Sep 29, 2007

Inside Out, Again

Hello, last thursday Rho-Xs celebrated it's first year on the web, i believe its been a success, not only looking at the hits-score and downloadnumbers but to me personally, reconnecting to all that music which in my case has been steadily masked by new music. For sure i hoped more blogs would take up the OGG format, it still has the highest quality/ size ratio. I don't mind a bit of Don Quixote, i'll stick to the format, besides ever since the walkmen came around, i had a thing against these gadgets that isolate man from the world. I may have deejayed for 25 years but headphones were never my thing. Mind you, my next post is geared to the headphone experience...
Looking back i meant to do more then just music, well that hasnt come about much, after a tentative start my weekly rip rate doubled which in the end resulted in 550 titles that have come up here, the odd ebook or pdf, but music has been the main thing, especially the music from places away from the centers of the music industry (London and L A), i never had much love for the business, but this year on researching, the number of times i was confronted with artists getting ripped, abused or snubbed was amazing .
One thing that did surprise me was the lackluster response i got, considering two out of three unique visitors got away with a 'gift'. It maybe the format where i post several titles at once and the fact i have been touring for months in a format, doesnt call for requests as much. Next year will be different the formats wont be as extensive and i won't be posting like i did wednesdays and saturdays. I plan to post two Douglas Adams Series The Hitchhikers Guide and Starship Titanic in weekly instalments, i will have a mixtape series in a weekly format and around that plenty of stuff i like, from eighties wave/pop to nineties electronics (ambient and dance oriented) , who knows i might be tempted to post the dance/funk stuff that has been gathering dust.

For now it's the second instalment of Inside Out, more to come next week, to some its prime ambient but its more then that. Shapeshifter does have a point, good vibrations do matter..a lot, for those seeking a deep restfull sleep, the holophonic hemi -sync production Super Sleep is the answer, well for those that dont it still is good ambient, all headphone music. For my two freely associated albums Alice in Ultra Land and Nerve Net you can do as you like.

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Shapeshifter - DNA Activation Level One - CD 1
Shapeshifter - DNA Activation Level One - CD 2
Super Sleep Hemi Sync
Amorphous Androgynous - Alice In Ultraland
Brian Eno - Nerve Net
Robert Monroe - Far Journeys
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Shapeshifter - DNA Activation (Initation) Level 1 series

What is DNA?

The DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) holds the essential blueprint for all biological life, and consists of a sugar base, phosphates, and a sequencing of nucleotides. Unique and personal, it contains the encoded information for both your physical and spiritual lineages. This encoded information determines your physical form, hereditary maladies, mental proclivities, emotional behavioural patterns, spiritual gifts, and more.

The DNA contains the master plan for your life purpose and divine potential. Our present physical DNA contains two strands, which hold the genetic codes for our physical evolvement. However, there are an additional ten strands that remain dormant until they are activated. These spiritual DNA codes are our cosmic link to the universal life force, connecting Spirit with the human genetic code. When these dormant strands become activated they facilitate the development of our spiritual DNA.

Healing with Sound

Sound healing is the practice of using sound to realize and correct imbalances in the body. Vibrations or frequencies are measured in cycles per second or simply "Hertz". All things will vibrate or resonate to certain frequencies. Sound as well as light are both vibrations. Sound healing works because, like all matter, the human body is not solid. Rather it is energy that is held together by sound. Any disease therefore, indicates that part of our system has moved out of balance and is consequently vibrating at an off frequency. Harmonious synchronization between the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual bodies results in health. Probably the most direct and effective healing force for restoring harmony is through the experience of powerful resonant sounds. When there is a blockage, the organ in question stops vibrating at a healthy frequency and thus it results in some kind of illness. So through sound and light one can break up, dissolve and release these blockages.

Shapeshifter says:

Our music awakens, activates and grounds our highest potentials....DNA Activation music is transformational meditation music which has been conceived, developed and created by Shapeshifter (Gary & JoAnn Chambers), channels of higher light and information via sound/music and art. Powerful multidimensional music that enhances all forms of sound healing and body mind vibrational energy processes. Using a shamanic approach, they have been working with sound to activate the DNA since 1986, along with many other lifetimes dedicated to assisting planetary evolutionary shifts via sound. Their works are known through the DNA Activation circles as the premier work in sound to activate the divine DNA codex, to awaken humanity to their full potentials. These DNA Activation soundscapes can awaken dormant and latent potentials in the human species. Benefits and effects include self healing, enhanced health and wellbeing, healing abilities, manifestation and abundance increase, intuitive/psychic abilities, deepening meditation, telepathy, clairvoyant abilities, clairaudient abilities, clairsentient abilities, ESP/extra sensory perception abilities, sixth sense/6th sense and overall increase of happiness and joy in ones life and purpose. Reseach with the LevelTwo DNA Activation series continues to expand this work towards physical rejuvenation, transmutation, transformation, transfiguration, teleportation, ascension and advanced forms of physical immortality. These potentials are lying dormant within our 2 strand and in our etheric multi strand DNA. As humankind collectively awakens to these hidden potentials, the next wave of evolution grounds into tangible reality on Planet Earth. Ride the waves, modulate the lifewave; become the music more and more as you go deeper - the more you do, the more it will speak back to you in various ways. Meditate deeply into our multidimensional sounds to expand your consciousness and accelerate your evolutionary process and enhance all sound healing processes. Personal assistance is always available to assist you as you begin working with our soundscapes. Enjoy your journeys!



Shapeshifter - DNA Activation (Initation) Level 1 - 1

Shapeshifter - DNA Activation Level One - CD 1 - initiation (49:12)
Shapeshifter - DNA Activation Level One Companion Guide
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Shapeshifter - DNA Activation (Initation) Level 1 - 2

Shapeshifter - DNA Activation Level One - CD 2 - initiation (44:22)
Shapeshifter - DNA Activation Level One Companion Guide

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How Hemi-Sync Works

The audio-guidance process works quite simply by sending different sounds (tones) to each ear by stereo headphones. The two hemispheres of the brain then act in unison to "hear" a third signal - the difference between the two tones. This is not an actual sound, but an electrical signal that can only be perceived within the brain by both brain hemispheres working together.

The result is a focused, whole-brain state known as hemispheric synchronization or "Hemi-Sync" - an optimal condition for improving human performance...

Super Sleep

The Hemi-Sync technology assists a willing participant to sleep in numerous ways. First, the tones gently lead the brain from normal beta consciousness to deep delta sleep via the Frequency Following Response. The gentle, swishing sound enhances your perception of the Hemi-Sync patterns, and soothes you into a peaceful night of rest. Non-verbal. The CD functions without music



Super Sleep Hemi Sync (85mb)

Mind Food Super Sleep (45:07)

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New ogg 9 re-up

Amorphous Androgynous - Alice In Ultraland (05 * 161mb)

The Future Sound of London ( FSOL) has manymonikers but perhaps the best known is Amorphous Androgynous, following the breakthrough ambient dub track "Papua New Guinea", which was their first official release. Virgin Records looking for electronic bands and quickly signed them. With their newfound contract they immediately began to experiment, resulting in the Tales of Ephidrina album, released in 93 under the Amorphous Androgynous alias. Thus preceding FSOL 's first album release Lifeforms (94)

After a long hiatus, and rumors of mental illness, Cobain and Dougans returned in 2002 with The Isness, a record heavily influenced by 1960s and 1970s psychedelia and released under their alias Amorphous Androgynous. It was preceded by Papua New Guinea Translations, a mini album which contained a mixture of remixes of FSOL's seminal track as well as new material from The Isness sessions. Three years on, Dougans and Cobain followed the album with a continuation of the Amorphous Androgynous project, Alice in Ultraland. Rumoured to be accompanied by a film of the same title, the album took The Isness' psychedelic experimentation and toned it down, giving the album a singular theme and sound, and replacing the more bizarre moments with funk and ambient interludes. The album was ignored by the press, but more favourable among fans than its predecessor. Unlike The Isness, which featured almost a hundred musicians over the course of it and the various alternative versions and remix albums, Alice in Ultraland featured a fairly solid band lineup throughout.



01 - The Emptiness Of Nothingness (6:18)
02 - The Witchfinder (7:28)
03 - The Witch Hunt (2:54)
04 - All Is Harvest (6:39)
05 - The Prophet (4:49)
06 - Indian Swing (5:10)
07 - The Seasons Turn (1:01)
08 - High And Dry (4:53)
09 - Yes My Brother - You've Gotta Turn Yourself Around (4:59)
10 - In The Summertime Of Consciousness (5:44)
11 - Billy The Onion (5:28)
12 - Another Fairy Tale Ending (4:03)
13 - The World Is Full Of Plankton (8:02)
14 - The Wicker Doll (3:02)

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Brian Eno - Nerve Net (92 * 99mb)

Brian Peter George St. Jean le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, sometimes simply Eno, (born May 15, 1948), is an electronic musician who started his musical career with Roxy Music. He then went on to produce a number of highly eclectic and increasingly ambient electronic and acoustic albums. He is widely cited as coining the term "ambient music" He collaborated with David Byrne, on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts Eno collaborated with David Bowie as a writer and musician on Bowie's influential "Berlin trilogy" Eno has also collaborated with Robert Fripp , Robert Wyatt , with Jon Hassell and with the German duo Cluster. Eno has acted as a producer for a number of bands,he won the best producer award at the 1994 and 1996 BRIT awards. He is an innovator across many fields of music and recently he has collaborated on the development of the Koan algorithmic music generator. He has also been involved in the field of visual arts. In 1996 Brian Eno, and others, started the Long Now Foundation to educate the public into thinking about the very long term future of society.

