Rhotation (34) Into BPM

Hello, it's the 34th Rhotation this week Into BPM starts off the week with Richie Hawtin at the helm . His third soloalbum under the moniker Plastikman ; Consumed was an exploration of the idea of sonic space....Next a classic mixalbum, Decks, EFX & 909 and last Ibiza finshing the season with Sven Väth with The Sound Of The Third Season in the Cocoon that is..

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While original Detroit technocrats like Juan Atkins and Derrick May were changing the face of electronic music in the mid-'80s, Richie Hawtin was growing up across the river in Windsor, Ontario. A British native born in 1970, he moved to Canada with his family at the age of nine. Introduced to '70s electronic/minimalist pioneers Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream by his father (who was a robotics engineer for General Motors), Hawtin began DJing at the age of 17 -- as DJ Richie Rich -- and soon landed gigs at Detroit hot-spots like the Shelter and the famed Music Institute, home to all-night club sessions by May and Kevin Saunderson.

His style formed by a fusion of the barest acid house and straitjacket-tight Detroit techno, Richie Hawtin became one of the most influential artists in the world of techno during the 1990s, even while sticking to out-of-date synth dinosaurs like the Roland TB-303 and TR-808. Hawtin combined lean percussion and equally spare acid lines into haunting techno anthems that kicked with more than enough power for the dancefloor while diverting headphone listeners as well. While even his early recordings were quite minimalistic, he streamlined the sound increasingly over the course of his recording career; from the early '90s to the end of the decade, Hawtin's material moved from the verge of the techno mainstream into a yawning abyss of dubbed-out echo-chamber isolationism, often jettisoning any semblance of a bass line or steady beat. Hawtin released material on his own +8 Records under several aliases -- some in tandem with co-founder John Acquaviva -- and made the label one of the best styled in Detroit techno of the 1990s. He earned his pedigrees from worldwide fans of techno for his best-known releases, as Plastikman (for NovaMute) and F.U.S.E. (for Warp/TVT).




The Plastikman project debuted in 1993 with two releases for +8: the seminal "Spastik" single and an album, Sheet One. Hawtin's first wide release, however, came with the alter-ego F.U.S.E. (short for Further Underground Subsonic Experiments). A more varied and melodic project than Plastikman (but not by much), F.U.S.E. released the album Dimension Intrusion for the British Warp Records in late 1993. As part of the label's Artificial Intelligence series, Dimension Intrusion was also licensed to Wax Trax!/TVT for release in America. (Hawtin joined such ambient-techno heroes as the Aphex Twin, Black Dog, Autechre and B12, all receiving their wide-issue debuts.) Later, NovaMute signed an agreement with +8 and another Hawtin-founded label, Probe; Sheet One was reissued in 1994, followed by the second Plastikman LP, Musik. Much more restrained than Sheet One, the album fit in well with the growing ambient-techno movement. All told, Hawtin was responsible for the release of three albums and a good-sized EP in the span of just one year.

That impressive schedule was shattered in 1995, when Hawtin was entangled in a silly U.S.labor law that denied him access with his tools.Refused entrance for more than a year, he lost his inspirational grounding with the Detroit scene and found it difficult to continue recording for his third Plastikman album, Klinik. While he waited for re-entry, Hawtin spent time setting up the sub-label Definitive, and continued to DJ around the world. Though he recorded scattered singles for +8 and related imprints, his only full-length release that year was a killer entry in the Mixmag Live! series, taken from a DJ set recorded at the Building in Windsor. By the time he was able to return to America, he had changed his musical direction and eventually abandoned the Klinik album.

In early 1998, he released his third Plastikman LP, Consumed, which proved to be just as brutally shadowed as the Concept 1 material. The continued experimentalist direction showed Hawtin coming full circle, back to his position on the leading edge of intelligent techno. In May 2000, Hawtin performed at the first Detroit Electronic Festival alongside Derrick May, Juan Atkins and other techno masterminds. More than 200,000 people attended from all over the world.

He spent part of 2002 and 2003 living in New York City, and has since moved to Berlin, Germany.. Hawtin collaborated with choreographer Enzo Cosimi to create a composition called "9.20" for the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. In 2007, Slices DVD magazine launched a series of biographies called "Pioneers of Electronic Music", with the first issue being a roughly 60 minute documentary dedicated to the life of Richie Hawtin. The film follows his career from his early days crossing the border to Detroit to his current life in Berlin, interviewing many colleagues and family members.

Hawtin has recorded music under the aliases Plastikman, F.U.S.E, Concept 1, Circuit Breaker, The Hard Brothers, Hard Trax, Jack Master, and UP!. He also recorded and performed, in combination with other artists, under group names such as 0733, Cybersonik, Final Exposure, Spawn and States Of Mind.


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Plastikman - Consumed ( 98 flac 357mb)

The third in the series of Plastikman albums produced by Richie Hawtin, Consumed is a turn away from the high-bpm, drum-machine mania that characterized much of his its two predecessors, Sheet One (1993) and Musik (1994). The album is an exploration of Plastikman's ambient side and features none of the frantic Detroit techno experiments he was chiefly renowned for at the time. According to Hawtin, 'Consumed' was designed as an exploration of the idea of sonic space, inspired by the vast expanses of Michigan's and Ontario's plains. The album is dominated by extremely sparse basslines and percussion, combined with 'spatial' sound effects, such as reverb, stereo, and delay effects. Ambient techno driven largely by deep, rumbling basslines accentuated with shimmering synth washes and almost subliminal microsound ticks --ambient dark and mysterious in tone.



01 - Contain (8:29)
02 - Consume (11:18)
03 - Passage (In) (0:54)
04 - Cor Ten (6:50)
05 - Convulse (Sic) (1:22)
06 - Ekko (3:55)
07 - Converge (4:24)
08 - Locomotion (8:49)
09 - In Side (12:37)
10 - Consumed (11:43)
11 - Passage (Out) (3:10)

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Richie Hawtin - Decks, EFX and 909 ( 99 flac  378mb)

Decks, EFX and 909 was the next step for Richie Hawtin after his Mixmag live album from 1995 and the increasing minimalism of his subsequent Plastikman material (Consumed ). Hawtin displays not only his talents as a mixer but also as a producer, using turntables, an effects processor, and a Roland pedal, plus a TR-909 drum machine for added beats. An extension of his live sets (though not entirely recorded live), the album employs a degree of improvisation rarely heard on mix albums. The result of Hawtin's obvious labor of love is a mix album that manages to be simultaneously intense and moody, pummeling yet restrained. The beats are clipped and precise,at times, Hawtin has four records spinning at once, and the layers of sound he adds to the show make this album a highly effective techno statement.



01 - Ratio - Early Blow (2:02)
02 - G Flame & Mr. G - Dumped (1:03)
03 - Richard Harvey - User (02) - B2 (1:11)
04 - Richard Harvey - User (04) - A2 (1:04)
05 - Richard Harvey - User (02) - A2 (1:24)
06 - Richard Harvey - User (01) - B2 (1:16)
07 - Richard Harvey - 001A - A2 (1:23)
08 - Grain - B2 (1:09)
09 - Santos Rodriguez - Road To Rio EP - B2 (0:36)
10 - Grain - B1 (1:37)
11 - Santos Rodriguez - Road To Rio EP - A2 (1:28)
12 - Grain - A1 (0:47)
13 - Richard Harvey - 002A - B1 (4:20)
14 - Jeff Mills - Call Of The Wild (1:49)
15 - Jeff Mills - L8 (0:39)
16 - Jeff Mills - Scout (0:27)
17 - Jeff Mills - L8 (0:13)
18 - Richie Hawtin - Orange/Minus 1 (2:11)
19 - Richie Hawtin - Orange/Minus 2 (1:16)
20 - Richie Hawtin - Minus/Orange 2 (0:55)
21 - Nitzer Ebb - Let Your Body Learn (2:11)
22 - Richie Hawtin - Minus/Orange 1 (0:59)
23 - Intermission - What The Hell Was That? (0:09)
24 - Rob Jarvis - Killabite (002) - A1 (2:11)
25 - Ben Sims - The Loops - A1 (2:56)
26 - Jeff Mills - Alarms (1:16)
27 - Surgeon - Force & Form (Surgeon Remake 2) (1:58)
28 - Pacou - Zen (2:07)
29 - Heiko Laux - Five (1:37)
30 - Baby Ford & Eon - Dead Eye (2:23)
31 - Savvas Ysatis - Club Soda (1:20)
32 - Stewart Walker - It's Process Not Substance (0:31)
33 - M - 5 (1:20)
34 - Vladislav Delay - Neo (2:37)
35 - Thor - Aliens Don't Boogie (2:51)
36 - Marco Carola - Question (003) - B2 (2:59)
37 - Quadrant - Kykeon (2:14)
38 - Rhythm & Sound - Never Tell You (Version) (2:41)


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Sven Väth and Richie Hawtin - The Sound Of The Third Season (02 flac 450mb)

Veteran DJs Sven Väth and Richie Hawtin commemorate their summer-long residency at Cocoon in Ibiza with The Sound of the Third Season, a relatively straightforward mix of techno with a creative twist. Since the mix is intended as a commemoration of the many Monday nights Väth and Hawtin spent together in Ibiza at Cocoon, as discussed and pictured in the liner notes, the two intersperse sampled dialogue throughout the mix as a means of better capturing the essence of the summer. Their mix is amazing, they throw down numerous great tracks and don't do anything too fancy -- just mix one kick-ass track unmercifully into the next. The heart-racing intensity doesn't subside until the last quarter of the mix, when you're at the after-party on the beach, where Väth and Hawtin open with Swayzak's soothing "Make up Your Mind (Slight Return)" and bring the mix to a lulling close.



