Stage 13, The Netherlands S.E.

Dutch Treats in this second edition,

Clashing Egos - Rubicon ( ' 04 )
Solex - Pick Up ( ' 99)
Junkie XL - Saturday Teenage Kick ( ' 97 )
Legowelt - Classics 1998-2003 ( ' 03)
Voicst - 11-11 ( ' 04)
Kettel - Cenny Crush ( ' 02 )

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Clashing Egos - Rubicon (2004 *390 mb)

Producers Erwin van Moll and Jan Vanderlest met some four years ago in the Daltoon studio in Eindhoven (formerly known as Tango – once famous for the recordings made by avant-garde group Nasmak) and soon found out that working together was very inspiring indeed. Under the moniker max 404 Van Moll already had made a name as an electronic pioneer and producer of now-classic albums for labels such as Eevo Lute, New Electronica and Tom Middleton’s Universal Language. He’s also considered to be one of the finest DJ’s Holland has to offer. Jan Vanderlest came from a completely different background, he entered the musical arena as bassplayer in several funk- and hip-hop bands.

On 'Rubicon' they successfully blend the sound of Mo' Wax-like trip hop grooves and exotic sounds with the voices of Darryll-Ann frontman Jelle Paulusma, British singer Kirsty Hawkshaw and Ethiopian vocalist Minyeshu Kifle. Especially the latter does an impressive performance on the melancholic Afro tune 'Aminjig Nebere (I Trusted You)'. The album reveals itself as a steady grower, so don't trust your initial judgment and certainly use a headset when listening to it because it's truly a sound experrience. "We wanted to make a beautiful album’, the duo says about Rubicon. It’s much more than just that, it's electronic soulmusic for the 21st century.



Clashing Egos - Rubicon

01 - Twenty Four, Ft. Jelle Paulusma (4:37)
02 - Go Figure (3:35)
03 - Knitting Skins (5:25)
04 - Baghdad (Bag This, Ft. Jelle Paulusma) (4:48)
05 - Like The Song Says (3:54)
06 - Aminjig Nebere (I Trusted You, Ft. Minyeshu Kifle) (7:05)
07 - City Of Glass (5:29)
08 - Love Sweet Love, Ft. Jelle Paulusma(5:53)
09 - Don't Sleep Tonight, Ft.Kirsty Hawkshaw (5:12)
10 - Rubicon (8:21)
11 - Happy Herb In Dub (7:35)

Clashing Egos @ Base
Clashing Egos @ MySpace

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Solex - Pick Up ( ' 99 * 275mb)

After guitar band Sonetic Vet/Dash breaks up (97) singer with the band Liesbeth Esselink goes solo under the name Solex. The music she creates is a mixture of samples and loops with lyrics that are partly spoken and partly sung. Esselink signs a deal with the American Matador label. Both John Peel and New Musical Express are very enthusiastic about Solex. A year later Solex Vs. The Hitmeister, on which each track has the word Solex in its title, is released. The album is welcomed with great enthusiasm by the press. Solex plays at Lowlands festival and embarks on a tour of the American West Coast, Esselink is backed by a four-piece band. In 99 Solex plays at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark and goes on tour in the U.S. again, supporting Cibo Matto, her second album, Pick Up, is released. In 2001 Solex works on her new album Low Kick And Hard Bop, which is released on 11 September. In the meantime Esselink remixes material for bands like Malaria (German new wave), Remington Super 60, Shinju Gumi and Ruby, and she also sings as a guest vocalist on records of Australian band Gerling and French band Little Rabbits. In September that year Solex records her second Peel-session. In 2003 the track Look, No Fingerprints is the theme music to a worldwide advertising campaign for mobile phones provider Motorola, still her record label Matador has to let her go, and a year later she releases The Laughing Stock Of Indie Rock on her own Discmeister label. It's been licensed globally but all that work forces her to close her sec hand recordshop C & D. In 2005 she remixes Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Crunchy. This results in a friendship with the Spencers and some new songs yet to be released.

What about Pick Up , a stream of tunes that will boggle the brainstem while at the same time massaging it. Solex crafts tripped-out sound cubes that when placed on the eardrum melt into colorful beat vibrations and dissolve into your consciousness . If you are new to Solex, this is as good a place to start as any.



01 - Pick Up (3:03)
02 - Randy Costanza (3:25)
03 - Dork At 12 O'Clock (2:51)
04 - That's What You Get With People Like That On Cruises Like These... (3:01)
05 - Oh Blimey! (2:49)
06 - The Burglars Are Coming! (3:18)
07 - Superfluity (2:59)
08 - Snappy And Cocky (2:34)
09 - Five Star Shamberg (3:20)
10 - Chris The Birthday Boy (3:16)
11 - Athens - Ohio (3:11)
12 - Escargot! (3:13)
13 - Another Tune Like 'Not Fade Away' (3:40)
14 - That'll Be $22.95 (3:20)

Solex @ Base
Solex @ Amazon

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Junkie XL - Saturday Teenage Kick (1997 * 458mb )

Best known for his remix of Elvis' A Little Less Conversation which shot to number one in 24 countries, Tom Holkenburg's career spans much further. Born in The Netherlands in 1967, Tom learnt piano, drums and bass at an early age before getting switched-on to synths and joining the Dutch New Wave group, Weekend At Waikiki, as multi-instrumentalist and producer, going on to form industrial rock band Nerve with vocalist Phil Mills, yielding two LPs before splitting in 1995. Meanwhile, Tom had began fervent work as a freelance producer, earning credits for bands including Sepultura, Fear Factory and Dog Eat Dog as well as major video games, movies and TV commercials.

Tom's obsessive work ethic drove him to drink and dangerously poor health, he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition aged 27. Once recovered, Junkie XL was born and 1997 saw the release of the album, Saturday Night Teenage Kick. "I called myself Junkie XL from the point of view that once you're completely overworked you never want to go there again," he explains. "The 'XL' stands for '(E)xpanding Limits' broadening up your vision." In 1998 Holkenborg's ambient project A Forest Called Mulu received an Edison Music Award (1998).

Junkie XL's music is a mix of rock and big beats, often compared with the sound of The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers. The power of this music is absolutely best expressed in a live performance. Junkie XL is one of the first bands that plays modern electronic music and a good live show with until 2001 Rudeboy (Urban Dance Squad) behind the mic.

They followed Saturday Night Teenage Kick up with Big Sounds of the Drags (1999) which contained a minor hit zerotonine, after the some extensive global touring Junkie XL version 1 folded and in 2002 Tom decided to leave Holland to live and work in the United States where he works on soundtracks for movies and computergames. Then in 2003 on the back of a NIke commercial he managed a number 1 hit in 24 countries with his remix of Elvis' A little less conversation. US radio stations (keen talkers) refused to air it , even if it did sell well there, but as the US hitlists are basicly airplay hitlists, Junkie XL didnt make it no 1 in Elvis country. Btw he hardly made any money from the megasales, as he produced it for Nike. That same year (2003) A Broadcast from the computerhell cabin (2cd) came out..without the Elvis remix, although in the slightly different 2004 US release it is included. The bonus track here, BluePill RedPill was a limited 200 copies edition (2003) done for the Matrix reloaded soundtrack, considering Tom being an expert in computerhell , hardly a surprising choice. Junkie XL's latest album Today was released spring 2006

*Junkie XL sometimes uses the sanatized name JXL because the name Junkie causes offense among the sexless warmongerers.



Junkie XL - Saturday Teenage Kick

01 - Underachievers (5:29)
02 - Billy Club (3:58)
03 - No Remorse (6:44)
04 - Metrolike (5:37)
05 - X-Panding Limits (3:15)
06 - War (2:47)
07 - Saturday Teenage Kick (4:13)
08 - Dealing With The Roster (5:27)
09 - Fight (5:37)
10 - Melange (4:04)
11 - Def Beat (4:54)
12 - Future In Computer Hell (17:51)
exclusive bonustrack from the computerhell called the MATRIX (reloaded) ' 03
13 - Blue Pill, Red Pill (8:58)

Junkie XL @ Base
Radio JXL
Junkie XL @ Amazon

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Legowelt - Classics 98-03 ( ' 03 * 378mb)

Legowelt began producing music in the early 90ies when the adolescent schoolboy came in sporadic contact with the sounds of Detroit's Underground Resistance, Model 500, Blake Baxter and Chicago heroes such as Farley Jackmaster Funk, Armando Gallop and mr.Fingers. Later on this palette of influences grew with early Mu-Ziq, Aphex Twin, Drexciya, various stuff from The Irdial Discs label and virtually every type of freaked deep music he could get his hands on.

When he first heard a band called 'Unit Moebius' (punky palette of RAW freaked out Lo-fi chicago trax and deep detroit jams). he was shocked in awe hearing that this music came out of The Hague, Holland, the very same city he lived in! Put on the right track by this fact he stumbled into the Bunker Records office and discoverd a world of contemporary autistic freaked music lovers who looked beyond all the bland house and dance music that ruled the media and clubs. Musical mentors such as IF and Melvin White (aka pametex) lectured him with even more unknown sounds such as early electro and the obscure pre-1983 Italian disco which production secrets were closely studied. In 1998 Bunker released the first vinyl of Legowelt : Pimpshifter, a 6 track mingled Italo Chicago combi which became an instant cult hit with tracks such as 'Sturmvogel' and 'Total Pussy Control'.



