20 April 2006

Temporary flatline

Due to private circumstances I won't be able to upload for a while. I don't know if I'm going to be completely off-line but I expect to have no access to my MP3's for 2 to 4 weeks.
As far as I'm concerned I'll continue afterwards, I've got some stuff I like to share and haven't even ripped yet, so don't forget about this blog altogether. Check out the many other great blogs out there or get some work done, perhaps even start your own blog.
Feel free to continue commenting and/or emailing. Being completely off-line is inconceivable to me but I can't tell when/how I read your words and when/how I'll respond.
For now: Take care!

The Tielman Brothers - Totally Tielman


Indonesia once was a colony from the Netherlands, leading to mutual influences. When Indonesia finally gained independence many Indonesians came to the Netherlands, which secured the still lasting Indonesian influence on the Dutch culture.
Just as it spiced up our food it also spiced up our music. The 'invention' of rock 'n' roll lead immediately to the invention of 'Indo-rock'. The Tielman brothers shaped rock 'n'roll in the Netherlands, added the necessary sex element through their great and acrobatic shows (the Beatles for example were impressed) and left a vast collection of music.
Hence 'Totally Tielman', "the essential collection". 3 CDs, music from late 50's to early 70's. Compiled in 2005 containing great rockers, covers, instrumentals, gospels and, a constant in Dutch music, many releases targeted at Germany. Beautiful booklet with many pictures and albumsleeves.
Excellent collection of one of the most important, if not the most important, bands of the Netherlands.

The Tielman Brothers - Totally Tielman (3*100MB + 10MB)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

This picture shows Andy Tielman still being a cool cat (middle), left is a Blue Diamond, right George Baker (from 'Una Paloma Blanca').

Blues: Deltahead - Deltahead


Violent sounding blues! These guys knock their stuff down your throat with some force. It's a bassist and a guitarist and they share a drumkit between them, look at this picture and their (flash-heavy) website, under news, features a videoclip of 'My mama was too lazy to pray'. The thing in the middle is a 1899 loud speaker system.
Good stuff, Sweden 2006.

Deltahead - Deltahead
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Not excessive enough? Check out the 'appliance-rock' of Hurra Torpedo :-D

19 April 2006

Dutch Rare Groove


This album starts with the observation that many clever producers/artists take an obscure song from the past, sample it, create a hit and also create renewed interest in the original song. The concept of this album is to reverse the process.
The compilers offer you rare and obscure tracks to begin with. No need to wait 'till somebody else beat you to it or having to listen to a modern hip song wondering where that great groove/sample came from. It's a selection of jazz/funk/fusion, all rare and obscure and the only thing they've in common is they're being Dutch.
Just to underline their point they've added a second CD with remakes of the songs by C-Mon & Kypski. Because: why offer you great source material for remixes without any remixes themselves? It's only to give you an idea of what's possible.
So this CD goes down with it's own concept, it's too silly to laugh about. That leaves the music of course and the music thankfully makes this album worth it's existence.
Rare and obscure are meant here in a positive way only, the selection is very diverse, late 60's but mainly 70's music. Groovy and swinging stuff, I consider the 'remix' CD as purely bonus material but it's not too bad either. Dustygroove review+tracklist

Dutch Rare Groove
Part 1
Part 2
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Leaf records - Check The Water


I have a bit of a tendency to listen to old music. There's too much music out there anyway so I might aswell skip the irrelevant and use my ears for the stuff that survived decades. It's easy to go 'HURRAY!' when listening to label-samplers from Sun or Chess or Vampi-soul realizing full well I'm then missing out on the modern stuff.
That's why I went 'HURRAY!' when I found this label-sampler from the Leaf label, a double CD with "selections from the Leaf label's first 10 years" (2005).
Electronic and experimental, some 'names' include Four Tet, Caribou and Efterklang and the rest I'd never heard of before. Read more and find a tracklist here. It's very reasonably priced and very refreshing to your ears.

Leaf records - Check The Water
Part 1
Part 2
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

18 April 2006

Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside


It took this 2004 CD 2 years apparantly to travel from Stockholm Sweden to the Netherlands but it made it and arrived safely. This is the full CD debut of Anna Ternheim, a young singsong with a remarkable voice.
Good songs, good instrumentation and that remarkable voice: strong, clear, feminine.
Listen to it.

Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

17 April 2006

Bettye LaVette - Let Me Down Easy In Concert


"Recorded September 23rd 1999 at Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht, Holland", 8 songs including 'Right in the middle', 'He made a woman out of me' and 'Let me down easy', a short bio as linernotes and a few pictures of Bettye at that show.

Bettye LaVette - Let Me Down Easy In Concert
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Where it went wrong with me or how reggae hit me

This story is too good not to tell and I also wanted to justify the amount of reggae on this blog.

We have to go back to 1983, I was 10 at the time. My father had a new job and was commuting for an hour or so to his job. That is quite long in the Netherlands so we decided to move. My parents put our house up for sale and we started to look for a new house. These separate things need to be a bit coordinated but weren't in our case: our old house was sold without us haven't found a new home.

It seemed sensible to my parents to stay where we were so my brother (3 1/2 years younger) and I could stay at our old school. We had to leave our old house but found temporarily shelter in a vacantion-house nearby. That house was a summer house, rented out for short periods only and certainly not made for occupation during winter. We on the other hand were not fortunate in finding a new house. Eventually we stayed in that bungalow for over 6 months, through the winter.

