Eight-X (23)

Hello, Eight-X spawns another, those days trio, the bands today all have given the ghost, i should say lost spirit, long ago. First up , Television, was always going to be an insiders sweetheart as they stood at the start of CBGB's and the punk/wave scene in New York, add to that most music writers love to play virtual air guitar, throw in a thoughtful lyric or two and you get a classic, obviously the band didn't pander to all that and just did their thing as they saw fit. Alas as is often the case with guitar players, ego's clash and after the second album it was all over...Flock Of Seagulls usually points to food available, they tend to spread a lot of crap too whilst they screeech about..seen 'm swallow little live ducklings aswell. So why call yourself Flock Of Seagulls beats me. Musicly they've been called a one hit wonder , but thats selling them short, their first eponymous album was agreeable enough, their hairdo got them noticed and as an answer to the punkstyles it was fun....Finally Freeez, a great name that foresaw the age of google though they folded long before, initially heralded as a jazz funk group, they scored big when they went to New York and met up with Arthur Baker who set them up as a breakdance outfit. That caused a later split and ultimatedly the end for Freeez....

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Television - Marquee Moon ( 77 ^ 99 mb)

Television, formed in New York City in 1973, is an American rock music band. Although Television never achieved more than the tiniest cult audience in their American homeland, they achieved significant commercial success in Europe and today are widely regarded as one of the key founders of postpunk rock.
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Television's roots can be traced to the teenage friendship between Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine. The duo met at St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware, from which they ran away. Their first group together was the Neon Boys, consisting of Verlaine on guitar and vocals, Hell on bass and vocals, Bill Ayers (briefly) on guitar, and Billy Ficca on drums. The group lasted from late 1972 to early 1973. In late 1973 the trio reformed, calling themselves Television and soon recruiting Richard Lloyd as a second guitarist. They persuaded CBGB's owner Hilly Kristal to give the band a regular gig at his club which had just opened on the Bowery in New York. Television was the first rock group to perform at the club, where they quickly established a significant cult following.

Initially, songwriting was split almost evenly between Hell and Verlaine, friction began to develop as Verlaine, Lloyd and Ficca became increasingly confident and adept with both instruments and composition, while Hell remained defiantly untrained in his approach. This led Hell to leave the group and take his songs with him, and later forming Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Fred Smith, briefly of Blondie, replaced Hell as Television's bassist. Television's first album Marquee Moon was received positively by music critics and audiences, didn't do much in the US, but sold well in Europe. Meanwhile it's become a classic. This whole record's a mash note to guitars, the contrast between these two essential leads is stunning, Richard Lloyd chisels notes out hard while Verlaine works with a subtle twang and a trace of space-gazing delirium, a surrealistic version of garage-rock, with earthy riffs that spiral up into ecstatic guitar-solo jaunts.

Television's second album, Adventure, was issued in 1978 to less fanfare. The distinctive dual guitars of Lloyd and Verlaine are still evident on Adventure, notably on the tracks "Glory", "Days" and "Foxhole". The band members had very independent and strongly held artistic visions, and this, along with Richard Lloyd's alleged drug abuse, led to the band's break-up in 1978. Both Lloyd and Verlaine pursued solo careers. Nearly 14 years after their breakup, Television re-formed in late 1991, recording an eponymous third album. They performed at Glastonbury in 1992, releasing Television a couple months later. The album received good reviews, yet Television disbanded again in early 1993, and have performed live sporadically thereafter.



01 - See No Evil (3:53)
02 - Venus (3:48)
03 - Friction (4:40)
05 - Marquee Moon (9:52)

05 - Elevation (5:04)
06 - Guiding Light (5:31)
07 - Prove It (4:57)
08 - Torn Curtain (6:45)

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A Flock Of Seagulls - A Flock Of Seagulls ( now in Flac ^371 mb)

A Flock of Seagulls was started by Mike Score and his brother Ali in 1979 in Liverpool. Mike, who was previously a hairdresser, played keyboards, guitar, and vocals, Ali played drums and their friend fellow hairdresser Frank Maudsley played bass. The band took their name from a line in the song "Toiler on the Sea" by The Stranglers, which appears on their album Black and White.They added guitarist Paul Reynolds and began writing songs, playing clubs and trying to land a record contract. The group released its debut EP on Bill Nelson's Cocteau Records early in 1981, and while the record failed to chart, its lead track, "Telecommunication," became an underground hit in Euro-disco and new wave clubs.

A year later they had signed to Jive Records which released their eponymous debut album, the first single I Ran got picked up by MTV, who were smitten by the hairdo(n't) aswell as the female angst ( the women act like camouflaged daleks in the video) and so the single ended up in the US top 10, whilst UK lads just shrugged their shoulders, no hit.. Flock Of Seagulls had to wait another year for success back home with Wishing (i had a photograph of you) from their second album "Listen" which turned out moderately successful (in sales that is). Trouble started after the third album 1984's "The Story of a Young Heart" failed to produce any hit singles.

Last one in, first one out, Reynolds abruptly left A Flock of Seagulls, leaving the band a trio, but the band continued to tour. The Score brothers wanted to base the band in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mike and Ali Score and Frank Maudsley all applied for, and were conditionally awarded, green cards, and the three settled in Philadelphia. Maudsley returned to England, while Mike and Ali Score stayed in Philadelphia. The brothers then had a falling out that resulted in Mike Score remaining as the sole remaining original member of the band and Ali going to Boston, where he played in a hard rock band and then worked for a computer company in Cambridge.

Following the dissolution of the band in the wake of Dream Come True, Mike Score resurfaced in a series of new bands with changing line-ups. The band released two singles ("Magic" and "Burnin' Up") and one album (The Light At The End Of The World) which achieved some success. In the late 1990s, the group made a cameo appearance in the 1999 movie The Suburbans, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Will Ferrell.



01 - Modern Love Is Automatic (3:47)
02 - Messages (2:49)
03 - I Ran (5:01)
04 - Space Age Love Song (3:43)
05 - You Can Run (4:22)

06 - Telecommunication (2:29)
07 - Standing In The Doorway (4:37)
08 - Don't Ask Me (2:44)
09 - D.N.A. (2:27)
10 - Tokyo (2:51)
11 - Man Made (5:31)
re-up Bonus Tracks
12 - Pick Me Up 3:07
13 - Windows 3:31
14 - Tanglimara 4:31
15 - Intro 3:24

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">Freeez - Gonna Get You (83 ^ 99mb)

Freeez was led by John Rocca, included Peter Maas (bass), Andy Stennet (keyboards) and Paul Morgan (drums). Rocca, a former van salesman for the dance music specialist shop Disc Empire, formed the group in 1978. They released their first single ‘Keep In Touch’ on their own Pink Rythm label (one of the first British acts to form their own label) and it narrowly missed the UK Top 40. Freeez was initially known for its emergence as one of the UK's first and leading Jazz Funk bands of the very early eighties. They gained considerable respect from the industry, DJs and the Jazz Funk and Dance public. After moving to the Beggars Banquet label in 1981 they hit the UK Top 10 with ‘Southern Freeze’, which included vocals by Ingrid Mansfield-Allman (b. London). The album of the same name reached the Top 20.

The group expanded to a seven piece but then later reduced to the basic duo of Rocca and Maas, they had their biggest success in 1983 with ‘I.O.U.’, written and produced in the USA by noted New Yorker Arthur Baker with mixing help from John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez. They released the Gonna Get You album in 83 , which delivered another hit co-written/produced by Arthur Baker "Pop Goes My Love".

In 1985 Rocca and Stennet recorded as Pink Rhythm whilst Freeez reformed with Maas, Morgan and Louis Smith taking the duties of keyboard player co-writer and programmer, with Billy Chrichton now the songwriter and guitarist. Freeez then went on to record an album called Idle Vice at the famous studio number 2 at Abbey road studios. As a solo artist Rocca had a US dance number I with ‘I Want To Be Real’ in 1987, the same year a remix of Freeez’s ‘I.O.U.’ on Citybeat made the UK Top 30. Rocca later recorded on Who’d She Coo and Cobra (where he re-recorded ‘Southern Freeze’) and re-appeared in 1991 as Midi Rain on Vinyl Solution.



01 - We've Got The Juice (6:18)
02 - Can't Keep My Love (5:05)
03 - Love's Gonna Get You (6:24)
04 - Pop Goes My Love (8:12)

05 - I.O.U. (8:45)
06 - Freezin' (6:03)
07 - Can You (4:59)
08 - Watch Me (6:04)

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

Around the World (23)

Hello, Around the World music is still in pagan /medievil mode, another great 2 parts sampler, Cryptichon for depth and background of how current day 'pagan' bands bring back the spirit of party music from ages gone by. After last weeks Spanish contribution (L'ham de Foc) we're back up north to the Netherlands, at least Omnia are based there. Bandleader Sic has a lot in common with one Richard D. James(Aphex Twin) as both grew up in an area surrounded by wyld moors, the standing stones and the craggy cliffs of Cornwall. Inspirational nature, but Sic went completely the other way as his band's music is 100% acoustic - no synthesizers, no electric instruments, no programming.

In 1994, while working as a slave and gladiator in a historical theme park, Sic met the ethnomusicologist Walter Maioli. They became good friends and for about a year they worked together, making reconstructions of prehistoric, shamanic, and ancient Roman and Greek music, doing countless performances and one CD recording. All this time he was also working with Luka in the Temple of Chaos. In 1996 they went on to found Omnia, a Gallo-Roman historical theater group, in which Sic was able to carry on making historical music, however putting the focus more on the indigenous Iron-Age sound of the Northern Celtic and Germanic tribes. Rediscovering, reconstructing and inventing the instruments necessary to play this kind of music over the years, this has evolved into the Pagan Folk' music'. This hands on (DIY) approach was extended to OMNIA, a completely self-managed independent and free-spirited band which has survived and prospered in the harsh music business. They write their own material, and record, produce and print their own cd's on their label "Pagan Scum" (distributing through RoughTrade). All their costumes and stage decoration, as well as many of their instruments, have been made or decorated by the bandmembers themselves.