01 - Sturmvogel (5:30)
02 - Strange Girl (6:05)
03 - Total Pussy Control (6:05)
04 - Are You Truly Debonaire (3:57)
05 - Dirty Love (5:36)
06 - The Republic (5:00)
07 - The Nomium Syndrome (6:04)
08 - Cherri Meets The Professor (2:49)
09 - Against The World (6:07)
10 - Haunted Arp (3:02)
11 - Chokolectricity (4:45)
12 - Gotoburg Jacks (5:16)
13 - Dimension Door (5:52)

Legowelt @ Base Free MP3's !
Legowelt @ MySpace
Legowelt @ Youtube
Legowelt @ Clone Records

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Voicst - 11-11 ( ' 04 * 251mb)

Tjeerd Bomhof, Joppe Molenaar and Sven Woodside (born in Canada, but living in the Netherlands since he was 16) form Voicst when they're still in high school. When they go to university Voicst is put on the backburner for a while. July 2001, they play their first gig after a long break at the Winston in Amsterdam. This gig is the kick off to a serious musical career. With their energetic and intense shows, the trio earns itself support slots for Belgian, UK and US bands like Enon, McClusky, Millionaire and Nada Surf. In October the trio travels to the US for a showcase during New York's CMJ Music Marathon. Voicst is also asked to do some songs for a CD in the Unsigned series, a compilation album. In 2004 together with acts like Eleven, Gem and zZz Voicst joins the Unsigned Tour. During the summer they spend five weeks in New York working on their debut album from 11 to 11 with US producer Eli Janney (Girls Against Boys). The title of the album is 11-11. The band pays for the album itself, which consequently gets them into debts. Originally, the plan was to use a lot of electronics on the album, but the opposite is the result: a rock album, which closely resembles the band's live sound. The album is released on the band's own record label Duurt Lang Records ('Takes A Long Time Records'). Voicst signs a distribution deal with Play It Again Sam and in October the band returns to the US for a show at the CMJ Festival in New York. In 2005 Voicst is snatched up by Heineken for a worldwide TV commercial that is premiered in September, their album gets chosen as best Dutch album of the last 12 months. Fall 2005 and the 11-11 album gets remixed for the US by Victor van Vught, who previously produced/engineered PJ Harvey, Beth Orton, Athlete and Nick Cave, its re-mastered by Fred Kevorkian, and released in the US with an awfully bad cover spring 2006.



01 - Whatever You Want From Life
02 - We Are On A Chemical Push
03 - Dazzled Kids
04 - You Look Like Coffee
05 - Detail 2003
06 - Upside
07 - Someone Wake Me
08 - Shut Up And Dance
09 - Sgt. Gonzo
10 - Porn
11 - And You Taste Like Something's Wrong
12 - How To Put It
13 - Enjoy The Kickback....

Voist @ Base

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Kettel - Cenny Crush ( ' 02 * 418mb)

Kettel is Reimer Eising (born 1982), a self-described "elixir-brewing, camping-loving and musicmaking sorcerer-to-be." He is well-known for his playful, spontaneous melodies and organic folk sounds similar to Aphex Twin and Plaid. His tools just a pc with soundcard, keyboard, MIDI-keyboard and controller, a turntable and a mic. What comes out is a combination of downtempo beats , hovering synthesizers and acoustic instruments turned into little melodies.

Kettel's releases on the Planet Mu-label ( Mike Paradinas µ-Ziq, Kid Spatula , Aphex Twin) and the Kracfive label(US) has build him some international fame. He has also collaborated on several projects of various remixes and compilations. Kettel frequently performs in the Netherlands and abroad, the Japananese seem to have taken a particular liking to his work.

If you like detuned melodies and their strong appeal to the memory zones of our brains, you're likely to fully enjoy the 11 tracks of this album. Plaid, Boards of Canada comes in mind, but the strength of Kettel and what prevents him from being a clone is his ability to instill his own feelings and emotions in his tracks. He's released several albums since Cenny Crush, Smiling Little Cow (2002), Look at this (2003), Volleyed Iron (2004), Through Friendly Waters (2005) and My Dogon (2006) in short plenty to follow up on if you like his music.



01 - An Inky Moon (4:38)
02 - I Live You (5:03)
03 - Kinny The Cow (6:12)
04 - Teared Loss (2:37)
05 - Kyn (3:42)
06 - Mollusc Media Experience (1:40)
07 - Quasi Combustion (5:04)
08 - Max On A Stroll (4:26)
09 - No Comfort At All (4:27)
10 - Lovesonging (2:47)
11 - Introït (3:27)
bonus
12 Days For Bennett
13 Rocket Ronny Rocks
14 Young Men Should Forget
15 Greet (remix by Kettel)
16 Gaps Now and Then
17 Hidden Place (remix by Kettel)
18 Untiteld 1  (remix by Kettel)

Kettel@ MySpace
Kracfive label
Planet Mu label

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Next, stage 14  i'll turn east and back in time as we cross the border into early eighties Germany..Die Neue Deutsche Welle war da da da. think D.A.F. , Nina Hagen, Kowalski, Einsturzende N and more.

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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 !

Stage 12, The Netherlands

The Netherlands is often referred to by the name Holland. This is not terminologically precise, as the provinces of North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country's twelve provinces.The Netherlands is a densely populated and geographically low-lying country and is popularly known for its windmills, cheese, clogs (wooden shoes), dikes, tulips, bicycles and social tolerance. Its policies are liberal toward drugs, prostitution, same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia.

The term Dutch is stems from the early middle ages when the whole area was described as deutsch(german) or dutch in english, it still pops up in the national anthem when they sing they are from 'dietsen' blood.

After having been a republic for 3 centuries the victors at Waterloo forced the Netherlands to become a monarchy again, the regents had a family available who'd been involved since the start of the republic and so the Oranges were elevated to monarchs. Constitutionally the monarch has considerable powers, but in practice it has been a ceremonial function. Dutch politics and governance are characterized by a common strife for broad consensus on important issues, within both the political community and society as a whole. That said the country is largely controlled by the Holland axis Amsterdam-The Hague with an independant powerstatus for Rotterdam (before China's rise the largest harbour of the world). Plenty of good old boys have been networking there for centuries now.

The Dutch rank third worldwide in value of agricultural exports, behind the United States and France, with exports earning $55 billion annually. A significant portion of Dutch agricultural exports are derived from fresh-cut plants, flowers, and bulbs, with the Netherlands exporting two-thirds of the world's total (flowerpower !). The Netherlands also exports a quarter of all world tomatoes, and one-third of the world's exports of peppers and cucumbers. Not within this reckoning Dutch weed (marihuana) it's quality has made it a top export-in market value. (In all not bad for such a small and densely populated area).

Half of this flat country lies just 3 feet above the current sea level, possibly the reason why the Dutch are the tallest people around ( 2006 average male height 6ft), but no its the veggies and all that milk of cause.

I'm sure you can name half a dozen of famous painters so i wont bother here, rests me to say that coffeeshops should be avoided, the aroma can be mindboggling and the coffee too strong for weakly adjusted stumachs. It's uncertain at the moment if it will remain legal to smoke in bars even those geared to it like the coffeeshops ("no man this is pure ganja man..no nicotine"). Wiki, Wanna check out the Dutch ? Visit the old masters museums or one of the many coffeeshops.

In Sports the Dutch have reached considerable heights, specially in teamsports like soccer, hockey , volleyball they manage to stay in the top on a global level, no mean feat considering there's only 16,5 million of them, they shoot some mean pool and belong to the topranking darts players in the world, these flatlanders even have gotten their own F1 racing team Spyker launched this year. Wiki's Dutch Treat

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Stage 12, The Netherlands contains

Clan Of Xymox - Clan Of Xymox ( '85)
Clan Of Xymox - Subsequent Pleasures ( '84)
Kraak n Smaak - Boogie Angst ( '05)
Mecano - Subtiteld & Untiteld ( '80)
Gathering, The - Souvenirs ( '03)
Speedy J - G*Spot ( '95)
Herman Brood - My Way ( '01)

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Clan Of Xymox - Id + Subsequent Pleasures '84 ( 409mb)

Clan of Xymox, also known as Xymox at various parts of their career, are a darkwave/gothic rock band founded in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in 1983. The Subsequent Pleasures EP was self-published under the name Xymox, at that time consisting of Moorings on guitar and vocals, his girlfriend Anke Wolbert on bass and vocals, and Pieter Nooten on keyboards. A chance meeting with Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance led to an invitation to support that band on a UK tour, and then a recording contract with their record label, 4AD Records.

Their debut album, self-titled under their newly adopted name Clan of Xymox, was released by 4AD in 1985, and drew comparisons to Joy Division and The Cure. 1986 saw their second album, Medusa (considered by many fans to be their finest work), continuing in this dark vein. They released two albums and a number of singles on 4AD before shortening their name to Xymox in 1988 and signing to a subsidiary of Polygram. Their releases as Xymox were in a more synthpop/dance music vein.

Twist of Shadows was the band's most commercially successful album, selling 300,000 copies, but 1991's follow-up Phoenix (with Nooten back on board) was less successful, and when their recordlabels executive nitwit declined to release the next album, Metamorphosis, Nooten and Wolbert left the band for good.

With only Ronny Moorings remaining they moved to an independant releasing Metamorphosis and Headclouds The Xymox era ended in 1997 when, in the midst of a revival in the Gothic scene, Ronny Moorings made the decision to restart Clan of Xymox and return to his musical roots. Since then, the band has released 5 critically rated albums.



