This is a blogg* to share my eXcess; that which reached, touched, entertained or angered me, in general all that draws my interest and thereby transmutes my Xsistance.
Eclectic music, metaphysics, (pre)history, conspiracies against humanity, the environment.
Hello, as announced the Illuminatus! Trilogy continues the coming weeks, courtsy of blogspot letting me schedule. We're getting ever deeper into the thick of it but then we've only jusst begun. Coming up Binah, 3rd Trip (4-6).
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The three parts of the trilogy are subdivided into five "books" named after the five seasons of the Discordian calendar (Chaos, Discord, Confusion, Bureaucracy, The Aftermath). This book is not designed to be easy to digest. You are not meant to internalize its message thoughtlessly. It's funny, contradictory, and self-aware, and it's hard for people who take themselves seriously to get caught up in a book that, for the most part, doesn't. I could say this book deserves to be more than a cult classic, its cultural influence will continue to seep in with or without grander acclaim.
The plot meanders between the thoughts, hallucinations and inner voices (both real and imagined) of its many characters, as well as through time (past, present and future)— sometimes in mid-sentence. Much of the back story is explained via dialogue between characters, who recount unreliable, often mutually contradictory, versions of their supposed histories. There are even parts in the book in which the narrative reviews and jokingly deconstructs the work itself.
The Illuminatus ! Trilogy was performed by the incomparable Ken Campbell and Chris Fairbank, and broadcast live in London on ResonanceFM in June 2006. In 1976, Ken Campbell adapted Illuminatus! for the stage - a 10 hour epic which went on to open the Royal National Theatre in London under the patronage of Her Majesty Elizabeth II. Chris Fairbank played Simon Moon, among other characters. 30 years and 23 Fernando Poos since Ken and Chris first breathed life into Shea and Wilson's masterpiece and Illuminatus! seems even more startlingly relevant and chock full of laughter than ever before. Enjoy the Trips!
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The trilogy's rambling story begins with an investigation by two New York City detectives (Saul Goodman and Barney Muldoon) into the bombing of Confrontation, a leftist magazine, and the disappearance of its editor, Joe Malik. Discovering the magazine's investigation into the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr., the two follow a trail of memos that suggest the involvement of powerful secret societies. They slowly become drawn into a web of conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, the magazine's reporter, George Dorn — having been turned loose without support deep in right-wing Mad Dog, Texas — is arrested for drug possession. He is jailed and physically threatened, at one point hallucinating about his own execution. The prison is bombed and he is rescued by the Discordians, led by the enigmatic Hagbard Celine, captain of a golden submarine. Hagbard represents the Discordians in their eternal battle against the Illuminati, the conspiratorial organization that secretly controls the world. He finances his operations by smuggling illicit substances.
Hello, as the Japan week draws to a close with a beats post, which isn't as dance as you might have gotten use to. Trouble with Japanese dance music is it's unstoppable culture of kitsch, where layer-upon-layer of irony free, synthetic cultural artefacts are produced in aid of an innocent good life. One of those turbo dance acts is, Capsule..it ain't spacey thats for sure. DJ Krush and Cornelius provide a more intellektual and laid back attitude towards beats here.
To most of us it's hard to understand this speed of life in Japan, specially Tokyo, all this keeping up appearances as prescribed by it's culture it would drive most westerners to rebel yet you see little of that in Japan. They believe there's a solution to every problem, even the social ones, rent a friend, have a robot pet and the way they drive ahead with their robotic and virtual culture, in ways they leave the West behind. Take a look at some examples on how the Japanese music industry forges ahead.
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Music industry's wet dream, total control over their artist Eguchi Aimi she looks and talks to order.
AKB48 - The Making of Eguchi Aimi
They took computer images of each girl's eyes, nose, mouth, hair and body, face outline and eyebrows. Each feature was then digitally merged to create the 'perfect' group member. The video shocked fans of Eguchi who were convinced that her features were more the result of good genes than the skillful use of computer graphics,' according to ChannelNews Asia.
another successful virtual band from Japan, Ho-kago Tea Time
GO! GO! MANIAC! - ..japanese avant-garde jazz metal
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Toshinori Kondo (December 15, 1948 in Ehime Prefecture) is an avant-garde and jazz trumpeter and the most celebrated improvising musician of his country. He has lived in Japan, New York City, and Amsterdam. In college he was a member of the band "Funky Beaters" and by 1976 he was a member of an ensemble which gained some notice in his native Japan. His early influences were Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. That said, his style is quite distinct from theirs and influenced by his religious studies, among other things. In the mid-1970s his career gained new momentum on moving to NYC, where he worked with members of the 'Downtown' scene, including Bill Laswell and John Zorn; his first solo album coming out in 1979. Back in Japan, Kondo formed International Music Activities (IMA). Releasing "What Are You Talking About?". "Kuuchuu Fuyuu". Taihen backed the trumpet with the rock format of guitar-drum-bass. Metal Position used a similar setting with the addition of Haruo Togashi's synthesizer and piano. Later he moved to the Netherlands where he lives today. In 2002 he worked on an international peace festival in Hiroshima after being approached by the Dalai Lama about organizing one. Kondo is currently known for Free jazz and electronica music. In these, or related, capacities he has worked with DJ Krush and Tom Cora. He is also known for being avant-garde and was a former member of Praxis.
Japanese turntablist and producer DJ Krush is one of the few island-nation throw-ups to be embraced by the global hip-hop world. Releasing material through Sony in Japan, Mo'Wax and Virgin in the U.K., and Axiom, Shadow, and A&M in America, Krush's heady brand of experimental, (largely) instrumental hip-hop has been praised by everyone from hardcore underground hip-hop 'zines like The Bomb to the speckless offices of Rolling Stone and Spin. Beginning as a bedroom DJ in the mid-'80s following the Japanese leg of the Wildstyle tour, Krush moved into mobile DJing, backing up rappers, and eventually solo production. Although his Japan-only debut freely mixed elements of R&B and acid jazz with the beefy breakbeat backbone of mid-tempo hip-hop, Krush's work has since tended more toward the abstract, applying heavy effects and sample manipulation to thick, smart breaks, layered, almost ambient textures, and subtle, inventive scratching.
Krush came to larger acclaim in the mid-'90s through his association with the London-based Mo'Wax label, which released his Strictly Turntablized in 1994 and Meiso in 1996. In addition to 1997's Milight, Krush also featured on a number of various-artists collections, Kakusei appeared on Mo'Wax/Columbia in 1999, followed by the mix albums Code 4109 and Tragicomic the next year. Zen from 2001 was filled with guest MCs while The Message at the Depth from 2003 featured far fewer and focused on instrumentals. Jaku landed in 2004, and two years later the Stepping Stones collection featured Krush remixing highlight from his back catalog.
Kakusei ("awaken" ) is the eighth album released by DJ Krush. It is generally considered to be his most acclaimed work
Continuing his series of solo albums as collaborative efforts, DJ Krush touched down after a slight absence with Kakusei, another invigorating, moody, and powerful release. Krush once again lets his abilities at both musical creation and turntablism work together for great results. Some returnees from Milight surface, including members of Kemuri Productions, who appear on the quietly head-nodding "Inorganizm" and "No More," and Shawn J. Period, who on "The Dawn" works with Krush on a great series of orchestrations to flesh out the track. Vocally, there's not as much going on this time around; aside from brief shout-outs here and there, it's strictly an instrumental affair.