It was small, a living room with gas heater, 2 bedrooms, toilet and shower. All our belongings were in storage apart from the most essential stuff. No TV for example and only a radio/cassette player (my little Audio Sonic :-D ). No tapes though. In the midst of winter you'd see frost on our blankets in the morning. One would run to the shower to switch it on while the rest of the family stood shivering around the heater. Taking turns we'd run to the shower, showered quickly and run back to get dressed. Because, to make matters worse, it was a particulary cold winter.

One morning I walked to the busstop to go to school. In about 10 centimeters of snow I found a cassette-tape. It was a pre-recorded tape, the print was unreadable and my best guess is that somebody chucked it out of a carwindow. I took it with me and that afternoon when I came home it was the first time that I listened to it. That tape changed my life.

With no other tapes to listen to (in storage) this tape got played a lot. And I mean really a lot. We'd all be sitting around the gas-heater and listening to that tape, it was my first real encounter with reggae music. I'd probably heard it before but this was the first time to 'study' it. None of this would have mattered much if it wasn't for the type of reggae. In stead of a friendly introductory course we dove headfirst into the heavy Lee Perry stuff. No 'Ooh I like UB40 let's check out some more' but tunes from outer-space that sounded nothing like any other music I'd heard to that date.

I'd nothing to go on from that tape, no case and the lettering was all faded. It took me years to piece together what we were listening to then. And since the taped selfdestructed after a while I'll probably never fully reconstruct what it was that opened my eyes. That's me and reggae. My little brother is equally weird but has a thing for dub.

Some tracks on that tape: Upsetters - Roast Fish and Corn Bread; Max Romeo - War In A Babylon; Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves; Burning Spear - Old Marcus Garvey; Upsetters - Bird In Hand, The Wailers - 400 years

I hope this explains something. I'll up some reggae but it'll be 'occasionally', not this organised bombardment. For dreads and more you've to check my favorite 'pardners': Schrikdraad, Hearwax and Distinctly Jamaican Sounds.

W0rds/N0 M00ziq

Are there any Apple people downloading from this blog? Are you experiencing any difficulties unpacking RAR files? Can you recommend a good unRAR program for use on the Macs? Musical friend Scrooge offers some problems to people on an Apple machine and likes to solve that. http://nothingbut-scrooge.blogspot.com/

Do yourself an enormous favour and take a look at musical friend Jean's blog http://jeansmusicblog.blogspot.com/ 'cause he's offering magical stuff. Love the Champs and the Blue Diamonds!!

Musical friend Folder1/Peter is still unsure what to do with a blog and why. Perhaps some attention and guidance can push him in the right direction? Check it out and see what you think: http://soultwist.blogspot.com/. He has even more than he publishes, the naughty boy. "WE WANT FUNKY CHICKEN!!!!! WE WANT FUNKY CHICKEN!!!!! WE WANT FUNKY CHICKEN!!!!! WE WANT FUNKY CHICKEN!!!!! " ad infinidum ;-)

Pizzicato Five - The Sound Of Music


Matador 1995. Not only on this blog but worldwide there seems to be a re-evaluation of P5. If I'm not mistaken nearly the entire catalog of this musical phenomenon is being re-released.
This album is remarkable in it's lack of artwork. One picture only but that's a really great one, so just google on "pizzicato five" and click on pictures to make up for it.

Pizzicato Five - The Sound Of Music
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

UPDATE: I recently purchased a copy of this CD in a 2nd hand store. In stead of a 'jewel case' this CD was packaged in a cardboardsleeve, it didn't have the lyrics or a photo (like the one above) and some titles were spelled differently but this version came with a colored drawing on the inside of the cover (black and white version was printed on the disc of the version above) and a 'credit card': "Carte Pizzicato" a token of membership of the P5 international fanclub (incredibly cool of course!).
In a picture: click.

Reggae: The Wailers


There's a young Bob Marley as solo artist, there's the superstar Bob Marley with his own Wailers. In between there were The Wailers, essentially a trio consisting of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingstone. Couple them with the finest of Jamaican producers like for example Lee Perry and we're looking at the music I present you here.
Funny enough, when you're looking for a CD by Bob Marley and don't know what to look for there's a good chance you'll end up with this music. I suspect it's rights are free and I've seen numerous dubious releases of this stuff. This CD is a 3 CD set without liner notes, titled "Bob Marley" (wrong), with a front cover that reminded me at best of a young Ruud Gullit and a sound quality comparable with a crap LP.
Why this CD then? Because the 3 CDs add up to 42 songs. Because the old Wailers are the very best reggae has to offer. Because there are some spots of magic where everything seems to come together in a way unprecedented (and never really equalled).
The sound quality is disappointing, the music quality unrivalled. I believe there are better albums out at the moment, more historically correct, better researched, better re-mastered. It's something I still need to spend some time and money on. For the time being, however, dig this.

