Rhotation (37) Into BPM

Hello, Rhotation 37, how time flees..Into BPM , is about Darren Emerson today, his Psychotrance mix album showed not only great skills but self assuredness aswell, enough to extend the feel of it into Underworlds next releases, when he left in 2000 at the height of the DJ culture, he spon his way into the Ibiza nightlife, becoming one of it's biggest assets.

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Darren Emerson mix Psychotrance 2 (94, 72min flac 462mb)

Darren Emerson (born 30 April 1971, in Hornchurch, England), he began mixing Hip-Hop records at the age of 14, and by 16 was DJing regularly at local venues. He began to explore House Music and quickly acquired a reputation as one of the top British DJs, and demand for his services saw him playing at top clubs such as The Milk Bar, Limelights, and Venus. Along the way Darren garnered several accolades such as "DJ of the Month" in The Face magazine, and also i-D magazine.

In 1990, Martin Prudence, brother-in-law of Rick Smith, introduced him and Karl Hyde invited him to become the third member of techno band Underworld. 1993's dubnobasswithmyheadman was their commercial breakthrough onto the then burgeoning British electronica scene. In 1994 he was asked to compile and mix the second instalment of the well recieved Psychotrance 1, Darren didn't blink and layed down not only an excellent set but layed out the groundworks of Underworlds next releases. "Born Slippy .NUXX", which became a huge hit following its inclusion on the soundtrack to the movie, Trainspotting. Originally not included on their second album, 1996's Second Toughest in the Infants. Where Underworld continue to explore the fringes of dub, dance, and techno, creating a seamless, eclectic fusion of various dance genres. Emerson also emerged as a much sought-after remix talent, with remixes for such diverse acts as The Chemical Brothers, and Björk.

Darren parted ways with Underworld in 2000 and then concentrated more on his solo career as a DJ and remixer, and also a label owner. "Global Underground: Uruguay" (2000) and "Global Underground: Singapore" (2001) soon followed on the Global Underground label, with "Episode 1" on his new Underwater label following in 2002. He continued to release tracks by himself and new artists on the Underwater records label and eventually gained its own night at super club Pacha, Ibiza alongside fellow DJ Erick Morillo, to hold a joint Underwater/Subliminal Records night. During its second summer at Pacha, his Underwater Records night won 'House Event' of the summer at the DJ Magazine awards. After its success, Darren Emerson decided to host its own full night at Pacha, Ibiza which became an extremely popular night on the island.

Over the past few years, Emerson has been busy touring the world whilst preparing for his own solo debut album. Rarely playing in the UK apart from his bi-monthly resident slot at London club The End, he still finds time to release an annual Underwater Records compilation every summer. Since 2004, Emerson has been dating British TV presenter, Kate Thornton. They are currently engaged and have one son, born in last month May 2008.



01 - T World - Anthem (5:52)
02 - Norma G. - Son Of Norma (9:09)
03 - Josh Wink - Liquid Summer (5:43)
04 - Advent, The - Level X (6:10)
05 - Gyrate - Touchdown (7:41)
06 - F.E.O.S. vs. M/S/O - Music Was Sent (4:54)
07 - Stefan Robbers - Mask EP (4:28)
08 - Nüw Idol - Z I M (9:29)
09 - Soundscape - Darkside (2:09)
10 - Manuel And Clive - Recognised (4:49)
11 - Dave Angel - Artech (4:27)
12 - Acid Jesus - Move My Body (7:12)

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Underworld - Second Toughest In The Infants (96 ^ 194mb)

When at first you don't succeed...Hyde and Smith began their musical partnership with the Kraftwerk and reggae-inspired sounds of while studying together at Cardiff Art College. In 1983 they recorded two albums for CBS Records with a proto-electroclash new romantic band whose name was a graphic squiggle, which (this being a relatively unknown band and many years before Prince became "Love Symbol") was soon given a pronunciation, Freur...doot doot .Freur disbanded in 1986. In 1987 members of Freur created the band Underworld and tried a more guitar-orientated funky electropop sound "Underneath the Radar"and Change the Weather.After a break (to concentrate on, among other things, art/design project Tomato), Hyde and Smith recruited Essex DJ Darren Emerson, and after several minor releases and remixes as Lemon Interupt and Steppin' Razor readopted the Underworld moniker.

The trio's first full-length, Dubnobasswithmyheadman, was released in 1993 to rave reviews and is still considered a landmark piece of work today. It spawned several hit singles ("Dark & Long", "Cowgirl", "Dirty Epic") and was followed a couple years later by the "Born Slippy" single and their second album, Second Toughest In The Infants (1996). The unusual name of the album as released derives from a comment made by Smith's six-year old nephew Simon Prosser when asked on his progress at school. Both the single and the album showed Underworld maturing as a trio, mixing elements of techno, house, drum and bass and pop music to spectacular effect.

Underworld's well-praised remixography also continued to grow, including artists such as Björk, Saint Etienne, Simply Red, Massive Attack and Leftfield. After licensing a remix of "Born Slippy" for the 1996 cult classic film Trainspotting, Underworld gained instant worldwide fame and found themselves touring furiously, presenting their renowned, high-energy live act worldwide. Their fame continued to run high through the release of Beaucoup Fish (1999) and Everything, Everything (2000), after which time Emerson left the group to concentrate on his DJ career.

The duo continued on, releasing the album A Hundred Days Off in 2002 and an anthology release, 1992–2002 in 2003. From 2004–2006, they took a break from the traditional album/tour cycle, and focused on soundtrack work and online digital EP releases as part of The RiverRun Project.In late 2005 they released two compilations of new songs with accompanying photographs on Underworld Live, Lovely Broken Thing and Pizza for Eggs. These were only released online, june 2006, they released their third instalment, I'm a Big Sister, and I'm a Girl, and I'm a Princess, and This Is My Horse. July 2006, they released a special retrospective mix, called The Misterons Mix, which is comprised of tracks from the three previous Riverrun releases.

Underworld added DJ Darren Price to their live lineup during this period. In 2006, Underworld and Gabriel Yared composed the music score to Anthony Minghella's film Breaking and Entering. Underworld 's latest album, Oblivion with Bells, was released on October 16th, 2007. Underworld have been experimenting and selling recordings of their live performance at the venue, 15 minutes after the show had finished, the first time they did this was a 3xCD set called Live in Tokyo in 2005. A full world tour has been announced to support the new studio album, illness prevented the planned kick off time but they've been catching up in 2008, with their tour dates in the United States, Europe, and Japan. This summer they'll be doing a number of festivals around the globe-see their mypage.