01 Intro 1:03
02 Escapee Feat.Asa 3:50
03 Parallel Distortion (Feat. DJ Sak) 3:25
04 Inorganizm (Feat.DJ Hide, DJ Kensei) 6:38
05 Deltaforest (Feat.Jun Sawada) 5:14
06 Crimson 2:33
07 The Dawn (Feat.Shawn J Period) 5:15
08 Interlude 2:08
09 85 Loop 4:57
10 Rust (Feat.KK) 3:14
11 1200 (Feat.Hideo) 5:15
12 Krushed Wall (Feat.Rhythm Troops) 5:01
13 The Kinetics (Feat.Mista Sinista) 3:15
14 Final Home 4:37
15 No More (Feat.DJ Hazu, DJ Yas) 6:09
16 Outro 1:47
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Cornelius (born Keigo Oyamada January 27, 1969 in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese recording artist and producer. Oyamada's first claim to fame was as a member of the pop duo, Flipper's Guitar, one of the key groups of the Tokyo Shibuya-kei scene. Following the disbandment of Flipper's Guitar in 1991, Oyamada donned the "Cornelius" moniker and embarked on a successful solo career. Release first solo album, “First Question Award” (94) followed by a remix album “96/69 “Cornelius Wakusei Kengaku”. In 98 he got his first international release with Fantasma, after the succesful release in Japan the previous year.
Fall 98, the remix album FM/CM came about, released in 99 in which year he would be seen at Glastonbury and Roskilde to name some. Being a true multimedia artist he released a movie "Eus" and another book “Cornelius Wakusei Kengaku”., more remix work and all that not withstanding in 2001 he released "Point" in Japan , a year later the rest of the world got to hear this masterpiece. Point is the best-sequenced and smoothest album I heard that year. It is very clearly set up to be an album as opposed to a collection of singles. It may well have turned out too perfect, too cool, when after 45 min the silence lingers it can only be to wonder how full it was..
The music of Cornelius could be described as experimental and exploratory, and often incorporates dissonant elements alongside more familiar harmonically "pleasing" sounds. This tension, plus his practice of bringing in sounds and samples from mass culture, pure electronic tones, and sounds from nature ( Point) lead him to being sometimes categorized as an "acquired taste"
Even sleeker and more stylized than Point, Sensuous lives up to its title, with intricate textures and lush atmospheres that are almost tangible, and melodies that evoke visions of lines stretching off into the horizon or tunneling into infinite spirals. However, this is also Keigo Oyamada's most thematic and conceptual Cornelius album, concentrating on just a few well-chosen elements -- wind chimes, delicate acoustic guitars, precise electric ones, fuzzy '80s synths, and layers of vocals -- and either elongating them to the point of no return or chopping them into pointillistic pieces. With all of its lines, loops, and fragments, at times Sensuous feels more like an ever-changing sonic painting than an album of individual songs, a concept brilliantly illustrated by the flowing paint on the album's cover. And while repetition is one of Sensuous' major themes, Oyamada never applies it the quite the same way twice. When the last song fades out on the wind chimes that opened the album, Sensuous becomes one giant, dazzling loop. (Iin Flac and Ogg)
01 Sensuous 4:21
02 Fit Song 3:59
03 Breezin' 3:50
04 Toner 1:32
05 Wataridori 6:56
06 Gum 3:45
07 Scum 0:38
08 Omstart 4:38
09 Beep It 4:02
10 Like A Rolling Stone 3:28
11 Music 4:52
12 Sleep Warm 4:42
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Capsule is a Japanese eletronic duo formed by Yasutaka Nakata (co-producer, art director, responsible for all lyrics and music) and Toshiko Koshijima (vocals). They debuted in 2001, when their their first single was released by Yamaha Music. In 2003 Yasutaka created his own label Contemode and has produced other artists on the label. On their first album, their sound was standard J-Pop, but with "Cutie Cinema Replay", they changed to Shibuya-kei sound, then later, slowly moved towards Electro Pop. Meanwhile they've released 11 albums in 8 years, busy bodies aren't they and they even took some time out in 2007 duh, their last currently is World of Fantasy. Well this here is their 8 th album released 3 years ago. Somewhere between Cutie Cinema Replay and this record, Capsule went from an adorable Shibuya-kei duo with memorable hooks and sterling production to a full-on techno pop duo with memorable hooks and sterling production. While their previous joyride FRUiTS CLiPPER was coated with syrupy goodness, this is definitely an edgier album, with only "Pleasure Ground" and "Adventure" capturing some of that that major chord bliss that was the bulk of their repertoire prior. Capsule have morphed here into a Daft Punk-ravaging, electrofuzz monolith, and their 2008 album More!More!More! was a huge success.
Hello, well i stretched the perception of what is groove somewhat here , yet any orchestra needs a groove, in a classical orchestra's it's the director that lays it down. Todays groove is a translation made from ska which originated in Jamaica in the late fifties. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat.
Tokyo Spa Paradise Orchestra is made up by experienced musicians that went beyond mere jamming together and found that Ska was an excellent focal point with its roots in bigband jazz and rhythm and blues to solidify their music and taking the energy they got from it and shape them into a big band ska outfit. That with powerful, punchy arrangements re-creates not just the jump-up energy of ska but takes on big band jazz, swing, dub even some drum and bass and makes it their own, in short there's nothing like TSPO on this planet.
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Formed by percussionist Asa-Chang, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra quickly gained popularity. Within two years of their debut release -- an eponymous 12" single released in 1989 -- and only a year after their debut album, Ska Para Toujou, dropped, the group emerged from Tokyo's underground scene to play Japan's most prestigious venue, the Budokan in Tokyo, to a crowd of 10,000. By 1993 Asa-Chang departed, which led to a reassessment of the band's working methods but ultimately ensured Ska Para's longevity. From now on, all members would take a role in arrangement and production.
Their third album, Pioneers, marked the last recording of the band with founder Asa-Chang, who decided to pursue a solo career in 93. Fantasia was recorded as a 10 piece with no permanent replacement on percussion. While the band worked on their fifth album, vocalist Cleanhead Gimura lost his ongoing battle with brain cancer and died. Grand Prix was released in 1995 as a tribute to the singer. This record continued the band’s progression into a more pop-oriented sound, and it featured a number of guest musicians and singers.
After Tokyo Strut, the band decided to leave Epic Records, as there was a feeling that the label had not been able to properly convert their popularity into record sales. They signed with indie label Avex Trax, who also created an exclusive imprint for them, Justa Record. The band recruited Rui Sugimura (brother of Cleanhead Gimura) as a full-time singer. This would become the band’s most prolific period, with a number of releases, including the Arkestra album, and various 12” and 7” records
for Justa Record. The band embarked on an ambitious tour of Japan (documented on the DVD Ska Evangelists on the Run). During this Arkestra tour, original drummer Tatsuyuki Aoki died in a train accident.
Nevertheless 80% of the band is still the same as the one of the beginning - with the whole original woodwind and brass section, composed of the best brass players of the East, trumpetist “Nargo” Nagoya, trombonist Kitahara, the indefatigable sax-guitarist-dancer Hiyamuta, tenor sax Gamo and the amazing baritone sax Yanaka. There are also the great keyboard player Oki and bass player Kawakami, who is now mixing so well with new drummer Motegi as he used to do with Aoki.