The Wailers
Part 1
Part 2
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party - Yeh Jo Halka Halka


This is something that impressed me very much when seeing it on TV and they're not quite the guys from videoclips. The music is called Qawwali and it's used for religious purposes, for the Sufi religion.
It's a musical tradition going back centuries. Picture a group of men, 8 to 10, sitting in a semi-circle on the ground playing their traditional instruments. The shortest 'song' on this CD is over 11 minutes long and there's a hypnotic quality to the music.
Nusrat FAK was a superstar in his world, roughly Pakistan, but also managed to attract interest from beyond his followers. With complete ignorance to the religious background you can find the music very enjoyable in it's own right, no disrespect intended.
Internet can be a great help in discovering more about the background of the music and I strongly recommend that. Also, if you like what you hear I recommend finding some visual material from Nusrat and his party, it's not quite a hip-hop video but convincing in it's own right.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party - Yeh Jo Halka Halka
Part 1
Part 2
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

16 April 2006

Reggae: Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey/Garvey's Ghost


More reggae but I'm closing in on my 'point'.
Two albums as one: the original album and the dub version. This is a classic reggae album, full of awareness but good music too, the vocals are absolutely great. And when you're through the first 10 tracks of heavy roots reggae (1975) there are the same songs waiting in a dub version (1976) for you.
I wanted to have this CD for the song 'Old Marcus Garvey' and I suppose it doesn't hurt to learn a little about Marcus Garvey.

Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey/Garvey's Ghost
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Hi-Posi - 4n5


Musical category of WTF and it's Japanese too. Artist name 'Hi-Posi' exists since 1988, this album is essentially a one-woman achievement. All words and music by Miho Moribayashi and she's responsible for some production and arranging too.
The sound is stark electronic and deceptively poppy, it's impossible to tell what's exactly meant with the music or how 'deep' it is. This album could not be mistaken for anything other than Japanese; you may not be an expert on Asian languages but the sound is so very much Japanese, whatever that may mean.
I enjoy this, there are some great sounding songs on it (I haven't looked much on the translation of the lyrics) and it all has some nicely disturbing effect.
Looking for more info I came upon reviews which I like to include here: Pitchforkmedia, Popmatters and the Hi-Posi page itself.
This is Hi-Posi's debut CD on the USA market. Unavailable there, it now only seems logical to obtain a USA debut from a Japanese artist through Germany ;-)

Hi-Posi - 4n5
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

15 April 2006

Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Arkology


I need to get some more reggae out here, please bear with me, I'll try to explain at some point.
This is Arkology, "3CDS including rare and unreleased tracks + a 52 page book". And it simply is a obligatory purchase for everyone into Lee Perry, I got mine as a present from my brother.
Having said that (obligatory) I must admit I don't play this one very often. I had to rip this one specifically, where I had all the other Scratch albums as MP3s already. Having these songs as MP3s has the distinct advantage of being able to program only your favorites over the 3CDs. Because, to be honest, there's a lot of crap too on these 3 CDs.
But I only care for the real gems and there are plenty of them here. Whether you like reggae or dub, both sides of Scratch are equally here and in many high quality songs (even classics).
There's plenty of room for study with many different songs on the same riddims and originals with dub combinations.
Throw in the excellent booklet overflowing with pictures and text and it'll make an essential CD set.

Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Arkology
(322 MB)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
(new links 22 March 2007, Parts 1 to 3 contain CD ('Reel') 1 to 3, part 4 the remaining songs as each CD is a little over 100MB)

Disco: Tom Moulton - A Tom Moulton Mix


I don't have a lot of disco on this blog, unfortunately, but I'm well pleased with the quality of what I'm offering. Check this and this, I'm not ashamed to pimp with other people's music.
So, Tom Moulton then. Let's first start with saying this is a 2006 Soul Jazz records production, 2 CD, with very extensive liner notes.
And I'll finish with mentioning Tom Moulton basically invented the remix, 12 inch version and disco-break.
This is incredibly great disco, many promo versions and all long songs, just 16 tracks.

Tom Moulton - A Tom Moulton Mix
Part 1
Part 2
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60's: Turkish Delights


"26 beat, psych & garage ultrararities from beyond the sea of Marmara". Pretty much like everywhere else in the world young people in Turkey were inspired in the 60's to start a band. Who cares, you might say, since Turkey hardly was the epicentre of anything during the 60's (or 70's).
True. This compilation holds 26 songs selected with a band contest organised by a newspaper. Winners would get studio time and a single released. That still doesn't make this worth noticing except that this music never was intended to be noticed outside Turkey.
The strength of these recordings lies in their inherent musical quality but for us even more in the 'east meets west' feeling. Every song is 'typical' 60's but every song also has a connection to Turkey, be the language it's sung in or an exotic guitar lick. This is not to rewrite the chapter on 60's music but to be a worthy addition to collections of 60's music. You'll find failures but favorites too, I especially recommend the Shadows sound-a-likes Apaçlar.
This is a 'Grey Paste' release, a small Dutch label with many more good stuff. Ask your record dealer.
Great booklet too, informative and holds also the sometimes hilarious pictures of original single-sleeves.

Turkish Delights
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

14 April 2006

Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Does The Cosmic Shepherd Dream Of Electric Tapirs


I'm honestly not the promoter of Japan but here's more Japanese music. Well, not that Japanese since 'psychedelic' is more the keyword here. Disturbingly heavy psychedelic music, ultra psychedelica. Being weird hasn't stopped them from recording and releasing as you can find their music on dozens of albums (and under various names).
Being musically far removed from main stream may make their music hard to obtain, there are 3 releases on Alien8 recordings, including this 2006 release.
Psychedelic soundscapes, guitar drones, experimental songwriting, feel entirely free not to like this. Having personality, guts and determination deserves a reward in itself and with the internet as your buddy Acid Mothers Temple can be a hobby in itself.
Not every trip is a happy trip but always an experience in itself.

Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Does The Cosmic Shepherd Dream Of Electric Tapirs
Part 1
Part 2
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Betty LaVette - Child Of The Seventies


This is a 2006 release of 1972 material. Young Betty LaVette signed with Atlantic and recorded this music in Muscle Shoals. Now to be honest: a lot has been released before, as Souvenirs in 2000 but that still means the world has been denied this music for 28 years. Insane.
To make up for that crime against humanity the good people from Rhino Handmade created this fabulous package, colorful with some beautiful pictures and sensible linernotes. It contains the original 'Child Of The Seventies' album and 10 bonus tracks. You can find more Betty(e) LaVett(e) on this blog, may I just say she's the missing link between Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner?
Chances are you'd like to own more than just the MP3's I offer you, take a look here. It's available and affordable (19 euro overhere), just make sure you're not too late. Listen to #2772 of 7500:

Betty LaVette - Child Of The Seventies
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Gabriel Rios - Ghostboy


I'm honestly not the promoter of Belgium but here's more Belgian music. Well, not that Belgian since Gabriel Rios has Puerto Rican roots but on the other hand very Belgian with producer Jo Bogaert.
It's light popmusic with some strong latin hints and a great overall summer feel. One great hit 'Broad Daylight', used in soundtracks, advertisements, etc.
Anyway, read about Gabriel Rios and his blond angel on his website while listening to his music. Be warned: Broad Daylight is highly addictive and tends to stick between your ears.

Gabriel Rios - Ghostboy
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

13 April 2006

The Organ - Grab That Gun


Originally this album was released in 2004 but it only picked up a bit of hype this year. I found a link on Best of both worlds and needed only one listen to be convinced.
It's an all girl quintet from Canada with a relaxed guitar sound. In a cynical mood I could say that finally I can stand the Cure but that would be a lie since I really like listening to this band. I wouldn't be surprised if these women had their musical awareness sharpened at that period when The Cure or perhaps The Smiths where en vogue.
They get away with it as far as I'm conserned but judge yourself:

The Organ - Grab That Gun
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Blues: Five Horse Johnson - The Mystery Spot


And when I say blues I do mean a very heavy kind of blues, heavier perhaps than Wolfmother.
But first please take a look on their website, I keep reading "In Stores May 23, 2006!" which is still over a month from now. The rip I present here is from an album I bought in a shop, though.
And a good album it is! No need to postpone it's release, these guys rock. The blues never really disappears out of view but at some point they even remind me of Motorhead (in fact there are plenty more pleasant associations but this album wears it's own pants, don't worry).
The good stuff therefore, Rock 'n' Blues without scaring of the stoners.
Also artwork by Mark Dancey aka Illuminado.

Five Horse Johnson - The Mystery Spot
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

12 April 2006

Rock 'n' Roll: The Legendary Sun Records Story


This is a magnificent set of CDs, 3 CDs filled to the brim with beautiful music from top artists. Have a look at the tracklist to convince yourself. The only one I can think of who's missing is Elvis P.
I remember that it seemed like a compromise at the time to buy this CD. I've searched but couldn't find anything about it but I'm convinced there's a 10 CD box released too. So this 3 CD set was the compromise between what I wanted to have and what I could afford. There's really nothing wrong with this set and I just found out there's actually a volume 2, also 3 CDS.

The Legendary Sun Records Story
Edit April 3 2007: I got 2 complaints about the password which I couldn't reproduce: the RARs unpacked fine so I don't know what's wrong. I archived and uploaded the files again, this time without password, per CD (60+ MB each):
CD 1
CD 2
CD 3

Soul: Al Green - The Very Best Of


The man with the very recognizable and flexible voice, a big soul man. I just had to buy a VBO after this.
A 1997 compilation with 19 tracks and a bit linernotes/info. The music is all 1971 - 1976.
He can sound very controlled and sensual at the same time, with a lot of possibilities in that distinctive voice.
Remarkable, I think, he runs his own church. Anyway, read about him on his website. Enjoy his music in the mean time:

Al Green - The Very Best Of
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

11 April 2006

Pizzicato Five - By Her Majesty's Request


I've treated myself to another P5 CD. Picked more or less randomly from a catalog this one had to be shipped in from Japan. Originally from 1989 it's distinctly different from the other P5's on this blog (here, here and here). The main bunch of the vocals is by men, apparantly 'Satellite Hour' is the first appearance of Miss Maki Nomiya. Fascinating! Musically it's less quirky and more jazzy, more cool. More orchestra than electronics.
Some sub-titles for you: "A Musical Extravaganza Performed by Tokyo's Coolest Combo & Orchestra" and "51 minutes Humour of Pizzicato Five".
There are some differences between the original 1989 'On her majesty's request' and 1995 'By her majesty's request', lyrics etc you'll find at Ted Mills and I've taken a picture from the fold out booklet for you, here.