Clan Of Xymox - Clan Of Xymox(1984)

01 - A Day (6:40)
02 - No Words (4:27)
03 - Stumble And Fall (5:05)
04 - Cry In The Wind (5:17)
05 - Stranger (7:41)
06 - Equal Ways (5:44)
07 - 7th Time (4:38)
08 - No Human Can Drown (3:23)

Subsequent Pleasures E.P. Mini-Album 1984, Only 500 copies were pressed on their own label, it's a highly sought after collectors item ! Silk screen hand pressed sleeve.note: 4-track recordings



09 - Going Round (4:43)
10 - Moscovite Musquito (4:32)
11 - Strange 9 to 9 (4:33)
12 - Call It Weird (3:53)
13 - Abysmal Thoughts (4:33)

Clan of Xymox @ Base
Clan of Xymox @ Wiki
Clan of Xymox @ Amazon

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Kraak 'n Smaak - Boogie Angst(05* 430mb)

Behind funky break beat outfit ‘Kraak & Smaak’ (Crunch & Taste) are Dutchmen Wim Plug, Oscar de Jong and Mark Kneppers. Sharing a love of eclectical dance music, they have been working together since 2001. Mark Kneppers is widely known in the Netherlands as DJ Knuppelhout. Oscar de Jong studied music production at the music conservatory in Rotterdam, spends therefore a lot of time in confined areas and is a gifted Fender Rhodes player. Needless to say, he is also the primary knob twiddler of Kraak en Smaak. DJ Wim Plug and his alter ego Dr. Fröbel (vinylmeister in the tongue-in-cheek musical theater show ‘Dr. Fröbel’s Retro Revue’) have played all over the country, including a residency at ‘t Paard in The Hague and in clubs as Paradiso, the Effenaar, 013 and a number of festivals.

Boogie Angst is a heady soundclash of styles, beats, breaks and funky basslines. Yet those searching for something a little less esoteric will find sanctuary on the jazz-influenced "Danse Macabre" - a chilled mind-enveloping journey into never-never land with equally eerie vocal ad-libs. Kraak & Smaak have concocted a refreshing and innovative record that melds elements of traditional funk with ambient-dub, samba rhythms and house grooves. The result is an edify 70's Blaxploitation vibe that sounds like a lost master from the Stax vaults.




Kraak 'n Smaak - Boogie Angst (430mb)

01 - Money In The Bag, Ft. Shondel Moore, Tiffany Gore (K&S Remix) (3:45)
02 - One Of These Days, Ft.U-Gene(4:09)
03 - Keep On Searching, Ft.Amy Bumgarner (5:10)
04 - Jolie Banane (5:45)
05 - Keep Me Home, Ft. Dez (5:39)
06 - Danse Macabre (5:34)
07 - 5 To 4 (5:25)
08 - Say Yeah (5:00)
09 - No Sun In The Sky, Ft. Tiffany Gore (4:27)
10 - Mambo Solitario (4:44)
11 - Maputo Express (5:20)
12 - Hello Big Mama (14:02)

Kraak n Smaak @ Base
Kraak n Smaak @ Amazon

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Mecano - Subtiteld + Untiteld (1980 * 304 mb)

The story of Mecano starts with a painting, made in 1977 by founder Dirk Polak after finding an old booklet belonging to a Meccano construction box, as fabricated and sold in the thirties.While scanning the booklet, Dirk was struck by a vision of a world built out of Meccano, in painting, sculpture and even lyrics and music.

The examples in the instruction booklet set Dirk to paint his Meccano figures, surrounded by surrealistic landscapes and interiors. In those days punk was booming and Dirk thought it was time to start a band and together with Pieter Kooyman and a few hired guns he recorded Face Cover Face, b/w Fools as Mecano Ltd. for the “No Fun” label. But Dirk wanted a real band and so he asked Ton Lebbink to be the drummer. Ton, immediately introduced the brothers Tejo and Cor Bolten, who also worked at Paradiso, Tejo as floor-manager and Cor, the band was formed in the blink of an eye. Another advantage of Ton and the Bolten brothers, beside their musical abilities, was that they had unlimited acces to Paradiso, the best rehearsing place a band could think of and they started experimenting and putting the music together, mainly based on the ideas of Dirk and the Bolten brothers.

Emerging from the punk-era, Mecano is best described as new wave, adding poetry and remarkable arrangements, colored with unusual guitar harmonies, converting into an ashtonishing eclectric blend.

Early 1980 newly founded Torso Records had released the mini-lp Untitled and in that same year Subtitled, both nowadays reaching high prices amongst collectors . After that the band split up, to be reunited in 1982 without Ton Lebbink and Pieter Kooyman and a smaller size Mecano started recording Autoportrait, which came out early ‘83 and on which Pieter Kooyman is present on Suggestive Sleep and To Life's Reunion.

After 22 years of comparative silence Mecano released 'Snake Tales for Dragon 'in 2005 and "Sophya Third Wish" last fall . At Mecano's website there's live video's and you can download an epic 24 min xxl remix of one in a million excellent ! Dont miss it.

So what do we have here, as noted above a couple of collecters items with original artwork, aswell as a specially made combined by me version for this occasion .



Explication Side (SUBTITELD)
01 - Meccano
02 - Permanent Revolt
Conclusive Side
03 - A stroll In Spring
04 - In Still Life
05 - Links
Considerable Side (UNTITELD)
06 - Dissident Lament
07 - Untitled
Danceable Side
08 - Posterity Chant
09 - The Chassis Force
10 - Robespierre's Re-Marx

Mecano @ Base
Mecano Store

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Gathering, The - Souvenirs (2003 * 337mb)

The Gathering name connected to the initial bandmembers after watching the movie "Highlander " together in 1989. Their first two albums, The Gathering - Always... (1992) and The Gathering - Almost a Dance (1993), which played a part in the formation of doom metal / gothic metal, were recorded with four different vocalists. Their subsequent release, The Gathering - Mandylion (1995), on which Anneke van Giersbergen sang for the first time, was a dark, haunting, and emotional piece of music. It was also one of the first albums of its kind in respect to female fronted metal bands, and it is still considered a standard by many female fronted metal bands.Their following studio albums The Gathering - Nighttime Birds (1997), How to Measure a Planet? (1998), The Gathering - If Then Else (2000)

With this album Souvenirs, which came after a 3 year break in which they set up their own label "Psychonaut Records" , ( they had become frustrated with the industry ripping them) . It presents a break with the musical past aswell. The music found on 'Souvenirs' is dark and melodic. I'm reluctant to call this Gothic Metal but it does pertain to some of their arrangements; however, there's thankfully no screaming or growling here and the rhythms are as elegant as they are heavy. Anneke Van Giersbergen got an impressive range that's striking and emotive, her dramatic singing style captivates and tantalizes the listener .There's an excellent, informative page to be found on The Gathering @ Wiki



01 - These Good People (5:55)
02 - Even The Spirits Are Afraid (5:12)
03 - Broken Glass (4:59)
04 - You Learn About It (5:09)
05 - Souvenirs (6:07)
06 - We Just Stopped Breathing (6:51)
07 - Monsters (5:02)
08 - Golden Grounds (4:53)
09 - Jelena (10:09)
10 - A Life All Mine (5:08)

The Gathering @ Base
The Gathering @ Amazon
live video Waking Hours

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Speedy J - G Spot (1995 *362mb)

Speedy J (born Jochem Paap), is a Dutch techno producer based in the city of Rotterdam. His breakthrough came with the release in 1992 of the minimal techno track Pullover. Subsequently his material became more mellow as he moved away from the hardcore sounds that were then becoming popular in Belgium and the Netherlands.

His debut album Ginger (1993) was released on Richie Hawtin's Plus 8 record label in the US, while in the UK it was part of Warp Records' Artificial Intelligence series of electronic listening music. A further, more introspective release, G-Spot followed in 1995. Afterwards his work, which included Public Energy No.1 (1997) and A Shocking Hobby (2000)) became more experimental, importantly influencing the development of what is known as "intelligent techno". The album Loudboxer (2002) saw a return to a more minimal four to the floor style of techno. He collaborated with Mike Paradinas on the project Slag Boom Van Loon, through which they have released two CDs on Paradinas's record label, Planet Mu. In 1999, he also released two ambient albums for the FAX +49-69/450464 label under his real name.

This album is electronic / dance / trance at its best. It is a very 90s sound. Speady J is a master of sound and uses an incredible trick of hinting at sounds from the next tracks as some are finishing. G*Spot fills a room or headphones equally well, an achievement in itself.



01 - The Fun Equations (4:36)
02 - Extruma (4:56)
03 - Ping Pong (9:19)
04 - Fill 25 (2:36)
05 - Lanzarote (8:20)
06 - The Oil Zone (8:59)
07 - Treatments (6:18)
08 - Fill 17 (2:32)
09 - G Spot (8:14)
10 - Grogono (5:05)

Speedy J @ Base
Speedy J @ My Space
Speedy J @ Amazon

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Herman Brood - My Way (2001 * 125mb)

Herman Brood doesn't play rock and roll but he is rock and roll. He's not about technique in music but deals with emotion and intensity.You immediately feel the soul in his music. Herman Brood (pronounced "Broat") Zwolle, November 5, 1946 – Amsterdam, July 11, 2001) was a Dutch musician, painter and media personality. Brood was the Dutch personification of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll.

In 64 he went to the art academy at Arnhem, founded his first band the Moan and got his first taste of drugs, a messy decade of involvement with that landed him in jail for trading and kept out of the official (clean ?) music scene. After a short spell with Vitesse 1975, he launched his first album with the Wild Romance, "Street" to much acclaim. One year later followed by "Shpritsz" (a play on the German word for injection needle) which contained Hermans first big hit Saturdaynight.

But even more than his music, it was his outspoken statements in the press about sex and drug use that brought Herman Brood into the public arena in the Netherlands. In the early 1980s he was romantically involved with the German artist, Nina Hagen, with whom he appeared in the film Cha Cha. Brood relished the media attention and became the most famous hard drug user in the Netherlands In the 1990s he took up painting again and became as successful as a painter as he was as a musician.