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Omnia - Pagan Folk (05 * 324mb)

Omnia (didgeridoo expert Luka Aubri-Krieger (East-Indies), the virtuoso harp, hurdy-gurdy and bodhran playing of Jennifer Evans-van der Harten (Holland), the unmistakable "DADGAD" guitar-groove of Joe Hennon (Ireland) and the flutes, bouzouki, drums, and ironic dialogue of front man Steve "Sic" Evans-van der Harten (England)). are a self-described "neoceltic paganfolk" band based in The Netherlands. They play mostly self-composed music, with a sprinkling of traditional music from places like Ireland, Brittany and Afghanistan. Their music is 100% acoustic – no synthesizers, no electric instruments, no programming . They sing in English, Gaelic, Breton, Finnish, German, Latin and Hindi and play Celtic harp, mouth harp, hurdy-gurdy, bodhrán, guitar, bouzouki, didgeridoo, flutes of all kinds, bagpipes, various drums and percussion instruments. Dressed in graceful black neo-Celtic clothing adorned with the bronze age holy symbols of our Celtic/Pagan heritage and surrounded by an amazing amount of hand made beautifully decorated traditional instruments. Thusfar they've released 8 albums; Sine Missione (2000), Sine Missione 2 (2002), 3 (2003) (mini cd), Crone of War (2004), Live Religion (2005), PaganFolk (2006), Cybershaman (2007), Alive! (2007), History (2007) (American sampler)



01 - Tine Bealtaine (3:41)
02 - The Well (4:50)
03 - Pagan Polska (5:52)
04 - En Avant Blonde (1:39)
05 - Entrezomp-ni Kelted (3:58)
06 - Teutates (3:48)
07 - Twa Corbiez (4:27)
08 - An Dro (3:53)
09 - Lughnasadh (6:20)
10 - Dil Gaya (5:53)
11 - Sidhenearlahi Set (Live) (5:14)

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VA - Cryptichon I (00 * 350mb)



101 - Subway To Sally - Alle, Psallite Cum Luya (1:07)
102 - Stella Maris - In Circle (2:10)
103 - Ayreon - Valley Of The Queens (2:27)
104 - Sarband - Gloria In Sielo (3:40)
105 - Triakel - Oräntad Bröllopsgäst (Voc.Emma Härdelin) (3:56)
106 - Ataraxia - Marcia Ceremoniale (4:12)
107 - Chassalla - Spirit (4:16)
108 - Court - The Songs Of Omniscient Dwarf (6:11)
109 - Freiburger Spielleyt - Quantas Sabedes Amar Amigo (4:44)
110 - In The Nursery - Thorns (4:53)
111 - Spilwut - Knöterich (5:40)
112 - Mila Mar - H' M Ba (6:06)
113 - Moors, The - Belen-Gaard (8:51)

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

Don't Panic ! (23)

Hello, The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy enters its final, the Quintessential Phase today, four more fits left to go unfortunately . Humor is healthy and that sure cuts into the pharmaceutical profability charts, ridiculising authorities, alien or otherwise, cuts into their control quest...

So what happened last week,

Fenchurch and Arthur return to England, to discover that a large spaceship has landed in Knightsbridge, London, bringing Ford Prefect with it. Fenchurch, Arthur and Ford leave on the ship. Arthur begins to suspect that this is not the Earth he and Ford knew — there is a "Tricia McMillan" on the news, with an American accent and blonde hair (voiced by Sandra Dickinson, who played Trillian in the TV series), but otherwise identical to the Trillian who left his earth with Zaphod Beeblebrox. Fenchurch and Arthur go to see God's Final Message to His Creation, and bump into Marvin, who is also en route to see it. Marvin is now 37 times older than the universe itself, and needs assistance to read the message, which turns out to be "We Apologise For The Inconvienence". Declaring that he thinks he feels good about the message, Marvin dies.

This is followed by an event only mentioned in Mostly Harmless. Fenchurch asks Arthur to show her the universe. However, on a commercial liner flight, Fenchurch disappears, and the ship's crew deny she ever existed...

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The Quintessential Phase has one sub-plot of Zaphod attempting to reach Zarniwoop (which did occur in Fit the Twelfth, but that version was dismissed during the Tertiary Phase as Zaphod having a "psychotic episode" - another version of events occurs here, in an attempt to interconnect all five series). Zarniwoop has been merged with the character Vann Harl from Mostly Harmless. This radio series also sees the return of the characters of Max Quordlepleen, Thor, and Zarquon (who all appeared in Fit the Fifth at Milliways), and also Mr. Prosser, from Fit the First. None of these characters appear in the book version of Mostly Harmless.

The start of some of the plot threads from Mostly Harmless were introduced in the Quandary Phase (though they did not appear in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish) - notably the Vogons discovering that Earth had re-appeared and resolving to destroy all versions of it, Arthur having sold his DNA, a mention that Trillian now has a child and is now a reporter. Also the final episode saw the introduction of an alternate version of Trillian, still known as Tricia McMillan, who is identical to the original Trillian except for being blonde and American.


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THHGTTG - Fit 23 (24mb)
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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Sundaze (23)

Hello, at Sundaze today i ask "noise ? what noise ?" Today's posts are certainly not of the comfortably numb type , no fluffly clouds in sight..Last week Aphex Twin's ambient works II were in a way the other side of todays album, he released under the Polygon Window moniker, one he never used again. It makes sense that at the time he wasn't sure where his music would lead him, and the labelling of the press can become very sticky. I think it's an exploration album for and by Richard D. James. Some would label it techno it certainly has some there but there's always the ambient backdrop.... Fennesz is another artist that likes to twist sound around and then pattern it back together , the album here is a collection of work starting with 95's Instrument EP to which are added several tracks done for compilation albums and reworkings. Fennesz strong style creates enough cohesion to make this album enjoyable in the back, but upfront and loud, things get really moving between those ears...Finally Daniel Myer he has released 3 albums under the alias Architect, but is probably better known for his work with Haujobb, the electro industrial-noise band who has been around since the early 90's. Unlike Haujobb, however, this solo album bounces in between IDM and techno it is much more personal and thoughtful. I Went Out Shopping To Get Some Noise is as ironic as it is ambivalent... It's dense but certainly not claustrophobic, city rhythms and those, at least in the west, tend to have plenty of quiter moments everyday...great album.

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Polygon Window - Surfing On Sine Waves ( 93 flac 272mb)

Richard D. James is listed as the creator of the music; however, his name is printed over the brown cliff on the back of the album. The full text reads "Writing, programming, arranging, engineering, producing + location recording by Richard d. James at Llannerlog Studios, Cornwall." An image of him running down a flight of stairs can also be found inside the liner notes.

The brooding album is a collection of largely instrumental electronic music (a few vocal samples are included in places). It might have been recorded by James onto cassettes in his bedroom studio, using a limited range of cheaply available drum machines, synthesizers, sequencers and samplers, some likely modified by himself. Most of the tracks feature insistent drum machine patterns (the ambient Quino-phec being an exception) and James' characteristic angular, modal, melodies. James makes liberal use of lengthy digital reverberation, giving a spacious and mesmerising feel to the tracks.

The album was re-released in 2000 by Warp to celebrate the opening of Warp's American division (albums by Warp had previously been distributed in America through Sire Records and Nothing Records). The re-release features two previously unreleased tracks that were recorded during the same time this album was created.



1 - Polygon Window (5:28)
2 - Audax Powder (4:40)
3 - Quoth (5:36)
4 - If It Really Is Me (7:03)
5 - Supremacy II (4:07)
6 - UT1 - Dot (5:20)
7 - Untitled (6:24)
8 - Quixote (6:03)
9 - Quino - Phec (4:41)

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Fennesz - Field Recordings 1995:2002 (02 flac 349 mb)

Vienna-based guitarist Christian Fennesz is one of the city's many artists associated with the noted Mego label, which releases mostly freeform ambient and experimental electronica. He was born and raised in Austria and studied music formally in art school. Similar in some respects to the work of Seefeel or Experimental Audio Research, Fennesz's six-string soundscapes are both darker than the former and more complex and intricate than the latter, combining dense, multilayered sheets of treated guitar and synth with thin, odd-metered electronic percussion and engaging sampler work. A former member of Austrian underground experimental rock group Maische, as well as performed ensemble pieces for conceptual and multimedia art installation. His first solo work for Mego, the Instrument EP, was released in 1996, and featured four tracks of stunning, uncompromised ambient and electro-acoustic, combining elements of experimental electro/techno with heavily treated guitar and electronics.Rereleased as part of the Field Recordings album. Hotel Paral.lel followed in 1997, and three years later Fennesz returned with Plus Forty Seven Degrees 56' 37" Minus Sixteen Degrees 51' 08" and Music for an Isolation Tank. Endless Summer, released in 2000, brought him back to the Mego fold. (see Eurotour -Austria 2).

Since the 1990s, Fennesz played live with Ryuichi Sakamoto, with British electroacoustic improvisation icon Keith Rowe, and with quirky American pop group Sparklehorse. He has also worked alongside Peter Rehberg and Jim O'Rourke in the improvisional trio Fenn O'Berg, and with British singer David Sylvian - Sylvian sang on Fennesz's album Venice while Fennesz composed the music for "A Fire in the Forest" from Sylvian's album Blemish and made contributions to Sylvian's "When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima". Fennesz also appeared on the Ulver remix/compilation album 1993-2003: First Decade in the Machines, contributing "Only The Poor Have Time To Travel". Fennesz and Sakamoto released a collaborative album entitled "Cendre" in March 2007 on Sakamoto's new Commmons label.



