Dec 6, 2007

Alphabet Soup, (H)

Hello it's Alphabet Soup day again, love that one grab some of the shelf that wouldnt make it into my other current catagories and no searching needed. Today i have 3 very different albums. James Hall laid down his Love, Sex And Spirit on his debut album, Hall is an intense singer and guitarist, he somehow slipped thru the cracks, guess people were still to busy moaning about Kurt Cobain to notice there were other great rockmusicians with their heart out. This album has remained a favourite of mine, great cover alas likely a little wrong footing. Talk of footing my next artist lost his head on heroin, lost his place at the base of a band that was going places, but after his forced resignation lost their sense of direction and basicly fell apart one year later. So who am i talking about here ? Well the Clash ! And Topper Headon by the time he recorded this-his one and only solo album he was still on it and afterwards sentenced to jail for trafficing drugs or maybe he was just financing his Wake Up ! album. Whatever he pursues his love for light Jazz and R& B here and im sure he, like the rest of us, very much liked those bluesbrothers. Last H of the day is Helicopter Girl a name she picked up in her previous band and in a way she likes the aloof attitude, playing it cool and collected, well that's likely a real alter ego, but her voice lends itself for keeping up such appearances...Her debut album tickled the mercuryprize judges more than enough to nominate her in 2000, 11 tales of love, lust, alienation and revenge.... Ive added a vid to make the point here.

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James Hall - My Love, Sex And Spirit ( 95 ^394mb)

James Hall is American rock singer and guitarist best known for his gothic-style lyrics, distinctive voice, eccentric behavior and eclectic compositions. Born in Houston, he began playing guitar while in seventh grade and formed a cover band at the age of sixteen. After attending Bowling Green University in Kentucky, Hall moved to Atlanta and formed the goth-tinged alternative band Mary My Hope in the mid-'80s. Some quality studiotime resulted in them signing to Silvertone Records and they released their debut, Museum, in 1989. Hall left Mary My Hope in 1991.

After moving to New Orleans and assembling a new backing band (old friend Lynn Wright plus Grant Curry and Sterling Roig), Hall began playing around the Southeast. When the Indigo Girls' Amy Ray saw him perform, she invited him to record for her label Daemon, and the result was 1993's My Love, Sex & Spirit. Hall lets it all out emotionally this rawness may initially repel the listener, but after several listens it begins to haunt and draw you in. Every song is an experience enhanced by a good build up of the album. Venturing farther afield in his club dates supporting the record, Hall was heard by Geffen Records representatives while on the West Coast, and he signed with them in June 1994. After remixing and re-releasing his first album on MCA's Endangered Records in early 1995, Hall began recording new material with Phil Nicolo Hall released Pleasure Club in May 1996, though it got good reviews "brilliant powerful stuff" it didnt launch him.. and so after delivering two great albums Hall dissapeared from the radarscreens.

It wasn't until 2002 that further evidence of Hall appeared with a new band named Pleasure Club. This band featured Hall on vocals and guitar, Micheal Jerome on drums, Grant Curry on bass, and Marc Hutner also on guitar. They released two albums, Here Comes The Trick and The Fugitive Kind. Here Comes The Trick has since been re-released as a double with a live album entitled Live: Out Of The Pulpit accompanying it. Pleasure Club have since disbanded and Hall has returned to his solo work.