01 - T-Bone Steak... (2:40)
02 - Reinhard Voigt - Supertiel (6:41)
03 - Tony Rohr - Baile Commigo (3:19)
04 - Dirty - Dirty (E-Dancer Remix, Re-Edit By Matthew Roberts) (6:10)
05 - Renato Cohen - Pontapé (4:16)
06 - DJ Shufflemaster - Play Back Pt.3 - Session 1 (5:09)
07 - Slam - Step Back (Smith & Selway Rmx) (1:40)
08 - No Artist - I'm Ready... (3:16)
09 - Technasia - Acid Storm (4:33)
10 - Sven Väth - Steel (Marco Carola Rmx) (4:44)
11 - Koenig Cylinders - 99.9 (John Selway Rmx) (2:26)
12 - No Artist - Amnesia Surprise... (1:36)
13 - A Number Of Names - Shari Vari (The Hacker & Vitalic Remix) (3:55)
14 - John Starlight - Blood Angels (5:47)
15 - Legowelt - Disco Rout (5:39)
16 - No Artist - Let's Continue Our Mission... (1:43)
17- Swayzak - Make Up Your Mind (Slight Return) (4:00)
18 - Wessling & Schrom - Donauwellen (3:25)
19 - Ricardo Villalobos - What You Say Is More Than I Can Say (0:16)
20 - Reinhard Voigt - Recht Erst Jetzt (3:24)
21 - No Artist - Closing Thoughts... - Sven & Rich's Post After-Hours Thoughts (0:18)

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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 !

Alphabet Soup II ( G)

Hello, Alphabet Soup II has reached Gee, and this time i won't pass on an album which has been dear to me for many decades. Playing it again was a mixed thrill, as im made aware that 33 years have passed since i heard it first. This is a cd rip as my vinyl needed replacing back then (20 years ago). ....secondly Martin Gore, Depeche Mode 's main songwriter and occasinal singer, he recorded 2 soloalbums with covers of music that was dear and inspirational to him, i've joined them here..lastly a band of Canadian anarchists into postrock, Godspeed You Black Emperor ! a rather expedient post as today a treaty was made to do away with what the band described as U.X.O. unexploded ordnance(cluster bombs), as for the treaty China, Russia, USA and Israel gave it the middlefinger, they like the idea of children picking up explosives the next day.

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Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway ( 74, 94min. ^ 592mb)

The New Anon got picked up by Jonathan King who helped the band secure its first record deal and baptised them Genesis, the first album flopped and the band split to attend school/university but when Charisma a new label shoed interest they got together again, Trespass, the second album didnt do much better but it opened the door for Gabriels theatricals,again the band almost dissolved but this time they got some important replacements aboard, Phil Collins and Steve Hackett. Their next album, Nursery Cryme, the music was far more exciting than most of the progressive rock of the period, the heart of the record was "The Musical Box," a song telling a Victorian-era story of children, murder, and ghostly apparitions. Their live shows started to gain recognition, as Gabriel began to make ever more extensive use of masks, makeup, and props in concert, telling the framing stories in order to set up their increasingly complicated songs. Foxtrot, released in the fall of 1972, was a turning point in Genesis' history, and not just on commercial terms. The writing, especially on "Supper's Ready" was as sophisticated as anything in progressive rock, and the lyrics were complex, serious, and clever. The group's next release, Selling England by the Pound (1973), retained the pastoral yearning for ancient or medieval England as its primary thematic material, the album focuses on traces of this past in the present.It was also their biggest seller to date.

The release in late 1974 of the ambitious double LP The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway also marked the culmination of the group's early history. A concept album with a very involved story and a cast of characters, its composition had been difficult, involving a story outlined and written (along with most of the lyrics) exclusively by Gabriel. The singer had worked separately from the rest of the group for most of the composition, and a creative split developed between him and the others, which was exacerbated by personal problems that Gabriel was going through at the time, involving his marriage. The division grew worse during the tour that followed, when the other members began to feel that his performance -- and the costumes and costume changes that he required -- began to seriously detract from the music, and worse gave the public the idea that they were Peter Gabriels backing band.

Gabriel has always been unwilling to give a precise explanation of the lyrics. And though i held this album in high regard for many decades, it's superficial explanation of the story has always bothered me, simply not good enough to have captured mine and others interest for so long. So here goes

We can assume Rael (messenger of the Elohim) is a Christ (The Lamb) figure. "The lamb lies down on Broadway" would then mean "Jesus Christ dies in New York." At the end of the story, Rael sacrifices his life for his brother John, in spite of the numerous times John had forsaken him, and he loves him anyway, a very Christian attitude. By making this final correct spiritual decision to save his brother, he allows himself to leave this purgatory into the true afterlife.

Gabriels silence and his known references about dreams has convinced me that he-Peter was a lucid dreamer and possibly an astral traveller, his descriptions of the wall that engolves him, the lifeless(dummy's) in all shapes and sizes he encouters, aswell as the crawlers looking for a way out. The 32 doors is an almost classic dream image, not being able to find his way like the others he trusts a blind woman Lilith ( a demon, after being cursed by Jahweh for not obeying that tiran) leads him thru a tunnel of light to more mystic imagery with the Lamia (half snake/half women)(defacto alien/human halfbreeds) after a pleasant sexual encounter he finds his way to the place where he meets his 'brother John', and where sexual lust is deemed a curse and so they get convinced to do away with it and be castrated. Then a raven appears and flies off with his tubed (sperm), chasing it he leaves his brother behind, when the raven drops it in the river, and he tracks it, he finds himself back on broadway again. As he wonders if this is another dream he hears the cries for help from his 'brother John' who like his tube floats down the river..he slides of the rocky embankment to rescue, when he gets hold of him, he finds that John is him(the tube) and he saves himself from going under. Understanding that it was him letting himself down all along.

In every way, it's a considerable, lasting achievement and it's little wonder that Peter Gabriel had to leave the band after this record: they had gone as far as they could go together, and could never top this extraordinary album. It's supposed to be rereleased as a SACD / DVD double-disc set (with new 5.1 and stereo mixes) in September 2008, dont hold your breath its been announced several times before.



Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway ( 74 ^ 288mb)

01 - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (4:55)
02 - Fly On A Windshield (2:47)
03 - Broadway Melody Of 1974 (1:58)
04 - Cuckoo Cocoon (2:14)
05 - In The Cage (8:15)
06 - The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging (2:45)
07 - Back In N.Y.C. (5:49)
08 - Hairless Heart (2:25)
09 - Counting Out Time (3:45)
10 - The Carpet Crawlers (5:16)
11 - The Chamber Of 32 Doors (5:40)

Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway ( 74 ^ 304mb)

12 - Lilywhite Lilith (2:40)
13 - The Waiting Room (5:28)
14 - Anyway (3:18)
15 - -Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist (2:50)
16 - The Lamia (6:57)
17 - Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats (3:06)
18 - The Colony Of Slippermen (8:14)
------ The Arrival
------ A Visit To The Doctor
------ The Raven
19 - Ravine (2:04)
20 - The Light Dies Down On Broadway (3:32)
21 - Riding The Scree (3:55)
22 - In The Rapids (2:28)
23 - It (4:15)

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Martin L. Gore - Counterfeit 1 and 2 (89/03, 71min.^ 386mb)

Martin Gore was born in Basildon, England, on July 23, 1961. Gore left St. Nicholas's Comprehensive School in 1977 and took a job as a .bank teller. As a teen he joined French Look, a duo featuring schoolmate Vince Clarke; with the subsequent additions of keyboardist Andrew Fletcher and singer David Gahan, the group re-christened itself Depeche Mode. They were producing a slick, techno-based sound to showcase Clarke's catchy melodies. Depeche Mode's 1981 debut LP Speak and Spell was a major British hit, but following the album's release , principal songwriter Clarke abruptly exited to form Yazoo with singer Alison Moyet, leaving the group's future in grave doubt. In Clarke's absence, Gore grabbed the songwriting reins. Gore sings lead vocals on several of the band's songs, notably ballads, his tenor voice providing a contrast to David Gahan's dramatic baritone.

The songs Gore wrote for Depeche Mode's second album, A Broken Frame (1982) were different in sound and lyrical content from Clarke's offerings on Speak & Spell. Gore's writing became gradually darker and more political , his ominous songs grew more assured and sophisticated by the time of 1983's Construction Time Again. Some Great Reward, issued the following year, was Depeche Mode's artistic and commercial breakthrough. The egalitarian single "People Are People" was a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and typified the music's turn toward more industrial textures. 1986's atmospheric Black Celebration continued the trend towards grim melancholy, and further established the group as a major commercial force.

Counterfeit 1 was recorded during a band hiatus after recording and touring for the album Music for the Masses;Counterfeit² was released April 2003 , the album features 11 covers of songs that Martin considered influential to his own compositions for Depeche Mode. He recorded this album around the same time as David Gahan recorded his first solo album Paper Monsters, after the Exciter tour was finished

On 27 August 1994, Gore married lingerie designer Suzanne Boisvert, and has two daughters and a son with her: Viva Lee Gore (born 6 June 1991) and Ava Lee Gore (born 21 August 1995) and Calo Leon Gore (born 27 July 2002). As of January 2006, Gore has divorced from Boisvert. The song "Precious" from 2005's Playing the Angel was a product of the divorce, written as a response to the trauma it caused his children.