01 - Good Man (4:05)
02 - Instrument 1 (5:27)
03 - Instrument 2 (6:05)
04 - Instrument 3 (5:16)
05 - Instrument 4 (5:05)
06 - Betrieb by Ekkehard Ehlers (Fennesz Remix) (3:55)
07 - Menthol (3:51)
08 - Surf (5:36)
09 - Stairs (1:28)
10 - Ivend00 (1:30)
11 - Namewithnohorse (Version) (2:02)
12 - Odessa (Version) (1:28)
13 - Codeine by S.Mathieu & E. Ehlers (Fennesz Remix) (5:17)

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Architect - I Went Out Shopping To Get Some Noise ( 04, 71 min. flac 457mb)

Architect is one of the many projects of Daniel Myer, there are not many who have so many different projects with such variety and yet a surprisingly high quality. Architect is one of the projects which explores electronic landscapes. "The Galactic Supermarket", Architect's first album was released in 1998 through hymen records, it set the sphere for architect's second album entitled "i went out shopping to get some noise". even though there were six years inbetween these two albums (2004, also hymen). Architect succeeded in combining electronic sounds with ambient and experimental sounds. Fans of Haujobb's ambient-side should have no problem finding their way here, as well as fanatics of the so-called clicks'n'-cut genre.

The stunning feature of this record is that even if there's a lot of power and distortions concentrated in the rhythmical section, you won't classify it as industrial or noise, the music flows flawlessly with a lot of depth and detail assembled with surgical production. keeping it simple, it's very accessible, the hooking melodies and the epic setting are so charming and fascinating that you're obliged to listen and re-listen several times to discover new layers of sound you didn't notice before. "The Analysis of Noise Trading" is Architect's third album , bringing the trilogy to completion, it is like the two other albums, not exactly an easy record, a record that is made to play once and than cool down.



01 - Anger Management (4:26)
02 - Belgian Connection (6:32)
03 - Icl Feelings (6:36)
04 - Colorado 6am (5:02)
05 - Unlike (6:33)
06 - Dievorce (6:37)
07 - Colorfusion (4:45)
08 - Grand Diesel (6:40)
09 - Fifth Puppy (5:16)
10 - Unlike Reaktor Version (5:39)
11 - Charles B (6:03)
12 - Beyer Dynamic (4:09)
13 - Moonshine Live Version (3:26)

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

Rhotation (23) Into BPM

Hello, Into The BPM is into the Wall of Sound today, not the Phil Spector way but the label by that name started 15 years ago by Mark Jones and currently , after the merger with PIAS a major independent so what's the story....

Mark Jones started the label when he was working for a record distribution company called Soul Trader, and started to learn the other side of the business. There he began to work with producers, musicians and labels who didn’t have the facility to distribute their own music. Artists like Kruder & Dorfmeister, Basement Jaxx, Howie B, Pussyfoot and lots of others. And one day he came up with the bright idea of putting them all on an album and that's how Wall Of Sound came into being. When Mark Jones released the ‘Give ‘Em Enough Dope Vol.1’ compilation fifteen years ago. From there it was a short step to signing his own artists – such as Stuart Price of Les Rythmes Digitales and Jon Carter – then garnering a reputation as the dance label with rock’n’roll spirit. Tuned into the big beats of those days, within a year or two Wall Of Sound were a sensation replete with club nights, international dates and proper chart hits by The Propellerheads and The Wiseguys. Jones has always said that every time he releases music, he wants to sell a million copies, but is unwilling to compromise to do so. No-one can doubt his ability to spot talent, for example Stuart Price one of the world’s best producers who went on to work with Madonna and The Killers amongst others. Wall Of Sound has also always been about the attitude, about the occasion.

After the dance-centric early years the label found itself in a bit of corner as people “thought they knew what Wall Of Sound were about”, so he wanted to open things up. He started the sub-labels Bad Magic, which promoted hip-hop talent such as Blak Twang and The Creators, and We Love You, his full-blown venture into guitars that, amongst other things, launched the careers of steadfast songsmiths The Bees and I Am Kloot. Diversity is something Wall Of Sound is unafraid of, as long as Jones thinks the music has something vital going for it. “I’m a pop-head,” he admits, “and that translates into any musical genre.” Thus the post-rock of Glaswegian instrumental innovators Mogwai can sit happily next to the million-selling electronica of Royksopp. One thing never changes and that’s Jones’ penchant for the startling and outrageous. He’s turned the signing of every deal into a catalogue of the twisted and bizarre. He’s signed deals everywhere from the centre circle at his beloved QPR to a helicopter above the Houses of Parliament.

The PIAS deal was even signed parachuting from an aircraft. Ah, yes, the PIAS deal… sitting in an Italian restaurant prior to the gig, chatting mainly about clowns and his mobile phone folder full of pictures of desserts, Jones also takes a moment to reflect that “Kenny Gates of PIAS was the first person ever to ring me when I started the label and PIAS were my first licensee in Europe. One day he said, ‘Why don’t we take the sum of our parts and put them together?'. And in 2006 they did, a brilliant idea that made both parties stronger – Jones the maverick A&R pirate with PIAS ensuring his business interests sailed steady. PIAS also have global reach in all major territories - seventeen international offices, from Greece to Japan – giving Wall Of Sound’s already recognizable global brand further worldwide clout. “I’d never had that support structure before,” says a clearly pleased Jones, “Having an international network with a vested interest in what I do makes a huge difference, not to mention in-house accounts and legal departments.

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Dirty Beatniks - One One Seven In The Shade ( 96 ^ 468mb)

A raw, grubby big beat act who filter influences from acid house and old-school rap through breakbeat techno, Dirty Beatniks was formed by friends Neil Higgins and Rory Carille, who met in Dublin during the late-'80s glory days of acid house. After moving to London in 1990, they added bassist/producer Justin Underhill and made their debut remixing for Cujo, Ruby, Akasha, and Marxman. After signing to Wall of Sound, London's favorite beat-specific label, the trio recorded the EP Bridging the Gap, then their debut full-length One One Seven in the Shade for a 1996 release. One One Seven in the Shade is a grubby, clattery, and wholly bestial record. But luckily, it hasn't yet come to terms with its influences. Like better big beat, "Don't Stop" eschews wonky samples in favor of scorching old-skool instrumental hip-hop, giving the likes of the Chemical Brothers much fuel for their live sets, while "Straight & Narrow" is all uncorked breakbeats trying to reconstruct those clammy, clenched all-nighters. After a long break and several personnel changes, Dirty Beatniks returned as (mostly) a duo of Higgins and new member Mau, formerly the vocalist for Earthling ( see Rhotation 5). They released Feedback in 2000. The single "Whores, Freaks, Saints and Angels" followed in early 2001. Afterwards Mau went his way and Neil continued under his own name , these days he's active in Padded Cell. Some singles added to the 'lode'



01 - A Word From Our Sponsors (0:22)
02 - Don’t Stop (6:41)
03 - Beatnik Bounce (6:09)
04 - Straight & Narrow (5:47)
05 - More Danger (6:36)
06 - Music To Make You Stagger (0:53)
07 - Perfect Rhyme (6:12)
08 - So Vou De Mulher (6:32)
09 - Hypnotysin’ (6:04)
10 - Cosmic Rodeo (5:14)
11 - Roger 'N' Andre (6:02)
12 - Enough Already (1:08)
---Xs---
13 - Big Dirty Beats (7:15)
14 - Latinhead (5:17)
15 - Gettin' Stupid (8:29)

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Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll (98 ^ 461mb)

Propellerheads is a British big beat music band made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term "Propellerhead" is slang for a nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California drop this into conversation, they thought it the perfect name for their band. Gifford began his career as a studio musician, playing keyboards for Van Morrison and saxophone for the Stranglers, among others, before joining dance collective the Grid. After a stint on the staff of Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, where he helped write and produce the well-received Arcane compilation, Gifford decided to start recording his own music, and sought out local drummer White. In 1996, the duo released its first EP, Dive, on Wall of Sound; almost immediately, the title track was licensed by Adidas for use in a television commercial. They gained fame the next year by providing a remix for Bond composer David Arnold's Bond tribute album Shaken & Stirred: They also collaborated with Arnold on the track Backseat Driver, for the Tomorrow Never Dies soundtrack. The single "History Repeating" followed, a collaboration with jazz diva Shirley Bassey, fusing big beat with jazz. Remixes for acts like Luscious Jackson, Soul Coughing, and 808 State followed.

The only Propellerheads album to date is Decksandrumsandrockandroll, released in 1998 , it's about as close to rock & roll as big-beat techno is going to get. Taking their cue from the Chemical Brothers, the Bath-based duo offer a set of pummeling, ultra-loud beats that may dabble in funk, house, hip-hop, soul, and rap, but which all come out sounding as aggressive as rock. Their song "Take California" was the first song ever used in an Apple iPod television ad., "Spybreak!", became widely known after its use in the famous lobby scene in The Matrix. They are also noted with providing "Crash" as the theme tune to BBC Radio 1's Official Chart Show between 1998 and 2002, when Mark Goodier was the host. This song was also used in the 1999 hit comedy film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

After touring for their hit album, Will White fell ill. They released Extended Play EP in 1998, things subsequently went quiet in the Propellerheads camp. Alex moved to New York and produced the Jungle Brothers 1999 Album V.I.P. in which he raps with The Black Eyed Peas among others. Will White provided the drums for the eponymous track. He has also produced a track for Rufus Wainwright ("Shadows") on his 2001 album Poses. White has since released a mix compilation for the Beatz and Bobz series, and he has also appeared as a member of the De-Fex music project. Gifford and White have reportedly been close to finishing "that difficult second album" for a while now, but have scrapped material they did not believe was fresh or new enough to warrant release. Their next album will apparently feature duets from Canadians Rufus Wainwright and k.d. lang among others, but WoS has no projected release date. Meanwhile Will White is now part of the live incarnation of Long Range, the latest project of Phil Hartnoll of Orbital fame.