01 - Silver Tongues (3:19)
02 - Spade (4:49)
03 - So Precious (5:17)
04 - Sinster (5:48)
05 - Jackson's Lullaby (3:39)
06 - Going Out (5:51)
07 - Deception Of Light (4:42)
08 - Trouble In Paradis (4:06)
09 - Criminal Hero (4:47)
10 - Madness Is A Numbered Face (6:10)
11 - Feeling Of Hope (7:57)


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Topper Headon - Waking Up (86 ^435mb)

Before meeting Headon, the Clash went through several drummers, including Terry Chimes, who recorded on the UK version of the band's self-titled debut. Headon -- something of a 'journeyman' drummer -- originally planned to have only a brief stay with the band, to establish a reputation and then move on. After a period in the Clash, however, Headon realized the full potential of the band, and abandoned his plan to leave the group. He played on the albums Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978), some tracks on The Clash (US version) (1979), London Calling (1979), Sandinista! (1980) and Combat Rock (1982). Also of note are his lead vocal on "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" (from Sandinista!) and his work on the hit single "Rock the Casbah" (from Combat Rock), on which Headon composed most of the music and played drums, piano and bass guitar.

Clash singer/guitarist Joe Strummer said that Headon's drumming skills were a vital part of the band: Headon had strength and stamina, and could play convincingly in funk, reggae and other styles, in addition to traditional rock drumming.Tensions rose between Headon and his fellow bandmembers due to his growing heroin addiction. Eventually it began affecting his drumming so much that the band gave him an ultimatum: kick the habit or be kicked out. Topper was unable to give up drugs and left the band on May 1982, at the beginning of the Combat Rock tour. The band covered up the real reason for Headon's departure, claiming it was due to exhaustion. After Headon's departure the Clash re-hired original drummer Terry Chimes for the tour.

After his work with the Clash, Topper was considered briefly for the drumming stool in Mick Jones' post-Clash band Big Audio Dynamite. However, this failed to work out because of Topper's continuing addiction. Headon subsequently focused on recording a solo album, which resulted in the mostly unnoticed Waking Up (1986) and a 12-inch recording "Drumming Man" and "DuKane Road" with his own composition "Hope for Donna." After this album Headon went to jail on drug supplying charges, subsequently he has spent time in the Priory Psychiatric Hospital in North London to deal with his addiction.

Since the Clash broke up, he has rarely been heard from, though he did produce albums for New York band Bush Tetras.  Although he has mostly moved out of the public eye, Headon continues to play gigs; it was after one of his shows at a pub that he was informed of the death of Clash frontman Joe Strummer. Obviously emotional, Headon said, "It's taken Joe's death to make me realise just how big The Clash were. We were a political band and Joe was the one who wrote the lyrics.

Well his Wake up album was cut with first-rate help from guitarist Bob Tench (of Jeff Beck fame), ex-Clash session keyboardist Mickey Gallagher, and vocalist Jimmy Helms, who sounds appropriately gritty without being overbearing. Musically, the album offers few surprises from the Clash's resident soul-jazz buff, falling comfortably into unhurried jazz, R&B, and soul grooves. Leave it to luck sounds as it came straight from the bluesbrothers soundtrack, and there's more here in the same vain. East vs West could very have done with some Mick Jones' singing . In all not a bad album from a junkie, alas he didnt got to promo it as he went straight to jail for drug trafficking (financing the album ?). In the end Topper is another example how a skilled and succesful artist succumbed to heroin-this time without dying, ironically he probably would be remembered better if he had, but as it happened he faded away...What can i say ? Stay away from heroin, crack cocaine..there's much healthier alternatives to trip and explore the mind.



01 - Leave It To Luck (3:08)
02 - I'll Give You Everything (3:16)
03 - Hope For Donna (4:17)
04 - Got To Keep On Going (4:42)
05 - Dancing (3:29)
06 - Du Cane Road (Jaz mix) (5:13)
07 - Drumming Man (2:53)
08 - You're So Cheeky (3:02)
09 - Pleasure And Pain (4:10)
10 - Time Is Tight (3:38)
11 - When You're Down (3:04)
12 - Just Another Hit (2:58)
13 - Got to get Out Of This Heat (6:18)
14 - Monkey On My Back (3:45)
15 - East Vs West (9:55)
16 - Casablanca (3:46)

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Helicopter Girl - How To Steal The World  (00^279mb)

