such as Out of Focus, Thirsty Moon and Eiliff would not be an exaggeration here.  This gets us to the two previously released tracks from 1976, that were initially on the "Scena Westphalica" compilation. Eberth rebuilt the band from the ground up, himself switching back to guitar, while adding three new members on keyboards/sax, bass, and drums. Here the band trades in their psychedelic Krautrock chips for a sound entrenched in more standard forms of jazz rock. Overall, an extraordinary musical document, which clearly demonstrates that Zoppo Trump could very well have released one of the all-time great Krautrock albums had they the proper chance. Only drawback is the less than stellar sound quality throughout (though still very listenable and miles better than bootleg standard). (source)


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West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - First Album (1966)


Muzycy spotkali się w Los Angeles w roku 1962, w momencie, gdy każdy z muzyków miał już pewne doświadczenie koncertowe i studyjne. Michael Lloyd był wcześniej członkiem surfowego combo The New Dimensions, które zmieniło wraz z nadejściem Brytyjskiej inwazji nazwę na The Alley Kats, z której następnie wyłoniła sie garażowa grupa The Rogues, tej zaś udało się ustrzelić 7" singiel "Wanted Dead Or Alive" z kawałkiem "One Day" na stronie B, dla lokalnego labela Living Legend, należącego do producenta Kima Fowleya. W 1999 Kim Fowley wydał winylową kompilację "Underground Animal", dzięki której można w ogóle znaleźć ten absolutnie niedostępny nigdzie kawałek. Bracia Harris zaczynali z kolei od kombinowania w domu z folkowymi melodiami, by następnie kontynuować karierę muzyczną w garażowym zespole o nazwie The Snowmen. Obydwa zespoły znajdowały się w tym samym momencie pod pieczą Kima Fowleya i dzięki temu doszło pod koniec 1962 do stworzenie jednego projektu.

Przełom nastąpił, gdy w 1965 trio natknęło się na Boba Markleya podczas gigu The Yardbirds w Beverly Hills, który został zorganizowany przez niego w prywatnej willi ze względu na brak pozwolenia na pracę dla Brytyjczyków, który uniemożliwiał im oficjalne koncertowanie. Jak głosi historia, Markley był cwaniakiem, aktorem, piosenkarzem i prawnikiem z wykształcenia, który nie pracował w zawodzie i nie potrafił ani grać, ani śpiewać. Pomimo tego wychował się bogatej rodzinie, gdyż w młodym wieku został zaadoptowany przez milionera naftowego, co pozwoliło mu wcześnie poruszać się po świecie show businessu. Zauroczony przez tabuny łatwych panienek, które pojawiły się na zorganizowanym przez niego gigu i potencjalne topienie w nich swojego członka, natychmiast zauważył swoją szansę, gdy grupa została mu przedstawiona przez Fowleya. Z bomby zaproponował przyjęcie swojej osoby do zespołu, gdzie miał brzdąkać na tamburynie lub stukać na congach (czyli robić cokolwiek) w zamian za załatwianie kontraktów i pieniędzy na studia nagraniowe. W ten trochę popieprzony sposób narodziła się grupa West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. (Conradino Beb)


The musicians met in Los Angeles in 1962. Michael Lloyd started his career in kind of surf combo, The New Dimensions, which changed it’s name to The Alley Kats, when British invasion got on the top of the charts. That group mutated subsequently into garage band, The Rogues, who found a small time success with 7" single "Wanted Dead Or Alive" b/w "One Day", released by local label Living Legend, owned by producer Kim Fowley. In 1999 Fowley released a vinyl compilation "Underground Animal", which lets us listen to this absolutely obscure gem. Harris Brothers were into folk music at first, playing at home, and then they joined another garage band, The Snowmen. Both groups were produced by Kim Fowley in the same time and in the end of 1962 they just merged.

The band had a breakthrough when they got on Bob Markley during The Yardbirds’ gig in Beverly Hills, which he set up in a private property – the only option for the Britons after they were banned from playing official gigs due to the work permit refusal. As the legend says, Markley was a hustler, actor, singer and an educated lawyer, who didn’t work in his profession and he could neither sing, nor act. Apart from that, he’s grown up in a rich family, being adopted in a young age by an oil millionaire, which gave him a pass to the glamorous world of show business. Attracted by whole bunch of easy girls, who turned up on the gig, digging the great possibilities of dick swinging, he immediately recognized his opportunity when meeting young, local group through Fowley. He proposed vaguely that he might have been tapping a tambourine or congas (whatever it took for the girls) in exchange for getting contracts signed and wiring money for studio recording. Hence, in this fucked up way, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band were born. (Conradino Beb)


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