To a certain extent, Nerve Net is the Nineties' equivalent of a mystical, enthralling journey through creepy dark places. It doesn't take part in a macrocosm; it's a microcosm we're dealing with, the nerve system of a human. When you consider this fact, the 'conceptual' structure becomes far more clear - the music is supposed to reflect the working of the human organism, and song titles like 'Fractal Zoom' and 'Wire Shock' become far more understandable.The album's centerpiece is 'Web', present in two different mixes. Similar in some respects to Fripp & Eno's early collaborations, in that the essence is the same: a spooky, psychotic sonic landscape that slowly builds .



01 - Fractal Zoom (6:26)
02 - Wire Shock (5:28)
03 - What Actually Happened? (4:42)
04 - Pierre In Mist (3:49)
05 - My Squelchy Life (4:03)
06 - Juju Space Jazz (4:28)
07 - The Roil, The Choke (5:01)
08 - Ali Click (4:15)
09 - Distributed Being (6:12)
10 - Web (6:41)
11 - Web (Lascaux Mix) (9:49)
Appendix
12 - Decentre (3:25)

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Robert Monroe - Far Journeys (85, PDF 1.3 mb)



The sequel to Monroe's Journey Out Of The Body is an amazing parapsychological odyssey that reflects a decade of research into the psychic realm beyond the known dimensions of physical reality.You are either going to be able to wrap your mind around this and accept it- or you will automatically reject it. In any case, as the book points out, all of us will cross over into at least part of this greater reality after bodily death- this is not a belief system or dogma. It is just that some individuals have the ability to consciously and lucidly explore those realms without dieing. In any case, we are more than our physical body. In the many accounts given of exploration and contact by Monroe and his associates it must be kept in mind that these are transcripts of translations from NVC (Non Verbal Communication) into human words. Human language is a very restricting form of communication and is not used at higher levels. There is also the fact that Mr. Monroe was a radio engineer and that much of his terminology reflects his training and colors his interpretations.

This is seen as the best of Monroe's three books, i would advise to start with the epilogue, it is a concise and well-organized outline of the entire system of existence through all the various levels. The first appendix gives an excellent set of questions and answers. The second appendix is an independent scientific study the OBE Psychophysiology. In the conclusion of the latter it is pointed out that Plato believed something very similar to this system. It also struck me as very similar to some of the more satisfying Gnostic beliefs .

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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 !

Sep 26, 2007

Sunshine, Australia Boomer

Hello, autumn has come and my Sunshine series comes to an end with the third visit to down under . I start with a ethnic fusion act Nomad, an australian who found his way into the dream, 23 amazon reviewers cant be wrong...5 stars, AC/DC which got its name from a sewing machine so the story goes, made 'Whole Lot of Noisy' in the heavy metal scene of the seventies, Powerage would be the last in that succesful line up, after binging too much caused singer Bon Scott death (how stupid). How different the fairy world of 'heavenly creature' Louisa Krol, who's digital connection to Italy's Oophoi enabled them to create a mythical ambience. Ed Kuepper, one tends to overlook, which almost happened to me aswell, one of those artists that sell better when they're dead, (Van Gogh Complex), this Honey Steel's Gold is certainly one of his highlights, and if you think he sounds a bit like Robert Smith sometimes, its true, he should cover a few of Ed's great songs one day..Split Enz isnt Australian but from New Zealand, hey them Finn brothers made some great carstereo music and this certainly belongs up there aswell, how odd that they were a great live act aswell. Now the grand old master of the alternative music scene in Australia is of cause Nick Cave, i coudnt pass him by here and so here's one from his heroin days. The Go-Betweens have been incrowd favourites a long time but they didnt find the key to unlock public opinion until recently, and this whilst the produced several great albums in the eighties, notably this one Spring Hill Fair. And so i come to the end of the great southern land trip, and howelse to end then with the grand old master of the didgeridoo, a myth in his days and noone knows if these ended at all, he went into the bush and nobody has seen any of him since (6 years ago). Way to go David Blanasi !

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Nomad - Nomad
AC/DC - Powerage
Louisa John Krol & Oophoi - I Hear The Water Dreaming
Ed Kuepper - Honey Steel's Gold
Split Enz - True Colours
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Your Funeral, My Trial
Go-Betweens, The - Spring Hill Fair
David Blanasi - White Cockatoo
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Nomad - Nomad ( 94 flac 254mb)

Nomad is Adam Plack a Melbourne-based musician who wondered of into the bush to learn to play the didgeridoo and pledged to abridge the cultural divide between the Aborigines and the Europeans.He has achieved some international success with this album. The driving force here is Nomad’s didgeridoo magic, enhanced by Native American vocalist Robert Mirabal and Senegalese drummer Mor Thiam. Divided into eight “walkabouts,” or spiritual quests.The music takes on a global roam, starting with an Australian base of indigenous music but mixing in a variety of exotic tastes, particularly West African and Native American, fleshing this out with dance-oriented synths. It sounds like a hotch-potch, but Nomad has in fact produced a smoothly textured blend of these tangy flavours. Take an Senegalese djembe drum sound and have it in an unadorned duet with the didgeridoo, and make the combination sound perfectly natural. Or, as in Gathering, the Senegalese element emerges even more strongly, while a Taos Pueblo Indian hunting song brings a vibrant colour to Tracking.
Throughout, synths and other instruments are added judiciously to give things a trance and/or dance edge, the result is a well-stated mix of tribal ritual and digital sophistication for an uplifting experience. Great music for the running (wo)man.



01 - Nomad (5:00)
02 - Mountain Walk South (4:38)
03 - River Crossing (6:06)
04 - Gathering (5:17)
05 - Wildlife (2:44)
06 - Mountain Walk East (5:18)
07 - Tracking (5:52)
08 - Follow The Sun (4:40)
09 - Trading Ground (5:22)

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AC/DC - Powerage ( 78 flac 279mb)

Powerage is the fifth studio album by AC/DC, released in May 1978. It is also AC/DC's fourth international studio album. Angus and Malcom Young have cited the album as their favorite, and many die-hard fans agree it's one of their strongest if not their best. It was also the first to feature the same track listing on all versions, with the exception of European vinyl editions. These included "Cold Hearted Man", a song that has not been officially released on any other AC/DC album, and some early releases ( mine) omitted "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation".

Powerage is the last album with Bon Scott, and it marked the debut of bassist Cliff Williams aswell . It was also the first AC/DC album to be co-produced by Angus Young, and the band's last to feature production work by Harry Vanda and George Young. In short a watershed album for AC DC.



01 - Gimme A Bullet (3:19)
02 - Down Payment Blues (5:38)
03 - Gone Shootin' (5:19)
04 - Riff Raff (5:10)
05 - Sin City (4:42)
06 - Up To My Neck In You (4:08)
07 - What's Next To The Moon (3:39)
08 - Cold Hearted Man (3:30)
09 - Kicked In The Teeth (3:55)

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Louisa John Krol ft Oophoi - I Hear The Water Dreaming ( 05 ^ 99mb) re-re-upped

Since the mid 1990s Louisa has been making an esoteric dream-pop that explores mystical realms in song based music that combines ambient, world music, folk and trance soundscapes. The closest well known comparisons might be aspects of Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, Clan of Xymox, Kate Bush or Loreena Mac Kennit. Louisa though clearly has a singular voice and artistic vision. Her vision explores such curious areas of fairies and those who may exist in non-physical realms…In her lyrics they are half revealed, hushed and seeming to emanate from the ether. Louisa 's songs of centaurs, birds, seagiants, dragons, psychopomps, sirens and salamanders combine fiery energy with ambience, whimsy and humanity.
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Louisa teaches English & Music at Dandenong High School, in the poorest urban region of Australia. Most students are immigrants or children of such, including refugees and asylum seekers from troubled regions, from Sudan to Sri Lanka, East Timor, Cambodia, the Balkans and Afghanistan.

This album is a transcontinental collaboration, Ooohoi is an Italian artist, who has been prolific in creating “space music” since 1995. He creates abstract and surrealist soundscapes that take the listener beyond any known borders. Which is on par with Louisa John-Krol, her voice ranging from soft and celestial, to very dark and goth-like. and singing about mystical animals and worlds The two team up on here to challenge the imagination and present the listener with soundscapes from otherworlds, and so a bit more demanding then just casual listening.