01 - Compulsion (5:29)
02 - In A Manner Of Speaking (4:18)
03 - Smile In The Crowd (5:01)
04 - Gone (3:29)
05 - Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth (2:57)
06 - Motherless Child (2:46)



-------Counterfeit 2
07 - In My Time Of Dying (4:24)
08 - Stardust (3:03)
09 - I Cast A Lonesome Shadow (4:49)
10 - In My Other World (3:51)
11 - Loverman (7:01)
12 - By This River (3:58)
13 - Lost In The Stars (2:54)
14 - Oh My Love (3:35)
15 - Das Lied Vom Einsamen Mädchen (5:23)
16 - Tiny Girls (3:20)
17 - Candy Says (4:41)


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Godspeed You Black Emperor ! - Yanqui U.X.O ( 02 * 409mb)

The band took its name from God Speed You! Black Emperor, a little known 1976 Japanese black-and-white documentary by director Mitsuo Yanagimachi, which follows the exploits of a Japanese biker gang, the Black Emperors. The band is most commonly classified as post-rock, but they exhibit influences from a range of styles including progressive rock, punk, classical music and avant-garde.

GYBE! formed in 1994, the band's first album, F#A#(Infinity), was initially a limited-run release of 550 LPs on the Canadian label Constellation, but was picked up by Kranky and released onto CD as well. Early 1999 brought the EP Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada (released by both labels) and increased recognition for a band intent on retaining anonymity. Nevertheless, interest in GYBE! only continued to grow among new music fans, the band's participation in the Peel Session, and the group's consistently impressive live shows.. These performances generally include at least nine or more musicians and a projectionist. The instrumentation consists of three guitars, two basses, French horn, violin, viola, cello, and percussion. 2000 brought about the release of Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, pushing their diverse orchestral rock sound even further into the universe. The group is known for their film loops, which they project behind them during performances. Efrim Menuck has explained that these loops, which are commonly produced by violinist Sophie Trudeau, are an important aspect of their concerts, because they put the whole into context.

The band members have in the past been reluctant to give interviews, and have expressed their distaste for the mainstream, corporation-owned music industry. This has given them a reputation as shadowy, even unfriendly figures, and not a great deal is known about them personally. They even got arrested as suspected terrorists, when a dimwitted gas station attendent gave in to the forcefed paranoia and called the cops when a bunch of Canadian anarchists (GYBE! ) stopped for some gas. In the end it took the FBI to clear them...

Yanqui U.X.O. ( The liner notes also refer to "Yanqui" as a "multinational corporate oligarchy", while "U.X.O." stands for unexploded ordnance.) was released in 2002. The sound over these three long cuts, like all of the band's recordings, develops slowly over time and creates layers of dynamic tension that expresses itself in waves and off-kilter, shimmering flows. Surprisingly here, a more minimal and 'quiet' approach is used. There is more melody, above all, there's aching, anguished beauty created by dissonance between the instruments. The first song is named after the date on which the current Palestinian intifada began: 09-15-00, apparently Ariel Sharon incited the al-Aqsa Intifada by visiting Jerusalem's Temple Mount. This is music for a different kind of engagement that of becoming aware of tyranny and disappearance. In a way that is what they did as from 2003 onwards the band has been on hold.



01 - 09-15-00 (Part One) (16:27)
02 - 09-15-00 (Part Two) (6:16)
03 - Rockets Fall On Rocket Falls (20:42)
04 - Motherfucker = Redeemer (Part One) (21:22)
05 - Motherfucker = Redeemer (Part Two) (10:10)

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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 !

Eight-X (33)

Hello, Eight-X again and i manage 3 vinyls with thusfar unseen artists here, meaning a lot of work. Oh well, plenty of coffee to go around. First up Jona Lewie, the meanest man in showbizz, the album here predates his big kitchen hit, yet it fits wonderfully well, thats why i added it here..in fact you'd have a heard time finding any of his Sonet work officially digitized....second up, Duran Duran they began their career as "a group of art school, experimental, post punk rockers", the band's quick rise to stardom, polished good looks, and embrace of the teen press, almost guaranteed disfavour from music critics. During the 1980s, Duran Duran were considered the quintessential manufactured, throw-away pop group. Well so much for the independent lemming music press. In fact the album here is proof they were much more than that, Rio is '80s, at its best. Its fusion of style and substance ensures that even 25 years after its release it remains as listenable and danceable as ever....Talk of style and substance, todays third show tried it, Paul Weller left the Jam to pursue all that, in 83 initially things went well but by the end of the decade the Style Council was no more. Here their first (mini) album contaaining their first singles, it was 25 years ago and we're at the start of another long hot summer..so be prepared...

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Jona Lewie - Gatecrasher (80 ^ 99mb)

Jona Lewie (John Lewis, 14 March 1947) he joined his first group, The Johnston City Jazz Band, while still at school in 1963, and started in the music industry as a session pianist. In 68, whilst studying sociology, he was a regular and popular face in the London's jazz and blues clubs. In 69 he joined Brett Marvin And The Thunderbolts who recorded the 'Gasolene'.album for United Artists Records In 1970 they went to Sonet, where they had their first hit 'Seaside Shuffle' under the pseudonym of Terry Dactyl and The Dinosaurs. It made No. 2 in the British charts and was a big hit across Europe, suggestions that it was a rip off from Mungo Jerry's big hit ,In The Summertime, can be layed aside as the track had been part of their reportoire before all that, in fact it's likely the other way around, as Mungo had been a backing act for the band.

In 1975 Brett Marvin And The Thunderbolts went their separate ways and Jona Lewie signed to Sonet as soloist and released a few singles. An early version of 'Hallelujah Europa' was rejected by the selection team of The Eurovision song contest. Then in 77 he was signed to Stiff records. Despite an appearance on the highly publicised "Be Stiff" tour, Jona remained largely unknown until 1980 when You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties broached the UK Top 20.

A follow-up release, Stop The Cavalry, reached Number 3 later that year when its nostalgic brass arrangement proved popular in the Christmas market. However, a subsequent album, Heart Skips A Beat, produced by Rupert Hine, failed to consolidate this success. A decade later in 93 he's released Optimistic, which went under in rave cultere, currently Jona has been busy recording a new album that will be released this year.

This compilation album released by Sonet consist of tracks recorded throughout the seventies by Jona Lewie - with Terry Dactyl and The Dinosaurs and as a solo artist - before he signed a record deal to Siff Records.



01 - The Swan (3:11)
02 - Piggyback Sue (2:38)
03 - Rockin' Yobs (2:17)
04 - Hallelujah Europa (Part 1 & 2) (9:36)
05 - Seaside Shuffle (2:29)

06 - Cherry Ring (2:18)
07 - On A Saturday Night (2:30)
08 - She Left I Died (2:54)
09 - Papa Don't Go (2:27)
10 - Come Away (Bate O Pe) (2:56)
11 - Custers Last Stand (3:16)
---Xs
12 - You'll always find me in the kitchen at parties (2:58)
13 - Yeah (0:06)

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Duran Duran - Rio (82 ^ 291mb)

John Taylor and Nick Rhodes formed Duran Duran in Birmingham, UK in 1978, naming the band after the villain "Dr. Durand Durand", in the science-fiction film, Barbarella. Their first singer was Stephen Duffy. Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor, and Simon Le Bon joined in the next year (Non of the 3 Taylors are related) . The group has never disbanded, but the line-up has changed to include guitarist Warren Cuccurullo from 1989 to 2001, and drummer Sterling Campbell from 1989 to 1991. The reunion of the original five members in the early 2000s created a stir among the band's fans and music media. Meanwhile Andy Taylor left the band in summer 2006, and London guitarist Dom Brown has been working with the band since.

By the end of 1980, Duran Duran had become popular within the burgeoning new romantic circuit in England and had secured a record contract with EMI. "Planet Earth," the band's first single, quickly rose to number 12 upon its spring 1981 release. Immediately, Duran Duran became the leaders of the new romantic movement, becoming media sensations in the British music and mainstream press. The girls on film video got banned but the single reached the top ten nevertheless. It launched their eponymous debut album, Duran Duran reached number three upon its release and stayed in the charts for 118 weeks.

The band quickly followed the album with Rio in the spring of 1982. Rio entered the charts at number two, and its singles -- "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Save a Prayer" -- became Top Ten hits. Duran Duran mania was in full swing across America, with "Is There Something I Should Know" reaching the Top Ten , they capitalized on their popularity by releasing Seven and the Ragged Tiger in time for 1983's holiday season. In November 84, Duran Duran released the non-LP single "Wild Boys," which reached number two in the U.K. and the U.S., where it was added to the live album Arena.

Early 1985 they completed the title track the Bond film A View to a Kill, subsequently the group went on hiatus. Andy and John Taylor formed the supergroup the Power Station with vocalist Robert Palmer releasing their eponymous debut album in the spring. The remaining members of Duran Duran -- Nick Rhodes, Simon LeBon, and Roger Taylor -- responded with their own side project, Arcadia, which released an album called So Red the Rose in the fall of 1985; the album launched the Top Ten hit "Election Day." Early in 1986, Roger Taylor took an extended sabbatical from the group, he never returned. Several months later, Andy Taylor also left, reducing Duran Duran to a trio.

Late in 1986, the band released Notorious, their first album in nearly three years. While it was relatively successful, going platinum in the U.S. and generating a Top Ten hit with the title track, it was noticeably less popular than their earlier records. For the remainder of the decade, Duran Duran's popularity continually declined, with 1988's Big Thing producing "I Don't Want Your Love," their last Top Ten single for five years. In 1993, the band returned from a prolonged hiatus with [The Wedding Album, a mature record that spawned Top Ten hits "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone". The record restored their commercial status, and earned them some of their best reviews of their career. The group followed the album with one of their poorest-received efforts, 1995's all-covers Thank You.John Taylor left the band to pursue a solo career, Medazzaland, the Thank You follow-up, was released in 1997 but failed to produce any major hits. 2000's Pop Trash suffered a similar fate.

