RhoDeo 1808 Aetix

Hello, again some aetix from down under....


Today's artists  are a post-punk band that formed in Sydney in 1979. In five years, the band released three LPs, two mini albums, and various singles and compilations. Their sound is free jazz, bluegrass and krautrock influenced. The band formed to accommodate Ed Kuepper's growing interest in expanding the brass-driven sounds created on The Saints third album, Prehistoric Sounds, and by adopting flattened fifth notes in a rock and roll setting while using a modern jazz styled band line-up. Along with The Birthday Party, The Go-Betweens, The Moodists and The Triffids, the Laughing Clowns also sought fame in Europe during the early '80s, and gained an international cult status. All four aforementioned groups have cited them as an influence at some point in their respective careers..........N'Joy

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Laughing Clowns were formed in April 1979 in Sydney as a rock, soul, avant-jazz group by Bob Farrell on saxophone, Ed Kuepper on lead guitar and lead vocals (ex-Kid Galahad and the Eternals, The Saints), Ben Wallace-Crabbe on bass guitar, and Jeffrey Wegener on drums (ex-The Saints, Last Words, Young Charlatans). In late 1978 Kuepper had quit punk rock band, The Saints, in London – where they had relocated – due to a rift regarding future direction with fellow founder, Chris Bailey. Kuepper preferred "less commercial, more cerebral material" as seen on the band's third album, Prehistoric Sounds (October 1978).

When Kuepper returned to Australia in 1978 he had contemplated musical retirement however he reconnected with two old school friends, Farrell and Wegener, at a party and they coaxed him into forming a new band. Both Farrell and Wegener had associations with The Saints: Wegener was an early member in 1975 and Farrell was one of the Flat Top Four, which performed backing vocals on "Kissin' Cousins" for that band's debut album, (I'm) Stranded (February 1977). Ben Wallace-Crabbe had played in a Melbourne band, The Love, with Wegener, and completed the initial line-up. A proposed single by The Saints, "Laughing Clowns" / "On the Waterfront", through EG Records was not recorded by that group due to the difference of opinion between Kuepper and Bailey. Each track appeared elsewhere: "On the Waterfront" on The Saints' first post-Kuepper EP, Paralytic Tonight, Dublin Tomorrow (March 1980) and "Laughing Clowns" provided Kuepper's new band's name and their self-titled six-track mini-album in May that year.

Laughing Clowns made their public debut in August 1979, immediately encountering both confusion and antipathy from The Saints' fans who expected a more abrasive punk sound. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted that "Part of the problem was that the band's sound defied categorisation. Having to overcome such ludicrous labels as 'jazz-punk' ... [it] was diverse yet moody, at turns melodic or dissonant. It ranged from rock and soul to avant-jazz". The Saints' Prehistoric Sounds had not received a local release via EMI until 1979, so Laughing Clowns performed various tracks from that album in their early sets – including "The Prisoner" and "Swing for the Crime". Later in the year, Ben's cousin and former guitarist in the Melbourne-based version of Crime & the City Solution, Dan Wallace-Crabbe (also ex-The Love), joined the group on piano. Laughing Clowns EP – first pressing with red text, which was released by Missing Link in May 1980. Cover art is by Robin Wallace-Crabbe.

This five-piece incarnation recorded Laughing Clowns at Richmond Recorders in Melbourne with production by Kuepper, and engineering by Tony Cohen. All six tracks were written by Kuepper. Released via Missing Link, it gained favourable reviews in the Australian independent music press. McFarlane opined that the EP was "unlike any other [record] made in Australia to that point. The music's only parallel lay in latter-day Saints as a logical progression from Prehistoric Sounds, but at the same time it was a departure, a foray into new territory. The open-ended song arrangements were stirring and provocative, but also disconcerting. The production values were cavernous and echoey; a fascinating sound, but very cold and detached".

A promotional video for one of its tracks, "Holy Joe", was provided; a rare feat from an Australian independent band of the Countdown era. Upon the EP's release, they expanded to a six-piece group with Peter Doyle on trumpet. This configuration performed at the Paris Theatre in Sydney in November 1980, with The Birthday Party and The Go-Betweens; which marked the last gig with Farrell. Ben also left the group before the year's end and his cousin, Dan followed within a few months. Ben subsequently formed Upside Down House, and later committed suicide.

The group were disenchanted with their former label, so their second release, a three-track EP, Sometimes, the Fire Dance...., appeared under the Prince Melon imprint in February 1981 – a label run by then-manager, Ken West, and Kuepper. The label name 'Prince Melon' was the nickname the band had for West. This EP had been recorded in mid-June 1980 with the six-piece line-up, again with Cohen engineering, but had the whole group producing. Jonathan Green of The Canberra Times felt the EP had "[s]uper songs, especially the A side, which strikes the odd emotional chord (sob), from one of the most challenging bands in the country. Apparently poppy, with an underlying and sinister atonality".

In March 1981 the band released a third EP, Laughing Clowns 3, with five tracks. In July the two Prince Melon EPs were combined to create their first compilation album, Throne of Blood/Reign of Terror. The line-up of Doyle, Kuepper and Wegener continued as a three-piece exploring much freer arrangements, and drawing from the band's mutual interest in free jazz. By mid-1981 they gained Louise Elliott on saxophone and flute; and Leslie 'Bif' Millar on fretless and upright bass guitar. With this new line-up, the band delved further into jazz-inspired improvisation and experimentation.

In March 1982 Laughing Clown issued their debut studio album, Mr Uddich-Schmuddich Goes to Town. It was recorded in November of the previous year and was produced by Doyle, Kuepper and Wegener; engineered by Doyle and Peter Walker (ex-Bakery guitarist). It showed a change of approach with the addition of Millar's jazz-schooled bass playing. Much like the work of Captain Beefheart, the seemingly improvisational elements are predetermined by Kuepper, the band's primary songwriter, except the LP's title track.

Jim Green, of TrouserPress, summarised the group's history and described this album as displaying "a shift in the lineup brought in a new saxman and bassist (playing acoustic stand-up) and dropped the pianist. The tracks are more succinct, and the overall impression is that of consolidation and retrenchment". Alex Griffin of Life is Noise website lists it as one of his Top Australian Albums, "Despite sounding like it was recorded inside Ed’s cavernous, musty trachea, the songs are paranoid and shifting, propelled as ever by Jeffrey Wagoner’s drumming which sounds like a jittery dinosaur in a Chinese tea room". Soon after its release the band, except Doyle, relocated briefly to Europe and recorded a session for John Peel which appeared on a four-track EP, Everything That Flies Is not a Bird, released in 1983. By the end of 1982, the group had temporarily split due to internal tensions, and Wegener joined The Birthday Party for a tour of the Netherlands early in the next year.

Kuepper reformed Laughing Clowns in May 1983 with Elliott and Wegener but without Millar. They added Peter Milton Walsh (ex-The Apartments) on bass guitar. Walsh remained for twelve months and had not played bass guitar in a band before; he appeared on their second album, Law of Nature. It was recorded during the latter half of 1983 in Sydney and released in April 1984 on the newly formed label, Hot, with the addition of pianist Chris Abrahams. The single, "Eternally Yours", was released on 12" in March with a promotional video accompanying it. The group started promoting the releases with a national tour, The Canberra Times' correspondent noted gig giveaways included "Free flexi-discs of the band's new single, 'Eternally Yours', which will include one unreleased track, ... to the first 300 people passing through the door. Albums and 12inch giveaways are on the agenda". The line-up were "well-established" with Kuepper, Wegener, Elliot, and Walsh.

The album employs the recording of duel acoustic and electric guitar tracks, and a more song-based approach. The Canberra Times reviewer, Debbie Muir, noted its "innovative, though frankly bitter, style that's not punk or new wave or straight rock but just its unpretentious self". She praised the lead single as "The best track by far is 'Eternally Yours', which conveys an atmosphere of drooling sadness ... the extended single version is much, much better" than the album's version. McFarlane praised the album and its lead single as being "amongst the band's very finest works. There were moments of great beauty on Law of Nature such as 'Law of Nature', 'Written in Exile' and 'Eternally Yours', where Elliot's soulful and epic sax riff danced majestically in the air". After a national and European tour in support of the album, Walsh departed to return to The Apartments and was replaced on bass guitar in Laughing Clowns by Paul Smith.

Laughing Clowns were expanded with the addition of Glad Reed on trumpet, Dianne Spence on saxophone, and Louis Tillett on piano. In October 1984 they began recording their final album, Ghosts of an Ideal Wife, at Alberts Studios. By Christmas of that year, the band split after international and national tours, with Kuepper finishing the album, early in 1985. A posthumous single, the double A side "Just Because I Like" / "Crystal Clear" was released in February 1985 via Hot Records. Shortly after disbanding Elliott and Wegener briefly joined a latter version of The Saints for an Australian tour; while Kuepper began work on his debut solo LP, Electrical Storm (June 1985).

Much of the Laughing Clowns' saga was recounted in the book, Stranded: The Secret History of Australian Independent Music 1977–1991 (1996), by Australian rock music writer, Clinton Walker. Walker had been a confidante of the band and one of its outspoken critical champions. In September 2005 Tim Ritchie of Radio National reviewed their 3× CD compilation album, Cruel but Fair (The Complete Clowns Recordings), and described their style "[it] was so singular, so 'not part of the trends' that they would either have people walking out of gigs in droves, or have them swear they were witness to something akin to greatness". The anthology was released on 3 October 2005 to further critical acclaim, Donat Tahiraj of Time Off magazine declared they were "the most inventive and innovative Australian band of the post-punk era"

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Ed Kuepper's post-Saints band, Laughing Clowns, have been poorly served in the CD era. Four separate CD releases existed prior to this complete, three CD collection - two of their "real" albums (one with 10 tracks, one with only 9, and neither with bonus tracks) and two compilations (both just 10 tracks, with lots of duplication with each other and the two stand alone albums).