Despite the upheavals, TSPO released arguably their best album, Full-Tension Beaters, in 2000, on the Avex label. The album became the group's debut European release and a tour there soon followed. For their next record, Stomping on Downbeat Alley, the band invited three guest singers, the album and singles were a huge success and a gig at Yokohama Arena (with all three guest singers) was released as Downbeat Arena. The band also embarked on a European tour which was documented on the DVD Catch the Rainbow. High Numbers (2003) was a more low-profile release, having mostly instrumental tracks, along with Kin-Ichi Motegi’s first lead vocal track, "Ginga to Meiro". 2005’s Answer was a similar affair.
For 2006’s Wild Peace, the band once again recruited three guest vocalists: Chara, Hanaregumi, and Hiroto Komoto (The High-Lows). As with Downbeat Alley these singles became huge hits, and the band also recorded a DVD at the final show for the tour, with all three singers. They once again toured Europe with this record. The DVD Smile was released to document this tour. Perfect Future soon followed, with more jazz leanings, and only one guest vocalist, Fumio Ito (of Kemuri). Kin-Ichi Motegi also recorded a vocal track for this album.
A few months after the release of Perfect Future, Tatsuyuki Hiyamuta decided to officially leave the band in order to concentrate on healing his legs, due to an accident he suffered in 1996. It left a big void in the band’s live performance, as Hiyamuta’s role was that of agitate man, talking to crowds and essentially operating as front man. The band has decided not to replace him, thereby remaining as a nine piece. In early 2009 Paradise Blue was released, with the first line-up difference in almost a decade. This marks the 20th anniversary since the band’s first EP was released, and they have been busy touring Japan in support of the album. Their latest album thusfar is World Ska Symphony released last year, featuring guest vocals from Tamio Okuda, Crystal Kay, and Kazuyoshi Saito.
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This is a rare compilation of TSPO's (12") singles they did for "their" Justa Record label, it includes work they did in the guise of Hot Hip Trampoline School aswell, almost none of it reached western shores although obviously it has been part of their reportoire, compiled by the band this guarantees party time all around.
101 Jon Lord (FPM Die Guy Mix) 6:43
102 'Jazzie' Speaks (Gaga Mix) 6:10
103 Ring O 'Fire (Love Sound System remix) 6:53
104 One Night (Jazz Brothers Mix) 6:41
105 All Is changed With Time (Chop the Beat Mix) 5:51
106 Brass Rockers ( FPM Afro Voice Ensemble) 6:35
107 Ska Jerk (Tsutchie Mix) 5:56
108 Abracadabra (Moodman Remix) 4:27
109 'Jazzie' Speaks (The Jazzie Samba Version) 9:01
110 'Jazzie' Speaks (The Piano Dub) 6:49
211 Attack Of Fever 4:14
212 Attack Of Fever (Dub) 4:04
213 Jon Lord 3:38
214 Jon Lord (Dub) 3:19
215 Sun Fish 5:08
216 Sun Fish (Dub) 5:03
217 The E Movin' Dub (On The Whole Red Satellites) 5:07
218 Ring O 'Fire (Blue Flame Dub) 5:37
219 Ska Jerk (Dub) 4:55
220 Ska Jerk 4:53
221 Compared To What 4:22
222 One Night (Aco Vocal Version) 5:30
223 Pre-Emptive Counter-Strike 3:50
224 Skaravan (Roc-Ska 02 Mix) 3;02
225 'Jazzie' Speaks (The Ska House Version) 7:15
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Ska may be the heart and soul of their music, but TSPO are equally adept at reggae, big-band swing , jazz-laced romance, easygoing sophistication, and even dub. Culled from their previous 3 albums, Ska Me Crazy showcases the best of the group's exceptional musicianship, but it's the knees-up skankers that send the skins and checkerboarded crowds into a frenzy, and the album is stuffed with a multitude of these as well, with the R&B-doused "Howlin' Wolves," anthemic "Down Beat Stomp," and exuberant live title track guaranteed to send you into a dancing frenzy.
01 The Last Bandolero 3:51
02 5 Days Of Tequila 3:48
03 A Quick Drunkard 3:35
04 Call From Rio 3:16
05 Soul Growl 4:42
06 (We Know It's) All Or Nothing 3:20
07 Skull Collector 3:56
08 Howlin' Wolves 3:03
09 Natty Parade 3:59
10 Lovers' Walk 5:16
11 The Movin' Dub (On The Whole Red Satellites) 5:09
12 Film-Makers Bleed 3:46
13 Theme From Enter The Dragon 4:08
14 Down Beat Stomp 4:18
15 Ska Me Crazy (Live At Eurockeénnes) 3:20
Hello, today the 31st post of GoldyRhox, classic pop rock. As we are in Japan week mode you might expect a Japanese millionseller, but alas not many of these have reached these shores. The music industry as we know it has been one of those weapons of mass destruction of other than Angloamerican cultures, together with movies and TV. Here i've tried to do a little about it, but i too am caught up in that narrowing consciousness process.
However with the arrival of the internet that process has slowed and infact reversed direction our minds can expand once more even without the drugs (obviously globally prohibited by those nasty angloamerican elites). These bastards are losing ground everyday and if only we would lock up their bankster bastards and declare their game illegal the world would be a better place overnight. Ah yes but the massess ..so easily spooked, so ignorant, blow up a few high rises infested with asbestos, throw around some korans at an airport and send 2 remote controlled planes into the building declare muslim terrorists did it, and bye bye freedom. The biggest bullshit sold to the general public since the zionists started their holocaust campaign in the early sixties.
Ok, got carried away somewhat it's just mind boggling to me how so many ascribe to blatant lies. I know, nazi propaganda minister Goebbels said it before, the bigger the lie the easier it goes down. something the previously mentioned surely have applied as with another nazi tool as well ..fluoride..to keep the people sedated, used in all but one American state which naturally has the best teeth, Utah. Btw many UK cities are fluoridated too, it for instance calcinates your pineal gland (better known as third eye). There's more nazi nastiness recently implemented like Codex Alimentarius. It makes you wonder who won the war..i know the banks and elites, the rest of us lost. I would like to say revolt ! but unfortunately the largely ignorant and sedated populace of the USA and UK won't and so enable their masters to ride rough shot over the rest of the globe as well.
And now time for some music, as it happens i dont have a Goldy Rhox from but made in Japan.
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Most of the albums i 'll post made many millions for the music industry and a lot of what i intend to post still gets repackaged and remastered decades later, squeezing the last drop of profit out of bands that for the most part have ceased to exist long ago, although sometimes they get lured out of the mothballs to do a big bucks gig or tour. Now i'm not as naive to post this kinda music for all to see and have deleted, these will be a black box posts, i'm sorry for those on limited bandwidth but for most of you a gamble will get you a quality rip don't like it, deleting is just 2 clicks...That said i will try to accomodate somewhat and produce some cryptic info on the artist and or album.
Todays mystery album was at first seen as somewhat unimportant by the band members, and only two showed up to mix it. It is organist Jon Lord's favourite album, and he describes the release as follows:
"That double album was the epitome of what we stood for in those days. It wasn’t meant to be released outside of Japan. The Japanese said, 'Will you please make a live album?' We said, 'We don’t make live albums; we don’t believe in them.' We finally said okay, but said we wanted the rights to the tapes because we didn’t want the album to be released outside of Japan. That album only cost about $3,000 to make. It sounded pretty good, so we said to Warner Bros., 'Do you want this?' They said, 'No live albums don’t happen.' They wound up putting it out anyway and it went platinum in about two weeks."