In addition to their music, Hyde and Smith are also founding members of a graphic design company, Tomato, which has done high-profile work for clients around the world as well as providing art for all of Underworld's releases. Hyde, along with John Warwicker of Tomato, has published two typographic journals as Underworld Print: Mmm... Skyscraper, I Love You (1994) and In The Belly Of Saint Paul (2003). Underworld Print began publishing the monthly Book of Jam in October 2007, which focuses on a different theme in each issue.



Underworld - Second Toughest In The Infants (96 flac 578mb)

01 - Juanita (16:36)
------ Kiteless
-------To Dream Of Love
02 - Banstyle/Sappys Curry (15:22)
03 - Confusion The Waitress (6:47)
04 - Rowla (6:31)
05 - Pearls Girl (9:36)
06 - Air Towel (7:37)
07 - Blueski (2:55)
08 - Stagger (7:37)
-- Xs
09 - Born Slippy (NUXX) (11:40)




Underworld - Pearls Girl EP ( 96 flac 291mb)

01 - Pearl's Girl (Short) (3:50)
02 - Oich Oich (8:31)
03 - Cherry Pie (8:21)
04 - Pearl's Girl (Carp Dreams... Koi) (10:05)
05 - Mosaic (5:00)
06 - Deep Arch (8:24)

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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 (36)

Hello Its Into The Rare Groove today, at least that what these Urban Classics were called at the time of their re-discovery...rare grooves . It wasn't just rappers looking, the soul/funk and jazzdance DJ's were looking out for these too, so inevatably compilations hit the market.. And these Urban Classics 1 & 2 certainly got noticed...

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Whether it’s sampled as breakbeats, mixed into DJ sets, resold as baby boomer nostalgia or treasured as a holy grail of crate-digging connoisseurs, vintage soul and funk has journeyed from of-the-moment sounds into the realm of timeless for several generations of music lovers. From singles to compilations to samples back to compilations, the sound of the original recordings is creating ever-louder echoes of the echo.

Soul and funk of the ’60s and ’70s had an incalculable influence on American and global popular music. Unlike rock, America’s other great post-war musical phenomenon, soul music came from specifically Afro-American cultural experiences. Its impulses included gospel and jazz, increasing rhythmic sophistication and a broader instrumental palette. Its national successes (James Brown, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, Isaac Hayes) expanded the artistic and commercial dreams of these soul purveyors, but for the huge majority, soul music was a regional industry: recorded by local artists, pressed on 45s, distributed through “mom & pop” stores and played almost exclusively in regional radio markets. With no national distribution or support, many recordings disappeared not long after their initial release; almost as soon as the “golden age of soul” came to an end these recordings were valued by collectors and aficionados, whose dedication helped keep the music alive.

Funk and soul came from a singles world, found new life in cut-up snippets and extended compilations, and now through the digital download. Yet this confirms the ongoing relevance of the DJ. There will always be a demand for musical concierges; it takes a dedicated individual to navigate the sheer number of musical choices available today. The role of the DJ has moved beyond crate-digging and into the role of contextualiser.


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VA - Urban Classics 1 and 2 (87, 88, 101min mb)

Urban Classics, the first of three volumes, is a fine snapshot of the sound of London. Side one is all James Brown rarities (at the time) and featured tracks that were barely a decade old like “Blow Your Head” and “Don’t Tell It,” which became much less obscure after being sampled in “Public Enemy #1” and “Poetry” by Boogie Down Productions. Side two was a mix of stepping soul, jazzy grooves and ballads including Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”: still Camden Town’s unofficial anthem after 30 years. This compilation at the time was a soundtrack to a hip, culturally aware lifestyle. That called for a part 2 and one year later Urban Classics 2 saw the light. Another great set of undeniable classics from the funk and soul vaults, this time compiled by Norman Cook. The purists & collectors will probably disagree with such sought after gems as these being released as a compilation, but hey, why should they keep all these funkysheeeeeet classics to themselves ?.



VA - Urban Classics 1 (^ 300mb)

01 - The Macks - Cross The Tracks (3:22)
02 - Jackson Sisters - I Believe In Miracles (3:00)
03 - Bobby Byrd - I Know You Got Soul (3:09)
04 - James town - Don't Tell It (3:59)
05 - Fred Wesley & The JB's - Blow Your Head (4:46)
06 - Fred Wesley - House Party (3:56)
07 - Greg Diamond Bionic Boogie - Hot Butterfly (5:24)
08 - Johnny Bristol - Hang On In There, Baby (3:56)
09 - Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Everybody Loves The Sunshine (4:01)
10 - La Toya Jackson - Camp Kuchi Kaia (3:35)
11 - Gloria Gaynor - This Love Affair (4:18)
12 - Johnny Bristol - Memories Don't Leave Like People Do (3:56)
13 - The JB's - The Grunt (2:51)




VA - Urban Classics 2 (^ 296mb)

01 - James Brown - She's The One (3:02)
02 - Timmy Thomas - You're The Song I've Always Wanted To Sing (3:19)
03 - The Wild Magnolias - (Somebody Got) Soul, Soul Soul (6:16)
04 - The J.B.'s - Pass The Peas (3:15)
05 - Kool and The Gang - Funky Stuff (5:08)
06 - Foster Sylvers - Misdemeanor (2:23)
07 - Bobby Bird - Never Get Enough (3:16)
08 - Lyn Collins - Mr. Big Stuff (4:01)
09 - The Mob - I Dig Everything About You (2:31)
10 - Roy Ayers - Brother Green (5:41)
11 - Sweet Charles - Yes, It's You (3:13)
12 - Gregg Diamond - Cream (Always Rises To The Top) (4:35)
13 - James Brown - Papa Don't Make No Mess (4:30)


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Alphabet Soup (J)

Hello, Alphabet Soup serves up J today and first up representing the seventies are Jethro Tull, who broke through internationally with their epic Thick As A Brick. Even after more than three decades it's kept its shine, its stream-of-consciousness lyrics embedded in classical structures and the use of an array of instruments.....Secondly , Jane's Addiction, the album that contains their breakthrough (MTV) hits, Ritual De Lo Habitual, too much for Peter Farrell, who dissolved the band after the promotour....Junior Boys were already split before they got their first record deal, after years of trying to esteblish a foothold..They supplied some MP3 music to a site and from there their name grew. Since they've released two acclaimed albums, you'll find the 2004 debut here...