This collection sets things straight, with 48 tracks which include all of the above plus roughly a dozen and a half more tracks. If, like me, you've marvelled at the unique and stellar magic of chance hearings of (now former) obscurities such as "Year Of The Bloated Goat," or if you've wondered what all those early uncompiled tracks from the "Prince Melon-era" actually sounded like, this is the package for you. This 3xCD set is packaged in a kind of fold-out digipack, and includes excellent liner notes and band member details, as well as a track-by-track run through memory lane from Kuepper.

The music of the Laughing Clowns always suffered from a certain muddy claustrophobia; the mastering here is better than on previous releases, but like the first Raincoats album or the Blue Orchids' "Greatest Hit," it's obvious that the band did not record in the most luxurious studios. But, as with those other albums, it all works, and while Laughing Clowns may be one of those "love 'em or hate 'em" bands, anyone with an open mind and adventurous taste in music will find plenty of fantastic songs and innumerable moments of jaw-dropping wonder.

The only complaint I can make is that this set is not chronological. This doesn't affect the listening experience as such, but makes it difficult to chart the development of the band easily. I suspect there's a "period" in the band's career which I favor, but I haven't got the time to sort it out. At the same time, there are few weak moments here . . . this is an underrated boxed set from an unjustly obscure band.

Laughing Clowns - Cruel, But Fair, The Complete Clowns Recordings (flac  480mb)

101 Eternally Yours 5:11
102 As Your Bridges Burn Behind You 4:12
103 Law Of Nature 4:47
104 The Flypaper 3:41
105 Everything That Flies 4:19
106 No Words Of Honour 3:33
107 New Bully In The Town 3:53
108 Year Of The Bloated Goat 5:26
109 Diabolic Creature 3:56
110 Monkey See Monkey Do 5:01
111 Possessions 2:59
112 Written In Exile 3:55
113 Winter's Way 2:44
114 Crystal Clear 4:42
115 Eternally Yours (Original Album Version) 5:08

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Laughing Clowns - Cruel, But Fair 2 (flac  515mb)
 
201 Holy Joe 3:57
202 Theme From "Mad Flies, Mad Flies" 3:53
203 Every Dog Has Its Day 3:54
204 That's The Way It Goes 4:45
205 Come One, Come All 4:09
206 Ghost Beat 3:21
207 Knife In The Head 3:03
208 Laughing Clowns 4:25
209 Eulogy? 4:10
210 I Want To Scream 5:19
211 Lucky Days 2:39
212 Sometimes 4:03
213 Nothing That Harms 5:04
214 Clown Town 3:24
215 Fire Might Fall 2:03
216 The Crying Dance 3:03
217 When What You See 10:59

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Laughing Clowns - Cruel, But Fair 3 (flac  570mb)
 
301 Mr Uddich-Schmuddich Goes To Town 5:01
302 Ghost Of An Ideal Wife 4:15
303 The Only One That Knows 7:26
304 Collapse Board 5:59
305 Stinking To High Heaven 3:55
306 Don't Know What I Want 8:08
307 Eating Off The Floor 3:16
308 Laughter Around The Table 8:26
309 Bride Of Jesus 3:39
310 In Front Of Your Eyes 5:01
311 It Gets So Sentimental 3:14
312 Mr Ridiculous 3:21
313 The Year Is More Important 4:20
314 Just Because I Like 3:40
315 Song Of Joy 2:58
316 Times Not Hit But Missed Blues 5:40

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RhoDeo 1808 Roots

Hello, no longer roots perse but these south and middle american countries though still strongly connected to their musical roots do produce 'western' music as in computer based music and Chili is leading in the regions electronic music out put, i'd really advise my Sundaze fans too check some of it out.....



Today’s artists is a Chilean electronic music producer, engineer, and visual artist born in Santiago, Chile. He is known for his solo work under the name "Danieto" as well as for his role as a member of the group Skipsapiens, along with Pier Bucci. Daniel Nieto began his career in the late 1990s, influenced by the intelligent dance music movement in the UK. Daniel is also one of the founders of the netlabel Impar........N'Joy

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The origins of electronic music in Chile can be found as far back as 1958, when physicist Werner Meyer-Eppler visited Chile. As a result of his visit, experimentation with electronic music gained support from the scientific community and an electronic music laboratory was established.

In 1959, Jose Visencio Asuar published a thesis entitled "Generación mecánica y electrónica del sonido musical" (Mechanical and Electronic Generation of Musical Sound), and to demonstrate his thesis he composed "Variaciones espectrales" (Spectral Variations), the first piece of electronic music in Chile.

In 1966, at the Universidad Católica, Samuel Claro released his second electronic music album, Estudio N°1.

Asuar released Estudio Aletorio in 1962 and Ambientes Sonoros in 1967. Both records were released in Germany (Karlsruhe) and Venezuela (Caracas).

In 1968, Tomás Lefever composed 19 electronic tracks and released Klesis, a compilation album containing works by Amenábar and Asuar.[1]

It is not clear when exactly the electronic music movement as it is known today reached Chile. At the beginning of the 1990s a small underground movement had emerged, with DJs such as Cristian Vogel, Ricardo Villalobos, Matías Aguayo and Sergio Orrego, the opening of the specialist store Background, and small scale events like “Barracudas” in 1992, “Corriente Alterna” (1993), “Distrito Distinto” (1993), “Background” (1994), “Avanzada multimedia” (1994), “Frontera Final” (1995) and “Spandex Parties” taking place through the 1990s. However, most commentators see the true birth of electronica in Chile at the Alacran Peninsula in the city of Arica, in an event that took place during the solar eclipse of November 1994.[2]

The solar eclipse took place on November 3, 1994, with excellent views available in northern Chilean cities such as Arica, drawing astronomers from around the world to observe the rare phenomenon in the area’s uniquely clear skies. A group of electronica fans and DJs decided to use the eerie eclipse landscape as a backdrop to host Chile's first rave.[3] The event was sponsored by the German clothing manufacturer Pash and took place outdoors in the Scorpion Peninsula, opposite to the historic Morro de Arica. Ravers could observe the eclipse and wait for its shadow to pass, with electronic music as a soundtrack. DJs who took part in the rave included John Acquaviva, Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, Derrick May, Pascal, Siddhartha and Adrian.

Though it was a small event, the Alacran rave has gained near legendary status in Chile and has become a landmark in the country's electronic scene.[4] Since then, the scene has grown fast and massive events have taken place in many of Chile's major cities,[5] including “C[C2] reamfields”, “Sensation White” (a spin-off from Amsterdam’s “Sensation”), and Ultra Music, an event that first appeared in Miami.

The International Society for Chilean Music (SIMUC) has a podcast called MEC[6] dedicated exclusively to Chilean electronic music. The first episode was aired on September 30, 2016.

Well-known artists

    Ricardo Villalobos: Born in Santiago, Chile and raised in Berlin, Villalobos is well known for his work in the minimal techno and microhouse genres, and is one of the most significant figures in today's minimal techno scene.
    Andrés Bucci: One of the three Bucci brothers who are all well-known electronic music producers. Andrés began his career in 1996 while living in Germany, and the influence of the Berlin scene is noticeable in his work. He formed part of the group Plan V, where he worked with Gustavo Ceratti (Soda Stereo), Christian Powditch and Guillermo Ugarte, and also worked with Kate Simko in the duo Detalles.
    Cristian Vogel: Born in Chile, Vogel spentd a good part of his career living in Brighton, England and is now based in Barcelona. Vogel is an important techno producer, although his experimental style goes beyond the usual standards of techno.
    Danieto: Danieto – real name Daniel Nieto – is a composer and engineer and one of the founders of the record label “Impar”. He is an experimental electronic musician known for his minimalistic, harmonious style.
    Latin Bitman: José Antonio Bravo, one half of the duo Bitman and Roban (a play on Batman and Robin), is a popular DJ, producer and composer of electronic music and funk. Latin Bitman is perhaps the most popular Chilean electronic artist outside Chile. He has a successful solo career and has collaborated with many other artists from different genres, such as Sen Dog and Eric Bobo from Cypress Hill, Francisca Valenzuela and Anita Tijoux.
    Luciano (DJ): Born Lucien Nicolet, Luciano has also been known as Lucien 'n' Luciano and DJ Magi-k during the 90s, and in Europe as Sense Club (in partnership with Ricardo Villalobos) and Monne Autumne (with Pier Bucci and Argenis Brito). Although he began DJing in Chile, for most of his career he has been based in Germany and Switzerland, where he was born. His style combines techno and minimalist house. He is a permanent DJ at Geneva’s Weetamix and has played in many clubs around Europe.
    Alexi Delano: Born in Chile and raised in Sweden, with a career spanning more than two decades, Delano’s music strikes a balance between minimalist and dark techno. He has released five albums and numerous other records.
    Pier Bucci: Born in Chile and based in Germany since 2002, Pier combines Latin rhythms with German electronic style. In the past, he has taken part in projects such as Skipsapiens with Danieto, Monne Automne, Mambotur, Luciano (Lucien-n-Luciano) and Plan V, with his brother Andrés. His first solo album, “Familia” (2005), included collaborations with Macha (Lafloripondio) and Armelle Pioline (Holden). His second album, “Amigo” (2010), featured Jorge González as well as Macha and Pioline.
    Chica Paula: Born in Santiago, DJ and producer Paula is currently based in Berlin and plays in the innovative musical collective Oceanclub[C3] and combines Ambient techno with house, techno and electro pop. She is the sister of producer Dandy Jack (Martín Schopf) and DJ Adrián (Adrián Schopf).
    Jorge González: Widely known as the vocalist of Los Prisioneros, one of the most influential bands of Chile and Latin America, Gonzalez has experimented with electronic music since the beginning of his solo career and released his first album in partnership with Dandy Jack (Martín Schopf) under the moniker Gonzalo Martínez. The album, “Gonzalo Martínez y sus congas pensantes” (1997), was a mix of cumbia and techno. Later, Gonzalez formed “The Updates” with Loreto Otero, his then-wife, and released an album in 2008. The album’s mixture of house, pop, 2-step, 8-bit, funk and rave received strong reviews in the European specialist media.
    Nicolas Jaar: A Chilean-American musician, Jaar was also the founder of his own record label and art house[C4], Clown & Sunset, and its successor “Other People”. Jaar's music is ruminative and emotional at only 100 BPM C5 (bits per minute) or less, far lower than the techno/house standards of 120–130 BPM.
    Matias Aguayo: The youngest Chilean artist in the German electronic music scene, Aguayo mixes styles and genres as different as electronic, folk, reggae and country to create unique tracks. His first release in 1998 was a 12” called "U.O.A.A. Shake it!", in collaboration with Michael Mayer, and since then Aguayo has released five albums and has collaborated with many other artists.
    Dandy Jack – real name Martín Schopf - was born in Santiago and lives in Germany. Many of his projects combine techno and Latin sounds and rhythms. Schopf is the other half of the Chilean duos Gonzalo Martinez, with Jorge González, and “Ric Y Martin”, with Ricardo Villalobos. He is also part of the trio Sieg Über Die Sonne, with Lars Müller y Tobias Freund. Dandy Jack has released three original albums: “Dandy Jack and the Cosmic Trousers” (1996), “Dandy Jack and the Plastic Women” (1997) and “Los siete castigos” (2005), and has featured in more than 10 albums in collaboration with other musicians.