Hello, J-Aetix coming up and that means lot's of YMO as i can't rip any vinyl at the moment. I had prepared a post then i just found out that, although prepared i never posted my favorite eighties album by them, BGM, although i thought i did. Meanwhile i found out that my early cd isn't up to scratch as much as i would like..EAC is taking it's time. You'll get the choice of flac or Ogg 9 for either of their eighties albums here. Further more another example from the man of the week Ryuchi Sakamoto..B-2 Unit a classic of it's time and beyond..in flac. Want more then there's the double live album recorded when YMO first ventured out of Japan to London, Paris and New York in the late seventies.
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YMO was originally conceived as a studio project by Hosono, the other two members being recruited session musicians - the idea was to produce an album fusing orientalist exotica (cf their cover version of Martin Denny's Firecracker) with modern electronics. However the first album (with its cutting-edge production) was very popular, and the studio project grew into a fully fledged touring band and career for its three members. In fact it was Hosono's previous album "Paraiso" which started it all , and lay at the base of the name aswell as it was released as Haruomi Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band , anyway track 6 Femme Fatale has the YMO recording together for the first time.
For a few short years YMO were recording, performing and producing others aswell as releasing solo work, i wonder where that Kraftwerk comparison has come from, them germans were never that active, nor have i recognised much humor in their work. Making abundant use of new synthesizers, samplers, digital and computer recording technology as it became available, YMO's popularity and influence extended beyond Japan. In fact 6,5 studio albums wasnt that much considering their combined solo output passes a 100 albums by now, but as said they really wizzed at the time. A decade later they got together again but the release of that album was marred by a rights issue about the YMO name and some samples, though Technodon is a good album they found out that working together as YMO no longer provided the energy and inspiration it once did. Though Hosono and Takahashi with the occasional dash of Sakamoto have released several albums these last years under the name of Sketch Show.On a number of occasions Ryuichi Sakamoto has joined in on Sketch Show performances and recording sessions. He later proposed they rename the group Human Audio Sponge when he participates.
In August 2007, the band once again reformed, taking the name HASYMO or HAS/YMO, combining the names of Human Audio Sponge and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Their first single under this name, "Rescue", was written for the film Appleseed EX Machina. They released a new two song single titled "The City of Light/Tokyo Town Pages" on August 6, 2008. In August 2009, the band played the World Happiness festival in Japan, featuring many Japanese artists. The band closed the night, and confirmed that "Yellow Magic Orchestra" is their official name, dropping the HASYMO title. They opened with a cover of "Hello, Goodbye" and performed old YMO songs along with their newer songs.
In August 2010, YMO once again closed their World Happiness festival. They added classic songs from their back catalog into their set list. In January 2011, KCRW announced for their World Festival concert series that Yellow Magic Orchestra will perform at the Hollywood Bowl on June 26, 2011.Not long after, a concert for June 27, 2001 at The Warfield was added.It was announced in February that YMO will perform at the Fuji Rock festival in July and the World Happiness festival 2011 on 7 August.
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Faker Holic: YMO World Tour Live is a live album by Yellow Magic Orchestra. The material on this live album was recorded during various concerts in 1979, and wasreleased as a double CD in 1991. Several songs appeared on the 1979 live album Public Pressure, with Kazumi Watanabe's guitar parts overdubbed with additional keyboards; the recordings here appear unaltered. "Kay Tong Boy" is a song by Akiko Yano, who performed additional keyboards and backing vocals on this tour.
01 Rydeen 4:52
02 Behind the Mask 3:08
03 Radio Junk 4:03
04 Solid State Survivor 3:51
05 Kang Tong Boy 6:06
06 Tong Poo 6:41
07 Day Tripper 2:45
08 1000 Knives 7:52
09 Rocket Factory 4:00
10 La femme chinoise 5:55
11 Firecracker 4:41
12 Cosmic Surfin 3:27
13 The End of Asia 9:17
14 Cosmic Surfin 3:49
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The man of the week owns his own spot an the J-Aetix post, this album produced like a pop album, delivers music both experimental and concise is bursting with originality and sensuality. Sakamoto is in total control of composition, tone colour and mix, without sacrificing anything to spontaneity. Most early eighties electronic pop music will bore the shit out of anybody listening to it now, but that won't be the case with B-2 Unit soon. Lots of non-harmonic content and obscured time signatures still effortlessly in balance with harmony and structure. The pieces range from an almost-poppy ballad to idm-ish to abstract poly-rhythmic breaks, adding up to a greater whole, that is this masterpiece.(in flac)
01 Differencia 2:06
02 Thatness And Thereness 3:27
03 Participation Mystique 6:40
04 E-3A 4:46
05 Iconic Storage 4:43
06 Riot In Lagos 5:39
07 Not The 6 O'Clock News 5:04
08 The End Of Europe 4:56
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BGM is the fourth album by Yellow Magic Orchestra produced by Haruomi Hosono, released on March 21, 1981. The title stands for "background music", though promotional material indicated that it could also mean "Beautiful Grotesque Music".
It's a continuation of YMO's techno aesthetic, focusing more on Takahashi's distorted vocals and similarly liquid synth sounds, which give much of the album a melancholic air. Peter Barakan debuts as YMO’s co-lyricist. Ryuichi Sakamoto was often absent from the BGM recording sessions, and he turns in "Music Plans" as his only new composition for the album, since "1000 Knives" and "Happy End" were new recordings of his earlier materials. "Loom" is also a re-working of "The Infinite Space Octave" by YMO computer programmer Hideki Matsutake, and features a slow, upward glissando similar to the Deep Note
YMO was the first band to utilize the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, one of the first programmable drum machines, as early as 1980, and by early 1981, they released BGM as their first studio album utilizing both the Roland MC-4 Microcomposer and TR-808 together. (in Ogg 9 and Flac)
Naughty Boys (Uwaki na bokura; "Naughty boys") is the sixth album by Yellow Magic Orchestra. It contains the pop-oriented single "Kimi ni, mune kyun.", as well as a "preview" of "You've Got to Help Yourself", which was released in its full version on the companion album Naughty Boys Instrumental, and again with vocals on Service. Naughty Boys was their final album to top the Oricon charts. After that, no technopop artist was able to reach No.1 until Perfume's 2008 album Game.
"Kimi ni Mune Kyun" also became the highest charting single by a technopop artist on the Oricon charts, debuting at No. 2; a record the song retained until Perfume's "Love the World" debuted at No. 1 in 2008."Ongaku" ("Music") was reportedly written by Ryuichi Sakamoto for his then-three-year-old daughter, Miu. Naughty Boys was re-released in 2004 in a double disc package alongside Naughty Boys Instrumental.
Various cover versions of "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" have been produced by later artists, including The Human League ("YMO Versus The Human League" in 1993), Asako Toki (in 2006), and Yuko Ando. (in Ogg 9 and Flac)
Hello, as we are in Japan week doing roots i've found a perfect bunch. For starters Ensemble Nipponia , it makes the comparison to last weeks european late middleages, renaissance music interpretations, as a stark contrast to these Japanese sundazers. The history of kabuki began in 1603 when Izumo no Okuni began performing a new style of dance drama in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto ..wow and here we arrivee at a man who's been in the spotlight just 2 says ago, Ryuchi Sakamoto. From the start of his career he was interested in ethnic music and some of his impressions he together with medieval/renaissance band Danceries translates into a rich tapestry. Lastly Dry & Heavy (ex Audiio Active) proclaim their love for dub and they bubble as well. Now what's a joint called in Japanese, gimme some slang....