In 2000, John Taylor approached Le Bon and Rhodes with a proposal to re-form Duran Duran's classic line-up. They agreed, and after completing the Pop Trash tour fired Cuccurullo by letter, to fulfill contractual obligations, Cuccurullo played three Duran Duran concerts in Japan in August 2001, ending his tenure in the band. Throughout 2001, 2002 and 2003, the band worked on writing new material. It proved difficult to find a record label willing to gamble on the band's comeback, so Duran Duran went on tour to prove the drawing power of the reunited band. The response of the fans and the media exceeded everyone’s expectations. Finally, with more than thirty-five songs completed, the band signed a four-album contract with Epic Records in June, and completed the new album, now entitled Astronaut, with producer Don Gilmore.

In early 2006, Duran Duran covered John Lennon's song "Instant Karma" for the Make Some Noise campaign sponsored by Amnesty International, and performed at two high profile events — the Nobel Prize Awards and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. October 2006, Andy Taylor parted ways with Duran Duran for the second time. Dominic Brown, who had previously toured with the band, took over guitar duties and has been performing with them since. After Taylor's departure, the band scrapped the Reportage album and wrote and recorded Red Carpet Massacre, it again displayed Duran Duran's instantly recognised blend of vulnerability and defiance, crystal pure perfection of production, skilled performance and delivery, in short it was well recieved again, after 14 years of doubt. In July, the band performed twice at the massive Wembley Stadium, at the Concert for Diana and at Live Earth concert, London. As of May 2008, they are on the US leg of their 2008 world tour.



01 - Rio (5:29)
02 - My Own Way (4:46)
03 - Lonely In Your Nightmare (3:46)
04 - Hungry Like The Wolf 3:37)
05 - Hold Back The Rain (3:54)

06 - New Religion (5:27)
07 - Last Chance On The Stairway (4:15)
08 - Save A Prayer (5:29)
09 - The Chauffeur (5:02)

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Style Council, The - Introducing (83 flac 193mb)

Guitarist/vocalist Paul Weller broke up the Jam, the most popular British band of the early '80s, at the height of their success in 1982 because he was dissatisfied with their musical direction. Weller wanted to incorporate more elements of soul, R&B, and jazz into his songwriting, which is something he felt his punk-oriented bandmates were incapable of performing. In order to pursue this musical direction, he teamed up in 1983 with keyboardist Mick Talbot, a former member of the mod revival band the Merton Parkas. The permanent lineup grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn also collaborated with the group.

The band's early singles showed a diversity of musical styles. "Speak Like a Child" (with its loud soul-influenced style), the extended funk of "Money-Go-Round", and the haunting synth-ballad "Long Hot Summer" all featured Talbot on keyboards and organ. Near the end of 1983, these singles were compiled on Introducing The Style Council, a mini-album initially released in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States only. The Dutch version was heavily imported to the United Kingdom.

The Style Council released their first full-length album, Cafe Bleu, in March of 1984; two months later, a resequenced version of the record, retitled My Ever Changing Moods, was released in America. It was their most successful album, peaking at number five in the U.K. and number 56 in the U.S. In the summer of 1985, the Style Council had another U.K. Top Ten hit with "The Walls Come Tumbling Down." The single was taken from Our Favourite Shop, which reached number one on the U.K. charts; the record was released as Internationalists in the U.S.

In 1986, the band released a live album, Home and Abroad, and, in 1987, the album The Cost of Loving was launched, followed later in the year by the upbeat non-album single "Wanted", which reached #20 in the United Kingdom. However, by the time Confessions of a Pop Group was released a year later, the group's popularity had largely evaporated. A greatest hits album, appropriately called The Singular Adventures of The Style Council, was released internationally in 1989; it included the non-album single "Promised Land", which had reached #27 in the United Kingdom earlier that year.

The Style Council broke up in 1989, after recording a house album (Modernism: A New Decade) that was rejected by their record label, Polydor . However, the entire album was released in 1998, both independently and in a 5-CD boxset, The Complete Adventures Of The Style Council). Paul Weller and Mick Talbot officially broke up the Style Council in 1990. In 1991, Weller launched a solo career which would return him to popular and critical favor in the mid-'90s, while Talbot continued to play, both with Weller and as a solo musician.



01 - Long Hot Summer (6:57)
02 - Headstart For Happiness (2:49)
03 - Speak Like A Child (3:14)

04 - Long Hot Summer (Club Mix) (6:51)
05 - The Paris Match (3:42)
06 - Mick's Up (3:07)
07 - Money-Go-Round (Club Mix) (7:37)

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Around The World (33)

Hello, Around the World is upping the ante from classical - to timeless treasures, which is a bit premature , considering it's 20th century music we get here. And so the first 41 min. we get three Americans in this classical series, Gershwin, Barber and Bernstein. Satie and Shostakovich show up before Orff's Camina Burana highlights brings us back to earth letting Lux Mundi lays down a heavenly gregorian groove to finish.

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George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer. He wrote most of his vocal and theatrical works in collaboration with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin. George Gershwin composed songs both for Broadway and for the classical concert hall. He also wrote popular songs with success. His parents had bought a piano for his older brother Ira Gershwin, but to his parents' surprise and Ira's relief, it was George who played it. Gershwin tried various piano teachers for two years, and then was introduced to Charles Hambitzer by Jack Miller, the pianist in the Beethoven Symphony Orchestra. Hambitzer acted as George's mentor until his death, in 1918.

At the age of fifteen, George quit school and found his first job as a performer was as a "song plugger" for Jerome H. Remick and Company, a publishing firm on New York City's Tin Pan Alley earning $15 a week. His 1917 novelty rag "Rialto Ripples" was a commercial success, and in 1919 he scored his first big national hit with his song "Swanee." In 1916, he started working for Aeolian Company and Standard Music Rolls in New York, recording and arranging piano rolls

In 1924, Gershwin composed his first major classical work, Rhapsody in Blue for orchestra and piano, which was orchestrated by Ferde Grofé and premièred with Paul Whiteman's concert band in New York. It proved to be his most popular work. Gershwin stayed in Paris for a short period, where he applied to study composition with Nadia Boulanger. Boulanger, along with several other prospective tutors like Maurice Ravel, rejected him, however, afraid rigorous study would ruin his jazz-influenced style.[9] While there, he wrote An American in Paris. This work received mixed reviews upon its first performance at Carnegie Hall on December 13, 1928 but quickly became part of the standard repertoire in Europe and the United States.

His most ambitious composition was Porgy and Bess (1935). Called by Gershwin himself a "folk opera," the piece premièred in a Broadway theater and is now widely regarded as the most important American opera of the twentieth century. Based on the novel Porgy by DuBose Heyward, the action takes place in a black neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina, and with the exception of several minor speaking roles, all of the characters are black. The music combines elements of popular music of the day, which was strongly influenced by black music, with techniques found in opera, such as recitative and leitmotifs.

Early in 1937, Gershwin began to complain of blinding headaches and a recurring impression that he was smelling burned rubber. He had developed a type of cystic malignant brain tumor known as glioblastoma multiforme. It was in Hollywood, while working on the score of The Goldwyn Follies, that he collapsed and, on July 11, 1937, died at the age of 38 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital following surgery for the tumor.

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Leonard Bernstein ( August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was the first conductor born and educated in the United States of America to receive world-wide acclaim. At a very young age, Bernstein heard a piano performance and was immediately captivated; he subsequently began learning the piano. After graduation from Boston Latin School in 1934 Bernstein attended Harvard University, where he studied music with Walter Piston. After completing his studies at Harvard he enrolled in the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he received the only "A" grade Fritz Reiner ever awarded in his class on conducting.

During his young adult years in New York City, Bernstein enjoyed an exuberant social life that included relationships with both men and women. Bernstein married Chilean actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn on September 9, 1951, reportedly in order to increase his chances of obtaining the chief conducting position with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.They had three children, Jamie, Alexander, and Nina. During his married life, Bernstein tried to be as discreet as possible with his extramarital liaisons. But as he grew older, and as the Gay Liberation movement made great strides, Bernstein became more emboldened, eventually leaving Felicia to live with his lover Tom Cothran.

Bernstein was very highly regarded as a conductor, composer, and educator, and probably best known to the public as longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, for conducting concerts by many of the world's leading orchestras, and for writing the music for West Side Story. He wrote three symphonies, two operas, five musicals, and numerous other pieces.

West Side Story is a musical based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which was based on a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke entitled The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet (1562), which was inspired by the legend of Tristan and Isolde. Set on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the musical explores the rivalry between two teenage gangs of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The young protagonist, Anton ("Tony"), who belongs to the native Manhattan gang, falls in love with Maria, the sister of the leader of the rival Puerto Rican gang. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theater. Bernstein's score for the musical has become extremely popular; it includes "Something's Coming", "Maria", "America," "Somewhere," "Tonight", "Jet Song", "I Feel Pretty", "One Hand, One Heart", and "Cool".

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Carl Orff (July 10, 1895 – March 29, 1982) was born in Munich and came from a Bavarian family that was very active in the German military. Moser's Musik-Lexikon states that Orff studied at the Munich Academy of Music until 1914. He then served in the military during World War I. Afterwards, he held various positions at opera houses in Mannheim and Darmstadt, later to return to Munich to pursue further his music studies. As of 1925, and for the rest of his life, Orff was the head of a department and co-founder of the Guenther School for gymnastics, music, and dance in Munich, where he worked with musical beginners. Having constant contact with children, this is where he developed his theories in music education.