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Daniel Nieto is a Chilean electronic music producer, engineer, and visual artist born in Santiago, Chile. He is known for his solo work under the name "Danieto" as well as for his role as a member of the group Skipsapiens, along with Pier Bucci. Daniel Nieto began his career in the late 1990s, influenced by the intelligent dance music movement in the UK. Daniel is also one of the founders of the netlabel Impar.

Under the name "ADN" (Spanish for DNA), Daniel released his first album "Granel" in 2000, as well as the EP "Hormiga", produced by the Chilean label Ojo de Apollo. That same year some of his tracks appeared on the compilation "CODA.05", and later, in 2002, he contributed two tracks to the Ojo de Apollo compilation "CODA.09".

In 2001 Skipsapiens released the eponymous album "Skipsapiens" under the Belgian label "U-Cover". More recently, the same label released the CD "Evolución al Origen" on a limited release of only 95 copies, comprising seven of Daniel's best tracks recorded between 1999 and 2003.

Daniel also took part in two re-mixed albums: “Re'Processed – Interkontinentale Remixe” by “Process” (Steve Gary Barnes), a 2002 12” vinyl for the German label “Traum”; and "Re-mixed, Re-worked, Re-constructed and Re-invented Part One"[4] for the Belgian label U-Cover, also in 2002.

In 2004, Daniel and his business partner Claudio Cisterna won funding from the Chilean governmental program (Fondart) to finance his project for a netlabel. With this funding they created "Impar", a netlabel that promotes experimental electronic music and new artists, offers free downloads, and hosts many of Danieto's tracks in the Impar music library available to download free.

In 2005, Daniel released his first LP, "Cirugía Casual", under the label U-Cover, and, with Pier Bucci as Skipsapiens, released "Skipsapiens-eco" under the label Mutek. He also remixed Hans Carstens' track "Compacto (pn003)" for the label Pueblo Nuevo and that same year performed in Mexico City, Montreal, and Valparaíso, Chile

In 2006, he released two new albums for U-Cover, one called "Contemplación de la Vida Inerte" (English: Contemplation of the Inert Life), with Claudio Cisterna as “Danieto + Flipper”, and one called “Multitono”. He also released the album “Agranelado” for the label Pueblo Nuevo.

Since then, most of his albums have been released under Impar, his own label.

Danieto - Evolucion al Origen     (flac  307mb)

01 Cristaliza2 6:42
02 Rebotador 6:11
03 Our Absolute Terror Fields 5:47
04 El Día Siguiente 10:26
05 Reencarnación Unicelular 8:02
06 Civilización Kamikaze 7:14
07 Pantano Alienígena 11:17

Danieto - Evolucion al Origen (ogg   113mb )

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In 2005, Daniel released his first offial LP, "Cirugía Casual", under the label U-Cover. On this album Danieto presents 12 unreleased tracks of dubby rhythms, high tech constructions, heavy bass, IDM melodies, bleeps, piano, warm electronic textures all wrapped in a very personal style. Although this music has some reminiscence of the style of labels like Force Tracks or Scape, but also Toytronic or Skam, Danieto succeeds in presenting a quite unique and creative style that goes far beyond these influences. His music is directed to something more abstract, with sounds and harmonies that are alienating and subtle at the same time, generated with particular synthesis algorithms and self-designed sound effects that result in an incomparable sound. His music is characterized by minimal patrons with soft textures, warm harmonies and soundscapes that contrast with strong beats and very subtle and fine sounds. Fans of Deadbeat, Luciano, Pole and Gimmik will for sure enjoy this excellent release.

Danieto - Cirugia Casual     (flac  354mb)

01 Cantina Porteña 6:28
02 Inductancia 5:01
03 Tropiezo-Eléctrico 4:24
04 Ocaso Desierto 4:05
05 6 Dual Relays On Chips 5:48
06 Y Así Era La Historia... 4:25
07 Luego Todo Cambió 4:19
08 Sorpresas Previsibles 6:10
09 Un Masaje Automático 3:52
10 Avance Cíclico 5:07
11 Otra Jornada 3:05
12 Exact Random 5:02

Danieto - Cirugia Casual   (ogg   154mb)

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 Danieto - Contemplacion De La Vida Inerte     (flac  264mb)

01 Pipa Master 4:28
02 Fractalillo 8:24
03 Pata De Galleta 5:50
04 Ants Abduction 5:48
05 Survivors 8:36
06 A Pectorar 3:00
07 Ocaso Incierto 5:19
08 Non Gravity Cycles 11:30

Danieto - Contemplacion De La Vida Inerte (ogg  128mb)

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Originally released in 2005. The Mutek organization has played an instrumental role in exposing the undermined and vastly talented collective of South American electronic producers to the world at large. This release is from Chilean acolytes Pier Bucci and Daniel Nieto, aka Skipsapiens. As a solo artist, Pier Bucci has become somewhat of an elder statesman on the Chilean electronics circuit. He began his producing career seven years ago with a track on the Austral compilation on Chilean label Ruta 5, and has gone on to release work on the Background, WMF, and Peacefrog labels, to name a few. He is also a member of the Chilean outfit Mambotur. Daniel Nieto (aka Danieto) has been experimenting with bits and beats since the late '90s, and his debut employs dubby rhythms, high tech constructions, heavy bass, IDM melodies, bleeps, piano and warm electronic textures all wrapped in a very personal style. Eco is an album that showcases the growth and development of what both producers are capable of doing, given the right time and the proper audiences. Chilean electronic music has learned lessons from Berlin, but what it knows it filters through the heat, passion, and fatalism of South American history. If you're a fan of Ricardo Villalobos or Atom Heart, then Skipsapiens belong in your record collection.

Skipsapiens - Eco   (flac  314mb)

01 Abstracciones En Reversa 4:00
02 Rastafari Druids 4:54
03 Dilatación Neuronal 4:24
04 Nacimiento De R2D2 6:32
05 Macrosecuántico 4:03
06 Virus En La Red 4:49
07 Doctor Silla 4:50
08 Compresión Infinitesimal 6:44
09 Microbios De Selicio 4:41
10 Vida Zencilla 7:18
11 Mucha Latencia 6:06

Skipsapiens - Eco (ogg  148mb)

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Matias Aguayo offers up another slab of his unique vision of house and techno with AY AY AY. Aguayo doesn’t fall into any easy categorizations: “Menta Latte” is all a cappella beatbox, and yet with a deepness and a fullness that you wouldn’t expect. An actual bass provides the deepness of "Ritmo Tres," though Aguayo's vocals percussion remains in full-effect. The "Rollerskate" manages to be funky and bizarre at the same time -- no mean feat. The vocals border on the meaninglss, but deep lyrical content isn't the focus here. As well, Aguayo isn’t the most accomplished vocalist -- his preferred mode seems to be bilingual talk-sing -- but his attention to the groove is undeniable. The wooden xylophone of "Desde Rusia" also shows his embrace of different textures and sounds (even if "Ritmo Juarez" sounds a bit more chaotic than necessary). "Koro Koro," for instance moves into Africa with a Ladysmith Black Mambazo feel, while "Ay Shit" goes into a dirty funk. The final track, "Juanita," has the suggestion of a melodeum floating into it, but it's the thump that really gets you going. A wonderfully off-kilter album.

Matias Aguayo - Ay Ay Ay   (flac  375mb)

01 Menta Latte 6:32
02 Ritmo Tres 4:26
03 Rollerskate 6:09
04 Desde Rusia 5:12
05 Ritmo Juarez 5:00
06 Koro Koro 4:49
07 Mucho Viento 4:59
08 Ay Ay Ay 6:05
09 Ay Shit - The Master 4:41
10 Me Vuelvo Loca 3:37
11 Juanita 7:07

Matias Aguayo - Ay Ay Ay (ogg  130mb)

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RhoDeo 1808 Neverwhere 9

Hello, so the winter olympics are over the Norwegians won the most medals-again specially after some of that oil money started flowing into sports these basicly hand full of people have been winning across the board, since the beginning of the winter olympics 371 in total, back in the day a mere 200years ago they wre in a union with Denmark for 400 years who subsequently told the Norwegians Iceland and Greenland are ours now thank you very much, go and play with the Swedes that was no fun, so since early 20th century Norway was really independant , just in time to take part in the winter olympics and start opening an account  371 medals thusfar, the Swedes 164 and the Danes those Viking brothers of old......1, hard to believe one lousy silver medal in 100 years...who's laughing now.