01 - The Narni Owl (6:43)
02 - Conversations Between A Wolf And A Firefly (10:43)
03 - The Hour Of Fauns (6:25)
04 - Let The Nightsky Envelope Us (7:13)
05 - Cavern Of Dreaming Shells (20:43)
5.1-The Dream Of Cydron
5.2-The Dream Of Kalyh
5.3-The Dream Of Narwal
06 - The Whispering Valley (3:42)
07 - A Vessel For Michael (11:31)

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Ed Kuepper - Honey Steel's Gold (92 flac 278mb)

Though he formed the Saints with Chris Bailey in 1975, Ed Kuepper left the band before its biggest popular success (though after its best recordings). The Saints were one of Australia's premier punk bands, and Kuepper played on two albums before leaving in 1979 to form the Laughing Clowns, a band whose sound was jazzier and quite a bit more experimental than his former group. The Laughing Clowns released three EPs during the early '80s before their debut self-titled album appeared in 1982. Kuepper led the band through four additional albums, but became a solo act beginning with the surprisingly pop-oriented Electrical Storm in 1986. After another pop album, Rooms of the Magnificent, Capitol took a chance on Kuepper and signed him; his response was Everybody's Got To, his third great pop album in a row. Nevertheless, it failed to click with radio programmers or the public. Capitol dropped Kuepper and he responded in 1990 with the acoustic, stripped-back Today Wonder.
One year later, he formed the Aints -- a jab at Chris Bailey, who continued to use the Saints name during the '80s and '90s -- to release Ascension. He returned to solo status in 1992, Honey Steel's Gold is Kuepper in many ways at his most dramatic and expansive. At the same time, there's hints of the calmer waters that he would explore in later years on albums like Character Assassination, though here there's more overt electric bite and tension, a mix of extended self-explorations (and sometimes eviscerations) , and he recoded a string of albums over the next four years, plus two mail-order-only albums and a best-of entitled Sings His Greatest Hits for You. Next came This Is the Magic Mile, which was released in 2006 Despite his very appreciative cult of fans and torrid release schedule, Kuepper has not managed a breakthrough to wide popular acclaim.



01 - King Of VIce (9:09)
02 - Everything I've Got Belongs To You (4:17)
03 - Friday's Blue Cheer / Libertines Of Oxley (8:02)
04 - Honey Steel's Gold (5:15)
05 - The Way I Made You Feel (5:17)
06 - Not To Soon (3:25)
07 - Closer (But Disguised) (4:23)
08 - Summerfield (4:00)

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Split Enz - True Colours ( 80 flac 250 mb)

The group formed in 1971 at the University of Auckland with the original lineup of Tim Finn,Mike Chunn, Robert Gillies, Phil Judd and Noel Crombie. From 1972 the band became a full-time occupation for the friends, and they called the band Split Ends. The spelling was later changed to Split Enz shortly before their first trip to Australia, to signify their New Zealand roots (as "NZ" is a common abbreviation for New Zealand). The group was widely known for their unique visual presentation. Their costumes and hair were wild, colourful and inventive. The costumes were designed by Noel Crombie, who also designed most of the group's other visual material, such as stage sets, posters, stickers and album covers, as well as directing many of the band's music videos.

In 1977, with the departure of Judd and the enlisting of Neil Finn, the group's sound began to change from a progressive rock sound to new wave with folk roots. The 1980s proved the group's most commercially successful period, with a string of popular albums in the New Wave style, the group further established a legacy that is still recognised as a distinct musical style after over twenty years from their departure. The group has reunited as Split Enz several times, though its members have gone on to create other successful musical groups with one another since the breakup in 1984, such as Crowded House or the Finn Brothers.
True Colours, recorded in Australia, the fifth album released by Split Enz, was their first major commercial success. The album was the first to ever use a technique known as "laser-etching". When light hit the holographic etched vinyl , the designs would protrude and spin about the room. An idea originally designed to discourage the creation of counterfeit copies, that didnt make it as only 2 albums ever got a likewise effect.



01 - I Got You (3:26)
02 - Shark Attack (2:49)
03 - What's The Matter With You (3:06)
04 - Double Happy (3:17)
05 - I Wouldn't Dream Of It (3:16)
06 - I Hope I Never (4:27)
07 - Nobody Takes Me Seriously (3:26)
08 - Missing Person (3:24)
09 - Poor Boy (3:24)
10 - How Can I Resist Her (3:26)
11 - The Choral Sea (4:32)


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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Your Funeral, My Trial (86 flac 248mb)

After the Birthday Party called it quits in 1983, singer/songwriter Nick Cave assembled the Bad Seeds, a post-punk supergroup featuring former Birthday Party guitarist Mick Harvey on drums, ex-Magazine bassist Barry Adamson, and Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Blixa Bargeld. With the Bad Seeds, Cave continued to explore his obsessions with religion, death, love, America, and violence with a bizarre, sometimes self-consciously eclectic hybrid of blues, gospel, rock, and arty post-punk. Cave also allowed his literary aspirations to come to the forefront; gloomy lyrics, dark musical arrangements, and deep baritone voice obsessed over death and love with a frightening passion.

Cave released his first album with the Bad Seeds, From Her to Eternity, in 1984, which contained a noteworthy cover of Elvis Presley's "In the Ghetto," foreshadowing much of Cave's style and subject matter on the follow-up The Firstborn Is Dead. Kicking Against the Pricks, an all-covers album, broke the band in England with the help of "The Singer," which hit number one on the U.K. independent charts. 1986's Your Funeral...My Trial, was originally released as two 12" EPs. The song "The Carny" is seen being played live by the band in the Wim Wenders film Der Himmel über Berlin, released one year later. During this period in his life, Cave was steeped in heroin addiction, perhaps evidenced by the melancholy, desperate mood of this album.Following that 'tour de force' Cave took a two-year hiatus from recording, and then returned with Tender Prey.

Cave's productivity picked up immensely over the next two years after he kicked a heroin habit. He had two books (1988's King Ink, a collection of lyrics, plays, and prose, and 1989's And the Ass Saw the Angel, a novel) published; appeared in the 1989 Australian film Ghosts...of the Civil Dead as a prisoner; recorded a soundtrack to the film with Harvey and Bargeld; and released 1990's The Good Son, his most relaxed, quiet album. Cave received his due as one of the leading figures in alternative rock when he was invited to perform on the 1994 edition of the Lollapalooza tour to promote his Let Love In album. Early in 1996, he released Murder Ballads, a collection of songs about murder. It became Cave's most commercially successful album to date, and, with typical perversity, he followed it with the introspective and personal The Boatman's Call in early 1997. A spoken word release, Secret Life of the Love Song, followed in 1999. Two years later, a rejuvenated Cave teamed up with the Bad Seeds once again for the piano-laden No More Shall We Part. Nocturama was released in 2003, and the double-album Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus followed by the end of 2004



01 - Your Funeral My Trial (3:58)
02 - Stranger Than Kindness (4:47)
03 - Jacks Shadow (5:43)
04 - The Carny (8:02)
05 - She Fell Away (4:33)
06 - Hard On For Love (5:21)
07 - Sad Waters (5:02)
08 - Long Time Man (5:48)
09 - Scum (2:54)

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The Go-Betweens - Spring Hill Fair ( 84 ^ 93mb) re-upped

Robert Forster and Grant McLennan began as a pair of teenagers obsessed with the earthy rock of Dylan, CCR, and the Velvet Underground and encouraged by the Australian punk of the Saints. As collected on The Able Label Singles, their first two singles show a fondness for scruffy, British Invasion/new wave-influenced pop/rock. The Go-Betweens were perhaps the quintessential cult band of the '80s: they came from an exotic locale (Brisbane, Australia), moved to a major recording center (in their case, London) in a sustained bid to make a career out of music, and earned considerable critical praise and a small but fervent international fan base. Although the Go-Betweens were absent throughout the '90s before re-forming in the new millennium, both of the band's songwriters embarked on respectable solo careers in the interim.

In 2000 the band reunited and released a new album, The Friends of Rachel Worth, which also featured all three members of Sleater-Kinney. It wasn't just a fluke, as the band recorded follow-up albums released in 2003 (Bright Yellow Bright Orange) and 2005 (Oceans Apart). Documenting a 2005 concert in their hometown, the DVD/CD package That Striped Sunlight Sound arrived in early 2006, just a few months before the death of McLennan in May.



01 - Bachelor Kisses (3:33)
02 - Five Words (3:57)
03 - The Old Way Out (3:38)
04 - You've Never Lived (3:52)
05 - Part Company (4:50)
06 - Slow Slow Music (3:03)
07 - Draining The Pool For You (4:15)
08 - River Of Money (5:04)
09 - Unkind & Unwise (3:04)
10 - Man O'Sand To Girl O'Sea (4:31)


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David Blanasi - White Cockatoo (01 * 358 mb)
David Blanasi was an Aboriginal man recognised for popularising the didgeridoo beyond the shores of Australia. This can be attributed to Blanasi's first television appearance in London in 1967, where he gave didgeridoo playing demonstrations in the popular Rolf Harris Show. He was the first full-blooded indigenous Australian to travel to England since 1792. He later co-founded the "White Cockatoo Performing Group" in conjunction with his life-long partner, songmaster Djoli Laiwonga. He taught the Australian-born entertainer Rolf Harris how to play the didgeridoo, Harris becoming perhaps the first notable non-Aboriginal Australian to master the instrument, collaborations and tours with Rolf Harris followed, in addition to Australian and international outings as part of the "White Cockatoo Performing Group" which variously included Djoli Laiwanga - a talented Aboriginal singer, and David Gulpilil - an Aboriginal dancer and actor. Prior to all this, Blanasi first came to public attention as one of a number of traditional Aboriginal didgeridoo players and singers recorded in 1961-62 by a US linguistic researcher Dr. La Mont West. These recordings were released commercially in 1963 on the vinyl LP Arnhem Land Popular Classics.