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Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick ( 72 ^ 99mb)

The Anderson's band moved to the London area in search of more bookings, basing themselves in nearby Luton. Left by some bandmembers, Anderson and bassist Glenn Cornick joined forces with blues guitarist Mick Abrahams and his friend, drummer Clive Bunker. At first, the new band had trouble getting repeat bookings and they took to changing their name frequently to continue playing the London club circuit. Band names were often supplied by their booking agents' staff, one of whom, a history enthusiast, eventually christened them Jethro Tull after the 18th-century agriculturist who invented the seed drill. This name stuck simply by virtue of the fact that they were using it the first time a club manager (namely, John Gee of the Marquee Club, London) liked their show enough to invite them to return. They were signed to the blossoming Ellis-Wright agency, and became the third band managed by the soon-to-be Chrysalis empire.

By the time Jethro Tull released Thick As A Brick they already had released 4 albums in 3 years, with commercial success, the last of those, Aqualong had recieved much praise and showed the bands music was still developping, as it stretched the band's wings further from the blues of the first three albums, it was still basically mainstream rock. Jethro Tull took it upon themselves to write a real concept album, after Aqualong was considered to be something of a concept album..much to the surprise of the writer Ian Anderson. With Thick As A Brick the lyrics are built around a poem written by a fictitious boy, "Gerald Bostock" a.k.a. "Little Milton" (Ian Anderson himself). The album only featured one song, an epic masterpiece, lasting over 43 minutes. The epic is notable for its numerous time signature and tempo changes, as well as a large number of themes throughout the piece, resembling a typical classical symphony in this regard, rather than a typical rock song. This, set to stream-of-consciousness lyrics dense with imagery. Released in 1972, Thick As A Brick was Tull's first true prog rock offering, four years after the release of their first album. A dazzling tour de force, at once playful, profound, and challenging, without being overwhelming. The band was rewarded with great revieews and excellent sales (no 1 US album) and settled the name of Jethro Tull........35 years later...

In September 2007, Jethro Tull released CD/DVD Live At Montreux 2003. The concert was recorded on the July 4, 2003 . In addition to another busy tour schedule in 2007, Jethro Tull are also in the studio recording some new material for a new CD which is expected to be released in the summer of 2008. If it is released it will be the band's first proper new album in eight years. Some of the new songs were performed live during the recent UK acoustic tour, and 2007 Fall tour



01 - Thick As A Brick pt 1 (22:42)
02 - Thick As A Brick pt 2 (21:05)

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Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual ( 90 ^ 99mb)

Jane's Addiction formed out of the ashes of frontman Perry Farrell's previous band, Psi-com. In the summer of 1985, Farrell was searching for a new bass player for the faltering Psi-com when he was introduced to Eric Avery. Farrell and Avery bonded, even though Avery never did become a full-fledged member of Farrell's disintegrating group.Later, Eric's sister introduced the duo to Stephen Perkins, whom she was dating at the time Perkins in turn suggested that his friend Dave Navarro might be a suitable guitar player for the new band, dubbed "Jane's Addiction" in honor of Farrell's housemate, Jane Bainter, who was heavily addicted to drugs.

The band became a sensation on the Los Angeles club scene, primarily headlining at Scream. They soon gained interest from a variety of record labels. Most of their catalogue was written then (86-87). While they had decided to sign with Warner Bros. Records, the band insisted on releasing their debut on an independent record label first. The first record, Jane's Addiction, was a live recording with heavy overdubs released on Triple X Records. Their major label debut Nothing's Shocking was released in 1988. The album was certified Gold and got them nominated for a Grammy Award .

With the market awakened to them the breakthrough came with the release of Ritual de lo Habitual in 1990. The singles "Stop!" and "Been Caught Stealing" topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and the video for the latter song won the first MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video. The album is roughly broken into two parts. Tracks 1-5 consist of unrelated funk-metal style songs. Tracks 6-9, as a whole are in memorium of singer Perry Farrell's deceased friend known as Xiola Bleu, who died of a heroin-overdose in 1987 at the age of 19. The album itself was weaker than it's extremely vibrant predecessor, something that must have knawed at the band and created uncertainty as to where to go, they were not supposed to follow the commercial pressures but then why not ? Well after the the first Lollapalooza festival tour Farrell had organised it became clear that it was to be the band's farewell tour.

The original cover for this album initiated some controversy from conservative record stores and political action groups. They tried to pressure Warner Brothers Records into changing the artwork, but the band would not allow it. Instead, a compromise was met that allowed production of this version as well as the Amendment version which contained an alternate cover for those who found this cover offensive .

01 - Stop! (4:14)
02 - No One's Leaving (3:01)
03 - Ain't No Right (3:34)
04 - Obvious (5:55)
05 - Been Caught Stealing (3:34)
06 - Three Days (10:48)
07 - Then She Did... (8:18)
08 - Of Course (7:02)
09 - Classic Girl (5:07)

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Junior Boys - Last Exit ( 04 ^ 99mb)

Originally a duo of Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark, Junior Boys created a sound that would reconcile their influences. Years of collaboration followed and a demo was produced, but after many rejections and near-misses, they were resigned to being bedroom beat constructors. Soon after, Johnny Dark left the band to pursue other interests. Eventually KIN Records heard their demo at the end of 2002 and commissioned more work from remaining member Greenspan. Hooking up with his engineer, Matt Didemus, he began again, writing more material . The first release Birthday/Last Exit came in October 2003 — a four-track EP with a remix by Fennesz which brought them near-unanimous acclaim. Their debut album, Last Exit (recorded at the end of 2003 by Greenspan and Didemus in Hamilton), was released September 21, 2004 on KIN Records. A reissue in the US on Domino featured the Manitoba mix of Birthday, a Fennesz mix of the same track, and a new track. By that time the Junior Boys buzz has spread across the web, it's distinct retrospective eighties feel got the album great reviews. 

As of 2006, Junior Boys have reappeared with new releases. "Max", a new original song, was released on the compilation See You on the Moon! . Their second full-length album, So This Is Goodbye, was released in August 2006 on Domino Records. Working within comparatively streamlined song structures, the rhythmic capriciousness that so strongly informed their debut all but erased, the absence of those slippery rhythm tracks puts the focus even more squarely on Greenspan, who delivered with a record full of elegant melodies.And like the debut album, Last Exit, So this is goodbye, got excellent reviews

2007 saw the Junior Boys embarking on a North American tour, and then headed to Europe for numerous festivals, continuing into the summer. The remix EP The Dead Horse EP was released in April containing remixes of tracks from So This Is Goodbye. 