Pizzicato Five - By Her Majesty's Request
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Jackie Wilson - The Best Of


In the 80's, following a Levi's commercial with 'Reet Petite' there was a bit of fame again for Jackie Wilson. The video-clip was done with clay in stop-motion technique which was pretty cool and 'lo-fi' compared to the video-clips of the time.
I got to know a little more by him via a bad quality 2nd hand LP so this CD is actually catching up. Somebody told me Jackie Wilson had a live reputation equal to James Brown and Little Richard, have to look into that.
This is 2002 compilation, Union Square music with 24 tracks (1957 - 1970) and decent liner-notes.
"Combining hit singles, showstopping standards and rarities, this CD is a thrilling testament to a much-missed musical talent" according to the back of the CD.
They know how to sell their CDs at Union Square but forgot to pay their hosting service. Or could it perhaps be through all the visits from us that they went through their allotted band-width? http://www.unionsquaremusic.co.uk/ is dead :-D

Jackie Wilson - The Best Of
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

10 April 2006

Funk: The Meters - The Very Best Of


Somewhere at the end of the 60's there was a band playing in and around New Orleans, The Neville Sounds. As they got better and attracted some fame a producer came to look at their show and hired them as a sessionband. This producer being Allen Toussaint, the group renamed to The Meters and it didn't take long for them to score their first hit.
With this 1997 Rhino album I'm filling gaps on this blog. I don't attempt to 'complete' the music history here but I just felt that The Meters needed to be on it.
Say 'funk' and 'James Brown' for instance and you probably think of wild and steaming music. The Meters were far more relaxed, this is easy-funk, slowly grooving but no less funk.
It was more or less finished when one Arthur 'Art' Neville quit the band in 1977, followed by his brother Cyril, to form The Neville Brothers.
16 tracks from some very fine and very influential musicians.

The Meters - The Very Best Of
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

UPDATE: Speaking about Allen Toussaint: there's a new album coming, a collaboration with Elvis Costello to be produced by Joe Henry. See here.

Soul: Kings & Queens Of Soul


"No 1" no less (haven't seen no 2 yet), this 2004 release by Sony/Comfort-sounds.de and just like that website has the CD German linernotes, with lots of pics and info (tracklist).
Positive: a nice collection of names and songs, a lot broader than you'd normally think of when it's about 'soul'. Negative of course some artists who seem out of place and could've been 'real' soul artists.
Anyway, this is the stuff I occassionaly pick up when I've to wait for the counter. Can't go wrong for the (mid-)price with this selection.

Kings & Queens Of Soul
Part 1
Part 2
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

09 April 2006

Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin


A cold turkey would've been too cruel, so one more Billie Holiday.
This album can be called the swan song of Lady Day, I'm not sure if it is the actual last recording by her but it is one of the last.
Billie Holiday new what she wanted and got it.
Bandleader Ray Ellis had released an album called 'Ellis in wonderland' which had gotten many's attention. To Billie it provided the perfect backing to her voice, a voice that was a shadow of her former voice. You'll hear a distinctly different BH than on the Quintessentials; older, style-wise, voice-wise but mostly a different person.
On one aspect was this Billie the same as before: the power to move. 'Gloomy sunday', 'Strange fruit'; she could turn a simple verse into a song and turn something better into a classic. The songs on this album were selected with care, the musicians got over their suspicions and the result is a tender emotional soul-opening document.

Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

(It's incomplete: there are 2 bonustracks missing which could mean I haven't ripped this one myself. The important tracks are here, an open mind can be moved to tears. Sit, listen and enjoy!)

Reggae: The Best Of Studio One


Reggae part last for now, this is the first volume to this and this. Heartbeat promises more releases and if you watched the video on their site the Dodd family wants to open the vaults aswell.
This is beautiful material for people who are new to reggae and like to start a collection. Linernotes are OK, very little pictures unfortunately.
Again: it's not going to make reggae-lovers out of reggae-haters but the lovers are going to be well pleased with this new 2006 release.

The Best Of Studio One
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Soul: Homer Banks - Hooked By Love


Homer Banks was unknown by me when I came across this CD at the store. I usually have enough I'd like to purchase so 'unknown' is sufficient reason to forget it. Someone mentioned him as a writer of soul songs and a decent one at that. A search of my harddiscs (a very good reason to rip CDs, especially if you have a memory like mine) revealed that I did in fact have songs by Homer B. (which can also be found on this blog in compilations).
Now I'm very glad that at some point I decided to buy this album. It's Minit via $tateside released in 2005, only a year after mr. Banks died.
And it's proper soul music, southern soul for the people who know, it's all nice and steamy, 2nd half of the 60's. I can only hope you're as new to Homer Banks as I was: you'll be just as pleasantly surprised.

Homer Banks - Hooked By Love

(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

08 April 2006

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 9 (1940-1942)


The last volume in this serie. There is a lot more out there, big and small. There's a 10 CD boxset that roughly spans the same period as the Quintessential serie and there are collections with the complete Verve and Decca.
If you just buy CD's with the name 'Billie Holiday' on it you are certain to end up with a lot of doubles and most likely with a (very) bad sound quality (not too mention a hop-scotch set of songs and no info). The 'Complete'-box sets eliminate some problems but you have to check the sound quality, even from renowned labels.
Volume 9 is the last of the Quintessentials, her career continued up 'till 1959 (ups and downs, more downs as time progresses). If you've watched the Strange Fruit video and did a bit of reading on Billie you know that the time after 1942 wasn't necessarily the least interesting period. Her music stayed on a high level as she was a singer who sung from the heart, the mind and the soul.

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 9 (1940-1942)
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UPDATE: December last year saw the release of a 6 CD boxset with the complete Verve recordings: check this. It's a folded carton inside a tin box, looks a bit odd. I've heard some of the music and must say it's absolutely beautiful. For those of you looking into the Verve years it's a recommended purchase, although a bit pricy at 85 euro's overhere.