Carl Orff managed to confuse the nazi's when in 1937, a celebration of the triumph of the human spirit through sexual and holistic balance, based on thirteenth-century poetry found in a manuscript dubbed the Codex latinus monacensis, was performed for the first time, Carl Orf's Camina Burana * . Some nazi's branded it degenerate , others applauded, in any case Orff got away with it, and remained a music teacher all his life, he died 1982.

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Millenium Classics - Timeless Treasures (182mb)

01 - G.Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue (14:47)
02 - S.Barber - Adagio for Strings (8:36)
03 - L.Bernstein - West Side Story-Prologue (4:23)
04 - L.Bernstein - West Side Story-Somewhere (3:48)
05 - L.Bernstein - West Side Story-Cha cha (1:00)
06 - L.Bernstein - West Side Story-Meeting scene (0:56)
07 - L.Bernstein - West Side Story-Cool (3:57)
08 - L.Bernstein - West Side Story-Finale (3:45)
09 - E.Satie - Gymnopedie - I Lent et douloureux (3:50)
10 - E.Satie - Gymnopedie - II Lent et triste (3:21)
11 - E.Satie - Gymnopedie - LEnt et grave (3:04)
12 - D.Shostakovich - Suite for Jazz-IV Waltz (3:46)
13 - C.Orff - Carmina Burana-Fortuna imperatrix mundai-I O Fortuna (2:55)
14 - C.Orff - Carmina Burana-Uf dem anger-VI Tanz (2:00)
15 - C.Orff - Carmina Burana-Uf dem anger-VII Floret sila nobilis (3:31)
16 - C.Orff - Carmina Burana-Uf dem anger-VIII Charmer, gip die varwe mir (3:35)
17 - Carl Orff - Carmina Burana Reie, Swaz, Chume (IX) (5:12)
18 - C.Orff - Carmina Burana-Uf dem anger-X Were diu werlt alle min (0:57)
19 - Lux Mundi - Masscapella, No.3 (4:59)


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Foundation V

Hello , the Foundation saga continues with the Foundation trilogy epic, last weeks episode IV dealt with the cleaverly outmanouvered General Roise, so what happened..


"The General," tells how the Galactic Empire, now well into its collapse, launches an attack against the Foundation. They are led by General Bel Riose, a commander of supposedly unparalleled prowess. The Empire, though a mere shadow of its former self, still retains far more resources and personnel than the Foundation. Riose asks the Emperor for reinforcements, apparently more than he could possibly need, so he can guarantee victory over the Foundation. He also rejects the Foundation's offer of "You stop invading us and we'll pay you a generous amount of money." Devers, a native of the foundation intercepts a message that summarizes the General's doings, and escapes to Trantor, trying to see the emperor and show him the message. He fails and is nearly killed, but the emperor finds out anyway. In the end, the emperor decides that Riose is too dangerous (refusing bribes? Highly suspicious. Taking that many reinforcements? And he's popular enough that he could easily turn them against the Empire and carve out his own territory), and has him tried and executed....

This was the psychohistorical defense: Under a weak emperor, an upstart general would have much greater opportunities for an internal overthrow than an external conquest on the edge of the Galaxy. A weak general, of course, is no threat to the foundation, even under a strong Emperor. The strong emperor himself, in a declining empire, cannot dare to leave the central planet to make war at the fringes of the empire, because he would be soon disposed of by the competition at the court at the central planet. So, the emperor cannot play general himself, because then someone will take over while he is off conquering the Foundation. The only time there would be an actual threat to the Foundation would be when there was both a strong emperor and a strong general; the general could not overthrow the emperor, so his attention would be diverted outwards. A strong Emperor, however, is one that allows no one else to become too powerful; a strong emperor would kill a competent, strong general before he even launched an attack. So, the strong emperor would eventually become fearful of the strong general's exploits, and being a capable emperor he would get rid of a general like Riose, as happens in the story. In all cases, the Foundation is invulnerable.

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Foundation V (The Mule) (37mb)

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Sundaze (33)

Hello, Sundaze 33 and some relaxing and introspective music coming up. First off, Craig Armstrong his work with Massive Attack drew the spotlights but he already build a career before that, afterwards he build strongly on the opportunities that came his way, he's an established Soundtrack composer, and even if 'As If To Nothing' is his 2nd regular album, obviously his music creates images making it a virtual soundtrack.....secondly Ullrich Schnauss, the German really come to his own with his retro-futurist second album....Finally another Muzik Mag cd, promoting their radio show , The Blue Room, Chris Coco and Rob Da Bank chill and get all mixed up....

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Craig Armstrong - As If To Nothing (02 ^ 411mb )

Armstrong studied musical composition, violin and piano at the Royal Academy of Music where he was awarded the Charles Lucas prize and the Harvey Lohr scholarship for composition. He was also awarded the FTCL Fellowship in composition, and won the GLAA Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 1982. During the 1980s, Armstrong's composition work included commissions from the Arts Council for various classical ensembles in Scotland, and he also served as resident composer at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow. Armstrong's production career took off in the early '90s. He composed music for several BBC and STV productions during this time, but his big break came with the Scottish pop trio Big Dish. Armstrong co-wrote three songs on the trio's Satellites album, released in 1991, and also provided string arrangements for the album. Three years later, in 1994, Armstrong worked with renowned trip-hop group Massive Attack on its genre-defining Protection album. By the end of the '90s, Armstrong had collaborated with such big-name artists as U2, Madonna, Hole, the Spice Girls, the London Suede, and Tina Turner, in addition to many other lesser-known artists.

Armstrong's solo debut, The Space Between Us, was released on Massive Attack's Melankolic label in 1998. The album didn't prove to be as popular as expected, but it nonetheless increased Armstrong's reputation as a noteworthy producer. During this same late-'90s era, Armstrong continued working on soundtrack projects, which remained his most acclaimed work. However, he worked on soundtracks for much more successful films such as Mission: Impossible (1996), Romeo + Juliet (1998), Cruel Intentions (1999), and -- perhaps his most celebrated soundtrack work -- Moulin Rouge (2001). Following the success of Moulin Rouge, and its second volume, Armstrong returned in 2002 with his second non-soundtrack full-length effort, As if to Nothing, which boasted a new version of U2's "Stay (Faraway, So Close)." In 2004, he provided the score for the Ray Charles biopic Ray, and in 2005, an anthology of his film work was released. His most recent film scores are for Richard Curtis's 2003 film Love Actually, the Academy Award winning Taylor Hackford film, Ray (for which Armstrong won a Grammy Award) and Oliver Stone's 2006 film World Trade Center.

If the lush, sweeping strings and ambient beats of The Space Between Us seemed cinematic, As if to Nothing suggests an even bolder turn toward film score territory. It's an indication of how Armstrong's stock rose after Moulin Rouge was released and after his work with Massive Attack was featured in advertisements and soundtracks around the world that so many collaborators join the fray here. Bono, Evan Dando, Mogwai, Photek, and David McAlmont all attempt star turns, and less well-known performers from Big Dish, Alpha, and Laub get in on the festivities as well. But Armstrong's string arrangements are still the focal point, to the extent that most of the collaborators are relegated to a back seat. In 2004 he released Pianoworks, containing solo piano pieces from different soundtracks played by himself. Followed by the Film Works 1995 - 2005 compilation. His latest album, Memory Takes My Hand will be released early june..



Craig Armstrong - As If To Nothing ( now in Flac 411mb)

01 - Ruthless Gravity (5:50)
02 - Wake Up In New York (Voc.Evan Dando) (3:30)
03 - Miracle (Voc.Swati Natekar) (3:19)
04 - Amber (5:09)
05 - Finding Beauty (3:38)
06 - Waltz (Voc.Antye Greie-Fuchs) (5:16)
07 - Inhaler (4:55)
08 - Hymn 2 (4:49)
09 - Snow (Voc.David McAlmont) (3:52)
10 - Starless II (4:36)
11 - Stay (Faraway, So Close!) (Voc.Bono) (6:01)
12 - Niente (4:48)
13 - Sea Song (Voc.Wendy Stubbs) (5:54)
14 - Let It Be Love (Voc.Steven Lindsay) (3:50)
15 - Choral Ending (2:47)


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Ullrich Schnauss - A Strangely Isolated Place (04 ^ 424mb)

Ulrich Schnauss was born in northern Germany fishing port Kiel in 1977. During his formative years, he grew a love for a broad spectrum of music ranging from My Bloody Valentine to Tangerine Dream, to early bleep & breakbeat tracks. There was not much opportunity to see some of his musical heroes in Kiel, so the inevitable pull of the big city meant a move to Berlin in 1996.

By that time Ulrich's musical output had already become prolific with a variety of pseudonyms (most notably View to the Future and Ethereal 77) veering from ambient to drum and bass via electronica. These earlier works were soon catching the eye of Berlin electronica label CCO (City Centre Offices) who took up the story. Soon these submissions to CCO developed into Ulrich’s first album under his own name entitled  Far Away Trains Passing By which as it slowly seeped into peoples' consciousness became an electronic classic. Listeners were taken with the lush instrumentation and the emotion of the elegant, simple and beautiful music.The album became a critical hit and gained more and more listeners through the next couple years as it seeped into the far East and America.

Yet nothing was to prepare his growing army of supporters for this next record A Strangely Isolated Place which slowly came together during 2003 into a record that really showed some of Ulrich's youthful indie influences. His debut album under his real name established his pedigree as an outstanding electronic composer, but somehow he managed to take it further by developing his interest in songwriting for electronic music, born of his love for such giants of the independent world as My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields and Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie.From this humble conception, comes forth a record of surprisingly rare emotional power. A Strangely Isolated Place became a genuinely word-of-mouth record slowly growing in stature. The results are an oddly retro-futurist record, which owes more to MBV's Loveless or Vangelis' Blade Runner soundtrack than Ulrich's computer peers.