Blanasi is acknowledged as one of the great master mago (didgeridoo) players of the 20th century and as a master instrument maker his didgeridoos have become highly collectible. He lived in south-central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia, in a remote Aboriginal settlement variously known as Beswick, Bamyili and Wugularr. In 1998 Djoli Laiwonga died, and an emotionally stricken Blanasi retired in solitude to a home in Bamyili. David Blanasi went missing in August, 2001, reportedly after going out to search for wood to be used in instrument making. No trace of Blanasi has been found since 2001, although his body was never found, his family eventually held a funeral ceremony for him.



01 - Argument Song
02 - Gordo, the Brogla
03 - Didjeridu solo
04 - Djang
05 - Bush Potato - the Short Yam
06 - Mimi Spirit
07 - Mimi Spirit, Wapukurra
08 - Bini Bini
09 - Dingo Lonely for its Mate (1)
10 - Gordo, the Brolg (2)
11 - Gorro Gorro - The Kookaburra
12 - Waking Up Song and a Worry Song
13 - Bidgurdurr 1 - The Willy Willy
14 - The Big Shadow, the Spirit
15 - Kunkurra
16 - Big Storm
17 - Worry Song 1
18 - Dingo Lonely for its Mate (2)
19 - Wurrarl 1 - The Big Shadow or Spirit
20 - The Brolga
21 - Manngalinj, The Bush Potato
22 - Two Days Sleep
23 - Dry Land Devil Devil
24 - Top of the Palm Tree
25 - Short Argument
26 - New Rain, New Water Coming
27 - Foot Track
28 - Muk Muk - the Boobook Night Owl Song
29 - Mammorye, the Green Plum
30 - New Rain
31 - Bo Bo - the Goodbye Song

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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 !

Sep 19, 2007

Sunshine, Australia Uluru

Hello, more Sunshine as we cross the Indian ocean and see more desert, tropical forests and a great barrier reef in short the best place for the british riff-raff to better them selves and they did. Unfortunately this went at the expense of the natives but hey they didnt have a king or court let alone the godgiven right to rule. Well this blog is about music and expect my next 3 posts to contain a compilation what the Australians offered to the world musically, besides Murdochs News Corp, Crocodile Dundee or the favourite girl next door (neighbour Kylie).

The first undisputed recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, who sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in 1606. During the 17th century, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of what they called New Holland, but made no attempt at settlement. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The expedition's discoveries provided impetus for the establishment of a penal colony there.The British Crown Colony of New South Wales started with the establishment of a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788. This date was later to become Australia's national day, Australia Day.

The term Indigenous Australians ( Aboriginal ) encompasses many diverse communities and societies, and these are further divided into local communities with unique cultures. Fewer than 200 of the languages of these groups remain in use — all but 20 are highly endangered. It is estimated that prior to the arrival of British settlers the population of Indigenous Australians was between 300, 000 and 1 million at the time of European settlement. The most immediate consequence of British settlement - within weeks of the first colonists' arrival - was a wave of Old World epidemic diseases. Smallpox alone had killed more than 50% of the Aboriginal population.The second consequence of British settlement was appropriation of land and water resources. The British denied the Aboriginals any rights, their children abducted to be re-ecucated and christianized The combination of disease, loss of land and direct violence reduced the Aboriginal population by an estimated 90% between 1788 and 1900. This decline in the indigenous population and cultural disintegration has only recently stopped and it is rising again and currently stands at 500,000 (about 2,5 % of the population). Likely because, after two centuries of total humiliation, these last decades of global interest in the Aboriginal culture certainly has stimulated the self-esteem and selfrespect of a peoples that had held their own during many millenia.



Uluru/Ayers rock: 335 metres ( 1,100 feet) high; 3.6 km ( 2.2 miles ) long; 2 km ( 1.5 miles ) wide.

Indigenous Australia's oral tradition and spiritual values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this Dreamtime. The Dreaming is at once both the ancient time of creation and the present day reality of Dreaming. There were a great many different groups, each with their own individual culture, belief structure, and language. These cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. Major Ancestral spirits include the Rainbow Serpent, Baiame, and Bunjil. The Yowie and Bunyip are also well known Ancestral beings. ( the Dreamtime stretches back into a remote era in history when the creator ancestors known as the First Peoples travelled across the great southern land of Bandaiyan (Australia), creating and naming as they went). Aboriginal people developed unique instruments and folk styles. The yirdaki or didgeridoo is commonly considered the national instrument of Aboriginal people, and it is claimed to be the world's oldest wind instrument. However, it was traditionally only played by Arnhem Land people, such as the Yolngu, and then only by the men. Clapping sticks are probably the more ubiquitous musical instrument, especially because they help maintain the rhythm for the song. Aboriginal art is thousands of years old, the best known forms being rock art and bark painting. These paintings usually consist of paint using earthly colours, specifically, from paint made from ochre. Traditionally, Aboriginals have painted stories from their dreamtime. Modern Aboriginal artists continue the tradition using modern materials in their artworks. Aboriginal art is the most internationally recognisable form of Australian art. Several styles of Aboriginal art have developed in modern times including the watercolour paintings of Albert Namatjira; the Hermannsburg School, and the acrylic Papunya Tula "dot art" movement. Painting has become a large source of income for Central Australian communities today.


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David Hudson - Rainbow Serpent
Icehouse - Primitive Man
Big Pig - Bonk
Shaolin Wooden Men - Shaolin Wooden Men
Yothu Yindi - Tribal Voice
Flash and the Pan - Collection

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David Hudson - Rainbow Serpent (94 ^ 208mb)

Abirigonal musicis clearly dominated by the didgeridoo. This hollowed- out tree trunk (by termites) with a mouthpiece made of beeswax produces continuous sounds, by virtue of a technique known as circular breathing, the player inhales thru the nose while exhaling into the instrument thru the mouth. This arcane and hard to master technique is also known in the mongalian art of overtone chanting .( see Rho-Xs page) .
David Hudson, a member of the Tjapukai tribe is an acknowledged master of the didgeridoo. A frequent collaborator with producer / musician Steve Roach he plays on "Dreamtime return" (88) and "Sound of the Earth" Roch produced the first truly audiophile digital recording and exploration of the sonic possibilities of the didgeridoo on David's first recording "Woolunda"

If there is a common element woven like a shining thread thru the fabric of Aboriginal culture it is the Rainbow Serpent. Considered by some the mother of life , whose birthplace was Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Rainbow Serpent s the major cosmological being known to the Aborigenes.Mircae Eliadein in his book Shamanism states"the rainbow is the bridge connecting the terrestial plane with the heavenly spheres, which the shaman croses in order to communicate with higher beings." The serpent or snake appears in all major world cultures, mythology is enriched all over the world by the presence of this powerful animal. The Rainbow Serpent is the symbolof utmost power Life or death, safety or disater, good or bad , the Raibow Serpent is all empowered to influence all aspects of life. Aboriginal society didnt keep written records , so the origen of a story an image or a tune are shrowded in mystery, they are handed down by teachers to their students over numerous generations. This contemporary rendition of the Rainbow Serpent, modern yet deeply rooted in tradition illustrates David Hudson's improvisations over motifs and ideas, concepts and feelings brought on by the mystique of his ancient culture.



01 - Bali Doo (5:31)
02 - Message Stick (4:41)
03 - Undara's Lava Tube (4:43)
04 - Dreampipe Rhapsody (4:43)
05 - Laura's Festival (7:51)
06 - Kuranda Warrior (3:34)
07 - Leprechaun Corroboree (4:30)
08 - Frenzy (2:55)
09 - New Beginning (11:49)

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Icehouse - Primitive Man ( 82 ^ 517mb)

Originaly started in 1977 as Flowers, sounding very much as Roxy Music, playing covers over the latter and T-Rex, Bowie and the like...they build a strong following in the Sydney area. This got them their first record deal, "Icehouse" was released still under the moniker of Flowers. The album sold well the single "Icehouse" generated some european interest, to avoid confusion with the scottish Flowers they decided to rename to Icehouse, under that name they toured extensivly around Europe and North America during 81. In January 1982, the band's original line up split, resulting in Davies recording Icehouse's much-anticipated second album, Primitive Man, on his own, with assistance from Keith Forsey, (worked with Simple Minds). Released in August 1982, Primitive Man was a huge Australian hit and became Icehouse's international breakthrough. The hit single "Hey Little Girl" has remained their most regularly played song, another remarkable track from Primitive Man is "Great Southern Land".

Icehouse's third album, Sidewalk, was far more sombre and reflective. After this album the band made further inroads into the U.S. market with their 1986 release Measure for Measure which featured none other than Brian Eno as a listed band member.
The next album, Man of Colours, was their best-selling album. It contained the hit singles "Crazy" and "Electric Blue". Both singles reached the US Top 20, with "Electric Blue" hitting #7. With this album, the band reached it's monetairy zenit, which was understood as Code Blue, Big Wheel and the Berlin tapes didnt reach beyond Australia. The rest of the world was treated on an endless stream f compilations, remasters and remixes of Icehouse's eighties work.