 Confused ? Why not delve into London's underbelly for the final time......'N Joy

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Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman born 10 November 1960 is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008). In 2013, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards

...continued from last week

After forming a friendship with comic-book writer Alan Moore, Gaiman started writing comic-books, picking up Miracleman after Moore finished his run on the series. Gaiman and artist Mark Buckingham collaborated on several issues of the series before its publisher, Eclipse Comics, collapsed, leaving the series unfinished. His first published comic strips were four short Future Shocks for 2000 AD in 1986–87. He wrote three graphic novels with his favourite collaborator and long-time friend Dave McKean: Violent Cases, Signal to Noise, and The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch. Impressed with his work, DC Comics hired him in February 1987, and he wrote the limited series Black Orchid. Karen Berger, who later became head of DC Comics's Vertigo, read Black Orchid and offered Gaiman a job: to re-write an old character, The Sandman, but to put his own spin on him.

The Sandman tells the tale of the ageless, anthropomorphic personification of Dream that is known by many names, including Morpheus. The series began in January 1989 and concluded in March 1996. In the eighth issue of The Sandman, Gaiman and artist Mike Dringenberg introduced Death, the older sister of Dream, who would become as popular as the series' title character. The limited series Death: The High Cost of Living launched DC's Vertigo line in 1993. The 75 issues of the regular series, along with an illustrated prose text and a special containing seven short stories, have been collected into 12 volumes that remain in print, 14 if the Death: The High Cost of Living and Death: The Time of Your Life spin-offs are included. Artists include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel and Michael Zulli, lettering by Todd Klein, colours by Daniel Vozzo, and covers by Dave McKean. The series became one of DC's top selling titles, eclipsing even Batman and Superman. Comics historian Les Daniels called Gaiman's work "astonishing" and noted that The Sandman was "a mixture of fantasy, horror, and ironic humor such as comic books had never seen before". DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz observed that "The Sandman became the first extraordinary success as a series of graphic novel collections, reaching out and converting new readers to the medium, particularly young women on college campuses, and making Gaiman himself into an iconic cultural figure."

Gaiman and Jamie Delano were to become co-writers of the Swamp Thing series following Rick Veitch. An editorial decision by DC to censor Veitch's final storyline caused both Gaiman and Delano to withdraw from the title. Gaiman produced two stories for DC's Secret Origins series in 1989. A Poison Ivy tale drawn by Mark Buckingham and a Riddler story illustrated by Bernie Mireault and Matt Wagner. A story which Gaiman originally wrote for Action Comics Weekly in 1989 was shelved due to editorial concerns but it was finally published in 2000 as Green Lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame.

In 1990, Gaiman wrote The Books of Magic, a four-part mini-series that provided a tour of the mythological and magical parts of the DC Universe through a frame story about an English teenager who discovers that he is destined to be the world's greatest wizard. The miniseries was popular, and sired an ongoing series written by John Ney Rieber. Gaiman's adaptation of Sweeney Todd, illustrated by Michael Zulli for Stephen R. Bissette's publication Taboo, was stopped when the anthology itself was discontinued.

In the mid-1990s, he also created a number of new characters and a setting that was to be featured in a title published by Tekno Comix. The concepts were then altered and split between three titles set in the same continuity: Lady Justice, Mr. Hero the Newmatic Man, and Teknophage. They were later featured in Phage: Shadow Death and Wheel of Worlds. Although Gaiman's name appeared prominently on all titles, he was not involved in writing any of the above-mentioned books.

Gaiman wrote a semi-autobiographical story about a boy's fascination with Michael Moorcock's anti-hero Elric of Melniboné for Ed Kramer's anthology Tales of the White Wolf. In 1996, Gaiman and Ed Kramer co-edited The Sandman: Book of Dreams. Nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the original fiction anthology featured stories and contributions by Tori Amos, Clive Barker, Gene Wolfe, Tad Williams, and others.

Asked why he likes comics more than other forms of storytelling, Gaiman said: "One of the joys of comics has always been the knowledge that it was, in many ways, untouched ground. It was virgin territory. When I was working on Sandman, I felt a lot of the time that I was actually picking up a machete and heading out into the jungle. I got to write in places and do things that nobody had ever done before. When I’m writing novels I’m painfully aware that I’m working in a medium that people have been writing absolutely jaw-droppingly brilliant things for, you know, three-four thousand years now. You know, you can go back. We have things like The Golden Ass. And you go, well, I don’t know that I’m as good as that and that's two and a half thousand years old. But with comics I felt like – I can do stuff nobody has ever done. I can do stuff nobody has ever thought of. And I could and it was enormously fun."

Gaiman wrote two series for Marvel Comics. Marvel 1602 was an eight-issue limited series published from November 2003 to June 2004 with art by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove. The Eternals was a seven-issue limited series drawn by John Romita Jr. which was published from August 2006 to March 2007.

In 2009, Gaiman wrote a two-part Batman story for DC Comics to follow Batman R.I.P. titled "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" a play-off of the classic Superman story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" by Alan Moore. He contributed a twelve-part Metamorpho serial drawn by Mike Allred for Wednesday Comics, a weekly newspaper-style series. Gaiman and Paul Cornell co-wrote Action Comics #894 (Dec. 2010) which featured an appearance by Death. In October 2013, DC Comics releasedThe Sandman: Overture with art by J. H. Williams III. Gaiman's Angela character was introduced into the Marvel Universe in the last issue of the Age of Ultron miniseries in 2013.

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Neverwhere is an urban fantasy television series by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC Two. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was devised by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry, and directed by Dewi Humphreys. Gaiman adapted the series into a novel, which was released in September 1996. The series and book were partially inspired by Gene Wolfe's novel Free Live Free.


Richard Mayhew, a Scot living in London, encounters an injured girl named Door on the street one night. Despite his fiancée's protests he decides to help her; upon doing so he ceases to exist on Earth and becomes real only to the denizens of 'London Below', whose inhabitants are generally invisible and non-existent to the people of 'London Above'. He loses his house, his job and nearly his mind as he travels London Below in an attempt to make sense out of it all, find a way back, and help Door survive as she is hunted down by hired assassins.

In London Below the various familiar names of London all take on a new significance: for example Knightsbridge becomes "Night's Bridge", a stone bridge whose darkness takes its toll in human life; The Angel, Islington is an actual angel. London Below is a parallel world in and beneath the sewers. Its inhabitants are the homeless, but also people from other times, such as Roman legionaries and medieval monks, as well as fictional and fantastical characters.


Characters and cast

Richard Mayhew (Gary Bakewell) – a young businessman, who discovers the world of London Below one day after helping the injured Door recover in his flat.

Door (Laura Fraser) – A young woman from London Below, the daughter of a noble family who were all murdered shortly before the beginning of the story. She possesses her family's innate ability to "open" things (and not just doors).

The Marquis de Carabas (Paterson Joseph) – The Marquis is arrogant, cunning and very self-confident. Though very much the trickster, he is a loyal friend of Door and her family. This character was inspired by Puss in Boots. Gaiman stated this as the starting point for the character, and imagining "Who would own a cat like this?"

Mr. Croup (Hywel Bennett) – The talkative half of the pair of assassins, the Messrs. He is short, fat, and speaks in a pompous and verbose manner. Like his partner, Mr. Vandemar, he seems to be able to simply move from one place to another very quickly despite his ungainly appearance. He is the brains of the pair and seems be the one calling the shots, and he apparently has a taste (literally) for fine china. Much of the imagery used to describe him is that of a fox.

Mr. Vandemar (Clive Russell) – Dull-witted, tall, and gangly, Vandemar is Croup's polar opposite. He does not speak much, and when he does, his statements are often laconic and blunt. He is quite brutish and seems to enjoy nothing more than killing and destroying things (even practising his golf swing with live toads). He also has a tendency to eat live animals. The descriptive imagery likens him to a hound or a wolf, and he even howls at one point when catching up with his mark.

Old Bailey (Trevor Peacock) – An old friend of the Marquis, he keeps the company of pigeons on the rooftops and wears clothing made of feathers. He became indebted to the Marquis long ago, and so is charged with keeping a portion of his life safe for him.

Hunter (Tanya Moodie) – A warrior of London Below; her feats are legendary. Her lifelong obsession is to slay the great Beast of London. The imagery used to describe her likens her to a lioness.
The Angel Islington (Peter Capaldi) – An angel dwelling in the sewers of London Below. Its duty is to watch over London Below, though (or maybe because) it failed at its previous task: guarding the city of Atlantis.

Lamia (Tamsin Greig) – The leader of a group of vampire-like seductresses, dressed in dark velvet, who "suck the warmth" from their victims.

The Abbott (Earl Cameron) – The leader of a group of armed black friars guarding a special key at Blackfriars.

Music by Brian Eno


Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere Episode 5,6 (avi 756mb)


05 Down 29:44

Galvanised by his ability to overcome a terrible ordeal imposed by the Black Friars, Richard begins his journey to deliver the mysterious key to the Angel Islington.

06 As Above So Below 29:22

Events reach a climax as Hunter confronts the Great Beast of London, the legendary quarry she has waited so long to face.



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Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere PDF 9 (PDF 54mb)
Now with...

A nine-issue comic book limited Neverwhere series began in June 2005, written by Mike Carey (of the Vertigo Comics series Lucifer), with art by Glenn Fabry. The comic is an adaptation inspired by the novel, rather than the original TV series, though apart from certain scenes in certain locations, the dialogue and plot of both novel and television series is identical.