Theo Beckford & Friends - Trojan Battlefield


I'll continue a little further with Jamaican music, there'll be other stuff next week. For those new to ska: this is a guy I want you to hear.
When I first got to know the original Jamaican ska it was very hard to find recordings of it. I've happily spent large sums for LP's which contained a collection of mono singles, the very poor sound-quality had to be taken for granted because there was so little out there. I found the music by Theo Beckford (and Lloyd Clarke) stick out because of the simple, loud beat and even with the bad sound I could here lots of interaction between the musicians. *
This CD has 24 songs in a much better quality and proves my ears didn't fool me then.
A song by Beckford, called "Easy snappin'" recorded somewhere between 1956 and 1959 marked the beginning of 'Ska'. It gave Theo Beckford the nick Snappin and there are stories that the origin of the word ska is from another nickname of his, Skavoovie. Beckford was a session-musician for Coxsone Dodd but found he wasn't paid enough or taken on lucrative tours so he abandoned Studio One and started his own business, King Pioneer Ska Productions is the label Theophilius 'Snappin' Beckford was forced to set up in 1961.
Theo here is musician, arranger, producer, etc. His 'friends' include Lloyd Clarke, Basil Gabbidon and a young Frederick Hibbert. It contains recordings for King Pioneer, most likely from 1962. This issue has a decent amount of research data in the liner notes, but it looks a bit chaotic. Trojan 2004.

* (just listen to 'Now that you're dead': the beat is forceful with the piano, yet subtle with the drums. Also hear the guitar and the piano complement eachother, play around with eachother. And then have the brass as a creamy sauce on top of it! De-li-ci-ous!)

Theo Beckford & Friends - Trojan Battlefield
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

UPDATE: Theo Beckford - Easy Snapping (RS, 4 MB, rename .doc to .mp3)

07 April 2006

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 8 (1939-1940)


I came across this serie when I was a student and had some cash after I had had a job. I really wanted to have a Billie Holiday compilation, preferably with many of the same songs I knew from the records of my mum.
Browsing through the stack of Billie CDs these stuck out as simply the best choice: all the songs I was looking for were on it and plenty more. I expected to find many more favorites so I started with volume 1 (for: Your Mother's Son-In-Law) and volume 7 (Long Gone Blues), pretty arbitrary actually.
That was me hobbling home happy but I'd parted with a little cash. Since I expected to spent more on a compilation I was able to purchase more volumes (2 and 3, seemed easier to just go up) the next day but that definitely was the end of my money.
Next I started to worry: what if someone bought the remaining discs? I can't remember how I pulled it of but I did manage to get the rest of this serie in less than a week. No criminal ways were employed but I might have skipped a meal or two and probably spent the next week more in finding a new job than listening to the CDs.
Roughly 10 years further I can say that it's been a good investment and I think you'll agree there.

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 8 (1939-1940)
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

R&B: Rhythm & Booze


"25 shots of vintage R'n'B" on $tateside 2005. Alcohol inspired songs, that can be either good or bad. Well, the musicians do not sound drunk and I dare to say they've used the booze as a positive inspiration.
"The tracks are all from the height of the R&B era (the 1940's-1950's), pre-rock 'n' roll, so for those of you who thought the fun started in the 1960's - think again" (from the OK booklet) and that pretty much describes the album and the music.
Tracklist (+ review here) is pretty impressive and the theme of course doesn't get boring. Whenever needed there was re-mastering so the sound's very good (considering the age of the recordings).
I might be a bit partial; this blog needed a rum-coke too many to get started ;-)

Rhythm & Booze
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Ennio Morricone - Les Plus Belles Musiques


I don't think the name Ennio Morricone needs introduction and it is exactly what you don't get with this CD. It's a case, single sheet inlay, tracklist in french and english and someone was even kind enough to include the CD too.
Ennio Morricone is one of the most famous composers of film music, some people will hear mouth-harps by the sheer mentioning of his name. I didn't hear music that famous but that might simply be me not knowing the movies too well.
There are some beautiful melodies on this CD but that doesn't make this a great CD. The only extra-ordinairy thing I can say about it (other than there being some really beautiful tunes) is that it's a bit spacy to listen to this without seeing the movies. The music is 'telling' something but now you're free to imagine yourself what it is.
For Morricone-fans and people who like odd records.

Ennio Morricone - Les Plus Belles Musiques
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

06 April 2006

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 7 (1938-1939)


And we are slowly reaching the end of the series. Nine volumes is an obscene amount of music and could easily disturb the view on what it is: only the first 9 recorded years of Billie Holiday.
We're talking about the Vocalion-Brunswick years if I'm right, there were another 15 years to come after 1942 (Verve for example). Where we're listening to swing, the commercial pop-music of the time, Billie would eventually diversify into more jazzy jazz (that's my perspective and phrasing). Not less interesting I'm sure but my heart's with these first 9 volumes. Today's dose of Billie for you.

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 7 (1938-1939)
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Reggae: Full Up: More hits from Studio One


"More Hits" would indicate a 'volume 1' and there is ('Best Of Studio One' imaginatively). It's ordered but Heartbeats release policy is a bit confusing. It's all out in the shops now (even my country), brandnew re-released in excellent packages (linernotes, bit thin on the pictures).
The music is Jamaica's soul: we're talking about late 60's, 1970's music so comparable to many compilations on this blog with American soul music.
Sound Dimension, John Holt, Burning Spear but also the more obscure, plenty to enjoy from the golden era of reggae. Read on Heartbeat and on Pitchfork.
It won't turn reggae-haters into reggae-lovers but will delight those who are lover already.