01 Great Southern Land 5:19
02 Uniform 4:13
03 Hey Little Girl 4:25
04 Street Cafe 4:13
05 Glam (Instrumental) 3:22
06 Trojan Blue 5:03
07 One By One 4:02
08 Breaking These Chains 3:43
09 Mysterious Thing 4:25
10 Goodnight, Mr. Matthews 4:00
11 Over The Line 2:45
12 Glam (12" Version) 6:33
Bonus Tracks
13 Uniform 12" (German Version) 6:07
14 Street Cafe (Single Mix) 4:13
15 Love In Motion (USA Recording) 3:37
16 Can't Help Myself (Live) 5:39
17 We Can Get Together (Live) 3:54

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Big Pig - Bonk ( 87 * 383mb )

In May 1986 after only five live shows in Australia, every major record and publishing company in the country offered lucrative contracts to the group. Mushroom Records became the band's label and their first album BONK was recorded in Melbourne and then mixed in London in 1986-1987. The album went gold, then platinum in Australia with three top-twenty singles ("Hungry Town", "Breakaway" and "Big Hotel"). In the U.S. "Breakaway" reached #60 on the Billboard magazine top 100 pop charts.The band were known in the United Kingdom for providing the theme tune for the BBC DEF II Rough Guides show with Magenta Devine, whilst "Breakaway" was used as the opening theme to the 1989 movie Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Noted for their dominant use of drums, harmonica and vocals, and with the absence of guitars, the band established a unique place in music, sounding quite unlike anything else. Their stage show featured all members wearing the same minimalist costume: a dark waterproof apron, similar to that worn by slaughterhouse workers. They disbanded in 1990 after the release of their second album, You Lucky People.



01 - Iron Lung (3:34)
02 - Hungry Town (3:06)
03 - Tin Drum (4:23)
04 - Breakaway (3:38)
05 - Big Hotel (3:27)
06 - Boy Wonder (4:14)
07 - Hellbent Heaven (3:28)
08 - Nation (3:34)
09 - Charlie (4:03)
10 - Fine Thing (3:23)
11 - Money God (4:28)
12 - Devil's Song (5:27)
13 - Breakaway (Popper Mix) (6:02)
14 - Hungry Town (Grub Club Mix) (6:28)

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Shaolin Wooden Men - Shaolin Wooden Men ( 94 * 381mb )

Ollie Olsen has been producing innovative music in Australia for the past twenty-five years. He began studying electronic music in the mid 70s under Felix Werder, a German composer living in Australia who had studied under Karlheinz Stockhausen. In the late 70's Ollie formed one of the first electronic bands, Whirlywirld, releasing a number of recordings on Missing Link Records. During the next ten years Ollie formed experimental outfits Hugo Klang and Orchestra of Skin and Bone, then the hard-core industrial techno band, NO.

In the 1980s Ollie was invited to be the music producer for the movie "Dogs In Space". He provided the movie's star, INXS front man, Michael Hutchence with the hit song Rooms For The Memory . Later Ollie was approached by Michael Hutchence to produce an album with him. The result was the successful and critically acclaimed MAX Q . It got Ollie a major record company deal and formed the band Third Eye. The group made one critically acclaimed album of songs before Ollie decided to concentrate on instrumental electronic music. Thus Psy-Harmonics was born, with the Third Eye LP Ancient Future as the first release. Ollie's role as A&R for Psy-Harmonics has been instrumental in the unique vision and sound of the label.

Ollie also produces a great deal of work for Psy-Harmonics. He has collaborated with other musicians on such projects as The Visitors, Antediluvian Rocking-Horse, Psyko Disko, and many others. Shaolin Wooden Men is one of his monikers under which he produces Goa -Psy Trance . On his latest release under his own name, the album, Emptiness, he explores his roots in avant-garde / experimental composition.

Besides work in his on-going commitment to Psy-Harmonics, Ollie also lectures on electronic music and continues to compose for film and television. He often collaborates on interactive projects with Troy Innocent and worked on the electronic component of Australian composer Richard Mills' new opera, "Batavia".



01 - Nigeb (6:46)
02 - Technique I Follow (5:57)
03 - Ohar (7:53)
04 - Nyah (8:09)
05 - HK/HT (10:04)
06 - Go! People (8:56)
07 - S.W.N. (7:45)


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Yothu Yindi - Tribal Voice (92 ^ 353mb)

Yothu Yindi is the most successful and internationally recognized of Australia's aboriginal bands.The name of the band translates as "mother and child" and is essentially a kinship term used by the Yolngu people of the Northern Territory's Arnhem Land. The group's central figure Mandawuy Yunupingu and clansman Witiyana Marika were originally part of the rock band the Swamp Jockeys with non-aboriginals Cal Williams and Stuart Kellaway. They gathered other aboriginal musicians and dancers to become Yothu Yindi, a troupe initially created to perform at cultural events both in Australia and internationally.

Mandawuy's family has a long and proud tradition in the struggle for aboriginal land rights and at the beginning of the 1990s there was political talk of the possibility of a symbolic treaty between black and white Australians. In an attempt to keep the idea on the political landscape, Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett and Paul Kelly collaborated with Mandawuy on a song called "Treaty." When it was initially released the song hardly created a ripple, treated as the political statement it was. Melbourne dance remixers Filthy Lucre decided to work their magic on the song, favoring the musical message over the political one. "Treaty'"s success spread to Yothu Yindi's second album, Tribal Voice, which took the band around the world and eventually saw Mandawuy Yunupingu named as 1992 Australian of the Year. Ever since "Treaty," Yothu Yindi has straddled its two musical words, their fusion of traditional music and performance with contemporary rock, with varying success.



01 - Gapu (2:45)
02 - Treaty (3:36)
03 - Dharpa (Tree) (4:03)
04 - Tribal Voice (4:13)
05 - Dhum Dhum (Bush Wallaby) (1:06)
06 - Mätjala (Driftwood) (5:27)
07 - Mainstream (4:24)
08 - Yinydjapana (Dolphin) (1:23)
09 - Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming) (3:57)
10 - Hope (3:32)
11 - Gapirri (Stingray) (2:20)
12 - Beyarrmak (Comic) (1:52)
13 - Treaty (Filthy Lucre Radio Mix) (4:04)

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Flash and the Pan - Collection (flac  399mb)

In 1966 Harry Vanda began a successful and enduring writing partnership with rhythm guitarist George Young; together they penned all of The Easybeats' late 1960s recordings, including their major international hit, "Friday On My Mind". In 1973, Vanda and Young took over as the house producers for leading Australian independent record production company, Albert Productions. From 1974 onwards they enjoyed huge success in Australia and elsewhere, writing and producing hits for a number of popular Australian groups and solo singers, most notably, AC/DC, producing landmark albums such as Let There Be Rock, Powerage, if You Want Blood, Dirty Deeds, High Voltage/TNT amongst others.

Vanda and Young also had major international success with their own studio only project Flash and the Pan, by 1979, the project had turned out a novelty hit with the single "Hey St. Peter.". A second single, "Down Among the Dead," also became a hit throughout Australia and Europe, inspiring the release of the album Flash and the Pan. The album would soon reach the Top 100 in the U.S. despite the lack of a supporting tour. They released five more albums scoring hits round the world over a 15 year run, particularly in Europe where they had several chart topping records. "Waiting for a Train" , "Midnight Man" and in 1983 the duo gained further exposure through the track from their debut album, "Walking In The Rain", which was covered by Grace Jones.



01 - Hey, St. Peter (4:24)
02 - Yesterday's Gone (5:04)
03 - Waiting For A Train (Single Mix) (3:45)
04 - Walking In The Rain (3:29)
05 - Something About You (3:28)
06 - Media Man (Single Mix) (3:37)
07 - Hey Jimmy (3:17)
08 - Money Don't Lie (Single Mix) (4:06)
09 - Down Among The Dead Man (4:49)
10 - Early Morning Wake Up Call (4:10)
11 - Restless (3:47)
12 - Ayla (Single Mix) (4:29)
13 - Where Were You (3:24)
14 - Midnight Man (4:47)
15 - Welcome To The Universe (Single Mix) (8:43)

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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 !

Sep 15, 2007

Sunshine, Desert

Sunshine, abundant in the deserts, hot during the day, cool in the night but comfortable and dry in the evenings the time for song and dance. Plenty of highly skilled musicians in this post, Mandingo, Zani Diabate and Ali Farka Toure extend their family tradition, a tradition that is deeply embedded in the desert culture just listen to Under African Skies II. Along the Mediterranean coast in Algeria a 'punk' movement swept thru the region, Raï which translates as opinion and the artists (male and female) certainly had one, they resisted the old ways and islamic rules and understandably grew very popular with the youths no one more so then Cheb Khaled, but there were others as the Raï compilation shows.
Anyway it was not to be, 91 war was declared on the most liberal arab dictator, feeding the frenzy of the local fundamentalists and 16 years later he we are, feeding the oilcompanies, with fear and anger all over the western and arab world. Those responsible still in power and expecting a big reward for their dark souls.