Neverwhere 9 . pdf   54mb

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previously

Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere part 1 (mp3  53mb)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere part 2 (mp3  26mb)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere part 3 (mp3  26mb)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere part 4 (mp3  26mb)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere part 5 (mp3  26+ 96mb)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere part 6 (mp3  26+ 99mb)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere Episode 1,2 (avi 756mb)
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere Episode 3,4 (avi 755mb)


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Sundaze 1808

Hello,

Today's Artist is a British electronic producer who meticulously constructs lush arrangements, blending digital beats and soothing ambience. His unique, hypnotic style made him a sought-after producer in the pop world, and earned him credits on albums by Coldplay, Massive Attack, Brian Eno, and Herbie Hancock in the late 2000s. Starting out as a gifted child pianist, in his teen years he became interested in synthesized sounds and started making acid house and drum'n'bass on a four-track recorder using computer software. Meanwhile .. ........N'Joy

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Jon Hopkins was born in 1979 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey and grew up in nearby Wimbledon. He first became aware of electronic music after hearing early house music on the radio at the age of seven or eight, and also became a fan of Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys. These records inspired an early fascination with synths. At the age of 12 Hopkins began studying piano at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music in London, where he continued until age 17. The composers that were greatly influential to him whilst studying were Ravel and Stravinsky, and he eventually won a competition to perform a concert of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G with an orchestra. For a time Hopkins considered becoming a professional pianist, only to decide classical performance was too formal and unnerving to pursue full-time.

As a teenager he also listened to acid house, early hardcore, grunge, as well as electronica artists such as Acen, Seefeel, and Plaid. When Hopkins was 14 he got his first computer, an Amiga 500, and started programming MIDI material. By the age of 15 he had saved up enough money from winning piano competitions to buy a low-level professional Roland synth, and on this he began creating his first full-length electronic compositions. After finishing his final exams at age 17, Hopkins accompanied his friend Leo Abrahams to an audition for Imogen Heap's backing band. Hopkins decided to audition as well, and was hired to handle both keyboard and samples, while Abrahams was hired as guitarist. He toured with the new band for the entirety of 1998.

In 1999 Hopkins signed with boutique London label Just Music as a solo artist, and began recording his debut album Opalescent. At the time he was also working part-time as a studio session musician Opalescent attracted positive press attention upon its release, and several tracks were licensed to Sex and the City. The Guardian reviewed it as "a beautifully realized debut. Using synth oozes, phased and echoed guitars and pianos and chilled beats, his wonderful tunes drift from calm to eerie power like a restless sea. It will delight any lovers of beautiful music." DJ Magazine gave it 4/5 stars, and stated "Piano, guitar strings and slow beats blend like the clouds at sunset (or an opiate smoothy) filtering in and out like elegantly wasted beauty. Darker drums add a further depth."

Hopkins released his second album, Contact Note, on Just Music in 2004 while still working as a studio musician. The album slowly gained an underground following but failed to take off, and led Hopkins to become disillusioned with his solo career, and take a break from writing to learn how to become a producer.

By 2004, Abrahams had been collaborating for some time with ambient musician and producer Brian Eno. Abrahams played some of Hopkins' second record for Eno, and Eno invited him to join them for a jam session. On the first day of their collaboration they came up with some of the music for Eno's upcoming album Another Day on Earth, and Hopkins became a long-term collaborator. Shortly afterwards Hopkins produced King Creosote's album Bombshell, which initiated his relationship with the Fence Collective. He also co-wrote tracks with DJ and composer David Holmes for Holmes' Holy Pictures album, and remixed for James Yorkston.

In early 2007 Hopkins was invited by Eno, who was producing Coldplay's upcoming album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, to join the band in the studio for a day. Hopkins ended up staying and contributing to the album for the next year, co-producing several tracks and playing organs, harmoniums, and other keyboard instruments on others. The intro to the track "Violet Hill" came from an improvisation with Hopkins and Davide Rossi, the album's string arranger. Throughout this period Hopkins was periodically creating his own solo tracks, and his song "Light Through the Veins" was adapted to serve as the introduction to the album's first track "Life in Technicolor". "Light Through the Veins" was also picked by the band to serve as the backing for the track "The Escapist", which is hidden at the end of the album. Viva la Vida was released in 2008, and won Best Rock Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards and became the best-selling album of 2008. Coldplay asked Hopkins to serve as the pre-show DJ and opening act for their 2008 world tour. Hopkins toured with the band for six months through England, the United States, and Japan. He performed at venues including Madison Square Garden and the London O2 Arena, with crowds as large as 20,000 people.

In 2008 Hopkins was commissioned by choreographer Wayne McGregor to compose music for Entity, a production of McGregor's "Random Dance" group. Entity was performed live at Sadler's Wells in April 2008 to critical acclaim. A world tour followed throughout 2008 and 2009.

Hopkins also has co-writing or producing credits on albums by artists such as David Holmes and Dan Arborise. He is also known for remixing a variety of artists, including Wild Beasts, Nosaj Thing, Imogen Heap, Four Tet, and James Yorkston. He was also one of the few producers chosen by Radio 1's Rob Da Bank to remix film director David Lynch's first electronica release, "Good Day Today" / "I Know", which was released on Sunday Best Records.

Hopkins signed to Domino Records in late 2008. Hopkins's third album, Insides, was released by Domino Records on 5 May 2009. It included the track "Light Through the Veins", which had previously been used on the Coldplay album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Some of the tracks had been written by Hopkins sporadically since his last release, while others were based on the music he had composed for the Entity production. Hopkins developed an intense live show to support the release, resulting in club and festival performances across Europe and the United States. He secured supporting slots with The xx, Röyksopp, and Four Tet. Many of his live shows used background visuals featuring the animations of Vince Collins.

In June 2009 Hopkins was invited by Brian Eno to play some solo shows at the Luminous Festival at the Sydney Opera House. A few weeks prior to leaving, Eno asked Hopkins to join with himself, Underworld's Karl Hyde, Leo Abrahams, and the Sydney-based improv trio The Necks in the group "Pure Scenius", the planned finale for the Luminous Festival. They then improvised music based on pre-planned themes, putting on three 1½-hour shows in the Opera House with Hyde on vocals. Pure Scenius was repeated a year later in Brighton, when Eno was curating the Brighton Festival.

In 2009 Hopkins collaborated with Brian Eno and Leo Abrahams to score the Peter Jackson film The Lovely Bones. In early 2010 Hopkins composed the score for the short film Rob and Valentyna in Scotland directed by Eric Lynne, which won an honourable mention for the short film-making award at Sundance. Also in 2010 Hopkins was commissioned to create the soundtrack for the British science fiction film Monsters, which was directed by Gareth Edwards. To create the score, Hopkins partly used string parts performed by arranger Davide Rossi and guitar by Leo Abrahams. The soundtrack album was released on 29 November 2010 on Domino Records. In 2011 the score was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Score.

Hopkins collaborated with Tunng on the EP Seven Gulps of Air in 2009, which was commissioned by designer Christopher Kelly for London Fashion Week. Seven Gulps of Air was listed as one of Drowned in Sound's singles of the year. In 2010 Hopkins collaborated with Leo Abrahams and Brian Eno to create the album Small Craft on a Milk Sea. Released on Warp Records in late 2010, the album is based on a three-week session of improvisation wherein the artists recorded about six hours of material a day.

In 2011 Hopkins collaborated with Scottish musician King Creosote to create the album Diamond Mine, which featured lyrics and vocals by Creosote sung over musical backdrops arranged and recorded by Hopkins. The album was a culmination of about seven weeks of work spread over seven years of recording and collaboration, from whenever the two artists had the opportunity to get together. The album was released on 28 March 2011 to acclaim, which included a glowing review from NPR. On 19 July 2011 Hopkins and Anderson were announced as nominees for the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize, which is annually awarded for best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Also in 2011, the EP Honest Words, a Hopkins collaboration with King Creosote, was released on Domino Records. In April 2012, this was followed by another collaboration with King Creosote: The Jubilee, also on Domino. Hopkins wrote the score for the 2013 film by Kevin Macdonald, How I Live Now.

Immunity is Hopkins' fourth studio album, released on 4 June 2013, by Domino Records. Among the artists that contributed vocals were long-time collaborator King Creosote, and Corin Roddick and Megan James of the band Purity Ring. It was recorded and produced in Hopkins' London studio, with Hopkins often using homemade sound effects or the natural sound of the room. Stated MixMag, "Immunity is an album of organic techno and exquisite mini-symphonies."

Immunity peaked at no. 13 on Top Electronic Albums by Billboard in the United States. In Britain it was nominated for the 2013 Mercury Prize for best album. The album met with a largely positive reception among critics, receiving perfect scores from Mixmag and MusicOMH, and 4/5 from The Guardian. Pitchfork Media described Immunity as a "remarkably visceral, sensual, confident electronic record," and MusicOMH called it a "modern classic". The video for the single 'Open Eye Signal' directed by Aoife McArdle won best cinematography at the UK Music Video Awards.

In 2014 Hopkins co-produced the song "Midnight" for Coldplay's 2014 album Ghost Stories, and released an EP titled Asleep Versions on 10 November. The EP includes (according to Domino Records) "four decelerated, dreamlike re-imaginings" of four tracks featured on his album Immunity. The EP has additional vocals from Raphaelle Standell-Preston of the band Braids & regular collaborator King Creosote, and artwork from Robert Hunter.