01 - Take California (7:23)
02 - Echo And Bounce (5:29)
03 - Velvet Pants (5:49)
04 - Better? (2:05)
05 - Oh Yeah? (5:28)
06 - History Repeating (4:05)
07 - Winning Style (6:00)
08 - Bang On! (5:57)
09 - A Number Of Microphones (0:48)
10 - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (9:23)
11 - Bigger? (2:22)
12 - Cominagetcha (7:07)
13 - Spybreak! (7:00)

Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll Bonus (98 ^ 514mb)

201 Dive 7:07
202 Ron's Theory 6:41
203 Lethal Cut 7:30
204 Go Faster 6:12
205 Big Dog 5:46
206 Clang 5:29
207 Bring Us Together 6:34
208 History Repeating (feat Miss Shirley Bassey) (Ankle Length Mix) 5:52
209 History Repeating (feat Miss Shirley Bassey) (Hip Length Mix) 4:17
210 Props Vote Of Gratitude 5:10
211 360° (Oh Yeah) (feat De La Soul) 4:30
212 You Want It Back  (feat The Jungle Brothers) 6:02
213 Crash! 6:58

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VA - Wall Of Sound Essentials (Mixed By The Wiseguys) (00 * 348mb)

This cd came with Muzik Mag. May 2000 The Wiseguys was a British electronica hip hop band was formed in 1994 with two members, Touche (Theo Keating) and Regal ( Paul Eve). Wall of Sound signed the duo and released their first album Executive Suite in 1996 to critical acclaim, featuring downtempo jazz beats and happy optimistic hip-hop numbers. Regal left the band in 1997 to pursue other interests, and Touche worked on the second Wiseguys album, The Antidote. This was released in 1998, and contained their two most famous songs "Ooh La La" ( used in Budweiser commercials)and "Start the Commotion". In 2001, "Start the Commotion" was shown on a Mitsubishi Motors television commercial in the United States, and that song reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The Wiseguys name disbanded in 2002



01 - Zoot Woman - Chasing Cities (E-Klektik's Death Disco Mix) (4:14)
02 - Akasha - Crazy Baby (Groove Armada's Presque Celebre Mix) (4:59)
03 - Ceasefire - Trickshot (2:17)
04 - Wiseguys, The - Better World Part 2 (4:14)
05 - Propellerheads - Comintagetcha (3:31)
06 - Les Rythmes Digitales - Jacques Your Body (Make Me Sweat) (4:15)
07 - Strike Boys, The - Jet Set (The Micronauts Remix) (4:54)
08 - Wreckage Inc. - Chase (The Strike Boys Mix) (3:05)
09 - Dirty Beatniks - The New Adventures Of Sandy & Bud (4:46)
10 - Mekon - Welcome To Tackletown (Propellerheads Mix) (3:57)
11 - Pascal R - Killing (3:24)
12 - Psycho Cowboys - Come On Baby (4:09)
13 - Themroc - The Boy Can't Take It (5:28)

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

Into the Groove (22)

Hello, Into the Groove pays a second visit to the Prince Family( first Rhotation 15) The first visit is to Prince's childhood friend with whom he started out in the musicworld. After Prince started his solocareer André Cymone played bass in his band on the first 3 albums, i guess the previous closeness led to the later tensions, anyway for some years they didnt see eye to eye, yet by the time of Cymone's third album things seems to have settled and Prince wrote Cymone's biggest hit, The Dance Electric i added this 12 " to Cymone's second album here....Prince met my second post here when she was still young and fresh (18) , 2 years later she went with him on the road and sang backing vocals. Her debut album was long in coming, don't know if Prince couldnt find that G-Spot but when the album was finally released Jill was 25. Good reviews didnt help , the album didnt sell as expected and Jill became margenalised....Prince however was ever busy and whilst he was working on J J's album he was working on another project, instrumental jazz-funk, jamming away with Eric Leeds and his family bandmembers which previously had resulted in "The Family"album, this time however Prince after taking in the results , recorded an instrumental jazz-funk album all by himself with some minor input by Eric Leeds and released the result as Madhouse - 8 , a project that would be extended upon later that year -this time with other musicians aboard - with Madhouse -16. The heavily cloaked 'band' served as an opening act for Prince’s headlining tours..

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André Cymone - Survivin' In The 80's ( 83 ^ 230mb )

André Simon Anderson (Cymone) was the youngest of six children. His father Fred Anderson was a musician, while his mother Bernadette a social worker in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Anderson home soon had an additional member — a young Prince who left his own home due to conflicts with his stepfather. Prince and Cymone started a cover band in high school called Grand Central (later renamed Champagne) which also included Cymone's sister Linda and schoolmate Morris Day. In the late 1970s, after Prince released his debut album he recruited Cymone as bassist for his touring band. He stayed with Prince until 1981, quitting the band over tensions with Prince.

The two later resolved their issues and Cymone went on to release 3 solo albums — Livin' in the New Wave (1982), Survivin' in the 80's (1983), and AC (1985). All are long out of print. His most successful single was "The Dance Electric," a song penned by Prince from the album AC. Cymone went on to become a record producer and is better known for producing Jody Watley (to whom he was married and shares a son) than for the music he released as a solo artist. He has produced and written songs for several other artists, including Pebbles, Lalah Hathaway, Jermaine Stewart and Adam Ant.



01 - Survivin' In The 80's (4:40)
02 - M.O.T.F. (4:18)
03 - Make Me Wanna Dance (4:50)
04 - Lovedog (3:08)

05 - Body Thang (3:39)
06 - Stay (3:11)
07 - What Are We Doing Here (3:38)
08 - Don't Let The Future (Come Down On You) (4:59)
----Xs---
09 - The Dance Electric (Ext. Version) (5:30)
10 - Red Light (Edited Version) (4:56)

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Jill Jones - Jill Jones (87 ^230mb )

Jill Jones was born in a small town in Ohio. Her mother, a fashion model, is of African American heritage, and her father, a jazz drummer, is Italian She relocated to Los Angeles when her mother remarried, and began a singing career at age 15 as a backup vocalist for Teena Marie, whom her mother managed. She met Prince in 1980 at age 18, when Teena Marie was the opening act during his Dirty Mind tour. Prince loved her voice, encouraged her to sing, and stayed in touch with Jones. She became a backup vocalist for Prince when he invited her to the Sunset Sound recording studios in 1982, to sing backing vocals for several tracks on the album 1999. She was credited under just her initials J.J. and also was featured in the music videos for "1999" and "Little Red Corvette", as well as in the unreleased video for "Automatic", and then joined the tour for 1999 to sing backing vocals with Vanity 6. After the tour, she moved to Minneapolis, and had a bit part as a waitress in the film Purple Rain.

Her debut album was the self-titled Jill Jones (1987), and released on Prince's Paisley Park Records. Prince was credited as a co-writer with Jones, but wrote all of the songs himself. It was three years in the making and went through many different track listings, but in the end the final version was well worth the wait. Highlights include lead single "Mia Bocca," "All Day, All Night," and "For Love," on which Prince can be heard on the backing vocals and the Revolution can be heard on all instruments. The closing track, "Baby, You're a Trip," was originally a Prince demo in the vein of "Purple Rain," and his backing track survives on this version. The album was released on CD in 1987, and received positive reviews from critics, but, due to a culmination of poor sales and poor promotion, was quickly deleted and has now become very sought after.

Several demos were recorded for a second album on Paisley Park, and a video was filmed for the track "Boom Boom", but an album never surfaced. In 1993, she released the dance single "Bald" on Flying Records. With the help of former Paisley Park photographer and close friend David Honl, Jones finally released a second album entitled Two in 2001, there was no input from Prince on the second one, which was more pop-rock orientated. Jones also did backing vocals for Apollonia 6 and recorded the Prince-written single "G-Spot". She also sang lead vocals on Japanese artist Ryuichi Sakamoto's single "You Do Me" from his 1990 album Beauty, and contributed a version of Blondie's "Call Me" to a Giorgio Moroder tribute album. In addition, Jones wrote and co-produced the song "The Great Pretender" for Lisa Lisa. She was also lead vocalist for the band Baby Mother, who recorded an album in 1995 for London Records, which remains unreleased. In 1996, she toured performing co-lead vocals as part of Chic with Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards before his death, and can be heard on the 1999 Chic release "Live At The Budokan".



1 - Intro (Baby You're A Trip) / Mia Boca (7:21)
2 - G - Spot (4:30)
3 - Violet Blue (4:24)
4 - With You (4:00)
5 - All Day, All Night (5:41)
6 - For Love (4:27)
7 - My Man (3:15)
8 - Baby You're A Trip (5:23)

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Madhouse - 8 ( 87 ^202mb )

Prince had caressed the idea of an instrumental jazz-funk album ever since he recorded his first tracks with Eric Leeds for his 1985 side-project, The Family. In late 1985-early 1986, he recorded hours of instrumental music with Leeds and other musicians from his band, Sheila E. and musicians from her own band, as well as members from Wendy & Lisa's families. From these sessions, Prince compiled an album called The Flesh, supposed to be released by an eponymous pseudo-band, but the project was abandoned and its concept lightly modified to become Madhouse. As he did with most of his side projects, Prince created an alter ego, named Austra Chanel, who was said to have been the mentor/producer for Madhouse.

All instruments on "8", the first Madhouse album, were performed by Prince except for the saxophone and flute parts which were performed by Eric Leeds. The albums consists of instrumental jazz-fusion tracks. A remix of the track "Six" was released alongside with the b-side "Six & 1/2", composed by Leeds and featuring Atlanta Bliss on trumpet. "16", the second Madhouse album, featured contributions by Eric Leeds on saxophone and flute, Sheila E. on drums and Levi Seacer, Jr. on bass guitar (the three of them co-composed a few tracks besides playing on the album.) "Doctor" Matt Fink (keyboards) and John Lewis (drums) are also credited in the album's booklet but their participation to the recording is more than uncertain (though both were part of the short-lived live-version of the band.) "16" features more aggressive and minimalist jazz funk tracks than its predecessor.