Full Up: More hits from Studio One
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UPDATE: interesting reading and video: HERE.

Soul: Allen Toussaint - The Complete Warner Recordings


I've had some New Orleans soul up here before (Irma Thomas and a Minit sampler) but the name Allen Toussaint was here most prominently on the 'I believe to my soul' album.
The Complete Warner Recordings are three 70's albums ('Life, Love And Faith' 1972, 'Southern Nights' 1975 and 'Motion' 1978) + a few unreleased songs (+ very nice package, booklet & pictures: Rhino 2003).
Allen Toussaint is a writer, producer and arranger. It's no coincedence you'll find a lot of his work on my blog since the man was/is very good. A considerable amount of success for him as long as he didn't release under his own name but precisely that is what I want you to check out.
You don't have to like mr. Toussaint but you probably will and if so: try to get this beautiful package. I've ripped #1996 of 2500 for you.

Allen Toussaint - The Complete Warner Recordings
(Pt 1: 100 MB, Pt 2: 100 MB, Pt 3: 18 MB)
part 1
part 2
part 3
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

05 April 2006

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 6 (1938)


I'm going to mention again a book on this blog but this time it is music related.
For those who didn't know: Billie Holiday wrote an autobiography (with a ghostwriter).
It's called 'Lady Sings The Blues' and it's very readable. Needless to say there are countless other books written about Lady Day but 'Lady Sings...' should be your starting point (not your end-point of course, never assume an autobio is fully accurate).
There's a good chance you can find a copy in a second hand bookshop which doesn't say anything about its quality; that doesn't necessarily mean the same for other bio's you might find 2nd hand.
But of course the music is first, last and everything in between.

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 6 (1938)
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Welcome To The Basement


It's volume 2 of a very favorite serie of mine, Manifesto Of Groove, of which I previously had volume 1 and volume 7. The 'subtitle' of this one is "A spicy mixture from black & latin america" and contains 17 irresistible tracks from the 60's and 70's with jazz, funk and all sorts of other weirdness, + cool and good booklet in a nice package.
So, is there really nothing wrong with this stuff? Well yes, there is in fact. I've got the CD, there's also a 2 LP set which has bonustracks. AAAARRRRGGHGHHH!!!!!

Welcome To The Basement
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Reggae: Downbeat The Ruler


"Killer Instrumentals from Studio One" should say enough in light of the last couple of days and indeed: it's 18 tracks, mostly by Sound Dimension, Soul Vendors or straight away Jackie Mittoo. It's more middle of the road reggae, not as daring as the previous Jackie Mittoo compilation but made with the same craftsmanship.
Other musicians who can be heard include Ernest Ranglin, Roland Alphonso and Cedric Brooks, all artists who had succesful careers under their own names. Even Coxsone Dodd himself is here: you can hear him 'toast' over the 'Popcorn reggae' track.
This beautiful release is part of a Studio One offensive by Heartbeat records, including many more releases centered around Studio One. There are 2 problems with that: first is there overlap with releases from Soul Jazz records, secondly there have been previous releases under identical names. While this stuff is brand new 2006 release, there's also a 'Downbeat the ruler, killer instrumentals' serie from 1988 (3 volumes). The more the merrier but it does lead to a lot of double music and confused CD-shop people.

Downbeat The Ruler
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

04 April 2006

On comments.... (again)

The way it works here is I have to pre-approve a comment before it gets published. Great for weeding out nasty comments and other forms of censorship of course but sofar every comment has been kind to very kind and I haven't rejected a comment 'till now.
Do I publish every comment? NO. And I really can't think why some sad people think I'd allow adverts in the comments. :-)
Anyway, thank you for your reactions!

Mil Millington - Love and other near death experiences


This is not about music, it's about a book and not even a music related book.
I should start by saying that I'm completely useless with literature. My favorite writer is Clive Cussler, 'nuff said.
Mil Millington has written 3 books already (this being the 3rd one) and does columns etcetera but will be remembered forever for this website, which still is one of the funniest pages out there. It can be time-consuming to read so I suggest you use your worktime to give yourself a good laugh.
This book is also very enjoyable and much more literature than aforementioned Clive C, Mil Millington truly has a way with words. The book's recommended but primarily mentioned here for a quote, found on page 56:
'Blogs'
'That's it. They're like online diaries or something - nerds talking to themselves in public.'

Thank you for your attention ;-)

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 5 (1937-1938)


The halfway-mark. Only 4/5 years have gone past but you can imagine these being very formative years for young Billie. Couple that with changing times and you should notice some change in music. Not too much of course because Billie was 'black' and the 1930's are 'pre-historic' in that respect. Racism, simply put, was a given thing.
Billie also was a woman and a very complicated one at that (there are perhaps no 'simple' women, I just want to say Billie Holiday was a very funny creature).
It's there already but it's not in the music; from 1933 there's a continuous climbing line where the music is concerned, you can hear Billie here in the spring going to summer of her life, strong and vibrant swing/jazz. You'll find many Billie Holiday classics on this volume. Again: note the great backing too!

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 5 (1937-1938)
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

UPDATE: See a 50's moving Billie on YouTube: Click! thank you Stéphane!!