01 - More Than Real (6:39)
02 - Bellona (5:38)
03 - High Come Down (4:29)
04 - Last Exit (6:35)
05 - Neon Rider (2:08)
06 - Birthday (4:16)
07 - Under The Sun (7:02)
08 - Three Words (5:46)
09 - Teach Me How To Fight (5:31)
10 - When I'm Not Around (5:22)

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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 (36)

Hello, Eight-X time again and first up is a bit of an interlooper, productionally however, it crosses the bridge to the eighties. With Mike Batts first soloalbum, Schizophonia, he immediately gained respect for incorporating intelligent pop, and orchestrated rock. A bit of a golden boy this Mike, as at that time 28 years old, he already had a successful writing and producing career under his belt, one that has extended to this day.......It turned out less fortunate, for the main man of the next band here, Big Country, after a good start US success faltered, and 20 years later Stuart Adamson, battling with alcolism and depression, hanged himself....his second crossing......Finally some vinyl i picked up recently (50c) a spotless album by the Dynamic Duo that went for it, and made the most of a lucky break, that finally brought them the edge of heaven. One half of the duo has scored many hits solo and established his writing, singing and production skills ,only to enter into useless battles continued against the self, a conscience can become hard to bear..Anyway "The Final" wasn't even released in the US where it was deemed "too shocking" perhaps.

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Mike Batt - Schizophonia (77 ^flac 197mb)


Michael Philip Batt (born 6 February 1949 in Southampton, England) began his career in pop music at the age of eighteen as a signed artist with Liberty Records, having answered the same advertisement as Elton John and Bernie Taupin placed by Ray Williams in the New Musical Express. The talented youth quickly became part of Liberty's production team, and in 1969 20 year Batt took over production duties, on blues great McKenna Mendelson Mainline's seminal first release, Stink. Credited on the album only as "Liberty Staff". Also in 1969, Batt released as producer/artist a Liberty single, his bouncy cover of The Beatles' "Your Mother Should Know". Batt subsequently became Head of A&R for Liberty Records. His first hits as a singer/songwriter/producer were by The Wombles, in 1974. After eight hit singles and four gold albums with The Wombles, he moved on to work with various artists as a songwriter/producer, most successfully with Steeleye Span and their most successful single and album All Around My Hat in 1975.

With Batt's solo debut, Schizophonia, he was able to realize, in a tangible way, his desire to incorporate intelligent pop, and orchestrated rock into a unified body of work. A keyboard player by trade, his true skill lies in large-ensemble arrangements that include the standard rock & roll configuration of electric guitars, bass, and drums. On Schizophonia, Batt enlists the services of several key musicians who've worked with him in the past and who would appear in future recordings of his; among them are guitarist Chris Spedding, percussionist Ray Cooper, and steel guitar player B.J. Cole. The result, an ambitious and well-conceived effort that would pave the way for several more such recordings. The follow-up Tarot Suite certainly holds its own as an artfully and literate collection of orchestrated rock & roll. The album is again driven by the creative orchestral (London Symphony Orchestra) arrangements and songwriting of Batt. "Lady of the Dawn," sung by Colin Blunstone, achieved respectable "hit" status in England.

In 1980 Mike Batt released his next album, entitled Waves. Later that year, he went off with his family aboard his boat “Braemar”, ending up in Australia after two and a half years, travelling via France, The West Indies, South America, Central America, Mexico, Los Angeles, Hawaii and Fiji. At the end of that journey, he wrote for the 50th anniversary of the Australian Broadcasting Company the musical Zero, Zero. The album The Hunting of the Snark, based on Lewis Carroll's epic nonsense poem, was recorded in 1984. It was presented as a dramatised concert at Sydney’s State Theatre in 1990, and was produced as a musical in London’s West End in 1991 He was then commissioned to write the official Anthem for the inauguration of the Channel Tunnel by The Queen, entitled "When Flags Fly Together". Batt composed and produced the four million-selling album The Violin Player with classical violinist Vanessa-Mae in 95 , the same year he made another solo album, Arabesque.

Currently, Batt is dedicating most of his time to guiding the career of Katie Melua from Georgia. Katie's album "Call Off The Search" was released on Mike's own Dramatico label in November 2003. It sold over 1.8 million copies - in the UK, making Katie the biggest selling UK female artist of 2004. Her second album, "Piece by Piece" to date has sold 3.5 million copies in Europe. Dramatico has been for the last three years, one of the top 3 UK based Indie labels, based on official sales figures. In 2008, Batt started the year with one concert in Munich and a radio-concert-tour in Germany to promote his new CD "A songwriter's tale" - a best compilation.


01 - The Ride To Agadir (6:38)
02 - Berber's Prayer (2:08)
03 - The Walls Of The World (3:20)
04 - Insh'Allah (4:58)

05 - The Fires Od Rabat (2:45)
06 - It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time (2:51)
07 - Bourree (1:34)
08 - Railway Hotel (3:18)
09 - Voices In The Dark (4:01)
10 - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (4:03)

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Big Country - The Crossing ( 83 flac 530mb)

The England-born Adamson formed Big Country in mid-1981 following his exit from the Scottish punk quartet the Skids, enlisting childhood friend Bruce Watson on second guitar; Clive Parker and brothers Pete and Alan Wishart completed the original lineup, but were soon replaced by bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki. Signing to Polygram's Mercury imprint, the band issued its debut single, "Harvest Home," in the fall of 1982; a series of opening dates on the Jam's farewell tour increased Big Country's visibility exponentially, and the follow-up, "Fields of Fire," cracked the U.K. Top Ten.
It was rapidly followed by the album The Crossing. Powered by "In a Big Country", their only U.S. Top 40 hit single, the album was a hit in the United States. The song featured heavily engineered guitar playing, strongly reminiscent of bagpipes; Adamson and fellow guitarist, Watson, achieved this through the use of the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 Guitar Effect. Also contributing to the band's unique sound was their early virtuoso use of the e-bow, a device which allows a guitar to sound more like strings or synthesizer.