Cover art for both albums featured a voluptuous woman playing with a small dog, reminiscent of a 1940s pinup photograph. The videos from "16" were more 1940s gangster-themed. The cover of "16" features the subtitle "new directions in garage music", which is a homage to Miles Davis' Directions In music series. The only vocals on either album consisted mainly of choice snippets of audio lifted from the first two Godfather films and samples of Vanity simulating an orgasm (from the Vanity 6 outtake "Vibrator", later used on Prince's own song "Orgasm" from Come.) In 1987, Madhouse served as an opening act for Prince’s headlining tours, with each of the musicians heavily disguised in baggy cloaks and sunglasses, to be removed for the final set. Prince himself often guested with Madhouse, incognito.

At least three other Madhouse albums were later recorded and remain unreleased to this day, all three of them being named "24". The first one was recorded in 1988, mostly by Prince and Eric Leeds. Only one track eventually emerged, severely edited, on Eric Leeds'1991 solo-album Times Squared. The second one was recorded in 1993 with a line-up consisting of Prince (keyboards), Eric Leeds (saxophone), Levi Seacer, Jr. (guitar), Sonny T. (bass) and Michael B. (drums.) Only two tracks were officially released, "17" and"Asswhuppin' In A Trunk" in 2001, via Prince's website. . The third unreleased album is almost unknown since only two tracks are circulating: one was released in 1998 on a very rare promo-CD, and another one in 2001 on Prince's website. The two released tracks feature even more complex arrangements than the 1993 album, sort of announcing Prince's "New directions In Music" series from 2002-2003.



1 - One (7:18)
2 - Two (5:29)
3 - Three (3:16)
4 - Four (2:24)
5 - Five (1:18)
6 - Six (4:28)
7 - Seven (4:09)
8 - Eight (10:06)


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

Alphabet Soup (V)

Hello, Alphabet Soup day reached V now, and like in the english dictionairy it's just a small section in my collection. In fact VDGG, my first band here, was a favourite of mine in the midseventies, progrock without flowers and lyrics that got them labelled art rock. On this album Still Life, the problems of immortality are considered...and yes we all now how boring soaps tend to get after a few years. Anyway great cover..a Van Der Graaf machine in action, yes the cosmos is electric there's even huge DNA twists out there, but still those silly astrophysicists refuse to admit their 'daddies' teached them wrong..just throw in some more dark energy boys..Science ? Not like that it aint.... Ben Vaughn Combo, a tongue in cheek name for a band, but before getting to the humor of it, you'll have to pick it up and listen to it, and that sadly didnt happen too much. Great live shows but these too remain a local event and so this beauty got lost in time, that said whilst researching i found that its been remastered and re released recently...finally Die Verbannten Kinder Eva's (that's us btw) they are Shelley adepts and so a title like In Darkness Let Me Dwell should connect to the romantically inclined drama visionists. Shelly btw was a serious vegan who- rightfully abhorred the slaughter of animals..and he didnt even know pigs are only outsmarted by apes and humans on land, but then did you ? Anyway the Austrian DVKE is likely the kind of band that enhances the autumn mood, as such the release of the album here was almost late, and im not sure they were aware of the masonic undertones a date like 11-22 has, I guess from their perspective 22-11-99 was an easy date to remember, no idea what i did that day, but then do you...

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Van Der Graaf Generator - Still Life (76 ^ 99 mb)

The band first formed in 1967 while its members were studying at Manchester University. The three-piece was comprised of Peter Hammill (guitar and vocals), Nick Pearne (organ) and Chris Judge Smith (drums and wind instruments). On the basis of a demo, this blues- and jazz-influenced first incarnation were offered a recording contract with Mercury Records, which only the 19-year old Hammill signed. In 1968, Pearne was replaced by Hugh Banton. The band were able to secure Tony Stratton-Smith as a full-time manager. Through him, the band acquired a bass guitar player, Keith Ian Ellis. Drummer Guy Evans joined not too long afterwards. This line-up recorded a series of demos for Mercury, before releasing a single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand") on Polydor Records. The single was withdrawn under pressure from Mercury, since it violated Hammill's contract as a solo artist.VDGG broke up in early 1969 with Mercury's refusal to let Hammill out of his solo contract and the band's unwillingness to sign under the "harsh" terms to which Hammill had agreed.

In July 1969, Hammill went to record his first solo album, Banton, Evans, and Ellis joined him as session musicians. Through a deal worked out by their manager, Hammill's intended solo album, The Aerosol Grey Machine, was released by Mercury under the VDGG's name in return for releasing Hammill from his solo contract. A new sound was established, leaving behind the psychedelic influence of The Aerosol Grey Machine in favour of darker textures influenced by jazz and classical music. The Least We Can Do... was well received, and was swiftly followed by H to He, Who Am the Only One. Potter left mid-way through that recording, and the band decided to carry on without a bass guitarist, with Banton on hand and feet bass pedals.
The Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans quartet that resulted from H to He is now considered the 'classic' line-up, and went on to record Pawn Hearts, which is considered by many to be their finest work. The album proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for 12 weeks. The band toured extensively from 1970 to 1972, but a lack of support from the record company and possibly also financial difficulties caused the band to implode and Hammill left to pursue a solo career.

Hammill's split with the group was amicable, and Banton, Jackson and Evans, among others, all contributed to his solo work at various times. By 1975 the band were ready to work with each other again, the sessions were produced by the band themselves, and displayed a more streamlined sound. VDGG released Godbluff starting off a trio of new albums that were recorded in just 12 months. The second step on the mid-'70s comeback trail, Still Life, saw Peter Hammill attempting to meld the introspective and the cosmic throughout, though this did not stop him from taking a dead run at a grandiose concept or two -- the consequences of immortality on the title track, and the grand fate of humanity on the epic "Childlike Faith in Childhood's End." The theme of humane cooperation informs the opening "Pilgrims," while "La Rossa" is an epic tale of desire fulfilled .The true highlight, however, is the beautiful, pensive "My Room (Waiting for Wonderland)," with its echoes of imagination and loss. The last record the classic line up produced was World Record, first Banton and then Jackson departed. It would be 30 years before they would release another VDGG record together.

Nic Potter returned, and in a typically eccentric move Banton was replaced by a violinist, Graham Smith (formerly of Charisma folk-rock band String Driven Thing). This line-up produced the album The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome. The band also shortened its name to Van der Graaf. Charles Dickie then joined the band on cello for live work, documented on the live album Vital. By the time Vital was released, in the summer of 1978, the band had already split.

Banton, Jackson and Evans all made occasional appearances on Hammill's solo albums following the 1978 split, and the classic line-up also played occasionally together. In 2003, Banton, Jackson, and Evans joined with Hammill to perform the song "Still Life" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Following the Queen Elizabeth Hall performance, discussions between the band members led to writing and rehearsal of new material in mid-2004. A double CD, Present, containing this material was released in April 2005. A reunion concert took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 6 May 2005, ( released as "Real Time" in 2007), it was followed by several European dates in the summer and autumn of 2005. A new album by VDDGG, "Trisector " is expected to be released this month (march 08).



01 - Pilgrims (7:13)
02 - Still Life (7:24)
03 - La Rossa (9:52)

04 - My Room (Waiting For Wonderland) (8:03)
05 - Childlike Faith In Childhood's End (12:24)


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Vaughn Combo - Beautiful Thing (87 ^ 95mb)

Ben Vaughn is known more these days for television soundtrack work and some work as a rock historian, in the 1980s, however, he was fronting a wicked little rock band that captured the timeless, glorious quality of the Jersey/Philly sound from the ‘60s with white boy soul, pop hooks, catchy lyrics, and garage rock, the Ben Vaughn Combo. Vaughn understands its wild, rebellious nature whether it’s conveyed in a nasty electric guitar lick or the rhythms of a conga drum. It’s more than an attitude. It’s a groove Alas they never recorded an album that truly reflected their wigged-out, unpredictable live shows.

Beautiful Thing was the second Combo album and the most subdued, musically. Paradoxical as it was to the band’s live show, the songs are among Vaughn’s best and most memorable. The title track,”Beautiful Thing,” is a restrained performance of a song that sounds like it could take off in concert, “Jerry Lewis In France,” was the song that got the most attention at the time of the album’s release, It’s one of those lyrical metaphors that Vaughn is so adept at. He trots out a lineup of comparisons from American popular culture history, the joy expressed is palpable in Vaughn’s vocals, even as deadpan as they start out, when he concludes the song in an extended, shouted riff and harmonica outro, rendering what could have been a bookish cliche instead as a sentimental love song. Vaughn wrote 11 out of the dozen songs here, sings, plays lead guitar, harmonica and produced this effort that bathes in the joy of listening to the radio as a kid and remembering the pleasures summoned forth.Now that this, his best album, has just been reissued, perhaps some other clueless collegiate type will discover Vaughn’s magical mixture of hipster cool and retro rock ‘n’ roll schooling for themselves.

Vaughn lives in Venice, California these days, and he has been busy with revisiting his back catalog on albums such as Vaugh Sings Vaughn, vol. 1 & 2. You can check out more history and credits on his Myspace page, with new music and another video clip or two. After years in television work, it seems like Vaughn is getting back to the basics of making his back-to-basics rock ‘n’ roll, and that’s definitely a beautiful thing.....