Hopkins has performed at music festivals such as Moogfest, Mutek, Beacons Festival, and Electric Zoo, and at venues such as Madison Square Garden and the London O2 Arena. As of 2014 he maintains a regular touring schedule both in England and internationally, playing at the Glastonbury Festival in June, with upcoming dates at the Pitchfork Music Festival, Electric Picnic and Time Music Festival and in 2015 at Wonderfruit in Thailand for the premiere of the iy_project, a collaboration with light artist, Chris Levine.
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Described by singer/songwriter Kenny Anderson (aka King Creosote) as the "soundtrack to a romanticized version of a life lived in a Scottish coastal village", Diamond Mine is a seven-track collection of previously unrecorded Anderson originals that have been doused in Brian Eno-inspired soundscapes by ambient producer Jon Hopkins, littered with rural field recordings and studded with occasional flourishes of accordions and strings. Languid, pastoral, and remarkably serene (each track segues into each other like ice melting on a spring pond), Diamond Mine is so unobtrusive that it barely registers. Anderson's lilting croon, which deftly blends traditional, Scottish folk stoicism with modern, indie folk candor, sits front and center, though his delivery is so even-handed that even he blends into the foliage, but on stand-out cuts like “John Taylor’s Month Away” and “Running on Fumes,” his deft lyricism and gift for guiding a melody through such open terrain helps to keep this lovely collection of ambient folk songs from disappearing into the ether.

Jon Hopkins n King Creosote - Diamond Mine (flac 161mb)

01 First Watch 2:37
02 John Taylor's Month Away 6:32
03 Bats In The Attic 3:43
04 Running On Fumes 6:36
05 Bubble 5:35
06 Your Own Spell 3:51
07 Your Young Voice 3:26

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Between Insides and its follow-up Immunity, Jon Hopkins worked with King Creosote on the charming Diamond Mine, which set the Scottish singer/songwriter's ruminations to backdrops that were half rustic folk and half evocative washes of sound. Immunity isn't nearly as acoustic as that collaboration was, but its gently breezy feel lingers on several of these songs: "Breathe This Air" expands from a pounding house rhythm into a roomy piano meditation that recalls Max Richter as much as Diamond Mine, while the title track -- which happens to feature King Creosote's vocals -- closes the album on a whispery note. This feeling extends to the rest of the album in less obvious ways; Immunity is often a more blended, and more expansive-sounding work than Insides, particularly on songs like the Brian Eno-esque "Abandon Window" and "Form by Firelight," which offers a playful study in contrasts in the way it bunches into glitches and then unspools a peaceful piano melody. Some of Immunity's most impressive moments expand on the blend of rhythm and atmosphere Hopkins emphasized on Insides: "Collider" uses sighing vocals courtesy of Dark Horses' Lisa Elle as punctuation for almost imperceptibly shifting beats and a heavy bassline that helps the track build into a moody, elegant whole; meanwhile, the aptly named "Sun Harmonics" turns Elle's sighs into something angelic over the course of 12 serene minutes. Despite these highlights, the album still reflects how Hopkins' polished approach is something of a blessing and a curse. Immunity shows how he's grown, in his subtle, accomplished way, as a composer and producer, yet its tracks occasionally feel like the surroundings for a focal point that never arrives. Even if it doesn't always demand listeners' attention, Immunity is never less than thoughtfully crafted.

Jon Hopkins - Immunity + Asleep Versions (flac  360 + 119mb)

01 We Disappear 4:50
02 Open Eye Signal 7:49
03 Breathe This Air 5:30
04 Collider 9:22
05 Abandon Window 4:57
06 Form By Firelight 5:45
07 Sun Harmonics 11:54
08 Immunity 9:57

On Asleep Versions, Hopkins shuns the beats and focuses on work more suitable for bedtime listening -- hence the title -- than a club setting, with subtle and tranquil versions of four tracks also featured on Immunity. The recordings were made at the Sundlaugin Studio just outside of Reykjavik -- made famous by Sigur Rós -- and perhaps their ethereal and minimalist aesthetics rubbed off on him. The recording is made as one long 25-minute piece, its individual tracks blending into one another seamlessly with reverb trails at the end of each track running into the next. Asleep Versions presents a consistent feeling, with stripped-back tracks featuring short piano motifs and melodies on beds of almost holy vocals. The release of the first two singles, "Breathe the Air" and "We Disappear" (which include vocals from Purity Ring and Lulu James, respectively), between Asleep Versions and Immunity was perhaps a precursor of what was to come. When listening, those versions bring a different emotive feeling, with the vocals being the main focus and perhaps distracting from the original feelings within the music. There is a feeling throughout that, at points, these tracks are lacking somewhat from the impressive Immunity, finding yourself waiting for the shuffling rhythmic drums to kick in. That said, this EP is beautifully crafted and, once again, with fantastic production.

09 Immunity (With King Creosote) 6:23
10 Form By Firelight (With Raphaelle Standell) 4:15
11 Breathe This Air (Asleep Version) 3:14
12 Open Eye Signal (Asleep Version) 11:02

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The music on the soundtrack is gentle, soothing and even fragile at times. There is plenty of closely-miked piano, strings, shuffling beats and a delicate touch of synthesized and post-processed sounds. The beauty of one melody can slowly recede, dissolve and even blend into another emotion. Suddenly the bass palpitates, and as one thought takes over another, the tempo picks up, along with the heartbeat pulsating in your veins. Soon a whirlpool of sound swallows all sentiment whole, finally releasing the passion in one single sigh, as if one final breath. Now atmospheric darkness cloaks the passage, and somewhere behind a wooden door, the piano shares its troubles with a couple of consoling violins.

Featuring some of his darkest, most nihilistic work to date, the score is built from two contrasting elements – atonal, sub-terrestrial drones with a backbone of pounding rhythms, and sublimely pastoral acoustic piano. These two opposing musical forces guide the viewer through the film, by turns disturbing and beautifully meditative.

  Jon Hopkins - How I Live Now (OST)       (flac  224mb)

01 Do It With A Rockstar by Amanda Palmer 4:25
02 The Field 1:47
03 The River 1:51
04 Rain And Ash 2:42
05 The Hawk 1:33
06 Distant Fire 0:47
07 Nightfall / Love Theme 1:08
08 Taken Away 2:37
09 Home by Daughter (Jon Hopkins Remix) 3:04
10 Escape 2:59
11 The Forest / Plane Wreck 2:50
12 Gatesfield 4:25
13 Hunted 1:41
14 Lost Map / The Hawk 3:48
15 How I Live Now 4:34
16 Garden's Heart (feat Natasha Khan) 3:53

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It would be an understatement to say that Jon Hopkins' career turned a corner between the release of his first mix album, The Art of Chill 2, and the release of his second one, a volume in the LateNightTales series. For starters, from late 2005 through early 2015, the producer/musician made albums with Brian Eno and King Creosote, composed music for a dance production and films, and released the well-regarded solo recordings Insides and Immunity. LateNightTales is Hopkins' first "proper" mix album since the tracks for The Art of Chill 2 were dealt to him. This time, Hopkins selected and mixed, and added his own touches, including piano and synthesizer, to enhance the continuous dream-like sequence. Even the contrasting consecutive picks -- like Darkstar's glistening, skyward "Hold Me Down" and Holy Other's dragging, alien "Yr Love" -- are compatible, their transitions made with ease. The majority of the mix is beatless and becalmed with periodic surges in energy that never startle. The Four Tet's "Gillie Amma, I Love You," drifting and hypnotizing with children's melodic whispers, is an ideal set-up for School of Seven Bells' bright-eyed, windswept dream pop. Hopkins inserts an exclusive of his own, a quiet, multi-piano cover of Yeasayer's "I Remember" that would highlight any ambient compilation released on Kranky, Kompakt, or Ghostly. Rick Holland, another Eno collaborator, provides the closing reading of a piece he wrote, which just happens to share its title with the Yeasayer original.

Jon Hopkins - Late Night Tales (flac  482mb)

01 Ben Lukas Boysen - Sleepers Beat Theme 2:11
02 Darkstar - Hold Me Down 3:39
03 Holy Other - Yr Love 4:21
04 Teebs - Verbena Tea 4:18
05 Nils Frahm - More 1:47
06 Songs Of Green Pheasant - I Am Daylights 2:42
07 Jónsi & Alex - Daníell In The Sea 3:32
08 Evenings - Babe 3:13
09 Letherette - After Dawn 4:37
10 Jon Hopkins - I Remember (Yeasayer Cover Version) 4:02
11 David Holmes - Hey Maggy 4:44
12 Alela Diane - Lady Divine 5:05
13 Four Tet - Gillie Amma I Love You 4:20
14 School Of Seven Bells - Connjur 4:29
15 Peter Broderick - And It's Alright (Nils Frahm Remix) 4:35
16 HEALTH - Before Tigers (Gold Panda Remix) 3:27
17 Last Days - Missing Photos 1:06
18 Bibio - Down To The Sound 2:09
19 A Winged Victory For The Sullen - Requiem For The Static King Part One 1:40
20 Helios - Emancipation 2:35
21 Rick Holland - I Remember (Exclusive Spoken Word Piece) 3:37

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Jon Hopkins - LateNightTales Continuous Mix  (flac  411mb)

01 LateNightTales (Continuous Mix) 72:18

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RhoDeo 1807 Grooves

Hello, i was watching the women's ski-cross and not only did it lack contenders, it lacked Americans why would that be, considering Canada got a 1-2, then i remembered the health insurance must be expensive for US cross skiers who are much more prone to have (serious) injuries, maybe this even explains why 5 million collectively insured Norwegians score twice as many medals as the US do. And the way things are going in the US, it's standing in world sports will be lowering. America first ha ha.