The band released the non-LP extended play single "Wonderland" in 1984 while undergoing a lengthy worldwide tour. The song, considered by some critics to be one of their finest, was a Top Ten hit (#8) in the UK singles chart but didnt connect in the US. Their second album, Steeltown, entered the charts at number one, but despite good reviews there were already rumblings that all of the band's material sounded much the same. Throughout 1984 and 1985, the band toured the UK, Europe, and, to a lesser extent, the U.S

1986's The Seer, the band's third album, was another big success in the UK, peaking at Number 2, and producing three additional Top 40 UK singles. These included "Look Away" which reached Number 7 (the band's highest charting UK single). Kate Bush provided backing vocals on the title cut, and, as was the norm for the band at the time, the album received good reviews from the music press. In the U.S., the album sold modestly better than Steeltown, reaching #59. In what some critics felt was an apparent attempt to regain their dwindling U.S. following, Big Country hooked up with producer Peter Wolf [6] for their next album, Peace in Our Time (1988), which was recorded in Los Angeles, California. It sold poorly. No Place Like Home (1991) not only effectively killed off the band's commercial hopes in the US, it nearly broke up the band. Drummer Mark Brzezicki left the band.

In 1991, the band was dropped by Phonogram, the label that had released all of their material for ten years. After that, Big Country became a minor act, popping up in the lower echelons of the charts in the UK and Europe with the release of every subsequent album. 1993's The Buffalo Skinners, recorded with yet another new drummer, Simon Phillips; the record launched a pair of British Top 30 hits, "Alone" and "Ships." Brzezicki rejoined the lineup in time for Without the Aid of a Safety Net, a live LP recorded in Glasgow at year's end. Why the Long Face followed in 1995, and after recording the acoustic effort Eclectic, Adamson relocated to Nashville in 1997, prompting Big Country to go on extended hiatus.

1999 saw the release of Big Country's eighth and final studio album, Driving to Damascus (titled in its slightly different, augmented U.S. release John Wayne's Dream). Adamson said publicly that he was disappointed that the album did not fare better on the charts, which led to depression. Later that year, he disappeared for a while before resurfacing, stating that he had just needed some time off. In November 2001, Adamson disappeared again, appeals to return didnt work, a month later, he was found dead in a room at the Best Western Plaza Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 16, 2001. The official autopsy revealed that he had hanged himself

A memorial to Adamson was held at Dunfermline's Carnegie Hall in January 2002, followed by a tribute concert at the Barrowlands in May. It brought together the remaining members of both Big Country and The Skids; Adamson's teenage children, Callum and Kirsten; as well as Steve Harley, Runrig, Simon Townshend, Midge Ure and Bill Nelson. In 2007, to celebrate 25 years of Big Country, founding members Bruce Watson, Tony Butler (now lead vocalist for the first time), and Mark Brzezicki reunited to tour Scotland and England.


01 - In A Big Country (4:44)
02 - Inwards (4:36)
03 - Chance (4:25)
04 - 1000 Stars (3:53)
05 - The Storm (6:18)
06 - Harvest Home (4:20)
07 - Lost Patrol (4:50)
08 - Close Action (4:15)
09 - Fields Of Fire (3:32)
10 - Porrohman (7:51)
Wonderland EP (US Version)
11 - Wonderland 3:58
12 - Al Fall Together (Jimmy Iovine Remix) 5:16
13 - Angle Park 4:08
14 - The Crossing 7:10
Bonus Track
15 - Chance (Re-Recorded Single Version) 4:37

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Wham! - The Final ( 85 , 79min ^ 478mb)

Wham! formed in 1981 by George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley, and David Morrison. George met Wham!'s other half, Andrew Ridgeley, at school in the London suburb of Bushey, and in 1979 they started performing together as part of the ska-based band the Executive. When that group dissolved, they wrote songs, made demos, and rushed into a recording contract with the equally eager independent label Innervision. The first record to be released by the band was "Wham Rap!". It was a double-A side with a Social Mix and Anti-social Mix. The record was banned for general release in the UK due to the profanity in the Anti-social Mix. In October 1982, their song "Young Guns (Go For It!)" was issued. As luck would have a spot would open on BBC's Top of the Pops and they got to perform their bubbling single which subsequently has the girls running for the shop and landed Wham ! their first hit (#3)

Wham! followed up with the reissue "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)", subsequently they released "Bad Boys", and "Club Tropicana", a satire of the Club 18-30 scene. Each song came with a memorable music video. By the end of 1983, Wham! was rivaling Duran Duran and Culture Club as Britain's biggest pop act. Their first album Fantastic reached #1. Driven by Ridgeley, the duo changed their image, and Wham! returned in May 1984 with an updated, cutting-edge pop image quickly copied by other pop bands. Ridgeley changed the band's look from "moody in leather jackets" to smiles and fashionable clothing, with an aim to promote themselves more as sex symbols rather than spokespeople for a disaffected generation. The next single Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, a song Michael wrote reached to the top of the charts around the world.

Although some critics felt that Wham! represented bubblegum pop, many people started to appreciate Michael's proven ability as a songwriter and capable vocalist. The next single "Careless Whisper" was issued as a George Michael solo piece, yet unlike any Wham! single since "Wham Rap!," it was co-written by Ridgeley. The song quickly reached #1. In the autumn of 1984, Wham! came back as a duo with "Freedom", another chart-topper. In November, they released their second album, Make It Big, which coasted to #1 on the album charts. The band set off on another arena tour at the end of 1984. George contributed to the Band Aid project, with Michael providing vocals as the song usurped their own Christmas release, "Last Christmas"/"Everything She Wants", the single became the highest-selling single ever to peak at #2 in the UK charts. As such, Wham! donated all their royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal to coincide with the fundraising intentions of Band Aid, the song which beat them to the top spot.

In April 1985, Wham! took a break from recording to embark on an enormous world tour including a groundbreaking 10-day visit to China. It culminated in a concert at the Worker's Gymnasium in Beijing in front of 10,000 people. Director Lindsay Anderson documented the tour in his film Foreign Skies. Michael desired to create music targeted to a more sophisticated audience than the duo's primarily teenage fanbase. Therefore, Michael and Ridgeley announced the breakup of Wham! in the spring of 1986, destined to take place after a farewell single and album, along with a historic grand finale concert at Wembley Stadium on June 28, 1986, called The Final. The farewell single was "The Edge of Heaven" which reached #1 in June 1986. The duo's last album was a double-LP collection of all the singles to date, mostly the extended versions, and was also called The Final (released in North America as the severely pared-down Music from the Edge of Heaven with alternate tracks). Wham! then said goodbye to their audience (73,000 of whom attended the eight-hour event) . The band had been together five years, selling close to 20 million albums and 10 to 15 million singles.