When in 2001, he found out that he had only a few months left to live, Herman took matters into his own hands and, depressed by the failure of his drug rehabilitation programme, committed suicide on July 11 by jumping from the roof of the Hilton Hotel at the age of 54. The song My Way, which he recorded 2 years before but which got left out from the album Back on the corner was played at his funeral. Brood really translates his life into the song, not like Sinatra in a glamorous way, but as a man who's come to the end, his body spend. After it was released by popular demand, it gave him a posthume no 1 hit in the Netherlands. TubeVideo My Way

Brood's art work has been steadily gaining recognition, in 2002 he had his first 'official' expo in the Cobra museum, besides many murals, silk and screenprinting his work appeared on cups, mugs, glasses, trays, duvet covers. you name it. Even falsifications of his work have turned up. No wonder then he's gotten his own official Herman Brood Museum* (*alas only Dutch) at Wageningen



All tracks by Herman Brood and His Wild Romance, except where stated differently.

Herman Brood - My Way  (529mb)

01 - Saturday Night (3:42)
02 - Love You Like I Love Myself (3:33)
03 - Still Believe (3:14)
04 - Never Be Clever (3:04)
05 - Hot Shot (3:26)
06 - Too Much Grace (3:07)
07 - Blew My Cool Over You (3:08) Herman Brood
08 - Als Je Wint Heb Je Vrienden (3:38) Herman Brood & Henny Vrienten
09 - Hold On Tight (3:12)
10 - Tattoo Song (3:10)
11 - Checkin' Out (2:59)
12 - If Love Is Dead (2:29)
13 - All The Girls 're Crazy (3:30) Herman Brood
14 - Street (2:45)
15 - I Don't Need You (3:39)
16 - 50 Jaar (4:31) Herman Brood & Henny Vrienten
17 - Pijn (3:04) Herman Brood & Van Dik Hout
18 - Sleepin' Bird (4:11) Herman Brood
19 - Rock 'N' Roll Junkie (2:49)
20 - Saturday Night (Big Band Version) (2:30) Herman Brood
21 - Back On The Corner (2:34) Herman Brood
22 - Dance On (3:41)
23 - When I Get Home (1:42)
24 - My Way (4:47) Herman Brood

Herman Brood the artist pages with thumbnails of his work.
Planet Brood
Herman Brood @ Amazon

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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 !

Stage 10, Belgium

During the Middle Ages, the Low Countries were split into many small feudal states. Most of them were united in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries as the Burgundian Netherlands. These states gained a degree of autonomy in the 15th century and were thereafter named the Seventeen Provinces.
The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), divided the Seventeen Provinces into the United Provinces in the north and the Southern Netherlands in the south, these were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the end of the Napoleon era in 1815. Not for long when in 1830 the Belgian Revolution led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium.

The main cause of the Belgian Revolution was the domination of the Dutch over the economic, political, and social institutions of the United Provinces. The traditional economy of trade and an incipient Industrial Revolution were centred in the present day Netherlands, particularly in the large port of Amsterdam. The Belgians had little influence over this economy and resented Dutch control. At the most basic level, the Dutch were for free trade, while less-developed local industries in Belgium called for the protection of tariffs.

At the grassroots level the Belgian peoples' faith, Roman Catholicism, conflicted with that of their Dutch King, Calvinism, the Belgians saw themselves as purely Catholic and demanded a higher role for the Church (those roman catholic demons at it again), in their government. In a sense, the Belgian Revolution was a Walloon revolution, of a French-speaking upper and middle class that exchanged Dutch hegemony for Walloon hegemony. The Belgian Revolution of 1830 crystallised this antagonism, with the final arrangements favouring the French-speakers. French became the official language; Dutch was banned in schools. The Belgian Civil Code was not translated into Dutch until 1967 !!. With hindsight it's fair to say that theFlemish got the worst of two ills, and to this day they are paying, in the sense that they have to transfer 1000 euro per head to Walloon every year. Don't think there's much thanks for that, on the contrary the walloon remain as arrogant and backward as ever, nepotism rules , many have fled to Brussels region turning this once flemish city into a french speaking bastion...goodluck with asking directions in dutch.

Belgium is well-known for its fine art and architecture ever since the renaissance (1400). The region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence over European art ever since. It supports a fine cuisine aswell and is renowned for it's chocolate. Belgium produces over 500 varieties of beer (Belgian beer) . Belgians have a reputation for loving waffles and French fries (both originated at Belgium). Yes those Belgians , Flemish in particular live the life, nowhere else is partying till dawn so common, they don't need creditcards to spend, it comes natural to them to enjoy, and they enjoy entertaining eachother. Read more @  Wiki on Belgium

When looking into the music scene i was surprised that walloons were all but absent, almost all 'exported' music comes from the Flanders/Brussels regions. It only enforces the idea that something is amiss in Walloon, having Marc Dutroux as its most known citizen paints of picture of (moral) decay and apparently a place where creativity is starved, this whilst Walloon nature presents lush landscapes with the Ardennes and the beautiful Namur valley region.

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Telex - Neurovision (1980 - * 422mb)

When radio DJ/jazz musician Marc Moulin, programmer/sound engineer Dan Lacksman and vocalist Michel Moers got together in 1978 with the deliberate goal of forming an all-electronic disco pop band, they couldn't have chosen a better (or worse) moment: after all this was a year when New Wave, guitars, seriousness and political content were ruling. Telex had a typically Belgian, self-deprecating sense of humour, they entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980, and performed for millions of stunned viewers a synth+vocoder song appropriately entitled "Eurovision".

Telex went on to make five albums, and many of their 12" achieved cult status in the clubs, especially in America.Telex had claimed at the time that "the best compliment anybody could pay us is that our music is disposable - that's what all music should be", and the press sometimes tended to take the same view. When i listened to Telex again i was struck by that they sounded like Belgiums version of Japans Yellow Magic Orchestra (specially late seventies YMO). Largely unknown back then. You be the judge...i'll get to Japan around March 2007.



01 - We Are All Getting Old (3:27)
02 - My Time (4:21)
03 - Tour De France (4:04)
04 - Eurovision (3:21)
05 - No Distances (3:31)
06 - Twist A Saint Tropez (3:17)
07 - Dance To The Music (4:15)
08 - Reality (3:32)
09 - Cliche (0:44)
10 - A/B (3:21)
11 - En Route (4:22)
12 - Moskow Diskow (3:14)
13 - Finale (0:21)

Telex @ Base
Telex @ Wiki
Telex @ Amazon

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Ghinzu - Blow ( 04 * 346mb)

GHINZU, formed 1999 in Brussels, released its first album, Electronic Jacuzzi in late 2000 on their own label Dragoon. Their music can be described as NOISE-POP. It contains the basic elements of pop: piano, trash synthesizers, no-wave melodies, passionate rhythms and unique melodramatic hooks. But it is ripe with experimentation : duo-bass lines, piano ballads accompanied by cut-beat drums, distortions, lyrics full of lo-fi humor and self-mockery, speed-pop and of course… the noise. Ghinzu is a brand name of Japanese knives that cut better the more you use them ( in case you wondered),  i wonder if they have any. The cover art sure is eyecatching, but to me doesnt convey their music, so don't let it turn you off. It's a great album. Early 2007 they will launch the follow up to Blow.



01 - Blow (8:54)
02 - Jet Sex (3:05)
03 - Cockpit Inferno (3:48)
04 - Do You Read Me (4:17)
05 - 'Till You Faint (3:27)
06 - The Dragster-Wave (6:10)
07 - Sweet Love (3:57)
08 - High Voltage Queen (The Reign Of) (5:15)
09 - 21st Century Crooners (3:29)
10 - Mine (5:14)
11 - Horse (2:52)
12 - Sea-Side Friends (4:30)

Ghinzu @ Base
Ghinzu @ MySpace
Ghinzu @ Wiki

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Novastar - Another Lonely Soul (04 ^ 295mb)

Novastar (Joost Zwegers) was the winner of a Rock Rally in 1996. The self-titled debut album Novastar was only released four years later, in 2000, but with success. The album reached #1 of the chart in Flanders and awarded a platinum record. Novastar was honored as best album at both the Zamu Music Awards and the TMF Awards.

Joost Zwegers intended to record his second album in the United States, but unhappy with the way he was pushed to produce hits, he returned to Belgium. He started a collaboration with the Belgian musician Piet Goddaer (Ozark Henry) and together they wrote the songs for the next Novastar album Another Lonely Soul. The album, which Piet Goddear also produced, was released in 2004, it was an immediate succes. Just as the debut album, the new cd topped the chart, was awarded a platinum record and the TMF Award for best album again.It a quite soft album with no really uptempo songs, the tracks are beautiful with a little sad touch and filled with a lot of emotions. A perfect record to enjoy the power of almost perfect popmusic on a rainy sunday afternoon.