The Best Of Blaxploitation


New stuff! I've pointed you before to Union Square music and to my surprise I'm already the owner of another of their releases. This is a great 3 CD set, "Cinematic Soul and Badass Funk Classics", available everywhere (I think) for a mid-price.
Check out the 45 song tracklist and give it a listen, I can imagine this being on your mp3-player for the next couple of months!

The Best Of Blaxploitation
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

03 April 2006

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 4 (1937)


When I inquired whether there was enthousiasm for Billie Holiday I got some warm response and also people who wanted to compare her with Ella Fitzgerald. I take the safe road and say both of them are a category of their own, I really don't want to declare one better than the other.
For you as a music-lover it can be fun to compare both singers or at least listen to both. That's why I want to introduce you to Scrooge who recently started a very promising blog: Nothing but ......
He likes Ella a little better than Billie and to make his point he offers you her idea of the Cole Porter songbook (and probably more...).
I give you part 4 of the Quintessential serie, the composers are not less than Cole P., I just mention Gershwin.
Billie is a star here, only 22, but this is top musicianship from her and the band around her.
UPDATE: check out Peacockalley too...

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 4 (1937)
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

R&B: Chess Club Rhythm & Soul


A while ago I had a big Chess sampler. One of the commenters, Blip, brought up a song he was looking for and the album on which it should be. This is that album, compiled by people from a northern soul background (but also trying to distance themselves from that scene).
60's stuff, RnB, 25 superswingers. It proudly carries the name and logo of Chess but this is just another Ace\Kent compilation (1996). You're going to love this one, so many remarkable and great songs on it.
'Blip' however is going to be disappointed: it does feature the great song 'Good morning little schoolgirl' but it's a 'bare' version; it doesn't have the strong echo/reverb on the vocals of Don & Bob.

Chess Club Rhythm & Soul
Part 1
Part 2
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

02 April 2006

Reggae: Studio One Roots


One of the reasons I wanted the wonderful world of Jackie Mittoo up here is this album, volume 1 to this. I'll make my deeper motives clear in the next few days but for now it's sufficient to introduce these 2 albums as the Soul Jazz records view on Studio One.
Studio One is Jamaican Music is Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd. The man emerged out of the music and became the one to shape the music, to carry the music. He became bigger than the world where he came from.
Same goes perhaps for people like Lee Perry and Bob Marley but these two had Coxsone as their stepping stone too, not sure where they would've been without Clement Dodd and Studio One.
So this is music history aswell as it's Jamaican history. The history is here limited to the roots reggae, late 60's into 70's, 'conscious' rasta sounds, mon.
Reggae-lovers are on schrikdraad of course, make sure to check the comments too! Info you find on the Roots Archives site.

Studio One Roots
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 3 (1936-1937)


These CD's have been released as 'Columbia Jazz Masterpieces', simply Sony giving out part of their acquired catalogue. First: it's a very impressive catalogue and is even broader than Columbia only, but Columbia made a lot of historically interesting jazz-recordings.
Second: the re-issues are generally well packaged and researched, with abundant linernotes and pictures.
And thirdly: they often come at a reasonable price.
Look out for those blue covers.

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 3 (1936-1937)
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Jackie Mittoo - The Keyboard King At Studio One


Jackie Mittoo started as a session musician in Studio One by Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd and was one of the founding fathers of the Skatalites. A 15 year old father and when the Skatalites broke up Jackie continued to record, as session man, band member and as his own artistname. Some of the bands he played in were called 'The Soul Vendors' and 'The Sound Dimension'.
There's a link here with a lot of the music on this blog, much more than just ska of reggae. You'll hear organ driven music, soul, jazz, funk and an unmistakable Jamaican background, this is the crême de la crême of soundcraftingship.
Soul Jazz records 2000, great 15 tr. set with good book.
So "Listen 'ere, I'm Totally.... TOGETHER!!!"

Jackie Mittoo - The Keyboard King At Studio One
(Previous uploads were marred by artifacts in the sound due to problems which occured during ripping. I think I've got it finally right with this one.)

Soul: Al Green - I Can't Stop


More familiar names with new recordings, although this album is from 2003. Perhaps they knew I was starting this blog ;-)
These guys are pro's of course, Al Green (formerly Greene) also sung gospel for a while, and somehow the music just continues as if the past 20 years somehow never existed.

Al Green - I Can't Stop
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

01 April 2006

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 2 (1936)


My grandfather and uncle liked Billie Holiday so when my mother grew up she heard a lot of Billie's music and became a fan aswell. Same thing with me: the music's great of course but I've also been properly indoctrinated 'cause it happened to be played a lot when I got back from school. And would I've had/if I ever have children they'll receive the same treatment; there's nothing wrong with a 4th generation of Billie Holiday fans.
I was just fortunate enough that my mum didn't have 9 CD's but only 4 LP's so just aswell I don't have an offspring, I guess.

Billie Holiday - Quintessential Vol 2 (1936)
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)

Soul: Various - Soul Anthology


Do we want another soul compilation? Sure, but let's have a look at the tracklist first.
That's old and new(er). I had to swallow when I heard Charles & Eddie (goes to show you have to read the entire tracklist) but I'm cool with that now (just don't think about the videoclip and I'll be fine).
I think it's a happy set of tunes, a reasonable nice hits selection. Label: EMI (= $tateside), booklet is cheap.

Soul Anthology
Part 1
Part 2
(pass: CaesarTjalbo)