Wham! - The Final ( flac 478mb)

01 - Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (6:36)
02 - Young Guns (Go For It) (5:07)
03 - Bad Boys (4:51)
04 - Club Tropicana (4:17)

05 - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (3:47)
06 - Careless Whisper (Extended Mix) (6:21)
07 - Freedom (5:14)
08 - Last Christmas (Pudding Mix) (6:35)

09 - Everything She Wants (Remix) (6:23)
10 - I'm Your Man (Extended Stimulation) (6:45)
11 - Blue (Armed With Love) (3:49)

12 - A Different Corner (3:53)
13 - Battlestations (5:21)
14 - Where Did Your Heart Go? (5:37)
15 - The Edge Of Heaven (4:23)

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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 (36)

Hello Around the World is going classical for the last time, with what can be considered night ambient or nocturnal, even if life in those days wasn't as stressy they did like to chill out some aswell. A nocturne is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night, nocturnes are generally thought of as being tranquil, often expressive and lyrical, and sometimes rather gloomy. The nocturne was cultivated primarily in the nineteenth century. The first nocturnes to be written under the specific title were by the Irish composer John Field, generally viewed as the father of the Romantic nocturne.

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John Field (July 26, 1782 – January 23, 1837) was Ireland's greatest composer even if his music has largely disappeared. He is best known for being the first composer to write nocturnes. Field was born in Dublin in 1782, the eldest son of Protestant Irish parents. He first studied the piano under his grandfather, who was a professional organist, and later under Tommaso Giordani. He made his debut at the age of nine. His family moved to London in 1793, where his father secured for him an apprenticeship with the pianist and piano manufacturer Muzio Clementi. By the time he was seventeen, Field had already premiered his First Piano Concerto (he wrote seven of them); it was one of the last acts of his apprenticeship. He was lionized as a performer for several years before turning to composition, beginning with his first set of piano sonatas, published in 1801. 

In 1801 Field accompanied Clementi on a tour of Paris and Vienna. When Clementi moved to Russia, Field followed him there, continuing his employment demonstrating his pianos. Field established his own concert career in Russia, and by 1806 was dividing his time between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, settling in the latter city after his marriage to a French woman in 1810. His teaching proved lucrative, and his lifestyle became somewhat extravagant, living as something of a bon vivant. By 1831 his health deteriorated, and suffering from a painful cancer of the rectum he travelled back to London for medical attention. After treatment he returned to Russia by way of France and Italy, spending nine months in a hospital in Naples. Helped by a Russian aristocratic family, he returned to Moscow in 1835, where he composed his last few nocturnes in the sixteen months remaining to him. 

Field is best remembered for his eighteen nocturnes which are single movement impromptu compositions for piano that maintain a single mood throughout. He is also the founder of the piano nocturne. The first three of these date from 1812. These pieces are further notable for their influence on Frédéric Chopin, who further developped the format and went on to write 21 nocturnes himself.

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Roberte Mamou - John Field 15 Nocturnes ( 94 ^ 137mb)

The Tunisian-born pianist Roberte Mamou was trained in her own country, Paris and Antwerp.She's based in Europe, and has worked mostly in Belgium. Her multi-faceted and colourful musical personality emerges magically from the instrument when she plays, in a breathtaking alchemy which owes something to the flavours and scents of Tunisia where she spent her childhood. The experience of ten years as vocal coach at the La Monnaie Royal Opera in Brussels is also discernible, but perhaps what comes across most is the love and passion which she has always felt for music in all its forms. As a soloist Roberte Mamou has appeared with some of the greatest orchestras and ensembles.

01 - No.1 in E flat major (3:37)
02 - No.2 in C minor (2:52)
03 - No.3 in A flat major (4:02)
04 - No.4 in A major (5:11)
05 - No.5 in B flat major (2:36)
06 - No.6 in F major (4:31)
07 - No.7 in C major (5:07)
08 - No.8 in A major (4:15)
09 - No.9 in E flat major (3:18)
10 - No.10 in E minor (3:18)
11 - No.11 in E flat major (5:37)
12 - No.12 in G major (2:52)
13 - No.13 in D minor (3:34) 
14 - No.14 in C major (9:06)
15 - No.15 in C major (5:01)

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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 !

Foundation (8)

Hello, all good things come to an end , and so today the last part of the Foundation Trilogy is coming up..enjoy

Last week

Now that the Mule has conquered the Foundation he stands as the most powerful force in the galaxy, as he is the sole controller of nuclear technologies and weapons; the Second Foundation is the only real threat to his eventual rule over the entire galaxy. The Mule promises that he will find the Second Foundation, after an extensive sweep turns up nothing. The Second Foundation manage to trick the Mule to follow a hot lead and show up in person at a backwater in the galaxy with his fleet, that destroys the decoy world, meanwhile it comes to a showdown with the First Speaker of the Second Foundation, who succeeds to destabalize the Mule and telepathically modify him and make him forget about his drive and status, meanwhile the rest is freed of the Mule's control....... 

In the last part, the second foundation needs to cover its tracks again before it can rise


Foundation Trilogy 8 (Star's End) ( 37mb)


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Sundaze (36)

Hello, Sundaze again and this time the focus is on the soundscape and sample pioneer Holger Czukay, one of the founders of krautrockmasters Can ...first up his second solo album On The Way To The Peak Of Normal where he extends the work from his first album Movies...being someone who loves the collaboration format ..in the late eighties he released 2 ambient soundscapes with David Sylvian..both are up here..

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A founding member of the enormously influential Krautrock group Can, Holger Czukay was one of the pivotal underground figures of his era; over the course of his long, expansive career, Czukay successfully bridged the gap between pop and the avant-garde, pioneering the use of samples and exploring the significance of world music on Western culture.

Czukay was born in Danzig (now Gdansk) on March 24, 1938. After falling in love with music at a young age, he spent his formative years studying to be a composer and conductor, but his ideas were frequently too radical for mainstream tastes; after being disqualified from one jazz festival for his "unclassifiable music," he was later expelled from Berlin's Music Academy for similar artistic insolence. He studied music under avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen from 1963 to 1966, where he continued to refine his ideas, and soon became a teacher himself. Initially Czukay had little interest in rock music, but this changed when a student, Michael Karoli played him The Beatles' 1967 song "I Am The Walrus," opening his ears to music by rock experimentalists like the Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa.