01 - Lend Me Love (4:54)
02 - Never Back Down (4:19)
03 - Rome (4:08)
04 - Faith (5:02)
05 - When The Lights Go Down On The Broken Hearted (4:39)
06 - Lost Out Over You (3:55)
07 - Ask For The Moon (4:31)
08 - This Is A Road To Nowhere (2:47)
09 - Don't Ever Let It Get You Down (4:25)
10 - Still Learning To Fly (4:11)

Novastar @ Base
Novastar @ Wiki
Novastar @ Amazon

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Front 242 - Back Catalogue (1987 * 428mb)

Front 242 was created in 1981 in Aarschot, Belgium by Daniel Bresanutti and Dirk Bergen, who wanted to create music and graphic design using emerging electronic tools. The initial name of Prothese was changed to Front 242 because it had greater potential as a subject of graphic design. After a few singles, Jean-Luc De Meyer (vocals) and Patrick Codenys joined the group and the first album, "Geography", was released. At this stage, Dirk Bergen left the group. In 1983, Richard 23 (Richard Jonckheere) joined the group as vocalist/percussionist. With this line-up, the band released many albums of EBM-music, gaining more popularity with every release. (EBM stands for Electronic Body Music, a term invented by F242 themselves) They also established a solid live reputation, with an energetic show in para-military outfits. Read more about Front 242 @ Wiki



Front 242 - Back Catalogue    (flac 428mb)

01 - U-Men (LP Mix) (3:12)
02 - Geography II (1:08)
03 - Kampfbereit (3:18)
04 - Operating Tracks (3:48)
05 - Geography I (2:16)
06 - Take One (4:45)
07 - Controversy Between (4:54)
08 - Sample D. (3:13)
09 - Nomenklatura I (4:24)
10 - Nomenklatura II (2:10)
11 - Lovely Day (5:23)
12 - Special Forces (5:30)
13 - Commando (Remix) (9:03)
14 - No Shuffle (Single Mix) (3:45)
15 - Don't Crash (4:51)
16 - Funkahdafi (3:15)
17 - Take One (Live Chicago) (5:00)

Front 242 @ Base
Front 242 @ MySpace
Front 242 @ Amazon

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Ontayso - Re-Mixed, Re-Worked, Re-Constructed And Re-Invented, Pt 1 (2002 * 273mb)

ONTAYSO is formed by Esther Santoyo, Koen Lybaert and Dave Vanderplas, who take ideas, sounds and concepts of previous acts one step further into new creative areas. ONTAYSO brings a combination of acoustic instrumentation and fine electronics. Lofi guitars, melodic sax and subtle percussions are mixed with soundscapes of manipulated acoustic sounds, field recordings, samples, and several synthesizers. U-Cover Records worked out a remix project around their first unreleased recordings. The result is quite overwhelming... Everything from loveley ambience, subtle piano driven tracks, rythmic techy stuff, really minimal stuff, dubby, etc etc. It is quite a diverse album, allowing each of the selected artists to show off what they can do. The album starts off slow and progressively builds up as each minute passes.



01 - Untitled (Kettel Remix) (4:25)
02 - Untitled (Cosmic Connection Remix) (4:45)
03 - Untitled (Mambotour Remix) (5:14)
04 - Untitled (Loess Remix) (7:02)
05 - Untitled (Alejandra And Underwood Remix) (2:19)
06 - Untitled (Sense Remix) (5:58)
07 - Untitled (ADN Remix) (7:03)
08 - Untitled (File 538 Remix) (6:53)
09 - Untitled (Scanner Remix) (4:53)
10 - Untitled (The Buddy System Remix) (6:06)
11 - Untitled (DJ Godfather Remix) (3:54)

Ontayso @ Base
Ontayso @ MySpace

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TooMany Dj's - Radio Soulwax pt 2 (2002 * 457mb)

Soulwax, headed by David and Stephen Dewaele, is an alternative rock band hailing from Ghent, Belgium. Even though the Dewaele Brothers have released several major albums under this moniker, including Leave The Story Untold (1996), Much Against Everyone's Advice (1999) and Any Minute Now (2004), the two are perhaps best known for their influential contributions to the bastard pop genre under the names Flying Dewaele Brothers and 2 Many DJs with the landmark record As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt. 2. Meanwhile there's 10 parts of radio Soulwax out there, their website has lots of interesting stuff. To keep the first experience at max impact i just list the first 12:30 min from an hour of slicing powermixing.



TooMany Dj's - Radio Soulwax pt 2     re-rip 457mb

01    - Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Peter Gunn (Live)
01.1 - Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At (Head-A-Pella)
02    - Peaches - Fuck The Pain Away
03    - Velvet Underground, The - I'm Waiting For The Man
04.1 - Polyester - J'Aime Regarder Les Mecs
04.2 - Sly & The Family Stone - Dance To The Music
04.3 - Ready For The World - Oh Sheila (A Capella)
05    - Dakar & Grinser - I Wanna Be Your Dog
06    - Ural 13 Diktators - Disko Kings
07.1 - Bobby Orlando - The "O" Medley
07.2 - Felix Da Housecat - Silverscreen Shower Scene

2Many DJ's @ Base worth a visit !
2Many DJ's @ Wiki
2Many DJ's @ Amazon

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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 !

JB, his soul lives on... R.I.P.

Hello, I always liked the music of JB, even when in general soul/funk is not as much my thing as other kinds of music, as a dj i can say he always captured the attention on and off the dancefloor, he was respected thru out the music scene and audiences. As such he will be remembered as one of the greatest music artists of the 20th century, one that really did his "thang" with the full force of his convictions and being.

James Brown first recorded professionally 50 years ago and from this first session came his first million seller "please, please, Please". 30 years later when this cd was compiled he was in the charts with Unity together with electro-funkateer Afrika Bambaata , inbetween he scored a 100 us hits, 40 million sellers. JB has cut some of the deepest grooves in popular music, and carved a legendary career , the total impact and importance of which will see the appreciation now that he's no more.

JB was admitted to the Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia on December 24, 2006 after a dentist visit where he was found to have severe pneumonia. Brown died the next day on December 25, 2006, around 1:45 a.m. at the age of 73. Thusfar the response has been one of shock as nobody saw it coming, infact he had performing engagements later this week. It must have been a very virulent and nasty influenza virus..

JB 's sound, structure, the spirit of his monumental outpput was way ahead of it's time, a lot of what you hear in black music and pop offshoots is based on what JB layed down in the sixties. His self awareness, motivation and determination manifested when he assumed total command of his career in the sixties, with " I'm black and I'm proud" he showed coloured people a route out of the victimized trap.

Soulbrother # 1, Godfather of Soul , Founder of Funk and "the hardest working man in showbizz" is no more, but his soul lives on..... in many a heart around this world.

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The CD of JB (1985 * 277mb)

This polydor/philips CD is from the very earliest days of digital technology. It features 18 of James Brown's greatest songs. Interestingly, a few of the songs here are not the hit versions, but instead are alternate versions. Either way, they are all the great performances. Highly recommended.



01 - Doing it to Death
02 - Super Bad (Mono)
03 - Soul Power (Mono)
04 - Think
05 - It's a Man's World (Mono)
06 - Try Me (I Need You) (Mono)
07 - Bewildered (Mono)
08 - Out of Sight
09 - I Got You
10 - Prisoner of Love
11 - I Got the Feelin' (Mono)
12 - Maybe the Last Time
13 - Licking Stick - Licking Stick
14 - Mother Popcorn
15 - Papa's Got a Brand New Bag (Mono)
16 - Sex Machine
17 - The Payback
18 - Please, Please, Please (Mono)

JB @ Base
JB @ Wiki
JB @ Amazon

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

Xmas, Detour

It's the time of the season where things get soft, at least in the snow, however, in the desert there's no such cosy pleasantries, even if we northerners pretend that one day, in a warm stables with farm animals surrounding, a child was born unto a pair of refugees on the run from the murderous army of a tyrant who'd been foretold his kingdom was in danger from one to be born soon. Sure those ordinairy folk listening to such a story knew all about murderous tyrants and warm stables. That child could have been theirs were it not that this was no ordinairy child, oh no this was the son of God, born on to the immaculately impregnated Mary, in vitro fertilisation we say these days, but lets not twist over how God managed this... Josef and Maria got an angelic warning and fled to egypt, most unfortunate though for all the innocent baby boys that got hacked up... Strange too that such a demonic infanticide campaign didn't register in the roman annals...maybe if it didnt happen ? But in the story it clearly establishes the evil of the other side doesn't it ?

Many an astronomer, working back with the latest astrosoftware, has been seeking Bethlehems star, it must have been around for months, but nothing remotely could be found that would incite magi, who were after all the learned astronomers of the day (night) to go and seek for a newborn king. Now that part of the story may have been a week link anyway.

Jesus was a carpenter, right...wrong this twisted knowledge has come about in the 17th century when the bible was translated from latin into english, the latin puts him down as a master of crafts, this in the days of witchburning sounded a bit too wizzardry so they translated it into a respectable craft of the day, carpentry, ergo Jesus the carpenter. Then there's Nazareth.....it didn't exist at the time, it first shows up on old maps from the 6th century, it's safe to say that he didnt come from there. 
But hold on here, i remember him being called the nazareen, this is an important clue because there was a healers sect that called themselves Nazareen and who held ideas very close to those been attributed to Jesus. WhatJesus message boils down to is as simple as it is difficult : "Gods temple isnt some construction build by men, but it is everymen and woman's heart and that is where one should worship God and keep Moses laws.' Thats right, don't be fooled by the middlemen, the gatekeepers, the priests..thats the core essence of the message Jesus and the Nazareen left us, and it is as valid today as it has ever been.

Keep that in mind and specially in your heart, and i wish you happy days and loving new year.

I add some Xmas goodies to entertain you these days

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Z.E.'s VA - A Christmas Record (1982 - * 58mb)
ZE Records was a New York-based record label, started in 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban.The music which they were listening to was a mixture of the New Wave of Talking Heads and Television, together with the disco-funk music being played in the New York clubs, at a point at which music, art, cinema, literature, and fashion were closely integrated. The pair decided to set up ZE Records, to record the new music emerging, later known generically as No Wave

Within a short time, ZE Records became the hippest record label in the world, signing up such new talent as Was (Not Was), Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Bill Laswell’s Material, and James White and the Blacks, together with more established performers including John Cale and Suicide. Many of its releases were first played at the Paradise Garage club in New York, starting point of Garage music. As it is Xmas in New York aswell ZE couldnt resist to release an alternative Xmas sampler , "A Christmas record" to showcase their artists. Here's the vinyl rip in glorious OGG.