Helicopter Girl is the stage name of Jackie Joyce, she grew up in Perth, Scotland, as one of only two black kids at school, but remembers her time there as happy and relatively stress-free. ". She's the daughter of a Scottish woman and a Ghanaian man who returned home before she was born, when 25 years later she met her father for the first time..it turned out that meanwhile she had 10 halfbrothers and sisters. (I'd think a bit of a shocker for an 'only' child)

After touring thru the nineties with Ambisonic she more or less thrown in the towel and go for a holistic therapy career when Rob Dickens of Instant karma records intrigued by her Alison Goldfrapp and Portishead's Beth Gibbons feel of her voice and style, offered her a deal. She build her stage name from Ambisonic's first 12 " Helicopter Kinda Girl.

Her first solo album was 2000's How to Steal the World, which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. It did not win, and Joyce took an extended break from the business following the exposure. She's kept her profile low and refused to tour. She didn't refuse Rod Stewart and recorded a ballad with him "Dont Come Around Here", unfortunately trouble with his label stalled this potential megahit. Her second album, Voodoo Chic (featuring the single "Angel City"), came out in 2004. Further cultivating the dangerous sexy and cool image, more dance orientated less late night as her debut.. I suppose a third album will manifest one of these days.



11 tales of love, lust, alienation and revenge

01 - Escape Cloud (4:43)
02 - 345 Wonderful (3:48)
03 - Individual (4:59)
04 - Satan's Seventh Bride (4:24)
05 - Glove Compartment (6:02)
06 - It's Not Fetish (4:25)
07 - Cry Mississippi (4:10)
08 - Powder (2:27)
09 - Subliminal Punk (3:58)
10 - Johni The Dog (3:55)
11 - Putin Circle Stockings (4:22)


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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

11 comments:

METAZETEKLECTIKA said...

Hi Rho

Please remove metazeteklectika from your links section (no more music...)

Thanks & Good Luck

Anonymous said...

Helicopter Girl - How To Steal The World
first of all thank you for all the great posts. excellent taste of music!

now about this one, i downloaded twice and it's keep saying track 01 is corrupt.
can you post it separately please?

thanks in advance
Iraklis

Anonymous said...

Hello, Iraklis
I hope this will solve the problem

http://sharebee.com/f197f971

best of luck,

Rho

Anonymous said...

thanks for the quick response!
:)

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho I am having problems expanding the archive also I have managed to get every track working except track 3. Sorry to be painful but would you mind upping just track 3 ?????
Like the previous posters have said great blog and great selections keep it up, thankyou so much.

Anonymous said...

Thankyou, thankyou thankyou.
What a voice shes like baby Eartha Kitt...grrrr.....
Love it....
I have hunted everywhere for her 2nd Album Voodoo Chic, does anyone have it out there ????
I am in Australia and my only option is to purchase it from the iTunes store and their version is 128K with drm....yuk...
Keep it up Rho-Xs you r a champion :)
regards Chuckywonkers in Oztralia

Anonymous said...

Hello Chuck, yes its amazing how poor the quality is they sell, even more amazing that people buy into it. Anyway can't help you with Voodoo Chic, i think ebay would be the best place to look.

As for unzipping..sometimes a space at the end of the file causes trouble. Nevermind ive uploaded the whole album again.

Helicopter Girl - How To Steal

Best of luck,

Rho

Anonymous said...

You're wonderful thanks so much for that re-upload, good idea I'll try eBay for Voodoo Chic. Thanks for the cool blog I have enjoyed many hours of fine music from here.
Blog On
Regards Chuckywonkers

viagra online said...

In 1997, James toured with Brad, playing guitar and keyboards in support of their Interiors album, I think that James Hall is one of the best singer in the history of the rock music!!22dd

GianniZ said...

Helicopter Girl - How To Steal The World in flac please.
Cheers

AliBoingo said...

Hi Rho, please could you re-up the Topper Headon LP - many thanks!