Since the release of both albums Ulrich has been asked to work with and remix a host of artists, he has done occosional live shows and meanwhile his third album, "Goodbye", was released a year ago. Early 2007 he joined Longview as their keyboardist, maybe less surprising considering he's done many remixes of their work allready, most notably the bonus remix cd of Longview's debut album "Mercury" rereleased in 2005.



01 - Gone Forever (8:12)
02 - On My Own (6:41)
03 - A Letter From Home (6:57)
04 - Monday - Paracetamol (7:57)
05 - Clear Day (7:42)
06 - Blumenthal (6:38)
07 - In All The Wrong Places (6:53)
08 - A Strangely Isolated Place (10:49)
bonus
09 - Gone Forever ( Robin Guthrie Remix) 5:45
10 - On My Own  ( Robin Guthrie Remix) 6:54

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from deleted page  germany north

Ulrich Schnauss - Far Away Trains Are Passing By  ( ' 01. 598mb).

01 Knuddelmaus (7:01)
02 Between Us And Them (7:27)
03 ...Passing By (6:34)
04 Blumenwiese Neben Autobahn (6:33)
05 Nobody's Home (7:34)
06 Molfsee (8:06)

Bonus

07 Sunday Evening In Your Street 6:47
08 Suddenly The Trees Are Giving Way 6:24
09 Nothing Happens In June 6:13
10 As If You've Never Been Away 7:02
11 A Million Miles Away 7:09
12 Crazy For You 6:34
13 Wherever You Are 6:52

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VA - The Blue Room (Mixed By Chris Coco and Rob Da Bank) (02, 70min ^ 411mb)

From 2002 and until September 2006, Chris Coco and Rob da Bank were the joint presenters for BBC Radio 1's The Blue Room. Rob da Bank remains as presenter for the network's leftfield music programme. To boost their mediapresence, a month after they started the The Blue Room show, Muzik Magazine let them compile that months bonus cd. The result, 70min of lazy space grooves....



01 - Neon Heights - Listen To The Music (Dub) (5:23)
02 - Mark Rae = Lobster (3:22)
03 - Abraham - Magpie (Morgan Geist Remix) (3:07)
04 - Flunk - Blue Monday (4:10)
05 - Ulrich Schnauss - Knuddelmaus (6:49)
06 - Sondre Lerche - Dead Passengers (3:28)
07 - Chris Coco - Only Dub (4:13)
08 - Asa-Chang & Junray - Hana (6:48)
09 - ISAN - Betty's Lament (4:46)
10 - Hardkandy - Big Sand (Nylon Rhythm Machine Mix) (4:37 )
11 - Banzai Republic - Love Throughout The World (6:33)
12 - Bjørn Torske - Trøbbel (4:27)
13 - Crackpot - Heavy Flowers (3:42)
14 - Lazyboy - Don't Fret George (Voc.Cathy Battistessa) (4:34)
15 - Neil Halstead - Sailing Man (3:44)

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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 !

Rhotation (33) Into BPM

Hello, It's Rhotation thirty-tree and Into BPM starts off the week with ambient house, 808 State reaches the ambient house state regularly on this album, great band, seen them live ..great night. Anyway the original 90 album was re edited and got seven more tracks to it and (re)released as Utd State 90...secondly The KLF real mavericks, it takes some attitude to burn a million dollars, musically they were on their top with White Room, what turned out to be their last album......Ambient house was still unkown and counter the flow of rave music, when this italian compilation was released mid ninety, summertime. ...

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808 State - Utd. State 90 ( 90, 73min ^ 176mb)

808 State was formed in 1988 in Bury, England by Martin Price, Graham Massey and Gerald Simpson, initially to form a hip-hop group called Hit Squad Manchester. Soon after the band shifted to an acid house sound, and recorded their debut Newbuild in 1988, naming themselves 808 State honoring the impact the Roland TR-808 drummachine had on them. The album was released on Price's own record label. Simpson left the group in 1989 to form his own solo project, A Guy Called Gerald.Martin . Graham enlisted DJs. Andrew Barker and Darren Partington to record the EP Quadrastate and their next album, Ninety, which put them right in the rave culture. In the US, Tommy Boy got its version of the 90 album almost exactly right. While the track order was drastically changed (and the 60-second concluding track, "The Fat Shadow," removed), there was no real disruption of flow, and seven bonus tracks were added to create a full CD's worth of early 808 in one easy package . The new tracks come from a variety of sources, most being earlier (or later) singles or remixes done exclusively for this release.

For 1991 Ex:el , they brought in Bernard Sumner (New Order) and ex-Sugarcubes Björk for lyrics and vocals. In 1992, Price left the group to perform solo producing, eventually forming his own label, Sun Text. The remaining members released a fourth album called Gorgeous, and after that, did some remix work for David Bowie, Soundgarden, and other performers, before returning with the album entitled Don Solaris in 1996. This album marked a change for the band who wanted to shake off their rave moniker and, with 'Don Solaris', they aimed to create a more beautiful, cinemascopic sound. They released a greatest-hits compilation named 808:88:98 in 1998-their last on record label ZTT and a 1998 remix of Pacific soared high in the charts. In 2000, their pioneering 1988 acid house album 'Newbuild' was re-released.In 2003 came their last release thusfar Outpost Transmission .




808 State - Utd. State 90 ( ^ 476mb)

01 - Pacific 202 (5:43)
02 - Boneyween (6:09)
03 - Ancodia (5:12)
04 - Kinky National (3:58)
05 - Cobra Bora (5:47)
06 - Cubik (3:36)
07 - Magical Dream (3:52)
08 - 808080808 (4:20)
09 - Revenge Of The Girlie Men (4:16)
10 - Donkey Doctor (5:24)
11 - Sunrise (6:33)
12 - State To State (5:50)
13 - Pacific 212 (Rmx Justin Strauss) (6:49)
14 - Pacific 718 ( rmx musto & bones (5:46)

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The KLF - The White Room (91 ^ 253mb)

Originally scheduled to be released in 1989 as the soundtrack to a film of the same name, the album's direction was changed after both the film and the original soundtrack LP were cancelled at the last moment. Most of the tracks on the original version of the album are present in the final release, albeit in significantly remixed form. The White Room was supposed to be followed by a darker, harder complementary album called The Black Room, but the latter was never released due to the KLF's retirement from the music business in 1992.

The White Room was conceived as the soundtrack to a road movie, also called The White Room, about the KLF's search for the mystical White Room that would enable them to be released from their contract with Eternity. Parts of the movie were filmed in the Sierra Nevada region of Spain. The soundtrack album contained pop-house versions of some of the KLF's earlier "Pure Trance" singles, as well as new songs. The film project was fraught with difficulties and setbacks, including dwindling funds. As a consequence, The White Room film project was put on hold, and the KLF abandoned the musical direction of the soundtrack and single.Neither the film nor its soundtrack were formally released, although bootleg copies of both exist.

Meanwhile, the KLF's single "What Time Is Love?", which had originally been released in 1988 and largely ignored by the public, was generating acclaim within the underground clubs of continental Europe; according to KLF Communications, "The KLF were being feted by all the 'right' DJs".This prompted Drummond and Cauty to pursue the acid house tone of their Pure Trance series. A further Pure Trance release, "Last Train to Trancentral", followed. In October 1990, the KLF launched a series of singles with an upbeat pop-house sound they dubbed "Stadium House". Songs from The White Room soundtrack were re-recorded with rap and more vocals, a sample-heavy pop-rock production, and crowd noise samples. The "Stadium House" versions of "What Time Is Love?" and "3 a.m. Eternal" were immediate hits, with "3 a.m. Eternal" becoming the KLF's only number-one release. These "Stadium House" tracks made up a large part of The White Room when it was eventually released in March 1991, substantially reworked from the original soundtrack version.

In 1993, NME staff and contributors voted the album the 81st best of all time, in 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 89 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.



01 - What Time Is Love? (LP Mix) (5:17)
02 - Make It Rain (3:36)
03 - 3 A.M. Eternal (Live At The S.S.L.) (3:35)
04 - Church Of The KLF (1:53)
05 - Last Train To Trancentral (Live From The Lost Continent) (3:41)
06 - Build A Fire (4:35)
07 - The White Room (5:15)
08 - No More Tears (6:41)
09 - Justified And Ancient (5:02)

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VA - Ambient House (90 ^ 285mb)

The ambient house movement began in the late 1980s largely due to the demand for post-rave "come-down" music. It was founded mainly by The Orb members Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. They drew from many influences including Steve Reich, Brian Eno, reggae music, and 1970s psychedelic rock, including Pink Floyd. The Orb established the genre in 1989 as DJs at The Land of Oz, based at Heaven. After a recording session with John Peel later that year, The Orb released the twenty-minute "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld" On this DFC compilation KLF and the Orb are in excellent company...