Todays Artist is an American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, composer and actor. Starting his career with Donald Byrd, he shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. Having studied engineering and professing to love gadgets and buttons, Hancock was perfectly suited for the electronic age; he was one of the earliest champions of the Rhodes electric piano and Hohner clavinet, and would field an ever-growing collection of synthesizers and computers on his electric dates. Yet his love for the grand piano never waned, and despite his peripatetic activities all over the musical map, his piano style continued to evolve into tougher, ever more complex forms. He is as much at home trading riffs with a smoking funk band as he is communing with a world-class post-bop rhythm section -- and that drives purists on both sides of the fence up the wall. Ultimately his music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieve success among pop audiences. ........ N'joy

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Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Winnie Belle (Griffin), a secretary, and Wayman Edward Hancock, a government meat inspector. His parents named him after the singer and actor Herb Jeffries. He attended the Hyde Park Academy. Like many jazz pianists, Hancock started with a classical music education. He studied from age seven, and his talent was recognized early. Considered a child prodigy, he played the first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 26 in D Major, K. 537 (Coronation) at a young people's concert on February 5, 1952, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (led by CSO assistant conductor George Schick) at the age of 11. Through his teens, Hancock never had a jazz teacher, but developed his ear and sense of harmony. He was also influenced by records of the vocal group the Hi-Lo's.

In 1960, he heard Chris Anderson play just once, and begged him to accept him as a student. Hancock often mentions Anderson as his harmonic guru. Hancock left Grinnell College, moved to Chicago and began working with Donald Byrd and Coleman Hawkins, during which period he also took courses at Roosevelt University (he later graduated from Grinnell with degrees in electrical engineering and music. Grinnell also awarded him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree in 1972). Byrd was attending the Manhattan School of Music in New York at the time and suggested that Hancock study composition with Vittorio Giannini, which he did for a short time in 1960. The pianist quickly earned a reputation, and played subsequent sessions with Oliver Nelson and Phil Woods. He recorded his first solo album Takin' Off for Blue Note Records in 1962. "Watermelon Man" (from Takin' Off) was to provide Mongo Santamaría with a hit single, but more importantly for Hancock, Takin' Off caught the attention of Miles Davis, who was at that time assembling a new band. Hancock was introduced to Davis by the young drummer Tony Williams, a member of the new band.

Hancock received considerable attention when, in May 1963, he joined Davis's Second Great Quintet. Davis personally sought out Hancock, whom he saw as one of the most promising talents in jazz. The rhythm section Davis organized was young but effective, comprising bassist Ron Carter, 17-year-old drummer Williams, and Hancock on piano. After George Coleman and Sam Rivers each took a turn at the saxophone spot, the quintet gelled with Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone. This quintet is often regarded as one of the finest jazz ensembles as of yet.

The second great quintet was where Hancock found his own voice as a pianist. Not only did he find new ways to use common chords, but he also popularized chords that had not previously been used in jazz. Hancock also developed a unique taste for "orchestral" accompaniment – using quartal harmony and Debussy-like harmonies, with stark contrasts then unheard of in jazz. With Williams and Carter he wove a labyrinth of rhythmic intricacy on, around and over existing melodic and chordal schemes. In the latter half of the 1960s their approach became so sophisticated and unorthodox that conventional chord changes would hardly be discernible; hence their improvisational concept would become known as "Time, No Changes".

While in Davis's band, Hancock also found time to record dozens of sessions for the Blue Note label, both under his own name and as a sideman with other musicians such as Shorter, Williams, Grant Green, Bobby Hutcherson, Rivers, Byrd, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard.

His albums Empyrean Isles (1964) and Maiden Voyage (1965) were to be two of the most famous and influential jazz LPs of the 1960s, winning praise for both their innovation and accessibility (the latter demonstrated by the subsequent enormous popularity of the Maiden Voyage title track as a jazz standard, and by the jazz rap group US3 having a hit single with "Cantaloop" (derived from "Cantaloupe Island" on Empyrean Isles) some twenty nine years later). Empyrean Isles featured the Davis rhythm section of Hancock, Carter and Williams with the addition of Hubbard on cornet, while Maiden Voyage also added former Davis saxophonist Coleman (with Hubbard remaining on trumpet). Both albums are regarded as among the principal foundations of the post-bop style. Hancock also recorded several less-well-known but still critically acclaimed albums with larger ensembles – My Point of View (1963), Speak Like a Child (1968) and The Prisoner (1969) featured flugelhorn, alto flute and bass trombone. 1963's Inventions and Dimensions was an album of almost entirely improvised music, teaming Hancock with bassist Paul Chambers and two Latin percussionists, Willie Bobo and Osvaldo "Chihuahua" Martinez.

During this period, Hancock also composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blowup (1966), the first of many film soundtracks he recorded in his career. As well as feature film soundtracks, Hancock recorded a number of musical themes used on American television commercials for such then well known products as Pillsbury's Space Food Sticks, Standard Oil, Tab diet cola and Virginia Slims cigarettes. Hancock also wrote, arranged and conducted a spy type theme for a series of F. William Free commercials for Silva Thins cigarettes. Hancock liked it so much he wished to record it as a song but the ad agency would not let him. He rewrote the harmony, tempo and tone and recorded the piece as the track "He Who Lives in Fear" from his The Prisoner album of 1969.

Davis had begun incorporating elements of rock and popular music into his recordings by the end of Hancock's tenure with the band. Despite some initial reluctance, Hancock began doubling on electric keyboards including the Fender Rhodes electric piano at Davis's insistence. Hancock adapted quickly to the new instruments, which proved to be important in his future artistic endeavors.

Under the pretext that he had returned late from a honeymoon in Brazil, Hancock was dismissed from Davis's band. In the summer of 1968 Hancock formed his own sextet. However, although Davis soon disbanded his quintet to search for a new sound, Hancock, despite his departure from the working band, continued to appear on Davis records for the next few years. Appearances included In a Silent Way, A Tribute to Jack Johnson and On the Corner.

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Hancock left Blue Note in 1969, signing with Warner Bros. Records. In 1969, Hancock composed the soundtrack for Bill Cosby's animated prime-time television special Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert.[15] Music from the soundtrack was later included on Fat Albert Rotunda (1969), an R&B-inspired album with strong jazz overtones. One of the jazzier songs on the record, the moody ballad "Tell Me a Bedtime Story", was later re-worked as a more electronic sounding song for the Quincy Jones album Sounds...and Stuff Like That!! (1978).

Hancock became fascinated with accumulating musical gadgets and toys. Together with the profound influence of Davis's Bitches Brew (1970), this fascination would culminate in a series of albums, in which electronic instruments are coupled with acoustic instruments. Hancock's first ventures into electronic music started with a sextet comprising Hancock, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart, and a trio of horn players: Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Julian Priester (trombone), and multireedist Bennie Maupin. Patrick Gleeson was eventually added to the mix to play and program the synthesizers.

The sextet, later a septet with the addition of Gleeson, made three albums under Hancock's name: Mwandishi (1971), Crossings (1972), and Sextant (1973) ; two more, Realization and Inside Out, were recorded under Henderson's name with essentially the same personnel. The music exhibited strong improvisational aspect beyond the confines of jazz mainstream and showed influence from the electronic music of contemporary classical composers.

Synthesizer player Gleeson introduced the instrument on Crossings, released in 1972, one of a handful of influential electronic jazz/fusion recordings to feature synthesizer that year. On Crossings (as well as on Weather Report's I Sing the Body Electric), the synthesizer is used more as an improvisatory global orchestration device than as a strictly melodic instrument. An early review of Crossings in Downbeat magazine complained about the synthesizer, but a few years later the magazine noted in a cover story on Gleeson that he was "a pioneer" in the field of electronics in jazz.[citation needed] In the albums following The Crossings, Hancock started to play synth himself, with synth taking on a melodic role.

Hancock's three records released in 1971–73 later became known as the "Mwandishi" albums, so-called after a Swahili name Hancock sometimes used during this era (Mwandishi is Swahili for writer). The first two, including Fat Albert Rotunda were made available on the 2-CD set Mwandishi: the Complete Warner Bros. Recordings, released in 1994. Of the three electronic albums, Sextant is probably the most experimental since the ARP synthesizers are used extensively, and some advanced improvisation ("post-modal free impressionism") is found on the tracks "Hornets" and "Hidden Shadows" (which is in the meter 19/4).[citation needed] "Hornets" was later revised on the 2001 album Future2Future as "Virtual Hornets".

After the sometimes "airy" and decidedly experimental "Mwandishi" albums, Hancock was eager to perform more "earthy" and "funky" music. The Mwandishi albums – though later seen as respected early fusion recordings – had seen mixed reviews and poor sales, so it is probable that Hancock was motivated by financial concerns as well as artistic restlessness. Hancock was also bothered by the fact that many people did not understand avant-garde music. He explained that he loved funk music, especially Sly Stone's music, so he wanted to try to make funk himself.

He gathered a new band, which he called The Headhunters, keeping only Maupin from the sextet and adding bassist Paul Jackson, percussionist Bill Summers, and drummer Harvey Mason. The album Head Hunters, released in 1973, was a major hit and crossed over to pop audiences, though it prompted criticism from some jazz fans. Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital three decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop.

Drummer Mason was replaced by Mike Clark, and the band released a second album, Thrust, the following year, 1974. (A live album from a Japan performance, consisting of compositions from those first two Head Hunters releases was released in 1975 as Flood.) This was almost as well received as its predecessor, if not attaining the same level of commercial success. The Headhunters made another successful album called Survival of the Fittest in 1975 without Hancock, while Hancock himself started to make even more commercial albums, often featuring members of the band, but no longer billed as The Headhunters. The Headhunters reunited with Hancock in 1998 for Return of the Headhunters, and a version of the band (featuring Jackson and Clark) continues to play and record.

In 1973, Hancock composed his soundtrack to the controversial film The Spook Who Sat by the Door. Then in 1974, he composed the soundtrack to the first Death Wish film. One of his memorable songs, "Joanna's Theme", was re-recorded in 1997 on his duet album with Shorter, 1 + 1. Hancock's next jazz-funk albums of the 1970s were Man-Child (1975), and Secrets (1976), which point toward the more commercial direction Hancock would take over the next decade. These albums feature the members of the Headhunters band, but also a variety of other musicians in important roles.