After picking up the bass, Czukay teamed with Karoli, fellow Stockhausen protege Irmin Schmidt, drummer Jaki Liebezeit and American-born vocalist Malcolm Mooney, and in early 1968 the group Inner Space was formed. Quickly renamed Can, in 1969 they released their debut Monster Movie, the first in a series of visionary albums establishing the band as one of the truly seminal artists of the period. At much the same time, Czukay teamed with Rolf Dammers to release an LP titled Canaxis 5, instituting both primitive sampling techniques (achieved with tape splices) and worldbeat influences; sculpted from thousands of recordings dubbed from short-wave radio broadcasts, the album employed samples from a number of international sources, and consequently positioned Czukay as an early proponent of world music appropriation.

After 1976's Flow Motion, Can disbanded, and three years later Czukay issued his debut solo effort Movies, a marked refinement of his short-wave sonic collage techniques, which became his trademark . The use of shortwave radio sounds and his early pioneering of sampling, in those days involving the painstaking cutting and splicing of magnetic tapes. He would tape-record various sounds and snippets from shortwave and incorporate them into his compositions. In addition to critical raves, "Movies" won considerable interest throughout the musical community, and Czukay subsequently began work on a number of outside projects, he teamed with Jaki Liebezeit and bassist Jah Wobble for the LP Full Circle and the club hit "How Much Are They." Through Wobble, Czukay also met the Japanese singer Phew, and along with Liebezeit and producer Conny Plank they recorded the 1982 album Phew.

Czukay's next official solo release was 1982's On the Way to the Peak of Normal, another collaboration with Wobble assembled from sessions with the Dusseldorf-based band SYPH. 1984's Der Osten Ist Rot and 1987's Rome Remains Rome (featuring the controversial "Blessed Easter," which contained a sample of Pope John Paul II) followed, although Czukay spent the majority of the mid-decade involved in a variety of production work. In 1988 he teamed with David Sylvian for the lovely Plight and Premonition; which the duo followed up the next year with Flux + Mutability, Czukay re-formed Can to record a new studio LP, Rite Time. Czukay used shortwave as a live, interactive musical instrument on 1991's Radio Wave Surfer, a method of composition he termed radio painting. Apart from that and 1993's Moving Pictures, Czukay spent much of the 1990s removed from performing, nevertheless in 97 he released a live album, "Clash" . He mainly focused instead on production work before releasing Good Morning Story (his first studio album in six years) in 1999. This was followed by La Luna (2000) Linear City 2001 , an internet project working on a a recording of Sudanese Zar ceremonies. And time and Tide (2001).

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H.Czukay - On The Way To The Peak of Normal ( 81 flac 189mb)

After Movies, Czukay continued exploring the methods of sampling and laid-back jamming on this follow-up. The opening track, the side-long "Ode to Perfume/Fragrance" coasts along on some heavily twangy guitar, short-wave static, treated vocals, and drunken trumpet, all in a hypnotic late-night groove. This first half of the album is played entirely by Czukay, except for Jaki Liebezeit's trademark metronomic drumming, and in many ways it's a revelation. This is when the album most obviously picks up where 'Movies' let off, but the snippets of TV and radio are largely absent, barring a brief vocal sample in the first couple of minutes. Fragrance picks the theme back up and works in some vocoder to interesting effect. The whole thing has a slightly funky motorik feel, and makes an excellent soundtrack for a workout (Czukay himself recommended listening to it on headphones while roller skating!). The title track was recorded with members of S.Y.P.H., and is an atmospheric piece with a drum machine beat and fragments of radio interference fleshing out the minimal improvisation. The album closes with the dark, mysterious Hiss 'n' Listen, featuring Jah Wobble on bass and whispered vocals by Czukay.



01 - Ode To Perfume (18:00)

02 - On The Way To The Peak Of Normal (7:33)
03 - Witches' Multiplication Table (4:51)
04 - Two Bass Shuffle (2:15)
05 - Hiss 'n' Listen (3:50)

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David Sylvian and Holger Czukay are fairly eclectic and diverse musicians. In the European ambient scene, they are fixtures.
With Plight & Premonition they deliver some pure soundscaping, ambience that contains little flecks and fragments of other sonic encounters, like glimpsing little details in the landscape as you speed along in a perpetual twilight, dark, lush, droning, and chasm-deep. Flux & Mutability is a complete contrast to its predecessor, it overflows with dreamy synth tones and pleasant atmospheres. It's a radiant ambience that still doesn't captivate all your attention, but creeps into your consciousness before you realize what's happened. "Flux" is "a big, bright, colorful world" and "Mutability" is "a new beginning...in the offing." These pieces are deep, expansive atmospheres with eerie samples and vacuous walls of sound. The second piece features only guitars, keyboards, and an African flute. The first piece has a much wider sound. It is a safe bet that it has the only ambient flugelhorn ever (by Markus Stockhausen). The real essence of this disc comes from the sound design, mixing, and processing. Aural mysticism at a very high level of expression - perfect for meditating or just chilling.



David Sylvian - Holger Czukay - Plight and Premonition ( 88 flac 143mb)

1 - Plight (The Spiralling Of Winter Ghosts) (18:30)
2 - Premonition (Giant Empty Iron Vessel) (16:21)




David Sylvian - Holger Czukay - Flux and Mutability ( 89 flac 158mb)

3 - Flux (A Big, Bright, Colourful World) (16:52)
4 - Mutability ("A New Beginning Is In The Offing") (21:02

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Rhotation (36) Into BPM

Hello, Rhotation 36 and Into BPM kicks off with a UK band that named itself after a phenomenal Dutch soccer striker, who had to retire as 3 times European Player of the Year, so maybe thats why the band retired too after he officially retired 2 years later in 95, Marco Van Basten. Little did they know that years later he would return as successful coach who tonight beat France 4-1 after routing worldchampions Italy 3-0 four days earlier at the European soccer Championship. Well it inspired me to pick the Leftfield inspired Van Basten album Perimitive..... Dave Angel was led into music from an early age and has sublimated his influences of Jazz, Soul and Funk into his own Techno style. Classics is a 96 compilation of his earlier 12"and EP's....To provide some background to all that a 96 compilation released by a popular Belgian dance radio show, Cybercafé. Some great tracks to be had if you didnt score them previously already...

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Van Basten - Perimitive ( 95 * 99mb)

There's always a first, after posting a 1000 acts, here's one that left Google mute. Van Basten are Gary Webster (keyboards, computers, digital), Martin Reilly (keyboards, computers, galaxi), and Gary Everatt (xylophone, mute trombone). They've released 5 12" before their album Perimitive in 95, the following year another 3 12" and then silence, zilch nothing on the members either...? Well John Peel liked their Progressive House / Trance and invited Van Basten to do a session 14/11/1995. Their label Brute records went out of business a decade ago...so if anyone has something to add , feel free and please comment...