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The same can be said for this latest reissue of East Asian recordings from the Nonesuch Explorer Series: the austere cover artwork and the historical liner notes in the CD booklet, along with the music itself, form a deep impression of the nature of Kabuki theatre, its philosophy as well as its sound. Ensemble Nipponia. The group, which formed in 1964, became known around the world for its skill at reviving and preserving traditional Japanese repertoire and for its desire to showcase modern work in a similar mould, employing the same instruments as the musicians who had conjured up these sounds many generations before.
These live performances were recorded by Explorer Series producer David Lewiston in October, 1978 at the Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City during Ensemble Nipponia's second American tour. The album's first half consists of excerpts from the naguata ("long song") music that accompanies the dances featured in Kabuki theatre and serves as background music during its narrative portions. Featured throughout is the shamisen, a three-stringed lute not unlike a banjo; in most of the Kabuki pieces, tailored for the concert hall rather than a theatre, the shamisen is the focus. Listen to "Atsumori," however, adapted from an 800 year-old military epic, and one will also hear an impassioned human voice propelling the action. The final two pieces were composed by Ensemble Nipponia leader Minoru Miki, who, in his writing, combines the traditional with the contemporary and, in the process, creates something timeless.
01 Echigojishi (The Echigo Lion) 3:39
02 Ataka No Matsu (The Pine Tree At Ataka) 3:15
03 Musume Dōjōji (The Maiden At The Dōjō Temple) 4:54
04 Kanjinchō (The Subscription List) 10:06
05 Shirabe-Sagariha (The Sound Of Wind Through The Bamboo Leaves) 5:39
06 Atsumori (The Death Of Atsumori) 7:17
07 Hanayagi (The Greening) 6:15
08 Sattō (Wind Dance) 6:05
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Sakamoto entered the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1970, earning a B.A. in music composition and an M.A. with special emphasis on both electronic and ethnic music. He studied ethnomusicology there with the intention of becoming a researcher in the field, due to his interest in various world music traditions, particularly the Japanese (especially Okinawan), Indian and African musical traditions. He was also trained in classical music and began experimenting with the electronic music equipment available at the university, including synthesizers such as the Buchla, Moog, and ARP. From the beginning of his career Sakamoto would alternate between exploring a variety of musical styles, ideas, and genres. This work came about with the input of Danceries, formed in 1972 by Ichiro Okamoto. They play medievall and renaissance music. It has a great reputation in Japan and have gained some friends in France where they've toured 5 times. This package then set out on sublimely capturing this groundbreaking 1984 album Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia ( with booklet and in flac).
01 Dance (Sakamoto 1981) 2:37
02 Two Rondes (Danserye, Netherlands.c XVI) 3:08
03 Fa La La La L'An (Cancionero de Upsala, Spain c.XVI) 1:59
04 Boku No Kakera (Sakamoto 1981) 3:56
05 Instrumental Motet: In Seculum (France c.XIII) 2:27
06 Grasshoppers (Sakamoto 1978-81 3:22
07 Pour Ce Se D'Amer (Trouvère c.XIII)6:00
08 The End Of Asia (Sakamoto 1978) 4:40
09 L'Entrada Del Ten Clar, Eya (Troubadour c.XIII) 1:35
10 Istampita Isabella (Italia c.XIV) 3:54
11 River (Sakamoto 1981) 1:45
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Dry & Heavy is a Japanese dub and reggae band formed in 1991 by drummer Shigemoto Nanao (Dry) and bass player Takeshi Akimoto (Heavy). Their names come from a renowned Burning Spear album of the same name. The line-up which recorded the album Dry & Heavy came together in 1995 with Naoki Uchida on dub controls, Mitsuhiro Toike on keyboards, Kei Horiguchi on guitar, and the vocal duo of Likkle Mai and Ao Inoue. In 2001, during Fuji Rock founding member Takeshi Akimoto (Heavy) announced he was leaving the group, Audio Active's current bassist Pata, stepped in to fill the void. Takeshi Akimoto was the former bassist for Audio Active, and Shigemoto Nanao the former drummer of the same band.
As well as appearances on every major Japanese rock and reggae festival, the band have enjoyed great success with their own headline dates in Japan, England, France and Switzerland as well as highly acclaimed appearances at the 2000 Reading (U.K.) and Hanover (Germany) Womad festivals Their own highly successful Japanese dubfest, Echomaniacs which featured Adrian Sherwood, Andrew Weatherall, Dennis Bovell and 3 Head as well as dates in Japan with reggae legends, Lee Perry, Horace Andy, Jah Shaka and Mad Professor. No new music has been recorded since 2002's New Creation, though the band continues to tour.
01 Mr. Blueflame 3:23
02 T.K.O. 3:48
03 Triumph 3:45
04 Harmony 4:01
05 Lost World 5:36
06 Say No More 3:16
07 Don't Give Up Your Fight 4:44
08 Herbal Wise 4:48
09 Night Flight 4:28
10 Gassy Disco 4:13
11 The Athlete 5:24
Hello, Time to catch up with the Illuminatus! Trilogy as it continues with "Binah, 3rd Trip (1-3).
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The three parts of the trilogy are subdivided into five "books" named after the five seasons of the Discordian calendar (Chaos, Discord, Confusion, Bureaucracy, The Aftermath). This book is not designed to be easy to digest. You are not meant to internalize its message thoughtlessly. It's funny, contradictory, and self-aware, and it's hard for people who take themselves seriously to get caught up in a book that, for the most part, doesn't. I could say this book deserves to be more than a cult classic, its cultural influence will continue to seep in with or without grander acclaim.
The plot meanders between the thoughts, hallucinations and inner voices (both real and imagined) of its many characters, as well as through time (past, present and future)— sometimes in mid-sentence. Much of the back story is explained via dialogue between characters, who recount unreliable, often mutually contradictory, versions of their supposed histories. There are even parts in the book in which the narrative reviews and jokingly deconstructs the work itself.
The Illuminatus ! Trilogy was performed by the incomparable Ken Campbell and Chris Fairbank, and broadcast live in London on ResonanceFM in June 2006. In 1976, Ken Campbell adapted Illuminatus! for the stage - a 10 hour epic which went on to open the Royal National Theatre in London under the patronage of Her Majesty Elizabeth II. Chris Fairbank played Simon Moon, among other characters. 30 years and 23 Fernando Poos since Ken and Chris first breathed life into Shea and Wilson's masterpiece and Illuminatus! seems even more startlingly relevant and chock full of laughter than ever before. Enjoy the Trips!
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The trilogy's rambling story begins with an investigation by two New York City detectives (Saul Goodman and Barney Muldoon) into the bombing of Confrontation, a leftist magazine, and the disappearance of its editor, Joe Malik. Discovering the magazine's investigation into the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr., the two follow a trail of memos that suggest the involvement of powerful secret societies. They slowly become drawn into a web of conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, the magazine's reporter, George Dorn — having been turned loose without support deep in right-wing Mad Dog, Texas — is arrested for drug possession. He is jailed and physically threatened, at one point hallucinating about his own execution. The prison is bombed and he is rescued by the Discordians, led by the enigmatic Hagbard Celine, captain of a golden submarine. Hagbard represents the Discordians in their eternal battle against the Illuminati, the conspiratorial organization that secretly controls the world. He finances his operations by smuggling illicit substances.
Hello, as the Sun will pass summer solstice this week, evoking the Wicca's of this world into action, the eyes are on the currently more demure sun and it all starts in the land of the rising sun, Japan. That's a good reason for me to have a bit of a Japanese artists week,. Starting off with Ryuichi Sakamoto, he works the keyboard as a go-player, his output is phenomenal and of the highest quality, one of the worlds music greats and yet he is obscure for a large part of the world. I hope to lift the veil somewhat here...enjoy !