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During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hancock toured with his V.S.O.P. quintet, which featured all the members of the 1960s Davis quintet except Davis, who was replaced by trumpeter Hubbard. There was constant speculation[citation needed] that Davis would reunite with his classic band, but he never did. VSOP recorded several live albums in the late 1970s, including The Quintet (1977).

In 1978, Hancock recorded a duet with Chick Corea, who had replaced him in the Davis band a decade earlier. Hancock also released a solo acoustic piano album, The Piano (1979), which was released only in Japan. (It was released in the US in 2004.) Other Japan-only albums include Dedication (1974), V.S.O.P.'s Tempest in the Colosseum (1977), and Direct Step (1978). VSOP: Live Under the Sky was a VSOP album remastered for the US in 2004 and included a second concert from the tour in July 1979.

From 1978 to 1982, Hancock recorded many albums of jazz-inflected disco and pop music, beginning with Sunlight (featuring guest musicians including Williams and Pastorius on the last track) (1978). Singing through a vocoder, he earned a British hit, "I Thought It Was You", although critics were unimpressed. This led to more vocoder on his next album, Feets, Don't Fail Me Now (1979), which gave him another UK hit in "You Bet Your Love".

Albums such as Monster (1980), Magic Windows (1981), and Lite Me Up (1982) were some of Hancock's most criticized albums[citation needed]. Hancock himself had quite a limited role in some of those albums, leaving singing, composing, and even producing to others. Mr. Hands (1980) is perhaps the one album during this period that was critically acclaimed.There were no vocals on the album, and one track featured Jaco Pastorius on bass. The album contained a variety of styles, including a disco instrumental, a Latin-jazz number, and an electronic piece in which Hancock played alone with the help of computers.

Hancock toured with Williams and Carter in 1981, recording Herbie Hancock Trio, a five-track live album released only in Japan. A month later, he recorded Quartet with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, released in the US the following year. Hancock, Williams, and Carter toured internationally with Wynton Marsalis and his brother, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, in what was known as "VSOP II". This quintet can be heard on Wynton Marsalis's debut album on Columbia (1981). In 1984 VSOP II performed at the Playboy Jazz Festival as a sextet with Hancock, Williams, Carter, the Marsalis Brothers, and Bobby McFerrin.

In 1983, Hancock had a pop hit with the Grammy-award-winning single "Rockit" from the album Future Shock. It was the first jazz hip-hop song and became a worldwide anthem for breakdancers and for hip-hop in the 1980s. It was the first mainstream single to feature scratching, and also featured an innovative animated music video, which was directed by Godley and Creme and showed several robot-like artworks by Jim Whiting. The video was a hit on MTV and reached No. 8 in the UK. The video won in five categories at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards. This single ushered in a collaboration with noted bassist and producer Bill Laswell. Hancock experimented with electronic music on a string of three LPs produced by Laswell: Future Shock (1983), the Grammy Award-winning Sound-System (1984), and Perfect Machine (1988).

During this period, he appeared onstage at the Grammy Awards with Stevie Wonder, Howard Jones, and Thomas Dolby, in a synthesizer jam. Lesser known works from the 1980s are the live album Jazz Africa (1987) and the studio album Village Life (1984), which were recorded with Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso. Also, in 1985 Hancock performed as a guest on the album So Red the Rose (1985) by the Duran Duran spinoff group Arcadia. He also provided introductory and closing comments for the PBS rebroadcast in the United States of the BBC educational series from the mid-1980s, Rockschool (not to be confused with the most recent Gene Simmons' Rock School series).

In 1986 Hancock performed and acted in the film 'Round Midnight. He also wrote the score/soundtrack, for which he won an Academy Award for Original Music Score. His film work was prolific during the 1980s, and included the scores to A Soldier's Story (1984), Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986), Action Jackson (1988, with Michael Kamen), Colors (1988), and the Eddie Murphy comedy Harlem Nights (1989). Often he would also write music for TV commercials. "Maiden Voyage", in fact, started out as a cologne advertisement. At the end of the Perfect Machine tour, Hancock decided to leave Columbia Records after a 15-plus-year relationship.



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The follow-up to the breakthrough Headhunters album was virtually as good as its wildly successful predecessor: an earthy, funky, yet often harmonically and rhythmically sophisticated tour de force. There is only one change in the Headhunters lineup -- swapping drummer Harvey Mason for Mike Clark -- and the switch results in grooves that are even more complex. Hancock continues to reach into the rapidly changing high-tech world for new sounds, most notably the metallic sheen of the then-new ARP string synthesizer which was already becoming a staple item on pop and jazz-rock records. Again, there are only four long tracks, three of which ("Palm Grease," "Actual Proof," "Spank-A-Lee") concentrate on the funk, with plenty of Hancock's wah-wah clavinet, synthesizer textures and effects, and electric piano ruminations that still venture beyond the outer limits of post-bop. The change-of-pace is one of Hancock's loveliest electric pieces, "Butterfly," a match for any tune he's written before or since, with shimmering synth textures and Bennie Maupin soaring on soprano (Hancock would re-record it 20 years later on Dis Is Da Drum, but this is the one to hear). This supertight jazz-funk quintet album still sounds invigorating a quarter of a century later.

Herbie Hancock - The Piano    (flac  178mb)

01 My Funny Valentine 7:42
02 On Green Dolphin Street 3:20
03 Someday My Prince Will Come 4:34
04 Harvest Time 4:48
05 Sonrisa 3:40
06 Manhattan Island 3:56
07 Blue Otani 3:24

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Herbie Hancock's lackluster string of electric albums around this period was enhanced by this one shining exception: an incorrigibly eclectic record that flits freely all over the spectrum. Using several different rhythm sections, Herbie Hancock is much more the imaginative hands-on player than at any time since the prime Headhunters period, overdubbing lots of parts from his ever-growing collection of keyboards. He has regained a good deal of his ability to ride in the groove. "Calypso" finds him playing synthesized steel drums and interacting with customary complexity and ebullience with V.S.O.P. mates Tony Williams and Ron Carter. Disco rears its head, but inventively this time on "Just Around the Corner," and in league with Jaco Pastorius' vibrating, interlacing bass, Hancock gets off some good, updated jazz-funk on "Spiraling Prism" and "4 AM." There is even a reunion of the original Headhunters on a rhythmically tangled remake of "Shiftless Shuffle"; drummer Harvey Mason sounds like a rhythm machine gone bonkers. Easily the outstanding track -- and one of Hancock's most haunting meditations -- is "Textures," where he plays all of the instruments himself. This would be the last outcropping of electronic delicacy from Hancock for some time, and it was mostly -- and unjustly -- overlooked when it came out.

Herbie Hancock - Mr. Hands   (flac 214mb)

01 Spiraling Prism 6:21
02 Calypso 6:41
03 Just Around The Corner 7:33
04 4 AM 5:20
05 Shiftless Shuffle 7:06
06 Textures 6:36

.Herbie Hancock - Mr. Hands  (ogg  91mb)

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This is an extremely symbolic album, for Herbie Hancock and the V.S.O.P. rhythm section essentially pass the torch of the '80s acoustic jazz revival to the younger generation, as personified by then 19-year-old Wynton Marsalis. Recorded during a break on a tour of Japan, a month before Marsalis made his first Columbia album, the technically fearless teenaged trumpeter mostly plays the eager student, imitating Miles, Freddie Hubbard, and Clifford Brown, obviously relishing the challenge of keeping up with his world-class cohorts. Things start out conventionally enough with a couple of Monk standards, and then they progress into the mid-'60s Miles Davis post-bop zone, with Ron Carter and Tony Williams driving Marsalis and Hancock relentlessly forward. Several staples from the Miles/V.S.O.P. repertoire turn up ("The Eye of the Hurricane," "The Sorcerer," "Pee Wee"), and there is one wistful ballad, "I Fall in Love Too Easily," where Marsalis sounds a bit callow, not yet the master colorist. Hancock remains a complex, stimulating acoustic pianist, the years of disco having taken no toll whatsoever on his musicianship. This looked like it would be a Japan-only release, but since the buzz on Marsalis was so loud, CBS put it out in the U.S. in 1982, fanning the flames even more.

Herbie Hancock - Quartet    (flac 444mb)

01 Well You Needn't 6:26
02 'Round Midnight 6:38
03 Clear Ways 5:01
04 A Quick Sketch 16:24
05 The Eye Of The Hurricane 8:03
06 Parade 7:56
07 The Sorcerer 7:18
08 Pee Wee 4:32
09 I Fall In Love Too Easily 5:53

Herbie Hancock - Quartet  (ogg  164mb )

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Herbie Hancock completely overhauled his sound and conquered MTV with his most radical step forward since the sextet days. He brought in Bill Laswell of Material as producer, along with Grand Mixer D.ST on turntables -- and the immediate result was "Rockit," which makes quite a post-industrial metallic racket. Frankly, the whole record is an enigma; for all of its dehumanized, mechanized textures and rigid rhythms, it has a vitality and sense of humor that make it difficult to turn off. Moreover, Herbie can't help but inject a subversive funk element when he comps along to the techno beat -- and yes, some real, honest-to-goodness jazz licks on a grand piano show up in the middle of "Auto Drive."

Herbie Hancock - Future Shock   (flac 314mb)

01 Rockit 5:22
02 Future Shock 8:02
03 TFS 5:15
04 Earth Beat 5:10
05 Autodrive 6:25
06 Rough 6:57
07 Rockit (Mega Mix) 6:18

. Herbie Hancock - Future Shock  (ogg  113mb)

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