01 - Morenas - Hazme Soñar (6:13)
02 - Aqua Regia - N.Y.C. Smile On Me (5:45)
03 - KLF, The - Last Train To Trancentral (Remix) (6:00)
04 - Extreme - Trasparenza (4:44)
05 - Sueño Latino - Luxuria (4:07)
06 - Orb, The - A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules The World From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Why Is Six Scared Of Seven?) (5:27)
07 - Sueño Latino - Sueno Latino (3:57)
08 - Morenas - Somnambulism (5:55)
09 - Aqua Regia - Aqueanosolo (3:50)
10 - Lux - Deep Down (New Age Instrumental Version Edit) (6:00)

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Alphabet Soup (F)

Hello, Alphabet Soup II reached F, my first stop here was a remarkle band, when they recorded their first album their average age was 17. Two years later they had a worldwide hit , which to date has had 2 million airplays in the UK alone. Alright now indeed. Two years later again and the band recorded their final album, preceded by the Live ! album i present here, and a first break up. Too much , too young perhaps, anyway guitarist Paul Kossoff died of a heroin induced heart attack age 25....Free at last....Second today are The Feelies they released just 4 albums over 11 years , i've posted their brilliant debut a year ago and this here, their last, shows why they have been kept in such high regard over time....Finally a brother and a sister that proove the Carpenters were't a fluke, siblings can rock together. Their music is known to get some mixed responses, reviews ranging from 1 to 9 , which is rather unheard of in the music review scene, an aquired taste let us say...anyway Blueberry Boat is considered something of a multi layered concept album, so take your time to take the 76 min in..it comes in two sizes....

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Free - Live ! (71 ^ 239mb)

Most remarkable about the birth of Free was the young age of the band members who first came together to rehearse at the Nag's Head pub in Battersea, London, on April 19, 1968. Bass player Andy Fraser, was only 15 years old while lead singer Paul Rodgers, lead guitarist Paul Kossoff, and drummer Simon Kirke, were also still teenagers. By November of that year they had recorded their first album Tons Of Sobs for Island Records and, although it was not released until the following year, the album documents their first six months together and contains studio renditions of much of their early live set.

Free are still cited as one of the definitive bands of the British blues boom of the late 1960s with the release of Tons of Sobs in 1969, but this is the only album that can strictly be called blues-rock. The next album, Free, released in 1969, has a marked difference in the musicianship of the band as well as Paul Rodgers's voice. Unlike their previous albums Tons of Sobs and Free, Fire and Water - released in 1970 - was a huge success, largely due to the album containing the hit single "All Right Now", a top 5 hit in the UK and the U.S. On teh back of that the able sold very well too Highway was their fourth studio album, recorded extremely quickly in September of 1970. Though widely considered to be an excellent follow-up to Fire and Water, Highway sold poorly. After a grueling tour which yielded 1971's Free Live, in April 1971, due to differences between singer Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser, the drug problems of guitarist Paul Kossoff, and inconsistent record sales, the band broke up. Although Free made excellent studio records, Free "Live" is perhaps the best way to experience the band in all its glory. Led by singer-guitarist Paul Rodgers and lead guitarist Paul Kosoff, the band swings through the songs with power, clarity, and a dose of funk. Live ! is one of the great live albums of the 1970s.

Early in 1972 the band set aside their differences and reformed in an effort to save Kossoff from his growing drug addiction, and in June of the same year released Free at Last. But all was not well with the band. Bassist Andy Fraser left the band in mid-1972 due to Paul Kossoff's unreliability in being able to perform at shows or even showing up. The remaining members recruited Japanese bass player Tetsu Yamauchi to record what would be Free's final album, Heartbreaker. Free disbanded in early 1973 with Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke going on to form Bad Company that same year. With Paul Kossoff in better health again in late 1975, he was delighted that now ex-Free colleagues, Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke asked him to join them on stage for two nights. A British tour was set to begin on 25 April 1976, but again his drug addictions contributed to a drastic decline in the guitarist's health. On a flight from Los Angeles to New York on March 19th, 1976, Paul Kossoff died from drug-related heart problems at the age of 25.

Most recently Paul Rodgers has joined the remaining members of Queen (Brian May and Roger Taylor), as vocalist. Rodgers would be "featured with" as Queen + Paul Rodgers, not replacing the late Freddie Mercury.

26

01 - All Right Now (6:30)
02 - I'm A Mover (3:40)
03 - Be My Friend (5:52)
04 - Fire And Water (3:57)

05 - Ride On A Pony (4:30)
06 - Mr Big (6:14)
07 - The Hunter (5:18)
08 - Get Where I Belong (4:14)

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The Feelies - Time For A Witness (91 ^269mb)

The Feelies were a rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992. The Feelies created shimmering soundscapes with multiple guitar layers that sounded unique compared to the punk/new wave atmosphere of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their name is based on Aldous Huxley's novel "Brave New World" where in the novel there are theaters where all of your senses are incorporated along with sight, called "the feelies."

Original band members Bill Million, Keith Clayton and Anton Fier released their first single “Fa Ce La” on Rough Trade Records in 1980. The album that followed on Stiff Records, was Crazy Rhythms, Afterwards, Fier and Clayton left the band. With the Feelies in limbo, Mercer and Million collaborated with other local New Jersey musicians, forming a band called the Trypes.

Reformed as a quintet, the Feelies recorded The Good Earth in 1985 with Peter Buck of R.E.M. as producer. They toured in support of the album as an opening band for Lou Reed as well as R.E.M. that year. In 1988 the Feelies signed to a major label and released the album Only Life on A&M Records. The new lineup featuring two guitarists, two drummers, and the bass playing of Brenda Sauter made the album a critical favorite. Their final album, Time for a Witness, was released in 1991, as a conclusion to the band's active days, it makes for a fine coda. Million and Mercer peel out some amazing frazzled solos, and the rhythm section keeps the beat steady and flowing. It's a virtuoso performance from a band that doesn't need to create pointless flash with its abilities, a fine balance all told.

The Feelies are remembered as one of the most underappreciated indie-rock bands of the 1980s and to this day have many fans throughout the world. Although the band never sold many records, they are to date considered to be still influential in the indie rock scene .



01 - Waiting (3:36)
02 - Time For A Witness (3:34)
03 - Sooner Or Later (2:33)
04 - Find A Way (7:01)
05 - Decide (4:51)
06 - Doin' It Again (2:41)
07 - Invitation (3:00)
08 - For Now (4:47)
09 - What She Said (5:38)
10 - Real Cool Time (4:23)

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Fiery Furnaces, The - Blueberry Boat (04 ^ 447mb)

The Fiery Furnaces primary members are brother and sister Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger, after seperate trips abroad upon returning to their Chicago suburb, the siblings decided to make music together. Simple, poppy melodies with a dizzying array of wordplay, sounds, and influences, dashes of folk, blues, and garage rock. In 2000, they moved to Brooklyn, took day jobs, and began playing as the Fiery Furnaces late in the year. They signed with the Rough Trade music label in 2002, and recorded their debut album, Gallowsbird's Bark, the same year. Released in 2003, it was often compared in the press to The White Stripes due to the garage blues elements of the band’s sound .

Matthew is primarily responsible for the band's songwriting and studio instrumentation, while Eleanor handles the majority of the vocal duties. Drummer Andy Knowles and bassist Toshi Yano both joined the band for live performances in time for their 2004 tour. Beginning with a performance at the April 2004 All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Camber Sands, England, the band's live performances took the form of hour-long, continuous sets of music featuring snippets from most of their recorded songs.

The Fiery Furnaces released their second album, Blueberry Boat, in the summer of 2004. It is also often interpreted as a multi-layered concept album. "Quay Cur," the ten minute lead track on Blueberry Boat, switches from dirty, gurgling organ to slide-guitar-fueled ditties, pulsing electronic beats to abstract lullaby within a few minutes, highlighting the Fiery Furnaces' variety in songwriting. Some critics, however, interpreted this type of material as evidence that the album is unfocused. The epic nature of the majority of the songs made them unsuitable for radio play so the band prepared "Single Again," a take on a traditional folk song as a substitute. This single, along with their previously released ones, was mostly only made available to the UK audience, so in January 2005 the band released a 41-minute compilation disc named EP it was a contrast to the epic and, according to some, inaccessible nature of Blueberry Boat.

Their following album, Rehearsing My Choir (released in October 2005), saw the band return to an experimental sound once again. A concept album featuring the Friedbergers' grandmother, Olga Sarantos, narrating stories about her life, Rehearsing My Choir was met with widely differing opinions from both the press and the band's fans, being branded "difficult" . Jason Loewenstein of Sebadoh and Bob D'Amico took over band duties for the supporting tour, replacing Toshi Yano and Andy Knowles. The band released their fifth LP, entitled Bitter Tea, in April 2006. In interviews they stated the album to be influenced by the sound of synthpop group Devo and to consist of far more conventional and accessible songs .

Matthew Friedberger released Winter Women and Holy Ghost Language School in August 2006, two separate albums which were packaged as a double album. According to a press release, Winter Women is "intended to be a summer record, full of memorable, catchy, and un-ironic pop songs," while Holy Ghost Language School is like "Faust, the Residents, or the most 'out' moments of Brian Eno's solo records." Eleanor appeared on neither. In June 2007, it was announced that the band had signed with Chicago label Thrill Jockey and their album Widow City was later released on October 9, 2007. Unlike their two previous efforts, this album lacks a central concept and has a 70s album rock feel. The band toured in support of the album throughout the later months of 2007 and early 2008. A live compilation album, Remember, is scheduled to be released on August 16, 2008.