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VA - Under African Skies II
Mandingo - Watto Sitta
Zani Diabate and the Super Djata band - I
Khaled - Khaled
Ali Farka Toure ft Ry Cooder - Talking Timbuktu
VA - RAI
VA - Passion Sources
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March 2015 complete re-up in Flac

VA - Under African Skies II ( Flac 231mb)

All the tracks on this album were 'live' recorded on location for the BBC II "Under African Skies "TV series. They have not been remixed or touched upon, no apologies for the directness of the performences, close your eyes and share the experience. African Desert from music Mali, Ethiopia



01 - Baba Sangare of R.T.M. - Bonjour Mali (Mali) (0:45)
02 - Kolly et Ses Acolytes - Suave Nina (Mali) (5:54)
03 - Tata Bambo Kouyate - Yasoumounka (Mali) (6:19)
04 - The Rail Band - Sanankoro Moriba (Mali) (3:34)
05 - Le Super Biton De Segou - Se Se Wa Bena (Mali) (3:23)
06 - Kassemady & Lafia Diabate - Koulanjan (Mali) (2:30)
07 - Mamo Chala with singers of The National Theatre - Dini Demeke (Ethopia) (2:50)
08 - Neway Debebe - Yetkemt Abeba (Ethopia) (3:32)
09 - Aster Aweke - Wolela (Ethopia) (4:44)
10 - Mohammed Ahmed & The Roha Band - Ya Selame Lalo (Ethopia) (3:06)
11 - Bezawork Asfew - T'Zeta (Ethopia) (8:54)

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Mandingo - Watto Sitta ( 85 Flac 226mb)

The Mandinka (also known as Mandingo) are a Mande people of West Africa, all descend physically or culturally from the ancient Mali Empire. Mandinka gained their independence from previous empires in the thirteenth century, and founded an empire which stretched across West Africa. They migrated west from the Niger River basin in search of better agricultural lands and more opportunities for conquest. During this expansion, they established their rule from modern day Gambia to Guinea. Their culture is rich in tradition, music, and spiritual ritual. Mandinkas live in an oral society. Learning is traditionally done through stories, songs and proverbs.

This rich oral history is passed down through praise singers or griots. This passing down of oral history through music has made music one of the most distinctive traits of the Mandinka. They have long been known for their drumming and also for their unique musical instrument, the kora. The kora is a twenty-one string harp-like instrument made out of a gourd covered with cow skin. The strings are made of fishing line. It is played to accompany a griot's singing or simply on its own. The kora with its 21 strings is made from half a calabash, “covered with cowshed fastened on by decorative tacks.” The kora has sound holes in the side which are used to store coins offered to the praise singers, in appreciation of their performance. It is said “as the kora is played, it begins to take on a life of its own and it is believed that the singer and the instrument become one.”

Foday Musa Suso is a Mandingo griot (the griot is the hereditary musician/oral historian of the Mandingo people). He is a virtuoso kora player, drummer, and composer. Suso was born in the Sarre Hamadi Village, Wuli District, in the West African nation of Gambia. Initially taught by his father, at the age of eleven Suso was sent away to study under a master kora player, Saikou Suso. After undergoing seven years of rigorous study, at age eighteen he became a full-fledged griot. He then journeyed throughout Africa singing traditional Mandingo songs, and played clubs, concerts, and radio and television programs in Germany, France, Sweden, and Finland. From 1975 through 1977 he held the post of Kora Instructor at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. On Watto Sitta finds the kora master collaborating with Herbie Hancock, Aiyb Dieng, and Bill Laswell to produce an eclectic cross between Afropop and electronic dance music. He has performed with Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet. He was also a co-founder of the fusion jazz band The Mandingo Griot Society



01 - Harima (6:03)
02 - Muso (6:18)
03 - Natural Dancer (6:13)
04 - Kansala (5:56)
05 - Dewgal (6:16)
06 - Don't Worry (5:24)

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Zani Diabate and the Super Djata band - I ( 86 Flac 211mb)

Zani Diabaté (1947) born into a well known griot family therefor his life was pre-destined for music.After the rigurous training multi instrumentalist (kora, guitar, percussion, balafon ) dancer and singer Zani joined the National Ballet of Mali( the countries first folkloric ensemble) in 63 . He formed the Super Djata Band in 69 together with 6 collegues of the ballet
Zani Diabaté translated traditional rhythms and melodies to a modern (electric) African instrumentatium where he mixes the electric guitar and drims with traditional instruments as balafoon en djembé. His guitar style was inspired by the likes of J Hendrix, BB and Freddie King, however always remaining true to his roots. After a succesful tour in france in 84 they released their first album in 86 , best selling african record in the Netherlands in 86. In 89 they split up ZAni left the rest went on as
Benkadi International, recently they reunited for a tour.



01 - Super Djata
02 - Bina
03 - Djegnogo Djougou
04 - Bandjila
05 - Tindoro
06 - Noumousso
07 - Facia
08 - Farima
09 - Fadingna Kouma

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Khaled - Khaled ( 92 Flac 312mb)

Khaled Hadj Brahim, better known to music fans as the Algerian Rai star Khaled, was born in a suburb of Oran. His early influences were mostly Oriental - a lot of Moroccan singers - but western rock'n' roll heroes such as Elvis Presley and the French star Johnny Hallyday didnt go unnoticed either. At the age of 7 Khaled vowed that he would one day follow in the footsteps of his musical idols and launch his own singing career. The only problem was that young Khaled had practically no day-to-day contact with the music world. Khaled decided he would make his own way in the music world and at the age of 14 he formed his first group, "Les Cinq Etoiles", and began performing at circumcision feasts and wedding parties as well as on the local cabaret scene, he dropped out of school and lo and behold his first single in 1974, "Trig El Lici" proved a massive hit on Algerian radio stations, attracting 14 year old Khaled an instant following of fans. He became known as Cheb Khaled (Cheb basically means 'young', 'charming' and 'attractive'), btw he would not earn a penny in royalties from his first hit, owing to a lack of recording contract.

Rai music would begin taking off in a major way in the late 70's, attracting an extensive following of teenage fans in Oran. Algerian youngsters immediately tuned into this new form of urban music, enjoying the controversial lyrics which urged them to enjoy alcohol, sexual liberation and ignore social mores. Khaled was soon hailed as one of the leading chebs in the Oran Rai movement. With his deep, baleful voice evoking the spirit of North African blues and his exuberant personality urging youngsters to let their hair down and party, Khaled came to symbolise the rich musical melting-pot of Rai.

By the age of 20, Khaled was already beginning to dream of making it big in France. For the ambitious young Rai singer, France represented a Utopian land of freedom where teenagers could party the night away and young lovers could walk hand in hand down the street without fear of retribution. Khalad's dream of performing in France would not come true right away, however. It would take another six years before he set foot on French soil, when he was invited to appear at the prestigious Rai Festival held in Bobigny

In 1988 the Rai star would return to the studio to record his debut album in France. Working with the renowned French 'world music' producer Martin Meissonnier, and the respected Algerian musician Safy Boutella, Khaled recorded "Kutché" (88) . In spite of the fact that Khaled's French album benefited from more sophisticated production techniques than his earlier Algerian work, the album "Kutché" was only moderately successful. Back at home in Algeria, however, things were proving increasingly difficult for Khaled. Renowned as an exuberant bon vivant and defender of the controversial Rai movement, Khaled was under threat from the rising tide of fundamentalism sweeping through Algeria in the late 80's and he would eventually leave Algeria to settle in France.
But it was the release of the Algerian singer's second album in 1992, which would transform Khaled , he dropped the prefix Cheb, into a veritable international star. The album "Khaled" - recorded partly in Brussels with the aid of producer Michael Brook, partly in Los Angeles with the legendary Don Was - would generate a whole string of hits for the Rai star including the best-selling "Didi". This single would not only rocket to the top of the French Top 50 (making it the first song recorded in Arabic to chart in France !), but "Didi" would also soar to the top of the hit-parade in Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. "Didi" also became a surprise hit in India, where it was covered in Hindi.

Khaled continued his vertiginous rise to international stardom, the singer's relationship with his homeland became ever more compromised. Religious fundamentalists were by now omnipresent in Algeria and Khaled's defence of free speech and easy living would have made him a prime target if he had chosen to return to his homeland. Khaled was thus condemned to a life of exile. No surprise then he's deemed non grata by the homeland fundamentalists in the USA, anyway after settling down somewhat, marying-fatherhood his output became sketchy, combined with falling out with his record label. He's released Kenza(named after his daughter) in 99 and "Ya-Rayi" ("My Opinion"), in 2004. All the while he's been touring the globe, and even his homeland again.



01 - Didi (4:59)
02 - El Arbi (3:32)
03 - Wahrane (4:25)
04 - Ragda (3:48)
05 - El Ghatli (4:05)
06 - Liah Liah (4:19)
07 - Mauvais Sang (6:11)
08 - Braya (4:44)
09 - Ne M'En Voulez Pas (4:55)
10 - Sbabi (4:03)
11 - Harai Harai (3:57)


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Ali Farka Toure ft Ry Cooder - Talking Timbuktu ( Flac 321mb)

Ali Farka Toure was born in 1939 on the banks of the Niger River in northwestern Malian region of Tombouctou. He was the tenth son of his mother but the only one to survive past infancy. His nickname, “Farka”, chosen by his parents, means “donkey” - an animal admired for its tenacity and stubbornness.

As the first African bluesman to achieve widespread popularity on his home continent, Touré was often known as “the African John Lee Hooker”. Musically, the many superpositions of guitars and rhythms in his music were similar to John Lee Hooker’s hypnotic blues style. He usually sang in one of several African languages. His international breakthrough album, Ali Farka Touré (88), established his reputation in the world music community. His 6th World Circuit album 1994’s Talking Timbuktu, a collaboration with Ry Cooder, sold well in western markets and got him his first Grammy Award. After a hiatus from releases in America and Europe Touré reappeared in 1999 with the release of Niafunké.