01 - Jerry Lewis in France (4:01)
02 - Clothes Don't Make the Man (3:20)
03 - Beautiful Thing (3:18)
04 - North Wind Blew (4:10)
05 - Shingaling with Me (4:15)
06 - Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (2:27)
07 - She's a Real Scream (2:03)
08 - Big House with a Yard (2:24)
09 - On the Rebound (3:15)
10 - Good Woman Is Hard to Find (3:31)
11 - Desert Boots (1:26)
12 - Apology Line (4:56)

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Die Verbannten Kinder Evas - In Darkness Let Me Dwell (99

Die Verbannten Kinder Evas ("The Exiled Children of Eve".) was formed by Richard Ledere and Michael Gregor (member of his other project "summoning") . It was Michael who found this German line, that means "the banished children of eve", in a renaissance booklet while searching for new lyrics for one of their songs. The name was not supposed to contain some special message, it was just chosen because it suited well to the mood of the music.

In March 1995 the first album of DVKE was released, and it received good reactions.Soon after the release Michael left to concentrate on Summoning, so the band at that time consisted of two people only Richard and Julia. At this time Richard got in contact "oliver falk" what started the label "MOSrecords" and decided to change the label, in the hope for a better distribution. The second album "Come Heavy Sleep" saw the light in September 1997 , it was less "heavy", a more classic and orchestra orientated and much more professionally done. Lyrics were taken from "Percy Bysshe Shelley", the English romatic poet of 19th century. The reactions on "Come Heavy Sleep" were quite different, from "quite boring" to "highlight of the year". But sometime after the release the relations between Richard and Oliver were disturbed and thus the decision to change label was taken once again.

This time it was the Austrian label "Napalm Records", under which "Summoning" was releasing its albums since the debut in 1995. And the changes in the line-up took place once more. Julia was replaced by the new singer "Tania Borsky" who has got a voice much stronger and more in the classical style. The third album ("In Darkness Let Me Dwell") came out 22-11-99. It's less classical and polyphony, more darkwave , it concentrates more on vocals. All high parts were sung by Tania. This time the lyrics are taken from "Percy Shelly" and "John Dowland". By the way, in the beginning this album was supposed to be called"The Spirit of Solitude" (poem title of shelly), but later, when Dowland's lyrics were included the name was changed.

After that album singer Tania lost interest and fell away Richard had to search for a new singer, things didnt work out with the replacement singer and DVKE was put on hold and he returned to "Summoning" that was also already delayed for a very long time cause of all those problems with DVKE. After the new "Summoning" album was released he got in contact with "Christina", a singer from Greece that was a fan of DVKE. Richard heard one of her tracks and immediately decided to make the recording with her, she flew to Vienna and in only 3 days recorded all songs. Finally "Dusk And Void Became Alive" had been finished after a unintentional pause of 7 years.



1 - Intro (4:21)
2 - Brief Even As Bright (7:04)
3 - On A Faded Violet (6:56)
4 - Overpast (6:09)
5 - Cease Sorrows Now (6:59)
6 - In Darkness Let Me Dwell (7:02)
7 - Shall I Strive? (5:58)
8 - Arise From Dreams Of Thee (6:12)
9 - From Silent Night (7:18)

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

Eight- X (22)

Hello, Eight-X burps up some more nostalgia again from the days when the world had to do without the internet, cheap communications and computers were toys for nerdy boys. A time when governments and company's functioned without the demand to know everything about you, in fact it was easier to enter/visit a jail then, as it is to enter a 'democratic' country these days. Seen in that light this eighties nostalgia is escapism too.
Buggles started off the MTV age , little did they know how bad it would get, Clear Channel that owns 1600 radiostations in the US has put out an 'edict' that no artists over 45 are to be played at their radiostations..wrinklefree radio..Well Buggles started off the career of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, ironically the main man responsible for Video Killed The Radiostar, Bruce Woolley disengaged shortly before and after one album fell into oblivion... The Passions began at the Cure's Fiction label and thats not surprising when listening to Michael And Miranda, later a major picked them up, but didn't really know what to do with them, a pity their music was still developing ( as did the line up) After 3 albums it was all over, to my surprise there's just one cd collection released, where's the remaster ? ...Finally Thomas Dolby, who btw worked with Buggles and later as backing for Woolley before setting out himself. His first album was great even, if it has been rereleased in 5 versions at the time, well i scored the first one back then..I'm not sure what happened after his great second album, The Flat Earth, he seems to have lost focus, too much too young perhaps.

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Buggles - The Age Of Plastic (79 ^ 465mb)

Buggles formed in 1977 consisting of Trevor Horn (bass guitar, guitar, percussion, and vocals), Geoff Downes (percussion and keyboards) and Bruce Woolley. Horn and Downes first met in the mid 1970s while members of the backing band of British singer Tina Charles . After this stint they briefly went their separate ways, Horn playing bass guitar in the house band at Hammersmith Odeon for a while, where he met Bruce Woolley. During this period Horn yearned to become a record producer, but was frustrated by not being able to find ideal songs or artists to work with. As a result he reunited with Geoff Downes, and the trio of Horn, Downes, and Woolley began writing their own songs to record themselves as a studio band.

The Buggles' sound was characterised by a deliberately synthetic quality in keeping with the technological subject matter of their songs. The origin of the band's name the booklet for the CD remaster of "The Age of Plastic" says that it arose out of a private joke between Horn and Downes and was actually a pun on "Beatles". ( but then take out a g and you get bugles..horns). Their first song was "Video Killed the Radio Star," and in the summer of 1979 a demo recording was submitted to Island Records, who signed them immediately. Although the song was chiefly a Bruce Woolley composition, he left shortly before its release to form a new band, the Ian band, which included Thomas Dolby and Hans Zimmer. The Camera Club also released a version of the song. Three months after the demo was sent to Island, "Video Killed the Radio Star" was spending one week at the top and shooting Buggles to fame. At the time of the single's original release Buggles did not actually have an album's worth of material to record, and so they wrote most of the other tracks for their debut album The Age of Plastic (1980) while travelling around Europe promoting "Video Killed the Radio Star".

Being largely a studio creation, Buggles never toured as such. The novelty value of the song led to the Buggles' being perceived as being a one-hit wonder (three subsequent singles also charted, although they were largely ignored by radio and did not perform well), but its success was sufficient to launch both members of the band onto successful careers. The video for the song, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was the first video aired on MTV two years later, at midnight on the 1st of August 1981. By this time, the Camera Club had released their version of the song.

Later in 1980, Horn and Downes began work on a second album, working in a studio next door to progressive rock band Yes, who had recently lost vocalist Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman. Buggles offered a song to Yes, "We Can Fly from Here", but at the suggestion of Brian Lane, manager of both bands, Yes' bassist Chris Squire invited them to actually replace Anderson and Wakeman as fully fledged members of Yes. This they did, in one of rock music's more surprising shifts of personnel. The fruit of their labours was the album Drama (1980). On the whole, the team-up of Yes and Buggles was well received by fans both on record, and on stage. Yes officially disbanded, although temporarily, in early 1981, shortly after the Drama tour came to an end.

Whilst Downes went on forming Asia, Horn continued to work on the second Buggles album, Adventures in Modern Recording, with several new players, the most prominent being Simon Darlow. The album did not chart, nor did four singles released from it. Shortly afterwards Trevor Horn brought the Buggles to an end. Finally embarking on his new career as a record producer, achieving enormous success, with bands like ABC, Dollar, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Art of Noise, and even a re-formed Yes, with Jon Anderson back on vocals. In 1985, Horn won the Best Producer BRIT Award.



01 - Living In The Plastic Age (5:13)
02 - Video Killed The Radio Star (4:13)
03 - Kid Dynamo (3:29)
04 - I Love You (Miss Robot) (4:58)
05 - Clean, Clean (3:53)
06 - Elstree (4:29)
07 - Astroboy (And The Proles On Parade) (4:41)
08 - Johnny On The Monorail (5:28)
09 - Island (3:33)
10 - Technopop (3:50)
11 - Johnny On The Monorail (A Very Different Version) (3:49)

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The Passions - Michael and Miranda (80 ^ 273mb)

Based in Shepherds Bush, West London, The Passions' music was grounded mainly in Barbara Gogan's voice, and Clive Timperley's delicate echoplex guitar work. Before forming in 1978, most of the members had spent time in other groups. Timperley was an ex-101ers, whilst drummer Richard Williams and singer/guitarist Barbara Gogan were in the punk rock outfit, The Derelicts. The Passions' first single, issued in March 1979, was "Needles and Pills", which helped them gain a recording contract with Fiction Records, home of The Cure.

A year passed between the release of the "Needles and Pills" single, and Michael and Miranda, the band's first album. Singles "Hunted", and "Swimmer" followed, and then their major charting song, "I'm in Love with a German Film Star". Before "The Swimmer" Bidwell and Barker left the band, the former to join The Wall. David Agar took over on bass guitar. The band's second album, 30,000 Feet Over China, was released in August 1981. It included previously released A-sides and several brand new recordings. Clive Timperley left the band in Verona in December 1981, during the Italian leg of their prophetically named "Tour Till We Crack" tour, as a result of "serious political differences".

The follow-up single release "Africa Mine" was recorded with a new line-up. Kevin Armstrong (a contributor to a Thomas Dolby album), who had previously been with Local Heroes joined, and the group added a keyboard player, Jeff Smith, perhaps best known for his past work with Lene Lovich. Armstrong and Smith took part in the recording of the band's third and final album, Sanctuary. It appeared in the autumn of 1982, Stephen Wright joined replacing Armstrong. The band toured Europe and the U.S., but dissolved for good in the summer of 1983, after playing their last ever live show at London's Marquee Club on 12 August that year.