01 - Christina - Things fall apart
02 - Suicide - Hey Lord
03 - The Three Courgettes - Christmas coming
04 - James White - Christmas with satan
05 - The Waitresses - Christmas rapping
06 - August Darnell - Christmas on riverside drive
07 - Material and Nona Hendryx - It's a holiday
08 - Was not was - Christmas time in the motorcity
09 - Davitt Sigurson - It's a big country

Z.E. records @ Base
Z.E. records @ Wiki

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Phil Spector VA - A Christmas Gift For You (1963 - * 48mb)
The Spector of Christmas 1963, back then poorly recieved, no surprise considering president Kennedy had just been assasinated. Spectors trademark at the time was his Wall of Sound, a production technique yielding a dense, layered effect that reproduced well on AM radio and jukeboxes. To attain this signature sound, Spector gathered large groups of musicians (playing some instruments not generally used for ensemble playing, such as electric and acoustic guitars) playing orchestrated parts — often using many instruments playing in unison — for a fuller sound. Spector himself called his technique "a Wagnerian approach to rock & roll: little symphonies for the kids.".

In 2003 Rolling Stone listed "A Christmas Gift For You" # 142 of the greatest albums of all time. As for Phil, he went on producing many hits and in the seventies was succesfull with Beatles' Lennon and Harrison. His marriage with Ronny from the Ronettes broke up in 74 and in 2003 his girlfriend, 40-year-old actress Lana Clarkson was found shot dead at his faux-castle mansion. Phil was arrested but is out on bail, his trial is set for jan 2007.

This is a vinyl rip of the glorious 63 mono album, specially for those defenders of standards, Totally Fuzzy , A Christmas mp3 Gift For You(1963 ) aswell .



01 - Darlene Love - White Christmas
02 - Ronettes - Frosty The Snowman
03 - Bob B. Soxx And The Blue Jeans - The Bells Of St. Mary
04 - Crystals - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
05 - Ronettes - Sleigh Ride
06 - Darlene Love - Marshmallow World
07 - Ronettes - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
08 - Crystals - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
09 - Darlene Love - Winter Wonderland
10 - Crystals - Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
11 - Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
12 - Bob B. Soxx And The Blue Jeans - Here Comes Santa Claus
13 - Phil Spector And Artists - Silent Night

Wiki
Phil Spector @ Amazon

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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 !

Stage 09, France, ici Paris deux

Ici Paris part 2, plenty of artists out there and my choices are but a small sample. With Alansky and Burgalat we have 2 very different anti-hero's, Ekova wouldnt have been without Paris , DJ Cam fuses Paris' streets into his music and Encre..well is our ticket out of Paris onto the skies of Normandy and into oneself again.

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Jay Alansky - Les yeux crevés (2002) Flac 325mb)

Jay Alanski is one of the most prolific French songwriters of the 80s, the man behind a whole string of chart hits for a host of stars. However, Jay grew tired of the showbiz world and became a recluse in the 90s, locking himself away in the studio to experiment with trip-hop and ambient sounds. Greying at the temples, Alanski totally reinvented himself and signed to Éric Morand and Laurent Garnier’s hip indie electro label F-Com. After earning a cult reputation with his Reminiscent Drive albums, he has now moved on to what he himself admits is a moodier, darker sound. "Well, my new album does follow a period of crisis in my life," he says, " I’d just been through a lot of doubt, questioning myself about where I was going, I’ve always tried to translate those kind of emotions into my art as a way of working them through in some way."

With Les yeux crevés Alanky takes us into a world of crispy warm elektronic sounds. At times there's a real germanic feel to his analog assembled sound aesthetics. Alansky creates a melancholic sometimes pathetic then again ironic electronic album that will do nicely on a crisp winter morning aswell as a brighter spring day .Im not sure if your eyes will pop or burst as the title announces, i guess it reflects his own feeling staring at the layers of screens when creating this album.



01 - Un Maximum De Lumière (6:32)
02 - The Captain Of My Ship (5:01)
03 - Compassionate (4:23)
04 - Special Contract (4:32)
05 - Les Yeux Crevés (3:32)
06 - Schmaltz (4:16)
07 - My Life On Porn (1:57)
08 - Manipulate (5:27)
09 - Sir Robert (2:17)
10 - Nan (5:37)
11 - Free At St Pete (11:32)

Alansky @ Fcom

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Ekova - Soft Breeze and Tsunami Breaks ( 99  flac  452mb)

"I think Paris is the most extraordinary city. I mean, every culture has its own history but what's really amazing about Paris is that you get to see living cultures - some of them thousands of years old - existing side by side and influencing one another. I love the idea of this process of mixing and exchange going on right under our noses. And I think it's fair to say that if it hadn't been for Paris, Ekova might never have existed at all!"-Dierdre Dubois

This Paris-based trio - which doesn't contain a single Frenchman, draws its name from a word coined by American-born singer Dierdre Dubois, echo and ova, signifying the feminine side. Dubois, despite her Celtic and French name, was raised by her Italian-American mother in Northern California, and has lived in Paris long enough that her English is noticeably accented. Like the name of the band Dierdre creates words as sounds, she creates her own improvised language, a kind of multicultural glossolalia that is as mysterious as it is musical. "I don't understand it all myself," she acknowledges. "It just comes out by itself. But I like that sense of mystery about it." The other two members of Ekova,Iranian percussionist Arach Khalatbari and Algerian guitar/lute player Mehdi Haddab, have invented a musical language to match. Khalatbari is from Tehran but has lived and worked in Paris since the Islamic revolution in Iran. And Haddab is half Algerian, half French; born in Algiers, he lived in Burundi in Central Africa before finally making his way to Paris. Freed from the weight of any of their individual traditions, Khalatbari and Haddab weave together strands of Celtic and African music, inspired by many of the world's music traditions without literally drawing on them, Ekova has created a sound that is at once elusive but familiar.

With their debut album "Heavens Dust" they released a classic, that deserved more attention than it got, even though many were raving about it. ( politically incorrect lined-up perhaps ?). Happy to experiment and fuse further Ekova offered their album up for remix, the result "Soft Breeze and Tsunami Breaks" was released one year later, it was a bold choice as these electronica remixes wouldnt perse suit their first fans. And admittedly it veeres off widely from the more acoustic original and presents us with a jazz-electro downtempo dub album that firmly stands on its own.

In 2001 Ekova released "Space Lullabies and Other Fantasmagore" , they went on some extensive touring but to date haven't released any new material.



Ekova - Soft Breeze and Tsunami Breaks (flac 452mb)

01 - In My Prime (Gekko From Ekovaland)
02 - Helas And Reason (Jérôme Pacman - Neti Neti Remix)
03 - Starlight In Daden (Da Lata-Aurora Remix)
04 - Temoine (Farmakit Extended Remix)
05 - La Nef Des Fous (Niktus Design Size Remix)
06 - Taksim (Popodi - Un Taksim Pour Tobruk)
07 - Sister (Lofofora - Tsunami Sister Remix)
08 - Venus And One (Boscheron, Smadj - Reconstruction)
09 - Todosim (Roudoudou - Ali Baba Remix)
10 - Sebrendita (DJ Cam - Dark Jazz Remix)
11 - Ditama (Bab & F2F - Kalenda Remix)
12 - Sabura (Max Pashm - Desert Delight Remix)
13 - Chant Of Diem (Doctor L - Golden Days Remix)

Ekova @ Label
Ekova @ Amazon

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DJ Cam Substances (96 flac 252mb)

DJ Cam (born Laurent Daumail in 1973) is a French DJ. After trading his instruments for a set of turntables he spend his days listening to the likes of Eric B and specially Public Enemy At 16 Laurent created his own place hitting bars and clubs with his Bomb Rush . At 20 he started his own label to release himself, undettered by the absence of initial succes he recorded his first LP was "Undergound Vibes" in 1994. It was revolutionary for it's time, featuring familiar jazz samples and loads of vibe samples and heavy hip-hop influences, "Undergound Vibes"got him noticed by the international music press. DJ Cam's style coined as abstract hip hop merges blunt street rhythms with languid samples and atmospheric soundscapes.

"Substances" experimented with a change of direction from DJ Cam's previous albums. The tracks on "Substances" were more melancholy in feel than usual, featuring a variety of slick cool-jazz samples from the likes of Alice Coltran. Cam fused his smooth easy-listening jazz samples with the usual hip hop rhythms, but this time round the emphasis was definitely on mellow - listen to the soft, velvet vocals of the Indian singer Kakoli Sengupta on the track "Meera" . "Substances" feels like a late night trip thru the streets and bars of Paris ending at the Arc de triomph in the early morning twilight, unsure about what it means you experienced but content. Life's a stream, it goes on.

Dj Cam was on the map and in demand to produce ever since releasing a string of ep' .s albums and projects with jazz artists or the likes of bill Laswell too much to get into here, his latest 2006 release a remix project DJCam revisted .



01 - Intro (0:13)
02 - Friends and Enemies (6:25)
03 - Essence Part One (0:38)
04 - Meera ft- Kakoli Sengupta (7:15)
05 - Essence Part Two (0:33)
06 - Sound System Children (6:47)
07 - Alexandra's Interlude (0:46)
08 - Innervisions (4:40)
09 - Essence Part Three (0:40)
10 - Hip Hop Pionneers (4:23)
11 - Essence Part Four (0:33)
12 - Lost Kingdom ft- Kakoli Sengupta (4:00)
13 - Essence Part Five (0:32)
14 - Angel Dust (6:25)
15 - Essence Part Six (0:34)
16 - Twillight Zone (4:46)
17 - Outro (0:46)

DJ Cam @ HisSpace
DJ Cam @ Amazon

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Bertrand Burgalat - Sssound of Mmmusic (2000 * 102mb)

Bertrand Burgalat, the epitomy of "the trendy Parisian", whilst tapping into the glamorous easy-listening groove of the 60s and mixing it with electro beats, has established a reputation as an avant-garde pioneer. The multi-talented Burgalat, whose inspiration ranges from the classical compositions of Ravel to the early electronica of Kraftwerk, has worked as an arranger, composer, producer, soundtrack writer and remixer.Bertrand Burgalat was born in the Corsican town of Bastia in 1963, the Burgalat family moved several times in the course of Burgalat senior's career so young Bertrand grew up in several different French towns.