01 - Quay Cur (10:25)
02 - Straight Street (5:00)
03 - Blueberry Boat (9:09)
04 - Chris Michaels (7:53)
05 - Paw Paw Tree (4:39)
06 - My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found (3:29)
07 - Mason City (8:14)
08 - Chief Inspector Blancheflower (8:58)
09 - Spaniolated (3:21)
10 - 1917 (4:52)
11 - Birdie Brain (3:05)
12 - Turning Round (2:13)
13 - Wolf Notes (4:51)

extra lite

Fiery Furnaces, The - Blueberry Boat (04 * 99mb)

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Eight-X (32)

Hello, Eight-X time again, this time all female..First up, a landmark release in the New York art scene of the '80s, and quite possibly the best art rock album of the decade...Big Science. Seriously Laurie Anderson has become a remarkable artist whose drive has kept her in the frontline of the avant garde whilst never forgetting that her activities need to be more than just peer pleasing navel staring......My second lady today didn't achieve that level of success, she's written and recorded many songs, but her biggest hit which initially launched her was a cover. Not sure what happened, her active website doesn't really comment on why things didn't happen for her. However, she said: i may not have sold big numbers but i'm doing my thing and im not in a routine 9 to 5 or as a house wife..well she sure has a point there, Annabel Lamb.....Last up an all female group..with some serious lookers( in my view) that tried , but didnt get ahead with their own work, so they released a number of covers that did get them noticed, and which cleared the path for their self penned biggest hit, Sign Of The Times. Unfortunately not much chart success afterwards and so after 6 years playing together they had enough..no more Belle Stars..

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Laurie Anderson - Big Science ( 82 ^ 235mb)

Anderson was born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where she graduated from Glenbard West High School. She attended Mills College in California, and eventually graduated from Barnard College magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, studying art history. In 1972, she obtained an MFA in sculpture from Columbia University. Her first performance art piece – a symphony played on automobile horns – was performed in 1969. In the early 1970s, she worked as an art instructor, as an art critic for magazines such as Artforum, and illustrated children's books.

Laurie performed in New York through the 1970s. One of her most-cited performances, Duets on Ice, which she conducted in New York and other cities around the world, involved her playing violin along with a recording while wearing ice skates with the blades frozen into a block of ice; the performance ended only when the ice had melted away. During the late 1970s, Anderson made a number of recordings which were released either privately or included on compilations of avant garde music. She claimed to base all of her projects on the power of words and language, her work also emphasized visual imagery and cutting-edge technology, with pieces like 1980's "Born, Never Asked" written for both orchestra and electronics.

Anderson became widely known outside the art world in 1981 with the single "O Superman," originally released in a limited quantity by B. George's One Ten Records. "O Superman" reached number two on UK charts, prompted by British DJ John Peel playing the record, it led to Anderson's signing with the Warner Bros. label, which re-released the single. "O Superman" was part of a larger stage work entitled United States and was included on her following album, Big Science Prior to the release of Big Science, Anderson returned to Giorno Poetry Systems to record the album, You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With. This was followed by the back-to-back releases of her album Mister Heartbreak, her most overtly pop-oriented work, teaming with artists including Peter Gabriel and Adrian Belew, it even reached the American Top 100, and United States Live, a five-LP (and, later, 4-CD) recording of her two-evening stage show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

She next starred in and directed the 1986 concert film, Home of the Brave, and also composed the soundtracks for the Spalding Gray films Swimming to Cambodia and Monster in a Box. She also hosted the PBS series Alive from Off-Center during this time, for which she produced the short film, What You Mean We?. Next she released Strange Angels in 1989. The next several years were devoted to performance tours, including 1990's "Empty Places," 1991's "Voices from the Beyond" and 1993's "Stories from the Nerve Bible." In 1994, Anderson teamed with producer Brian Eno for Bright Red. An interval of more than half a decade followed before her next album release. During this time, she wrote a supplemental article on the cultural character of New York City for the Encyclopædia Britannica.and created a number of multimedia presentations, most notably one inspired by Moby-Dick (Songs and Stories From Moby Dick, 1999–2000). One of the central themes in Anderson's work is exploring the effects of technology on human relationships and communication.

In 2003, Anderson became NASA's first and so far only artist-in-residence, which inspired her most recent performance piece, The End of the Moon. Anderson mounted a succession of themed shows and composed a piece for Expo 2005 in Japan. Anderson was part of the team that created the opening ceremony for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. In 2005, her exhibition The Waters Reglitterized, a diary of dreams and their literal recreation as works of art. This work, created in the process of re-experiencing or re-working her dreams while awake, uses the language of dreams to investigate the dream itself. The resulting pieces include drawings, prints and high definition video. She narrated Ric Burns's Andy Warhol: The Documentary Film, which was first televised in September 2006 as part of the PBS American Masters series. Anderson also performed in Came So Far For Beauty the Leonard Cohen tribute event. Big Science, has been remastered and rereleased on Nonesuch Records last year, aswell as a DVD box set containing her short films and the concert movie Home of the Brave, a book of drawings titled Night Life, and her new album, Homeland is to be released in 2008. .



01 - From The Air (4:29)
02 - Big Science (6:17)
03 - Sweathers (2:21)
04 - Walking & Falling (2:09)
05 - Born, Never Asked (4:51)

06 - O Superman (For Massenet) (8:21)
07 - Example #22 (2:56)
08 - Let X=X - It Tango (6:46)

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Annabel Lamb - Once Bitten (83 ^ 99mb)

Annabel was exposed to all the music of that era are a very early afe: "I knew everything about the sixties and was very annoyed that when I got old enough to participate the scene was all over." From an early age she knew she wanted to be a musician. She learnt the piano, religiously copying her favourite songs note for note from the radio and her big sister's records. Since then she's been a session singer and musician for the likes of Toni Basil and Tina Charles but it's only since her marriage failed that she's been able to have the adventure she's always wanted.

Her highly acclaimed debut album, Once Bitten, behind her she assumed she was on the right road for success. However after the chart success of her cover of the Doors classic Riders on the Storm, her follow-up album , the Flame didnt score aswell. The years that followed saw her releasing 6 more albums for A&M Records, BMG/RCA, Polygram and, most recently, BMG label Red Rooster where she released her currently last album "Flow". During the writing and recording of "Flow", Annabel began a close association with cowriter and producer Dave Dix (producer of Black, Alison Moyet and Melanie Garside), and under his influence and guidance, "Flow" was produced. As well as her recording and touring career, Annabel has co-written songs with many other artists and songwriters, she also writes short stories and is working on her first novel, and performs regularly at London's prime singer songwriter venue The Kashmir Klub.



01 - Riders On The Storm (5:52)
02 - Once Bitten (3:16)
03 - Take Me In Your Arms (3:24)
04 - Heartland (3:21)
05 - Backwards Through The Looking Glass (4:21)

06 - Dividing The Spoils Of Love (5:10)
07 - Hold Fast (3:40)
08 - Snake Pliskin (2:19)
09 - Missing (4:05)
10 - No Cure (4:41)

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Belle Stars, The - The Belle Stars ( 83 ^ 93mb)

After the Bodysnatchers broke up, guitarists Stella Barker and Sarah-Jane Owen, saxophonist Miranda Joyce, keyboardist Penny Leyton, and drummer Judy Parsons decided to form a new band, recruiting bass player Lesley Shone and lead vocalist Jennie Matthias (also known as Jenny McKeown). Their first performance was on Christmas Day, 1980, before they had chosen a name. Within a short time, the group became well known around London, notably appearing on the front cover of Sounds magazine early in 1981. Shortly thereafter, they were signed by Stiff Records, then highly successful due to its star act, Madness. The band's debut single, "Hiawatha"/"Big Blonde" was released in the late spring of 1981, produced by Madness producers Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley. The band promoted the single by playing support for ska acts The Beat and Madness. However, the single failed to chart, despite continuing media attention.

The second single failed to chart aswell, keyboard player Penny Leyton left the band for The Deltones, to be replaced by Clare Hirst. When the third single, the radio friendly "Another Latin Love Song" again failed to break into the charts, the band tried cover versions instead, with some success. "Iko Iko", a cover of The Dixie Cups' 1965 hit (later featured in the 1988 movie Rain Man), was The Belle Stars' long-hoped-for UK Singles Chart debut. The Belle Stars's next singles were remakes aswell "The Clapping Song", and then "Mockingbird".

In January 1983 the Belle Stars released what would be their signature single, "Sign Of The Times", peaking at number three, and a chart success throughout Europe. The song's music video, showing the Belle Stars in tuxedos, was also played frequently by MTV in the United States. It was followed a month later by the band's eponymous debut album, which reached number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. As with the band's singles, it was a mix of original songs and cover versions. However, "Sign Of The Times" proved to be the peak of the band's success. Each follow-up single was less successful than its predecessor: Despite this, the band continued to tour throughout Europe. However, the lack of success took its toll, and McKeown left the band, followed by others, until the band was down to Owen, Joyce, and Shone.

By 1984, Stiff Records was ailing, and it merged with Island Records; in July 1985 it was liquidated and bought by ZTT, the label owned by the husband and wife team of producer Trevor Horn and Jill Sinclair. Under Horn's supervision, the three remaining members recorded a new Belle Stars album with the 4th & Broadway production team in New York City. However, the only tracks to be released were the single "World Domination"/"Just A Minute", a flop in Britain but a Top 5 Billboard Dancefloor chart hit in the U.S. Following this, the band broke up. However, in 1989, the Belle Stars finally had a big U.S. chart hit, when "Iko Iko" reached number 14 on the Billboard Top 100 in March, after it was included on the soundtrack of the film Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. The song had been a favourite of Hoffman's. Jennie Matthias toured the U.S. to promote the song.



01 - Sign Of The Times ( 2:52)
02 - Ci Ya Ya ( 2:40)
03 - The Clapping Song ( 3:11)
04 - Indian Summer ( 3:43)
05 - Harlem Shuffle ( 3:17)
06 - The Reason ( 3:57)

07 - Iko Iko ( 3:00)
08 - Baby I'm Yours ( 3:36)
09 - Mockingbird ( 3:22)
10 - The Snake ( 3:16)
11 - Burning ( 3:21)
12 - Needle In A Haystack (2:38)

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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 !