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Ryuichi Sakamoto (born January 17, 1952 in Tokyo, Japan) studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he graduated with a BA in composition, and a Master's degree with special emphasis electronic and ethnic music. Sakamoto began his career in the late 1970s, working as a composer, arranger and producer with some of Japan's most popular rock, jazz and classical artists. He released his first solo album in 1978 but came to fame as a member of Japanese synth-rock outfit Yellow Magic Orchestra with co-founders Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. He collaborated with David Sylvian on a number of singles and most of Sylvian's albums.
He appeared in the 1983 Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence alongside British rock singer David Bowie; he also wrote the film's musical score. He won the Academy Award for his score to the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci film The Last Emperor, and has also won two Golden Globe Awards for his work as a film composer.In addition, he also composed music for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics opening ceremony. In the early 1990s, he briefly reunited with YMO, playing an instrumental role in the techno and acid house movements of the era, before parting ways again shortly afterwards.
His 1999 musical composition "Energy Flow", also known as the alternative title of the single disc Ura BTTB, was the first number-one instrumental single in Japan's Oricon charts history. He has also occasionally worked on anime and video games, as a composer as well as a scenario writer. In the late 2000s, he reunited once again with YMO, while continuing to compose film music.
Since 78 he has released almost 80 albums (solo & soundtrack) , on top of that 2 dozen collaboration albums and YMO 33 years 110+ albums , every 16 weeks an album for 33 years, amazing workethic, puts lots of artists to shame. The 2007 jpg shows a 55 year old man that has greyed considerably, but he looks sharp and balanced into the lens back at you.
He is also known as a critic of copyright law, arguing that it is antiquated in the information age. He is a member of anti-nuclear organization Stop Rokkasho. Married life obviously suffered and he has been unattached for most of his career, still he has two daughters one of which has stepped into her parents career (mother=Akiko Yano), the J-pop singer Miu Sakamoto.
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All compositions are by Ryuichi Sakamoto except "23rd Psalm," which is traditional. Lyrics are sung by David Sylvian on "Forbidden Colours". Sakamoto later won the 1983 BAFTA Award for Best Film Music for the film's soundtrack. In 94 Orb man Alex Patterson named it as one of his top ten ambient records. It's in flac , enjoy
01 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence 4:36
02 Batavia 1:18
03 Germination 1:49
04 A Hearty Breakfast 1:23
05 Before The War 2:15
06 The Seed And The Sower 5:03
07 A Brief Encounter 2:22
08 Ride, Ride, Ride (Celliers' Brother's Song) 1:04
09 The Fight 1:30
10 Father Christmas 2:07
11 Dismissed 0:10
12 Assembly 2:17
13 Beyond Reason 2:01
14 Sowing The Seed 1:54
15 23rd Psalm 2:03
16 Last Regrets 1:43
17 Ride, Ride, Ride (Reprise) 1:06
18 The Seed 1:04
19 Forbidden Colours (Voc.David Sylvian) 4:42
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BTTB (1998) — an acronym for "Back to the Basics" — was a fairly opaque reaction to the prior year's multilayered, lushly orchestrated Discord. The album comprised a series of original pieces on solo piano, including "Energy Flow" (a major hit in Japan) and a frenetic, four-hand arrangement of the Yellow Magic Orchestra classic "Tong Poo." At the time that Sakamoto began composing for BTTB, he thought that a CD of piano music felt right, though he was not sure of what kind of styles he wanted to play around with. Instead of settling on one or two styles, the renowned pianist and composer experimented with several. For instance, on BTTB, Sakamoto delves into avant-garde piano techniques, playing a prepared piano on the gently circular "Prelude" and "Uetax." Sakamoto's two choral-inspired pieces, "Choral No. 1" and "Choral No. 2," were born out of his fascination with Bach's "St. Mathew Passion" and medieval-esque Gregorian chants. On the BTTB U.S. tour, he opened the show performing a brief avant-garde DJ set under the stage name DJ Lovegroove.
01 Energy Flow 4:34
02 Put Your Hands Up - Piano Version 4:51
03 Railroad Man - Piano Version 4:41
04 Opus 4:25
05 Sonatine 3:38
06 Intermezzo 3:44
07 Lorenz And Watson 3:57
08 Choral No. 1 2:27
09 Choral No. 2 2:05
10 Bachata 8:14
11 Chanson 2:23
12 Prelude 4:07
13 Uetax 0:26
14 Aqua 4:29
15 Tong Poo 5:03
16 Reversing 3:56
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Sakamoto collaborated with Alva Noto (an alias of Carsten Nicolai) to release Vrioon, an album of Sakamoto's piano clusters treated by Nicolai's unique style of digital manipulation, involving the creation of "micro-loops" and minimal percussion. The two produced this work by passing the pieces back and forth until both were satisfied with the result. Pure tones, bleeps, and buzzes are so contrasted to the minimal, nearly ethereal piano of Sakamoto, especially as the piano is heavily treated with sustain, they create structured glitchy soundscapes where the organic fuses and seperates from the mechanical.
This debut, released on German label Raster-Noton, was voted record of the year 2004 in the electronica category by British magazine The Wire. No suprse then that recently they released their 5th album together, Summvs.
01 Uoon I 13:51
02 Uoon II 9:40
03 Duoon 5:47
04 Noon 10:13
05 Trioon I 5:09
06 Trioon II 9:57
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Since the 90s, Fennesz and Sakamoto have performed live, with Sala Santa Cecilia being their first collaborative EP (Touch, 2005), recorded live at Auditorium della Parco Musica for the Romaeuropa Festival. Two years later, the duo got together to compose their first full length LP, Cendre. Sakamoto is back at the piano, this time bathed in a warm lush of ambient bliss, as flooded by Fennesz. The reverberations of drone-like pads almost swallow the notes whole, occasionally letting them cut through the descending fog, and shoot up like a sparkling reflection of a dying star. A modern classical marvel was the conclusian at Boomkat.
Hello, as the festival season is upon us, today a festival act that has lightened the stage at Glastonbury several times, there's even a dvd, 2cd album available that establishes their reputation 94, 95, 99 , 02 and 04 saw them center stage and my guess is they will be back in 2012.
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The brothers Hartnoll, Phil and Paul, grew up in Dartford, Kent, listening to early-'80s punk and electro, during the mid-' 80s, Phil worked as a bricklayer while Paul played with a local band called Noddy & the Satellites. They began recording together in 1987 with a four-track, keyboards, and a drum machine, and sent their first composition, "Chime" (recorded and mastered onto a cassette tape for a total production cost of £2.50), into Jazzy M's pioneering house mix show Jackin' Zone, as a result "Chime" was released as a single in 89. The following year, ffrr Records re-released the single and signed a contract with the duo -- christened Orbital in honor of the M25, the circular London expressway which speeded thousands of club kids to the hinterlands for raves during the blissed-out Summer of Love. "Chime" hit number 17 and saw them on Top of the Pops, where the Hartnolls stared at the audience from behind their synth banks.
Orbital's untitled first LP (the "green album") was released in September 1991, consisted of all-new material -- that is, if live versions of "Chime" and the fourth single "Midnight" are considered new works. Unlike the Hartnolls' later albums, though, the debut was more of a collection of songs than a true full-length work, its cut-and-paste attitude typical of many techno LPs of the time. During 1992, Orbital continued their chart success with two EPs. The Mutations remix work -- with contributions from Meat Beat Manifesto, Moby, and Joey Beltram, Orbital returned Meat Beat's favor later that year by remixing "Edge of No Control," and later reworked songs by Queen Latifah, the Shamen, and EMF as well.