Coming from a well-to-do, bourgeois background, Bertrand was introduced to classical music at an early age and began taking piano lessons at the age of 6. A few years later his musical tastes would change dramatically, however. After seeing a Pink Floyd concert at the age of 10, Bertrand opened his mind to a whole range of other musical possibilities. The budding young musician went on to set up his own rock and jazz bands. But one of the most formative influences throughout Bertrand's teens in the 1970s was his discovery of the work of cult German electro pioneers Kraftwerk.

Burgalat went on to launch his own career in the music world in the 1980s, starting out as a producer and an arranger. Steering away from the musical mainstream, Burgalat marked himself out as a man with alternative interests, producing an album by Slovenian 'electro Goths', Laibach, when he was just 25. He went on to work with a host of other major underground stars such as the German band Einstürzende Neubauten .

In the early 90s Burgalat became increasingly involved in the easy-listening movement. Fusing the best of 60s and 90s electronica with layers of smooth, slick strings, revolving around a light, upbeat sound. The vogue was perfectly suited to Burgalat's own interest in the aesthetic and music of the period, most notably theme tunes from kitsch TV series.

In the 90s Burgalat's career largely revolved around his production work for artists such as Jad Wio , Julien Baer and Japanese electro/pop diva Kahimi Karie. Meanwhile, Burgalat also continued a parallel career as a musical arranger, working with the likes of Ollano, Mick Harvey, the Japanese group Pizzicato Five, and the Australian star Nick Cave.

In 1992 Burgalat branched out in a new direction, working on the soundtrack of Cyril Collard's film "les Nuits fauves". Five years later Burgalat turned his hand to film composition once again, writing the entire soundtrack for Valérie Lemercier's movie "Quadrille". Meanwhile, advertising creatives also came knocking at Burgalat's door, asking him to compose the music for various ad campaigns for luxury brands such as Yves Saint-Laurent.

Burgalat also found himself in demand on the remix front and went on to cook up a series of cutting-edge remixes for mainstream stars such as Jamiroquai, Soul II Soul, Depeche Mode ("Easy Going") and hip French electro outfit Air ("Sexy Boy"). Renowned as a brilliantly creative musical mastermind with a certain air of mystery about him, Burgalat soon found himself dubbed "the French Phil Spector."

TricatelWhen "France's answer to Phil Spector" set up his own record label, Tricatel, in 1995. he established himself as a key player on the French music scene. Positioning itself at the musical cutting-edge, Tricatel soon showed itself to be an innovative force, promoting original, up-and-coming talents from a broad range of musical backgrounds. Meanwhile, Burgalat was also extremely active on the home front. In 1996 he produced the album "Valérie Lemercier chante" for singer and French comedian Valérie Lemercier (also his partner in real life). Then in 2000 he went on to mastermind "Présence humaine", an album recorded by controversial French author Michel Houellebecq. These two albums – deemed exciting and original by fans, and dismissed as trendy and "snobbily intellectual" by critics – appeared to sum up Burgalat's image in the public eye.

Straddling the divide between kitsch, old-fashioned "variété" sounds and avant-garde electro, Burgalat forged a reputation for top-quality production work, but his music was often considered overly elitist (a criticism which, incidentally, Burgalat was only too happy to have levelled at his work!) Burgalat also got something of a reputation for his extravagant parties, which he liked to organise in unusual, off-beat settings such as empty swimming pools and bowling alleys.

The Ssssound of music
Finally, after decades of working for other people, Burgalat went into the studio on his own account. His debut solo album, "The Ssssound of music", was released in 2000 under the name Bertrand. This album, which Burgalat had, in fact, been working on since setting up his own label in '95, contained the usual Burgalat inspirations – i.e. a healthy dose of electronica, pop culture and psychedelia, soaring backing choruses and string sections and some beautifully-crafted melodies. Infused with a "private joke" sense of humour, "The Ssssound of music" made no attempt to win over fans on the musical mainstream, but brandished its difference loud and clear. Besides featuring numerous instrumental tracks, "The Ssssound of music" also found Burgalat trying his hand at vocals or inviting close friends such as Katerine and Michel Houellebecq to guest on certain songs, but it was Burgalat's group, A.S. Dragon, which lent musical coherence to the whole.



Bertrand Burgalat - Sssound of Mmmusic    flac 398mb

01 - Pas Perdus (0:42)
02 - Tsom (2:57)
03 - Ok Skorpios (4:10)
04 - Aux Cyclades Electronique (3:36)
05 - Ma Rencontre (5:38)
06 - Ile De Beton (5:37)
07 - Attention Amiante (4:16)
08 - Chaque Jour (2:52)
09 - (Come Potrei) Scordare (3:05)
10 - 14 H (0:36)
11 - Nonza (4:31)
12 - Sunshine Yellow (5:43)
13 - Gris Metal (3:40)
14 - Des Yeux Roses (1:29)
15 - L'Observatoire (3:23)
16 - Le Pays Imaginaire (2:30)
17 - Coeur Inapaise (4:00)

Burgalat @ MySpace
Tricatel @ Base
Burgalat @ Wiki
Burgalat @ Amazon

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Encre - Flux (02 ^289mb)

For my last post en France, we leave the pressure cooker Paris to seek some quiet and solitude in the Normandy, a place where one can get in touch with nature and oneself again. Yann Tambour, the author/composer/performer who hides behind the Encre project, was born in 1978. He grew up in Courtances, Normandy, in a family with little love of music. At the age of 7 he learnt classical guitar. At high school, he set-up different pop groups, in which he sang in both French and English. It was through his friends that he got his musical education, discovered Joy Division, the Velvet Underground, Nick Drake and Palace. On returning to the faculty, he found himself alone to record pieces on his 4-track recorder, with some little synthesizers on which he put French lyrics.

He next moved to technology, first using a family computer, on which he installed music software and directed himself progressively to the composition of instrumentals, like his first single “Pente est” released on the label Active Suspension under the name of Encre. Yann continued to refine his writing up until June 2001, and the publication of the first eponymous Encre album on French label Clapping Music. Lasting 33 minutes, he performs 8 pieces on 2 instruments, from dark pop to obsessive spoken-song. The music is constructed by a guitar (acoustic or electric) and samples (a range of samples of songs which already exist) diverse: drums, strings, brass, piano and various noises. Despite this Yann Tambour refrains from making electronic music, arguing that the fact of using a sequencer doesn’t place his music automatically in this category, and that according to him “generating sounds from a computer or an instrument comes out the same…”. On ‘Flux’ Encre weaves organic sounds with precise programming to deliver ambitious electronica that fluctuates in intensity throughout. The title track is a perfect example. Starting with a melodic acoustic guitar and whining keyboards, the track adds processed violin and builds into a complex myriad of isounds that increase in concentration until its unfurling finale.



01 - Flux (4:44)
02 - Marbres (4:42)
03 - Hassan (6:47)
04 - Us (8:39)
05 - Galant(es?) (5:36)
06 - Sèves (5:39)
07 - Missive Bis (3:07)
08 - Plexus (5:58)

Encre @ Base
Encre @ Amazon

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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 !

Stage 08, France, ici Paris

Hasta la vista , Spain, Portugal, we return to France en route a Paris. We're not in Paris yet, first stop here is Lyon, my turntable prevented ripping this vinyl last time. So an extra this time.

Carte de Sejour - RhoRhoManie (1984 - * 71mb)

Rachid Taha grew up in France in the poverty-stricken, working-class immigrant community that had sprung up in Lyons. From an early age, music was his lifeline against the hopelessness of immigrant life. He sang, and also DJ'd in clubs, spinning an international blend of sounds that would presage his career. "I played a real patchwork," he recalled, "Arabic, salsa, rap, funk, anything you could dance to."

But the records didn't say what was in his heart, the conflict of being an outsider, his Algerian roots pulling against the tug of European culture. Rachids music career began with his Maghrebi punk trio Carte de Séjour (Green Card) in 1981 (the name refers to the temporary work visas issued to Maghrebis - North African Arabs - coming to France).Their music burned with the fire of a young immigrant generation, following the lead of their heroes, the Clash. Carte de sejours first album Rhorho (2nd generation arabs) manie was produced by Steve Hillage, a working friendship that continues till this day.

It was Carte de Séjour's second album, "Deux et demi", which would really catapult the group to the forefront of the French music scene. For this album, released in 1986, featured Carte de Séjour's highly controversial single "Douce France". With hindsight it burnt them out so they called it quits in '89. Taha has pursued a solo career that has incorporated the fury of rock, the heat of Mexican mariachi music, the trance state of techno and of course Arabic sounds - raï (the Maghrebi salsa, if you will) and the coarser, bluesy chaâbi.




01 - Rhorhomanie
02 - Chemis Ou Nemja
03 - Zamana
04 - Nar
05 - Desole
06 - Ouadou
07 - Blue de Marseille
08 - Habibi
09 - Sounefir
10 - Mirage

Rachid Taha @ Base
Rachid Taha @ Wiki
Rachid Taha @ Amazon

Taha Rocks el Casbah in quicktime
Active Taha Fan Blog

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Vitalic - Ok Cowboy (flac * 360mb)

A few hundred km north of Lyon lies Dijon, home to Vitalic, the musical personality of the Frenchman, Pascal Arbez-Nicolas, whose experimental form of electronic dance production is increasingly stirring the waters of the DJ scene. Rather than sampling musical instruments or the vocals of 1980s power-ballads, Vitalic relies on an innovative use of the synthesizer and therefore is a new advert for the creative talents of dance production.