In 2004 Touré became mayor of Niafunké and spent his own money grading the roads, putting in sewer canals and fuelling a generator that provided the impoverished town with electricity.In September 2005, he released the album In the Heart of the Moon, a collaboration with Toumani Diabaté, for which he received a second Grammy award. On 7 March 2006 the Ministry of Culture of Mali announced Touré 's death at age 66 in Bamako from bone cancer, against which he had been battling for some time. His last album, Savane, was posthumously released in July 2006. It was received with wide acclaim by professionals and fans alike and has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category “Best Contemporary World Music Album”



01 - Bonde (5:28)
02 - Soukora (6:05)
03 - Gomni (7:00)
04 - Sega (3:10)
05 - Amandrai (9:23)
06 - Lasidan (6:06)
07 - Keito (5:42)
08 - Banga (2:32)
09 - Ai Du (7:09)
10 - Diaraby (7:26)


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VA - Raï ( 88 Flac 366mb)

Singers of raï are called cheb (young) as opposed to sheikh (old) the name given to Chaabi music singers; the tradition arose in cities like Oran, primarily among the poor. The word raï means literally opinion . Chaba Fadela and Cheb Khaled began their careers mid seventies, growing raï's popularity across Algeria. Chaba Fadela's 1979 "Ana ma h'lali ennoum" is considered the beginning of modern pop raï; the song was a hit across Algeria, and set the stage for raï's domination of national listeners. International success had begun as early as 1976 with the success of Rachid Baba Ahmed, raï music’s most important producer.

In the 1980s, raï began its period of greatest popularity. In 1986, the first state-sanctioned raï festival was held in Algeria, and a festival was also held in Bobigny, France. Cheb Khaled was the first international superstar. His 1988 Kutché album did the most to popularize him and the whole genre of raï. Other prominent performers of the 80s included Houari Benchenet, Raïna Raï, Mohamed Sahraoui, Cheb Mami and Cheb Hamid. International success grew in the 1990s, when Cheb Khaled's 1992 single Didi was a major French hit and also saw success in India and elsewhere. With Khaled no longer in Algeria, new stars began singing lover's raï, a sentimental, pop-ballad form best-known for stars like Cheb Tahar, Cheb Nasro and, especially, Cheb Hasni. Later in the decade, funk, hip hop and other influences were added to raï, especially by performers like the French star Faudel and raï-rock fusionist Rachid Taha.



01 - Cheb Kaled - Mazalti S'Ghira (6:04)
02 - Cheb Hamid - Saber Inal (5:47)
03 - Chaba Fadela and Cheb Sahraoui - Lahramia (5:10)
04 - Chaba Fadela and Cheb Sahraoui - Ana Nabghik (7:50)
05 - Hindi - Lachkine (7:56)
06 - Amarna - Nia (5:26)
07 - Zahouani - Malade Mentale (7:07)
08 - Abdel Hak - Nar G'Date (5:37)
09 - Benchenette - L'Amour Force (5:05)

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VA - Passion Sources ( Flac 226mb)

Passion - Sources is Peter Gabriel's compilation of songs by various artists from the deserts of Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, and Senegal . Gabriel describes the album as "a selection of some of the traditional music, sources of inspiration, and location recordings." The album largely eschews modern Western instruments and production techniques, and consists of studio recordings (produced at Gabriel's Real World Studios and elsewhere), location recordings made during the filming of The Last Temptation of Christ, and selections from existing sound recordings.. A great introduction to Jesus's musical roots A diverse range of styles and cultures, wonderful songs performed by excellent traditional artists.



01 - Nusrat Ali K - Shamas-Ud
02 - Baaba Maal - Call To Prayer
03 - The Epidemics - Sankarabara
04 - Kudsi Erguner - Ulvi
05 - Hossam Ramsi - Fallahi
06 - Sabahiya - Sabahiya
07 - Ethiopian Musicians - Tejbeit
08 - Lahamoud Zadeh - Prelude In Tchahargah
09 - Morrocan Musicians - Wedding Song
10 - Abdul El-Sayed - Magdelene's House
11 - Fatala - Yoky
12 - Nas El Ghinwane - Ya Sah
13 - Al Nahla Al 'Ali - Al Nahla Al 'Ali
14 - Antranik and Khatchadou - Song of Complaint

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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 !

Sep 12, 2007

Sunshine, Central Africa

Sunshine from Central Africa this time, quiet a mixed bag , unfortunately my (once very expensive) cassetteplayer gave the ghost a decade ago rendering my cassette collection of African music useless. To be honest i had lost touch with the african music this last decade aswell. Seen in that light, in preparing these 3 african posts i get to reconnect and must say very much enjoy it. Hypnotic Soukous and Hi-Life of Kanda Bongo Man, Franco and Tshibayi the incredible “Afrocyberdelics” of Konono no 1 and to contrast that the Dark City Sisters And Flyin' Jazz Queens from South Africa. To give some morecredit to this musical heartland 4 compilation cdees, a techy mixed one, cd 1 destilled from a great BBC TV series about African music, a collection of afro pop and to top them all a fieldrecording ethnomusicologist David Fanshaw made in remote Kenya, with the intriguing title Witchcraft and Ritual Life's what you make it !


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Kanda Bongo Man - Kwassa Kwassa
Konono No. 1 - Congotronics
VA - Out Of Africa
Franco et le T.P.O.K. Jazz featuring Pepe Ndombe - Anjela
Bibi Den's Tshibayi And The Best - Sensible
VA - New Africa
VA - Witchcraft and Ritual (Kenya and Tanzania)
Dark City Sisters And Flyin' Jazz Queens
VA - Under African Skies

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Kanda Bongo Man - Kwassa Kwassa ( 89 flac 354 mb)

Kanda Bongo Man is one of the foremost figures in modern African popular music. He formed his first band as a 15-year-old in 1973, together with his two brothers, Soki Vangu and Soki Dianzenza. But the band, Orchestre Bella Mambo (later Bella Bella), toured in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Zaire with their newly created Soukous, a music style that is a cross between Caribbean rumba rhythms and traditional African music. 1979 Kanda Bongo Man went to Paris and had various jobs for a couple of years, including a stint at a glass factory, before getting a recording contract in 1981. Together with guitarist Diblo Dibala and Rigo Starr (!) he developed his own melodious and catchy Soukous. Already on his first discs, "Iyole" and "Djessy", he shows his ability to unite African dance rhythms with good melodies. His high speed form of soukous gave birth to the kwassa kwassa dance rhythm where the hips move back and forth while the hands move to follow the hips. In 1985 he appeared for the first time in England, at the WOMAD festival. Kanda Bongo Man has released a rack of albums and his swinging guitar-based dance music is popular all over the world .



01 - Sai (6:29)
02 - Cantique (5:21)
03 - Naloti (5:20)
04 - Lowazo (5:19)
05 - Lela-Lela (6:19)
06 - Bedy (5:19)
07 - Liza (6:36)
08 - Lisote (4:51)
09 - Belle-Amie (7:32)
10 - Ebeneza (5:44)


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Konono No. 1 - Congotronics ( 04 flac 334mb)

What makes this first installment of Belgium label Crammed’s Congotronics series so interesting is that despite living on the border between Congo and Angola, Konono No. 1’s music has, as the liner notes so gracefully explain, “accidentally connected them with the aesthetics of the most experimental forms of rock and electronic music” .

The Republic of Congo's Konono No1 are a twenty five year old outfit, but their sound is as fully 'of the present' as you could imagine. Each track is a relentless and unstoppable tumble of circling metallic notes and noises, which combine the feedback distortions of rock with the sophisticated polyrhythms of Central Africa. This great engine room of a sound, made by thumb pianos outfitted with homemade electric pickups and amps,which sound roughly like the cheapest-ass guitars played through trashed speakers with shredded cones, percussive tonal bursts buzzing against and resonating with each other, the bass producing a repetitive, rumbling two note syncopation supporting the treble’s breaks into wild, glorious arpeggios. This tapestry of homemade instruments gives the mythology of Konono a potent, raw edge, and the ferocity with which they play them only further substantiates the feeling that the music has been pushed into a raw, indelibly pure zone. ( play LOUD)

Note, Konono no 1 collaborated with Björk on the song "Earth Intruders" from her studio album, Volta. They will also accompany her on her promotional tour for the album.



01 - Lufuala Ndonga (9:27)
02 - Masikulu (8:01)
03 - Kule Kule (4:33)
04 - Ungudi Wele Wele (8:27)
05 - Paradiso (7:03)
06 - Kule Kule Reprise (3:04)
07 - Mama Liza (10:22)

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VA - Out Of Africa (88 ^ 456mb)

Rykodisc's Out of Africa is a topnotch sampler of some of the continent's more popular acts. And while some of the selections can fall victim to Western studio gloss, most of what's here ranges from lean and infectious dance grooves to more traditional beats. On the most popular end of the spectrum, the disc features tracks by Senegal's Youssou N'Dour and the South African female vocal combo the Mahotella Queens. Falling a spot or two on the star map, there are also fine numbers by Nigeria's respective juju and yo-pop masters, Ebenezer Obey and Segun Odewale, as well as a fine track by one of the originators of Congolese soukous music, Tabu Ley Rochereau. Sidetracked by a bloated bit of Afro-funk from Cameroon's Ali Baba (shades of the gloved one's Thriller period), the disc finds its way again with standouts by the Ivory Coast's Jane Agnimel and South Africa's Udokotela Shange Namajaha.