Their career took off in 1993-1994, with the release of the EPs "Lush" and "Radiccio" and their second album ,also untitled, but nicknamed the "brown" album as an alternative to the "green" debut, it unified the disjointed feel of its predecessor and hit number 28 on the British charts. The Hartnolls continued the electronic revolution that fall during their first American tour. Phil and Paul had first played live at a pub in Kent in 1989 -- before the release of "Chime" -- and had continued to make concert performance a cornerstone of their appeal during 1991-1993, featuring live projections, live musical arranging and sequencing on the fly, making their shows entertaining, improvised and truly "live". On a tour with Moby and Aphex Twin, Orbital proved to Americans that techno shows could actually be diverting for the undrugged multitudes. That summer proved to be the pinnacle of Orbital's performance ascent; an appearance at Woodstock 2 and a headlining spot at the Glastonbury Festival (both to rave reviews) confirmed the duo's status as one of the premier live acts in the field of popular music, period.
The U.S.-only albumlength Diversions EP released in March 1994 as a supplement to the second LP -- selected tracks from both the Peel Sessions and strong remixes from the album's single, "Lush." Following in August 1994, Snivilisation became Orbital's first named LP. The duo had not left political/social comment completely behind on the previous album -- "Halcyon + On + On" was in fact a response to the drug used for seven years by the Hartnolls' own mother -- but Snivilisation pushed Orbital into the much more active world of political protest. It focused on the Criminal Justice Bill of 1994, which gave police greater legal action both to break up raves and prosecute the promoters and participants. The wide variety of styles signalled that this was Orbital's most accomplished work. Snivilisation also became the duo's biggest hit, reaching number four in Great Britain's album charts.
During 1995, the brothers concerned themselves with touring, headlining the Glastonbury Festival in addition to the dance extravaganza Tribal Gathering. In May 1996, Orbital set out on quite a different tour altogether; the duo played untraditional, seated venues -- including the prestigious Royal Albert Hall -- and appeared on-stage earlier in the night, much like typical rock bands. Two months later, Phil and Paul released "The Box," a 28-minute single of orchestral proportions. It screamed of prog rock excess -- especially the inclusion of synth harpsichords -- and appeared to be the first misstep in a very studied career. The resulting In Sides, however, became their most acclaimed album, with many excellent reviews in publications that had never covered electronic music. It was over three years before the release of Orbital's next album, 1999's Middle of Nowhere. An aggressive, experimental album titled The Altogether emerged in 2001, and one year later Orbital celebrated over a decade together with the release of the retrospective Work 1989-2002. With the release of 2004's Blue Album, however, the Hartnolls announced that they were disbanding Orbital. After the split, Paul began recording music under his own name, including material for the Wipeout Pure PSP game and a solo album (The Ideal Condition), while Phil formed another duo, Long Range, with Nick Smith and released Madness and Me last year.
On 21 November 2008, Orbital announced they would be reforming to play a gig together called "20 years after Chime" at The Big Chill Festival 2009. They precede this show with a headline performance at RockNess 2009 in June. On 16 June 2009, Orbital released a 2-CD collection of their favorite tracks. The collection, simply called "20", covers the 20 years since "Chime" and contains 20 tracks. “This compilation is the most definitive summary of our work since ‘Chime’ came out in 1989”, says Paul Hartnoll. On 16th February 2011, Orbital posted a video diary on YouTube via their official website, Loopz. The video diary reported their progress on the recording of their new album, along with remixes of existing material for their DJ sets.
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From the start of their heydays on the scene two glorious EPs
01 Halcyon Edit 3:52
02 Halcyon 11:09
03 Deeper 6:59
04 The Naked And The Dead 6:25
05 Sunday 7:13
06 The Naked And The Dub 11:53
---Mutations EP---
07 Chime Crime 6:32
08 Oolaa (Joey Beltram Mutation) 4:24
09 Farenheit 3D3 7:05
10 Speed Freak (Moby Mutation) 5:41
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The band released the album at the time of the launch of the Criminal Justice Act, the legislation that gave British Police greater legal powers to break up unlicensed raves that gave Orbital its name. The political commentary inherent in 1994's Snivilization extended even to the Top 30 single "Are We Here?," whose criminal justice bill mix voiced Phil and Paul's concern over what the bill might lead to -- silence. Musically, the album delivers on the diverse promises. It's the brothers most varied work and the personal favourite of mine.
01 Forever 7:58
02 I Wish I Had Duck Feet 4:06
03 Sad But True (Voc.Alison Goldfrapp) 7:48
04 Crash And Carry 4:43
05 Science Friction 5:04
06 Philosophy By Numbers 6:39
07 Kein Trink Wasser 9:26
08 Quality Seconds 1:25
09 Are We Here? (Voc.Alison Goldfrapp)15:33
10 Attached 12:26
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Blue Album's title recalls the informal names of Orbital's first two, self-titled albums, known colloquially as the Green Album and the Brown Album. Orbital's swansong, The Blue Album-- their seventh-- is billed, worryingly, as a culmination of their 15-year run-- which, at least conceptually, implies a grab bag of token nods to better-realized ideas, or an unnecessary Cliff's Notes version of their career. Thankfully, it's instead a fitting footnote, one that leaves a much better final taste in our mouths than the mostly disastrous The Altogether-- a record so misguided that it seems to have cloaked its underrated predecessor, Middle of Nowhere, in an ill-deserved shadow of post-In Sides disappointment.
Hello, today the 30th post of GoldyRhox, classic pop rock. Another remaster today, an album which is sometimes bombastic and over the top but which has seen plenty of first kisses, and not just because of that car sex mini opera. Think the Voice and the public overwhelmingly choosing the Texan who could be mistaken for a truck driver.
Yesterday's post got delayed because i got confused/distracted by the so called preview. anyway i noticed my mistake the next day and meanwhile the Aetix post has been up for half a day..Almost 700 posts and such has never happened before...hmmm
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Most of the albums i 'll post made many millions for the music industry and a lot of what i intend to post still gets repackaged and remastered decades later, squeezing the last drop of profit out of bands that for the most part have ceased to exist long ago, although sometimes they get lured out of the mothballs to do a big bucks gig or tour. Now i'm not as naive to post this kinda music for all to see and have deleted, these will be a black box posts, i'm sorry for those on limited bandwidth but for most of you a gamble will get you a quality rip don't like it, deleting is just 2 clicks...That said i will try to accommodate somewhat and produce some cryptic info on the artist and or album.
Todays mystery album has sold more than 43 million copies.After more than 33 years, it still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and stayed on the charts for over nine years, making it one of the best selling albums of all time. The artist certainly had a colourful time getting there, after supporting big names with an everchanging line up rock band in the LA area he ended up in the musical Hair..which led to an album for Tamla Motown a single , What You See Is What You Get, reached number thirty six on the R&B charts, after the support tour he ended up in New York doing Hair again. During the winter of 1973, after returning from a short production of Rainbow in New York in Washington, D.C., he received a call asking him to be in The Rocky Horror Show asking him to play the parts of Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott.The success of the play led to the filming of The Rocky Horror Picture Show where he played only Eddie. Around the same time he started working on the mystery album with Jim Steinman whom he met at an earlier NY audition. Late 74 they were seeking a record deal. Their approaches were rejected by each record company, because their songs did not fit any specific recognized music industry style. Finally, they performed the songs for Todd Rundgren, who decided to produce the album, as well as play lead guitar on it (other members of Todd's band Utopia also lent their musical talents).They then shopped the record around, but still had no takers until Cleveland International Records decided to take a chance. On October 21, 1977, the mystery album was released. ..