Vitalic certainly managed to uproot some dancefloors with his dj style, which quickly got him noted by the music press, always on the look out for the latest phenomenon but he managed to evade the press's electroclash label. The last 3 years before releasing his first album he spent djíng on weekends, and technorocking weekdays in his homestudio assempling Ok Cowboy.

From the opening track, 'Polkamiatic', Vitalic's musical art effectively drags the listener into a chaotic circus of electronic sound. However, Ok Cowboy rapidly descends into an underground of industrial techno, epitomised by the dark and sinister undertones of 'Poney Part One' and 'La Rock 01'. Even so, Vitalic's experimentation is notably effective in 'My Friend Dario', a pulsating electro-rock anthem which would shake the foundations of any euphoric dance theatre. A must for budding DJs and underground dance enthusiasts, Ok Cowboy rebukes the notion that dance music is dead.



01 - Polkamatic (1:52)
02 - Poney (Part 1) (5:22)
03 - My Friend Dario (3:37)
04 - Wooo (3:52)
05 - La Rock 01 (5:25)
06 - The Past (4:27)
07 - No Fun (3:36)
08 - Poney (Part 2) (5:12)
09 - Repair Machines (3:45)
10 - Newman (4:50)
11 - Trahison (4:31)
12 - U And I (3:39)
13 - Valletta Fanfares (2:24)

Vitalic @ Base
Vitalic Forum Portal !
Vitalic @ Amazon

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The City of Paris ( @ Wiki) is the most densely populated area in the Western World, excluding the outlying woodland parks of Boulogne and Vincennes, its density in 1999 was 24,448 inh. per km² =40m² per person, 10 million lives make do with that in the city of lights.

Paris derived its name from a celtic tribe the parisii who found some highground hills surrounded by marshes a very good and safe place to live. As did unnamed predecessors from 4,000 bc onwards, btw some claim Paris got its name because of a temple erected to the goddess Isis (mother mary's precurser) at Isis or par Isis who's to say, par ici (this way) sounds find to me aswell as everything/one moves thru and to Paris.

After Hausmann restructured Paris in the latter half of the 19th century, Paris managed to keep it's charm, it survived the worldwars unscaved and these days is mainly under threat from modernist and pretentious architects trying to out do eachother in the spirit of that well known french trait....grandeur..luckely space is limited. The city of Paris remains an attraction for tens of million tourists, aswell as to those that want to live and experience one of the worlds culturally most dynamic cities.

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Motorbass - Pansoul (96 -  405mb)

In 1996, even before the massive success of Daft Punk's debut album "Homework", there were two French dance albums, that were on every discerning dance fan's shopping list, Etienne de Crecy's "Superdiscount" and his collaboration with La Funk Mob member Philippe Zdar under the Motorbass alias. "Pansoul" was widely considered the body of work that kick-started an entire wave of French dance artist albums, and even now, is referenced as a "lost" classic. Pansoul is "The" seminal record of the so called French Touch that has quickly been recycled and used to the bone by bunches of weak producers looking for club hype. It almost instantly became a reference in 1996 as its sound, a mixture of hip-hop, raw funk and house was incredibly innovative at the time and still escapes all types of classification. Etienne De Crecy and Philippe Zdar created an unique, deep and sensual, sometimes unreal soundscape with an incredible hypnotic power.



01 - Fabulous (6:10)
02 - Ezio (8:39)
03 - Flying Fingers (4:49)
04 - Les Ondes (7:48)
05 - Neptune (6:03)
06 - Wan Dence (7:51)
07 - Genius (5:50)
08 - Pariscyde (7:06)
09 - Bad Vibes (D.Mix) (5:18)
10 - Off (indeed ) (0:55)

Motorbass - Early Works (Flac 352mb)

EP1 (1992)
01 Visine 9:48
02 Deux Trente Trois 2:36
03 Stereogramm Gelato 3:55
04 Tournerie Vibrator 6:35
05 D. T. T. (2 Ray Mix) 2:36
Transphunk EP (1993)
06 Open Sesame 6:18
07 La Doctoresse 5:04
08 Flying Fingers 4:57
09 Home 7:13
10 Soixante Six 5:20
11 Suce Mon Son 1:25


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Avril - That Horse Must Be Starving (02 ^ 311mb)

Avril Fred ‘Magnon’ Avril was awarded the Prix Constantin in 2002 - the French equivalent to the UK's Mercury Music Prize.
That Horse Must Be Starving (title inspired by a dream) has all the elements of a solidly entertaining chilled-out electronic experience: ambient guitars, rhythmic static, blips, bloops, some throbbing beats sufficient for head bobbing, and even mellow vocals that slide between speakers to create an effective stereo experience. And I guess the point of listening to a mellow album is to be … mellow. Avril may well not be the decadent crooner he thinks he is, nonetheless, despite some flaws, this debut Lp has some suprises, the splendid baroque patterns of underground hit Velvet Blues or the intriguing Lil Louis reprise are quite an exception on an LP that verges on electro-pop. Granted the line between twisted fun for the sake of it and musical brilliance is quite thin but relaxation doesn't mean boredom, with these promising combination of sounds. In 2004 Avril released an excellent breakbeat/electro/downtempo follow up album"Members Only", which seems to have met an exclusive death as it's sparsly available, gosh those samples...



01 - Double Mind 4:45
02 - The Date ( Voc - Ana Rago ) 4:57
03 - Eye World 4:32
04 - Like Everybody Else 5:29
05 - French Kiss 8:16
06 - Helium Life Boat (Voc - Beth Hirsch) 5:41
07 - Velvet Blues 3:41
08 - Global Headphones 7:24
09 - Arlanda Epilogue 4:37

Avril @ Base

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Ethnician - Ethnician (1999 -  393mb)

Ethnician is the band formed by Yvo Abadi (Percussion/Drums), Miguel Saboga (vocals and Percussion), Igor Nikitinsky, Garbis Baharian (Samplers) of Dirty District. their music falls into the category of World Music, Dub and Drum and Bass but also goes into Metal, Reggae and Dance styles also. Discovered by the Printemps de Bourges Festival Network, the band choose to record their first album in an abandoned movie theater located in the African district of Paris. The On U feel is there, if only they could have gotten Adrian Sherwood to produce this, what a cracker it would have been.   The name Ethnician was chosen basically because each Each is from a different ethnic background: Miguel was born in Portugal, Igor was born in Russia, Garbis is from Armenia and Yvo is from Egypt. Recently the band has apparently split and Miguel and Yvo are currently in another Ethnician type band, the heavy percussion-based BOX OHM Station



01 - U.S.S.
02 - Moussaï
03 - Growing Seeds
04 - Dynamite #3
05 - Medicine Man
06 - Think Positiv
07 - A Test
08 - Dub #2
09 - Complaint
10 - Welcome to Fantasy Land
11 - Dynamite
12 - Ate Pode Aleijar

@ MySpace

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VA - Rue Martel - Ya Basta (1999 - * 327mb)

French label founded by Philippe Cohen-Solal (Gotan Project). Christoph H. Müller

The French producer Philippe Cohen Solal started out as a music consultant for leading European film directors such as Lars von Trier and Bertrand Tavernier in the Nineties. He contributed to the first French Touch compilation in 1991, and worked with French electro pioneer Pierre Henry. Müller was a well-known figure on the Swiss electro scene before moving to Paris where he met Cohen Solal (in 1995) and formed the dance imprint ¡Ya Basta!. A number of side projects emerged such as Boyz from Brazil, Stereo Action Unlimited, and Fruit of the Loop. The unifying factor was the duo's love of Latin music and various styles of left-field electronica. Of these creative projects, the one they thought would have least success was Gotan Project: a collaboration with the Argentine guitarist Eduardo Makaroff that attempted to update the tango sound.

"We were doing Brazilian hybrids and other bits and pieces where there was more opportunity to expand," says Müller. "But with Gotan Project there was no flexibility. Tango had a bad image at that point. People thought it was music for old people - boring and rather corny." They turned this outmoded perception on its head by adding beats and visuals to coincide with the highly charged, sensual nature of tango dance steps." They released the album La Revancha Del Tango in 2001 and, much to their surprise, it was an international success. Even Argentina embraced this reworking of the tango sound, coining the phrase "electro-tango".

After moving to Paris ("it's the second capital of tango music"), Makaroff became the conductor of the Club Tango Orchestra at La Coupole, the legendary brasserie. He added milonga (an older variation of the tango) and various folkloric guitar styles to Cohen Solal's and Müller's beefed-up tango concoctions, "The thing about tango is that there's so much material still left to explore," continues Müller. "Like jazz, it's one of the great musical styles of the 20th century. It's as big as pop or rock. The first album just touched the tip of the iceberg. There's the whole folkloric side of the music as well. It's tango with a big T."
On this Ya basta label sampler we find the duo in a number of disguises displaying their explorations into electro-jazz.



01 - Stereo Action Unlimited - Hi-Fi Trumpet (Boyz from Brazil Mix)
02 - Gotan Project - El Capitalismo Foraneo
03 - The Boyz from Brazil - S´Amor (Intense Mix)
04 - The Boyz from Brazil - Boyz from Brazil Theme
05 - Gotan Project - Vuelvo Al Sur
06 - PCS Mind Food - PCS Mind Food
07 - Fruit of the Loop - SxExplore (Boy You Turn Meex)
08 - The Boyz from Brazil - O Nosso Amor (Armada Mix)
09 - Stereo Action Unlimited - Hi-Fi Trumpet (Rio C. Mix)

Gotan @ Base
Gotan Project @ Amazon

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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 !r