01 - Pedal Fury (2:07)
02 - Oh No It's You (4:25)
03 - Snow (2:29)
04 - Love Song (2:34)
05 - Man On The Tube (3:51)
06 - Miranda (1:05)
07 - Obsession (3:35)
08 - Suspicion (2:34)
09 - Palava (2:04)
10 - Absentee (3:16)
11 - Brick Wall (2:37)
12 - Why Me (3:09)
 Bonus
13 - Hunted 3:31
14 - Needles And Pills 3:48
15 - Body And Soul 3:07

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Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age Of Wireless ( 82 ^ 447mb)

Thomas Dolby (born Thomas Morgan Robertson, on 14 October 1958) is an English musician, producer, and inventor. Thomas was born in London, England. His father, Martin Robertson, was an internationally-distinguished professor of classical Greek art and archaeology at the University of London and Oxford University, and in his youth Thomas lived or worked in Greece and France. Thomas married actress Kathleen Beller in 1988; the couple have three children together.
Dolby's interest in music arose through his interest in computers, electronics and synthesizers. He originally attended college to study meteorology, but he was soon side-tracked by electronics, specifically musical equipment. He began building his own synthesizers when he was 18 years old. Around the same time, he began to learn how to play guitar and piano, as well as how to program computers. The "Dolby" nickname comes from the name Dolby Laboratories, and was given to him by school friends due to his seemingly inseparable relationship with his cassette machine. Dolby Laboratories tried to stop him from using the name Dolby entirely. Eventually, the case was settled out of court and it was agreed that he would refrain from using the word Dolby in any context other than with the name Thomas.

In his late teens, Dolby was hired as a touring sound engineer for a variety of post-punk bands, including the Fall, the Passions and the Members; on these dates, he would use a PA system he had built himself. In 1979, he formed the arty post-punk band Camera Club with Bruce Woolley, Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Matthew Seligman. Within a year, he had left the group and joined Lene Lovich's backing band. Dolby gave Lovich his song "New Toy," which became a British hit in 1981. That same year, he released his first solo single, "Urges," on the English independent label Armageddon. By the fall, he had signed with Parlophone and released "Europa and the Pirate Twins." Dolby started playing synthesizer on sessions for other artists in 1982. He wrote and produced "Magic's Wand" for Whodini; the single became one of the first million-selling rap singles. Even with all of these achievements, 1982 was most noteworthy for the release of Dolby's first solo album, The Golden Age of Wireless, in the summer of 1982; the record reached number 13 in England, while it was virtually forgotten in America. "Windpower," the first single from the record, became his first Top 40 UK hit . Here he is performing at Top Of The Pops..Windpower...no need to remind the Brits as a storm is raging over the isles tonight.

In January of 1983, Dolby released an EP, Blinded by Science, which included a catchy number called "She Blinded Me with Science" that featured a cameo vocal appearance by the notorious British eccentric Magnus Pike, who also appeared in the song's promotional video. Blinded by Science was a minor hit in England, but the EP and the single became major American hit in 1983, thanks to MTV's heavy airplay of the "She Blinded Me with Science" video. Eventually, it was included on a resequenced and reissued version of The Golden Age of Wireless, which peaked at number 13 in America.

The Flat Earth, Dolby's second album, appeared in early 1984 and was supported by the single "Hyperactive." The single became his biggest UK hit. Though The Flat Earth did relativly well in the US , Dolby's momentum was already beginning to slow -- none of the singles released from the album cracked the American Top 40. Nevertheless, Dolby was in demand as a collaborator and he worked with Herbie Hancock, Howard Jones, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, and Dusty Springfield. During 1985, he produced Clinton's Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends, Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen (Two Wheels Good in the US), and Joni Mitchell's Dog Eat Dog, as well as supporting David Bowie at Live Aid. Also in 1985, he began composing film scores, starting with Fever Pitch. In 1986, he composed the scores for Gothic and Howard the Duck, to which he credited himself as Dolby's Cube. Aliens Ate My Buick, Dolby's long-delayed third album, appeared in 1988 to poor reviews and weak sales, even though the single "Airhead" became a minor British hit.

For the rest of the late '80s and early '90s, Dolby continued to score films, producing and he began building his own computer equipment. His fourth album, Astronauts & Heretics, was released in 1992 on his new label, Giant the album was a flop. The following year, Dolby founded the computer software company Headspace, which released The Virtual String Quartet as its first program. For the rest of the '90s, Headspace occupied most of Dolby's time and energy. In 1994, he released The Gate to the Mind's Eye, a soundtrack to the videotape Mind's Eye. Also that year, Capitol released the greatest-hits collection, Retrospectacle.

This is the original version of the LP, released in early 1982 in the UK. Later pressings differ from this one in a variety of ways, but most notably: First US issue (but second issue overall; on Harvest): Drops The Wreck Of The Fairchild, but adds Urges and Leipzig which were taken from an early single. Replaces the full-length Airwaves found here with a 7" version, and includes a different version of Radio Silence. A later US version then dropped Urges and Leipzig and instead added She Blinded Me With Science and One Of Our Submarines. Still later pressings switch off between the long and short versions of She Blinded... and Airwaves, and the rock (long) vs. synth (short) versions of Radio Silence. Confused ? Don't be, here's the final 09 remastered issue



01 Flying North (3:49)
02 Commercial Breakup (4:15)
03 Weightless (3:45)
04 Europa And The Pirate Twins (3:17)
05 Windpower (4:17)
06 The Wreck Of The Fairchild (3:20)
07 Airwaves (5:17)
08 Radio Silence (3:45)
09 Cloudburst At Shingle Street (5:35)
Bonus
10 One Of Our Submarines 5:11
11 She Blinded Me With Science 3:42
12 Radio Silence (Guitar Version) 4:52
13 Urges 3:39
14 Leipzig 3:53
15 Urban Tribal 3:45
16 Therapy / Growth (Demo) 4:05
17 Airwaves (Demo) 5:20
18 Sale Of The Century (Demo) 2:52
19 Pedestrian Walkway (Demo) 1:27

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

Around the World (22)

Hello, Around the World still keeps that old heartbeat , you might be forgiven to think that its only germans doing the medievil dance, obviously not but then again Germany has many old castles as backdrop/inspiration for festivals and most towncenters still have plenty of woodwork buildings, 16 th century houses with 21 st century BMW and Mercs parked in front...duh. I think its a rather unique sense of history germans keep. Enough of that...My second title Mystica Antiqua Vol. 2 is actually a better compilation then last weeks vol 1 and you'll find besides germans an austrian , swiss, australian, bulgarian and evensome english babes on it, try to compile a rock sampler with those backgrounds, it wouldnt work but here it sure does.
Firstly however i present a band, i myself discovered not that long ago and i was almost immediately taken by their music, they are from Valencia/Spain......

L'Ham de Foc (Fish hook of fire...great logo !) are from Valencia, power and beauty are the two main concepts in their music, and fire and water the contrary elements that are symbolized by their name. Their compositions have the ability to transform music for specialists into an understandable but profound music. Each album of L'Ham de Foc reflects what they have experienced in their recent journeys and studies. Three years passed by between the surprising and acclaimed debut album "U"and its successor "Cançó de Dona i Home", their second album and international breakthrough. Once again the band took a break of three years to release "Cor de Porc". Before entering the studio they spent six month in Thessaloniki (Greece) to study the music of the Ottoman Empire that is still vivid and being played on the Ud in Turkey, Greece and Armenia. This attitude was responsable for a lot of journeys especially to Greece where the main protagonists of L'Ham de Foc -singer Mara Aranda and multiinstrumentalist Efrén López- have now found their second home.

All songs have one thing in common - a sort of drone. This element is found in Medieval music but also in Afghan and Scandinavian styles. To this drone is added layer upon layer of instruments, topped off with the clear voice of Mara Aranda. Each layer might have its home in a distant part of the world. A Norwegian langeleik is matched with tabla, an Afghan rabab combines with a Persian santur and a bagpipe becomes the lead to a Catalan harp. It’s hard to put a label on this music. There are so many influences to discover in the melodies and timbres these instruments provide.





L'Ham de Foc also works on other traditional rhythms from Spain, like the Jota, and uses archaic and popular percussion like spoons, pots or a wooden table, played by Vanesa Muela as a basic rhythm, while new band member Osvaldo Jorge plays the Indian percussion instruments like Tabla, Kanjira or Ghatam and is responsible for the more specific and detailed pecussion. Stunning musical dialogues are developped on the Tomback (another percussion instrument) between Masur from Iran and band member Diego López. Again multiinstrumentalist Efrén López has introduced various new instruments in the sound universe of L'Ham de Foc. The whole family of the turkish Saz (string instrument) that consists of 6 instruments with different sizes has been involved in the repertoire and has strongly influenced the music. Out of more than 40 hours of material, that was recorded between Valencia and Thessaloniki, L'Ham de Foc produced 12 songs with a delicate selection of instruments, melodies and rhythms that make their music so unique.


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L'ham de Foc - Cor de Porc (05 ^ 150mb)

"COR DE PORC ("Pig Heart") suggests the idea of the eternal coming and going through life with sadness and the natural imperfection which makes us (both musicians and the rest of the human race) like a pig attempting to wrench notes from a harp, when comparing with the ideal of perfection that we have. However much a man evolves, studies, investigates and wastes sleeping hours in the madness of being, he will never be more than this, a lonely pig with eternal insatisfaction like a hump."