Go figure those overpaid record execs, were any sacked because they lost their company hundreds of millions not being able to recognise a rock classic, i doubt it. If artists were as incompetent there would be no music industry. I suppose todays singer had a hard time being taken seriously by the industry as a product to sell. Unbelievably when 13 years later the duo wanted to release a part 2, again they were snubbed by the music insiders and again these pretentious airheads were completely wrong, scores of platinum wrong.
Hello, Aetix again, as we near the moment of another solstice a somewhat more esoteric take on the eighties even though in the beginning Cocteau Twins relied heavily on the likes of Joy Division, The Cure and Siouxsie for direction, their label 4AD quickly picked up on their skills, specially Elizabeth Frasers voice must have rung some big chimes in Ivo Watts (4AD) head. The band finally did end in tears as the meanwhile parenting couple finally split in 1997...Well they left us with plenty to muse about..here's some..
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Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie (bass guitar), both from Grangemouth, Scotland, formed the band in 1979. At a local disco, they met Elizabeth Fraser, who would eventually provide vocals. The band's influences at the time included Joy Division, The Birthday Party, Sex Pistols, Kate Bush, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The band was named after the song "The Cocteau Twins" by fellow Scotsmen 'Johnny and the Self-Abusers' (Simple Minds). Their debut recording, Garlands (released by 4AD Records in 1982), was an instant success, as was the subsequent Lullabies EP.
Will Heggie left the group after the tour that followed the 1983 release of the band's second EP, Peppermint Pig. He subsequently joined Lowlife. The band's sound on its first three recordings relied on the combination of Heggie's rhythmic basslines, Guthrie's minimalist guitar, and Fraser's voice; the Cocteau Twins' next full-length LP, Head over Heels, relied solely on the latter two. This led to the growth of the band's characteristic sound: Fraser's voice, by turns ethereal and earthy, combined with Guthrie's effects-heavy guitars. Like its very dissimilar predecessor, Head over Heels was well-received by the public and press.
In 1983, the band participated in 4AD's This Mortal Coil project (this spawned "Song to the Siren" performed by Guthrie and Fraser), and during their work for that, they got to know Simon Raymonde, who joined the group later that year as bass player. With Raymonde, the band released a series of critically acclaimed albums and EPs that explored their new style. Naming Treasure (1984), Tiny Dynamine and Echoes in a Shallow Bay (1985), and Love's Easy Tears (1986). Raymonde, who was called in to work on the second album by This Mortal Coil, did not participate in the recording of the fourth Cocteau Twins LP, Victorialand (1986), a predominantly acoustic record which featured only Guthrie and Fraser. Raymonde returned to the group for The Moon and the Melodies (1986), a collaboration with ambient composer Harold Budd, which was not released under the Cocteau Twins name.
While remaining a 4AD band internationally, the Cocteau Twins finally signed a major-label contract with Capitol Records in 1988 for distribution in the US, and released their fifth proper LP, Blue Bell Knoll, in October of that year. The style the group had begun exploring with Head over Heels reached its peak on Heaven or Las Vegas, released in late 1990. The most commercially successful of their many recordings, the album rose to the higher reaches of the UK charts immediately after its release. However, despite the success of the record and the subsequent concert tours, not everything was well with the band. They parted ways with 4AD following Heaven or Las Vegas partly because of conflicts with the label's founder Ivo Watts-Russell, and were close to breaking up over internal problems due in large part to Guthrie's addiction to drugs and alcohol.
From 1990 noted Japanese guitarist Mitsuo Tate joined the band, as did English guitarist Ben Blakeman.
The band's seventh LP, Four-Calendar Café, was released in late 1993. It was a departure from the heavily-processed, complex and layered sounds of Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven or Las Vegas, featuring clearer and more minimalistic arrangements. This, along with the record's unusually comprehensible lyrics, led to mixed reviews for the album: The band themselves explained that it was a response to the turmoil that had engulfed them in the intervening years, with Guthrie entering rehab and quitting alcohol and drugs, and Fraser undergoing psychotherapy. The two had been in a long-term relationship, and by this time had a young daughter, Lucy-Belle, born in 1989.
Milk and Kisses (1996).saw the return of more heavily layered guitars, and Fraser began once again to obscure her lyrics, though not entirely. The band, augmented by an extra guitarist and a drummer, toured extensively to support the album and in live performances seemed to have found a cohesive freshness and power that had been lacking during their previous outing in 1993/94. A new song, "Touch Upon Touch", which debuted during the live shows and was recorded later in 1996, became the last Cocteau Twins song ever released.
In 1997, while recording what was to have been their ninth LP, the trio disbanded over irreconcilable differences in part related to the break-up of Guthrie and Fraser. While a number of songs were partially recorded and possibly completed, the band has stated that they will likely never be finished or released in any form. In 1999, Bella Union, the record label founded by Guthrie and Raymonde, released a double-CD Cocteau Twins compilation entitled BBC Sessions. The collection is a complete record of the band's appearances on UK radio programs from 1983 to 1996, with rare and unreleased material included.
Since March 2007, the band has started podcasts of exclusive material.[4] On 6 October 2008 the Cocteau Twins accepted the Q Awards Inspiration Award. This was the first time they have publicly been seen together since the group broke up over 10 years earlier
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Deep, heavy mood verging on doom and gloom that's how Cocteau Twins presented itself on it's debut. Bassist Will Heggie, in the only full album he did with the Twins, clearly follows the Peter Hook/Simon Gallup style of low, ominous throb, while Guthrie's guitar work more often than not screeches loudly than shimmers. Fraser's singing has a starker edge, unsettling even at its most accessible, sometimes completely disturbing at other times. As a debut effort, Garlands makes its own curious mark, preparing the band for greater heights to come.
01 Blood Bitch 4:35
02 Wax And Wane 4:03
03 But I'm Not 2:43
04 Blind Dumb Deaf 3:56
05 Shallow Then Halo 5:15
06 The Hollow Men 5:02
07 Garlands 4:29
08 Grail Overfloweth 5:24
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After losing their bassplayer, Head Over Heels introduces a variety of different shadings and approaches to the incipient Cocteaus sound, pointing the band towards the exultant, elegant beauty of later releases. Fraser's singing is much more upfront, while Guthrie creates a bewitching mix of dark guitar notes and sparkling keyboard tones, with percussion echoing in the background. The original United Kingdom and Canadian cassette and CD and the Brazilian CD versions of Head over Heels included the EP Sunburst and Snowblind. This 2003 CD, remastered by Robin Guthrie version, does not include the EP.
01 When Mama Was Moth 3:06
02 Five Ten Fiftyfold 4:59
03 Sugar Hiccup 3:42
04 In Our Angelhood 2:59
05 Glass Candle Grenades 2:44
06 In The Gold Dust Rush 3:41
07 The Tinderbox (Of A Heart) 4:57
08 Multifoiled 2:36
09 My Love Paramour 3:39
10 Musette And Drums 4:39
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BBC Sessions is a whopper of a treat for fans and the uninitiated, two hours of sound that builds and builds until one is overcome with unspeakable, barely understood emotions. At 30 songs on two CDs, it's an overview that sheds light on the masterful way the trio mutated so subtly, until their artistically premature end.