As this 68 min. wasn't going to compress under a 100 mb at ogg 7, i decided to go for a double download and ogg 9(320k) , this still left some room for a couple of african dance classics, Burundi Black and Tony Allen's "Never Expect Power Always"(NEPA) together with its glorious dubversion .



VA - Out Of Africa (flac 456mb)

01 - Youssou N'Dour - N'Dobine
02 - Poto Doudongo - Bolingo
03 - Mahotella Quieens - Zibuyile Nonyaka
04 - Jane Agnimel - Lene N'De
05 - Ali Baba - Kenya Rinia
06 - Segun Adewale - Atewo-Lara Ka Tepa Mo'Se
07 - Somo Somo - Kilemi
08 - Ebenezer Obey - To Ba Nwa I Re
09 - Udokotela Shange Namajaha - Awungilobolele
10 - Souzy Kasseya - Mr. Simon
11 - Tabu Ley Rochereau - King Sa


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Franco et le T.P.O.K. Jazz featuring Pepe Ndombe - Anjela ( 88 ^119mb)

He was born Francois Luambo Makiadi on July 6 1938 in the village of Sona-Bata , in the Bas Zaire region. His father , Joseph Emongo was a railroad worker while his mother sold home made bread at the local market. He began his musical career at a tender age. By age 7, he had already built his first home made guitar. He played the guitar to attract customers to his mother's market stall. His musical talent was first tapped by guitarist Paul Ebengo Dewayon who took him under his wing and taught him the subtleties of guitar playing. Franco made his professional debut in Dewayon's Watam band at age 12. While at the band He wowed audiences with his exemplary guitar skills while playing a guitar which was almost as big as himself. He cut his first solo record titled Bolingo na ngai na Beatrice ( my love for Beatrice) in 1953.

In 1956 along with Jean Serge Essous , He formed the band OK Jazz which was later to be renamed TPOK Jazz. Two years later when Essous left the band, He took over as band leader and never looked back. The band grew from the original 6 members to over 50 members 30 years later. For over 30 years He recorded prolifically and performed for audiences the world over, while maintaning a distinct style. His band dominated the charts and produced over 150 albums most of which sold over 50,000 copies. He died on October 12 1989 leaving behind 18 children as well as a huge legacy.



01 - Tawaba
02 - Anjela

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Bibi Den's Tshibayi And The Best - Sensible (84 ^ 143mb)

Tshibayi, singer, composer; was taught to sing by his mother, a Protestant missionary and choir mistress; sang and composed while still in primary school in academic group SavioFiesta, for more elaborate amateur group Lisango at secondary school in Kananga; to Kinshasha '72, sang with Thu Zahina using equipment provided by Franco; also took B.S. degree '75, worked as reporter on local newspaper. Turned to music full-time with The Best '79 at the Kinshasha International, but took up computer studies to please his parents. When the group was offered a contract at the Abidjan Intercontinental '82 he returned to music, released The Best Ambience ' 83, title single on Earthworks. Second album Sensible confirmed talent, but then his musical path was crossed by a careermove in informatics, in 2000 the ex-journalist, ex-informatician, returned as Denis Tshibayi with a new album Nge Na Munu, produced and mixed by Adrian Sherwood and Skip McDonald. " Sensible " starts off with a ballad before getting into the soukous/hi life gear.



01 - Djwa Yango (5:29)
02 - Africa Mawa (5:51)
03 - Sensible (8:03)
04 - Amour (6:55)

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VA - New Africa (85 * 99 mb)

Streetsounds was part of the UK Streetwave stable of labels created by Morgan Khan. A Hong Kong-born Indian who grew up in London, Khan had worked in the UK record industry since the mid 1970's. Khan founded the independent Streetwave record label during 1981 to specialise in releasing Electro and Hi-NRG releases. Within a year of creation, Streetwave began the Streetsounds series of albums; compilations created from some of the hottest 12" imports of the day. These releases made available a selection of the most contemporary dance floor hits within the financial reach of those wanting to hear the freshest sounds

This series would run for over 6 years and contain over 50 albums. By far the most coveted of the Streetsounds releases were the Electro series. All of the albums were competently mixed by a series of the best remixers of the day - predominately from the UK. New Africa was mixed by DJ Maurice and DJ Noel, the tracks were produced or remixed by Bill Laswell.



01 - Manu Dibango - Electric Africa (6:00)
02 - Bosca - (We'll Be) Together (3:15)
03 - Touré Kunda - Toure Kunda (5:09)
04 - Hugh Masekela - Politician (5:53)
05 - Somo Somo - Masikini Ya Mola (4:56)
06 - Fela Anikulapo Kuti - No Agreement (6:01)
07 - Touré Kunda - Em'ma (3:13)
08 - Fela Anikulapo Kuti - Army Arrangement (4:51)
09 - Mory Kanté - Yeke Yeke (6:34)
10 - Mandingo - Harima (3:21)

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VA - Witchcraft and Ritual (Kenya and Tanzania) ( 04 ^ 98mb)

"In this recording, i have tried to capture the spirit of the musical heritage now nearly extinct. The music on this album comes from a part of east Africa whose musical traditions remain largely unknown to the rest of the world. Particularly fascinating is the manner in which music and medicine are combined in the indigenous practice of witchcraft : music takes on the power of medicine, and medicine becomes associated with the healing sound of drums, interwoven with beautiful threads of melody "

David Fanshaw (1975)



01 - Ngoma ra mrongo
02 - Mwara initiation
03 - Coconut pickers song
04 - Matondoni wedding
05 - Marimba
06 - Tuken moral songs
07 - Giriama spirit dance
08 - Kayamba dance- Giriama wedding
09 - Alto bung'o horn
10 - Akamba witch doctor
11 - Pokot witch doctor
12 - Pokot dance
13 - Song of dawn
14 - Lukuji
15 - Nyatiti.
16 - Funeral dance

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Dark City Sisters And Flyin' Jazz Queens ( flac  250mb)

Classics from the era when female lead singers were the glory of South African music. From the mid-'50s to the mid-'60s, the Dark City Sisters (who launched Mahlathini, heard on three cuts here) were outsung only by the Flying Jazz Queens.

"The finest South African Marabi Jive ever", it says on the cover, all the Africans loved the Dark City Sisters. This is happy music. It's "Forget your troubles and dance" music. It will make your spirits rise and your feet move.

It's characterised by the distinctive close harmony sound that we associate with good South African music, beautifully done, mostly in Zulu. The Dark City Sisters were amongst the first to pioneer this sound in the 1950s and 60s, blending indigenous music with a rhythmic guitar backing and an occasional bit of saxophone, to produce this unique result. And they do it supremely well. Only two of the tracks, the 2nd and 6th, are by the Flying Jazz Queens, these are as good as anything else on the album..



01 - Sekusile
02 - Langa More (Tap Tap)
03 - Thathu Kisi
04 - Jabulani Nonke
05 - Tomati Yo Yo No. 3
06 - Retswa Gauteng
07 - Emahlathini
08 - Insizwa
09 - Langa More
10 - Amangwane Amyame
11 - Ingwababa
12 - Mokupi
13 - Izinto Ezinhle
14 - Eleventh Year Anniversary
15 - Nkabinde
16 - Lelo Hashe

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VA - Under African Skies (cd1) (flac 276mb)

All the tracks on this album were 'live'recordedon lacation for the BBC II "Under African Skies "TV series. They have not been remixed or touched upon, no apologies for the 'rawness'of some of the performences. Lead guitar on Wenges Musica's Do Do la Rose is loud and upfront, just where you would hear it at a Congolese concert. Simarly , the electricity of an open air gig under african skies is caught in spectacular style as Tshala bellows into the night over the heads of a huge crowd. Next time i'll post cd 2 as this focusses on the African Desert music (Mali, Ethiopia) As a teaser to that post this cd ends with 2 tracks from Algeria, more to come in my Sunshine Sahara post coming saturday.



01 - Papa Wemba & His Band - Esclave (Zaire)
02 - Wenge Musica - Do Do La Rose (Zaire)
03 - Tsibolia Mulumba - Tshala Muana (Zaire)
04 - Ray Lama - Dialogue (Zaire)
05 - Empire Bakuba - Kwassa Kwassa (Zaire)
06 - Animateurs Welcoming VIPs on Independence Day 1989, Kinshasa - untitled (Zaire)
07 - Princess Mansia - Chameleon (Zaire)
08 - Bhundu Boys - Chinhoyi (Zimbabwe)
09 - Music Class at St. Joseph's School - Dialogue (Zimbabwe)
10 - Comrade Chinx & Ilanga - Ngorimba (Zimbabwe)
11 - Jam Session at Wedding ft. Ephat Mujura & The Spirit Of The People - untitled (Zimbabwe)
12 - Busi & Ilanga - True Love (Zimbabwe)
13 - Lovemore Majaivana - Ngugama (Zimbabwe)
14 - Messaoud Bellemou - Hada Raikoum (Algeria)
15 - Chaba Fadela & Cheb Sahraoui - N'Sel Fik (Algeria)

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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 !