01 - Voldrien (5:41)
02 - Per La Boca (4:45)
03 - Pandero (4:03)
04 - La Raó (4:00)
05 - Cus! (4:47)
06 - Tristos Ulls (5:42)
07 - L'Estimat Del Corb (4:41)
08 - Encara (8:56)
09 - Jorn E Nit (7:01)
10 - Història Curta D'Un Vent (5:14)
11 - Àngels De Menta (6:19)
12 - L'Únic Peix No Foll Del Món (1:56)

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VA - Mystica Antiqua Vol. 2 (00, 71 min ^ 159mb)




01 - Sarband - Stella Splendens (6:46)
02 - Hortus Musicus - Ninguno Cierre Las Puertas (4:56)
03 - Adaro - Se Ome Fezer De Grado / Apostos Miragres (2:43)
04 - Streuner, Die - Die Räuber (2:39)
05 - Spectaculatius - Der König Und Der Bettler (2:53)
06 - Airim - Follow Me Up To Carlow (2:36)
07 - Corvus Corax - Mit Dans Is All Die Werlt Genesen (3:24)
08 - Donner Trummel - The Chariot (3:14)
09 - Mediaeval Baebes - Omnes Gentes Plaudite (3:06)
10 - Louisa John-Krol - Alexandria (5:30)
11 - La Floa Maldita - L'Oasis (Night) (5:14)
12 - Verbannten Kinder Evas, Die - Overpast (6:08)
13 - Peron, Carlos and Ehrlich, Peter - Lohengrin (5:07)
14 - Hans-Andr Stamm - Requiem: Sanctus (2:49)
15 - Mothwing - The Castle (2:36)
16 - Miller, Dave - Mystic Procession (6:35)
17 - Lesiem - Liberta (Chor Version) (4:27)

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

Don't Panic ! (22)

Hello, the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy continues with the final episode of the Quandary Phase (the adaptation of So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish). Thusfar i posted all fits via Sharebee, but since last week i have been unable to get a link back from them, neither did they answer my mail as to why ? Well plenty of alternatives...

Last weeks 21st fit summary;

Fenchurch tells Arthur about her revelation at the time of the Vogon fleet's visit. At her urging, Arthur figures out that her feet do not touch the ground, leading him to suspect that she also can fly, and to a romantic tryst on the wing of a Heathrow-bound airplane.

Curious about the dolphins' fate, Arthur and Fenchurch head to California to visit Wonko the Sane, a scientist considered the foremost expert on the species. Wonko, who lives in an inside-out house called "The Outside of the Asylum" and claims to have had conversations with green-winged angels, tells Arthur and Fenchurch that they all received the same glass bowls — farewell gifts from the dolphins that, when pinged, play their final message to humans.

Meanwhile, a Vogon inquiry reveals that Earth's location in a plural zone means that any destroyed version is highly likely to be replaced by an alternate one. The Vogons decide that all Earths must still be destroyed, even though the bypass project has been cancelled.

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THHGTTG - Fit 22 (22mb)


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

Sundaze (22)

Hello, Sundaze presents just one album tonight , one very versatile artist that started at a young age doing his thing, a celtic bard of sorts who manages to transmute the isolated beautiful nature he grew up in and became an 'expert knob twiddler' falling for electronics but still having the rhythms of nature deeply embedded in his system. About the album here he said it came about by lucid dreams and synesthesia (mixing up of the senses ( f.i. hearing green)) Well here's 2 1/2 hours of Aphex Twin ( he was named after a brother who died at birth..hence the twin)

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Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II ( 94, 155min ^ 318mb)

Richard David James ( August 18, 1971) grew up in Lanner, Cornwall, England, enjoying, along with two older sisters a "very happy" childhood during which they, according to James, "were pretty much left to do what they wanted. He liked growing up there (near Lands end), being cut off from the city and the rest of the world.

As a child he experimented on the strings and hammers of the family piano. According to Benjamin Middleton, James started producing music at the age of 12. As a teenager he DJ ed at the Shire Horse in St Ives, with Tom Middleton at the Bowgie Inn in Crantock, and also along the numerous beaches around Cornwall. From age 16 to 18 James studied for a National Diploma in Engineering from 1988 to 1990 in Cornwall College. James describing his course said "music and electronics went hand in hand".

Richard James's first record was the 12-inch EP Analogue Bubblebath released as AFX, the track "En Trance to Exit" was made with Tom Middleton aka Schizophrenia. In 1991 James formed Rephlex Records with his friend Grant Wilson-Claridge to promote: "Innovation in the dynamics of Acid - Between 1991 and 1993, James released two Analogue Bubblebath EPs under the name of AFX and a Bradley Strider EP under "Bradley Strider". He would also record tracks during this time that appeared on his later releases. James moved to London to take an electronics course at Kingston Polytechnic, but his electronics studies slipped away as a career in the techno business took precedence. After quitting his course, James remained in London and released a number of albums and EPs on Warp Records and other labels under many aliases, including AFX, Polygon Window, and Power-Pill.

The first full-length Aphex Twin album, Selected Ambient Works 85-92, was released in 1992 on R&S Records. It got good reviews not withstanding the fact that the recordings were at times of cassette quality, but thats hardly surprising as he was 14 years old in 85. Anyway, he put to music the world around him, lush landscapes with oceanic beats and added bass lines.
In 1992, he also released the Xylem Tube EP and Digeridoo as Aphex Twin, as Power-Pill the Pac-Man EP based on the arcade game Pac-Man, and two of his four Caustic Window EPs.

In 1993, Aphex released his third installment in the Analogue Bubblebath series, an ambient single On, his second Bradley Strider EP, two more Caustic Window EPs, and his first releases on Warp Records, Surfing on Sine Waves and Quoth under the alias Polygon Window. Warp Records pressed and released a follow-up to SAW85-92, Selected Ambient Works Volume II in 1994. The sound was much less beat-driven than the previous volume. James stated that these songs were inspired by lucid dreams and synesthesia. 1994 would also include a string of other releases including his fourth Analogue Bubblebath, GAK, derived from early demos sent to Warp Records and Classics, a compilation album that includes the Digeridoo single

Two months later, James released the single "Ventolin," a harsh, appropriately wheezing ode to the asthma drug on which he relied. I Care Because You Do followed in April, pairing his hardcore experimentalism with more symphonic ambient material, aligned with the work of many post-classical composers -- including Philip Glass, who arranged an orchestral version of the album's "Icct Hedral" on the August 1995 single Donkey Rhubarb. Later that year, the Hangable Auto Bulb EP replaced Analogue Bubblebath 3 as Aphex Twin's most brutal, uncompromising release -- a fusion of experimental music and jungle being explored at the same time on releases by Plug and Squarepusher. In July 1996, Rephlex released the long-awaited collaboration between Richard James and Michael Paradinas (µ-Ziq). " Expert Knob Twiddlers".

The fourth proper Aphex Twin album, November 1996's Richard D. James Album, continued his forays into acid-jungle and experimental music. James' next two releases, 1997's Come to Daddy EP and 1999's Windowlicker EP, were acid storms of industrial drum'n'bass. The accompanying videos, both directed by Chris Cunningham, featured the bodies of small children and female models (respectively) dancing around, all with special-effects-created Aphex Twin faces grinning maniacally


With very little advance warning, another LP, Drukqs, finally arrived in late 2001, his most personal album yet, a 2-CD album which featured prepared piano songs influenced by Erik Satie and John Cage. It is notable that many of the tracks names are written in the Cornish language (e.g. 'jynweythek' translatable as 'machinemusic'). Also included were abrasive, fast and meticulously programmed computer-made songs. Although James continued making frequent DJ appearances, he released no more material until 2005, when Rephlex issued the first installment in a lengthy, 11-part series of 12" singles titled Analord. For the series James used his extensive collection of Roland drum machines which he bought when they were still at bargain prices.The singles' minimalist acid techno harked back to his Caustic Window/Analogue Bubblebath material of the early '90s. Chosen Lords, a CD compilation of some of the Analord material, appeared in April 2006.




Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II-I   (flac 273mb)

01 - Cliffs (7:27)
02 - Radiator (6:34)
03 - Rhubarb (7:44)
04 - Hankie (4:39)
05 - Grass (8:55)
06 - Mold (3:31)

07 - Curtains (8:51)
08 - Blur (5:08)
09 - Weathered Stone (6:54)
10 - Tree (9:58)
11 - Domino (7:18)
12 - White Blur 1 (2:38)

Volume II differs significantly from the first volume in the series, in that the first volume is mostly beat-oriented, with complex instrumental rhythmic patterns and heavy bass frequencies. In contrast to the fast, club-inspired ambient music of its predecessor, Volume II consists of slow, moody pieces, performed much like ambient pioneer Brian Eno; e.g. "[lichen]" is reminiscent of Eno's Discreet Music. Many of the tracks feature almost no percussion, and have strong synth textures. James said that the album is "like being in a power station on acid."

Richard D. James has stated in interviews that the sounds in this music were inspired by lucid dreams, and that upon awaking, he would attempt to re-create the sounds and record them. He claimed that he has natural synaesthesia, which contributed to this album.

Volume II originally consisted of 25 songs, all untitled except for the song "Blue Calx." Every song matches with a specific photograph taken by James himself (except for a solid blue emblem representing the first track of the second CD, "Blue Calx"). The graphics are part of an encoded track-listing system that uses circles and pie diagrams—present in varying forms among the different releases—to represent each track.The lack of written titles for the tracks on this release provided impetus for fans of the album to come up with their own. Officially, however, the songs are still referred to by their track numbers.

There were several editions of SAW2 available for purchase. The most complete, with all 25 tracks, were the Limited Edition UK vinyl, which was pressed on brown vinyl and limited to a press run of 10,000 copies and the UK cassette edition, released simultaneously with the vinyl and CD. The second most complete versions are the regular vinyl release and the Warp Records (UK) CD release, which has every track except for "[stone in focus]", omitted due to the capacity limit of the CD format. The only hard-copy digital form of it can be found on the Astralwerks compilation Excursions In Ambience: The Third Dimension.

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II-II   (flac 296mb)

01 - Blue Calx (7:20)
02 - Parallel Stripes (8:00)
03 - Shiny Metal Rods (5:33)
04 - Grey Stripe (4:45)
05 - Z Twig (2:05)
06 - Windowsill (7:16)
07 - Hexagon (5:57)
08 - Lichen (4:15)
09 - Spots (7:09)
10 - Tassels (7:30)
11 - White Blur 2 (11:27)
12 - Matchsticks (5:39)

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