01 - London Coma (3:36)
02 - Black Dragon (6:27)
03 - Battlestar Science (4:31)
04 - Charged (7:55)
05 - You Can Fight (5:56)
06 - King Of The Death Posture (Rmx) (7:05)
07 - Tube Station (3:55)
08 - Blood Wars (5:54)
09 - Explosion Road (6:32)
10 - National Anaesthetic (5:07)
11 - Perimitive (Parts 1 & 2) (11:52)


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Dave Angel - Classics ( 96 ^ 138mb)

Nicholas Gooden aka Dave Angel was born in Chelsea, grew up in Clapham and was into music by the age of 8. When his Jamaican father, a Jazz musician, influenced him deeply, and taught him to play drums. He spent little time in school and preferred the music room to the classroom. Bt the age of 12 he would play his first jamsession with his dad.

Dj-ing at Radio Phase One(London pirate station) alongside the likes of Grooverider and Fabio, the odd party and club here and there as funk-dj until the TB303 came in his life when he realised this is the music of now and he decided to get in on it.
One day, Dave found a very primitive Casio keyboard at a mate’s house and borrowed it, feeling it was the time for his first steps. He built a dark bassline that he put together with two drum sequences from different tracks recorded with his double tape deck. He let it loose on “Sweet Dreams” of Eurythmics, taking the familiar tune on a dark and atmospheric journey into house. That was it, the beginning of his majestic career. His Nightmare Mix became a thrilling tune reaching 23rd in the English charts.

Not long after that, Dave received many invitations and gained much respect from the europeans and became part of the Phaze One team with the drum & bass DJs Fabio and Grooverider (who use to play from house to hardcore at that time). The doors were also opened for his producer career. His excellent following productions (like the EPs The Family EP” by Apollo, and “Royal Techno EP” by Rotation Records), showed Dave’s philosophy, which was built under the influences of Jazz, Soul and Funk. One of the “greatest techno artists from outside Detroit”, as he was considered, released magnificent tunes for labels such as Black Market, Love, Rotation, and specially the Belgian R&S, where some of his great tracks can be found ( like here “Classics”, his '96 singles resume).

The year before he released through K7! one of the best mixed CDs ever: “X-Mix-4 - Beyond The Heavens”, which included some of the amazing classics from all over the World such as Chez Damier’s “Help Myself”, F2’s “Dominica” or even his remix for Sun Electric’s “Entrance” The second half of the nineties brought Dave closer to funk than Jazz on a new optic called “techfunk” when he released tracks from the long play “Globetrotting“ such as “Tokyo Stealth Fighter”, “This is Disco” and “Funk Music”, as well as the other mixed compilation: “39 Flavours Of Tech Funk”.

Over the years that followed, Dave gained a central position on the international scene, releasing several more mix albums , and making appearances at the biggest events and festivals, he has become a major icon in international techno.



01 - Bounce Back (5:09)
02 - Sighting (5:37)
03 - Jungle Love (5:47)
04 - Trip To Darkness (4:52)
05 - Free Flow (5:35)
06 - Fallen Destiny (6:15)
07 - Endless Motions (6:39)
08 - Brother From Jazz (6:22)
09 - Down Deep (5:55)
10 - Lust (5:33)
11 - Dimension Of Drums (4:50)
12 - Great Daine (4:48)

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VA - Cybercafé, Techno Dub Dance ( 96, 115min, 199mb)

The concept and name, Cybercafé, was invented at the beginning of 1994 by Ivan Pope. Commissioned to develop an Internet event for an arts weekend at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. Pope wrote a proposal outlining the concept of a café with Internet access from the tables. Cybercafé was a Belgian radio program (a cooperation of Radio 21 and Ex Machina) about things World Wide Web which a year later became a tv show.



VA - Cybercafé, Techno Dub Dance (99mb)

01 - Orb, The - Little Fluffy Clouds (8:25)
02 - Leftfield - Afro-Left (7:32)
03 - Prodigy - Voodoo People (6:26)
04 - Ken Ishii - Extra (Luke Slater Remix) (6:26)
05 - Dave Angel - Airborne (6:02)
06 - Stacey Pullen - Psychotic Funk (7:35)
07 - Ian Pooley - My Anthem (7:28)
08 - Laurent Garnier - Astral Dreams (Headphone Mix) (7:52)

VA - Cybercafé, Techno Dub Dance 2 (99mb)

09 - Tata Box Inhibitors - Plasmids (Placid Mix) (11:30)
10 - Ballistic Brothers - I'll Fly Away (5:19)
11 - Biosphere - Novelty Waves (Original Mix) (6:22)
12 - Subsurfing - Frozen Ants (7:10)
13 - Aphex Twin - Digeridoo (7:09)
14 - Kitachi - Spirit (Hip Hop Dub) (5:17)
15 - Sabres Of Paradise, The - Smokebelch II (12:42)


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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 (I)

Hello, Alphabet Soup, meets the I , which doesnt offer the widest of choice but these next albums have it in them nevertheless. 77 was a busy year for Iggy Pop , he released no less then 3 albums that year, Kill City , rapped up his Stooges time. Bowie acted again as a real buddy for the Jean Genie, they wrote and recorded two albums together, ive posted The Idiot in Rhotation 6 , but Iggy never stays introverted for long and with Lust For Life he blew anyone away after the droning of Massproduction (finaltrack the idiot). The passenger turned out to become another classic ( oops how about that for a B-side).....Irish' Into Paradise loved Echo & The Bunnymen, maybe thats why they asked initial labelmates The Sound-frontman Adrian Borland to produce their first and second album. The result a cross between U2 and the Sound , though at the time U2 had moved on soundwise.. Well they left some great music but by 93 dissolved, however they did score some great points...Finally Interpol...Why is it that the lemming musicpress always drools over bands from New York, five years ago i saw them perform and i wondered is this for real..the Joy Division touch, but the guys didnt even look a band, i got the impression there were four bands on stage that jammed..most odd, too my surprise none of the reviews i've read mentions 9/11, this event -to me at least- lies at the basis of the density and gloom of Turn on the Bright Lights, sublimated aggression.....

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Iggy Pop - Lust For Life (77 ^ 281mb)

James Newell Osterberg, Jr. (born April 21, 1947), better known by his stage name Iggy Pop. Iggy Pop began his music career as a drummer in different high school bands in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One band was the Iguanas, where he acquired the name Iggy.After he dropped out of the University of Michigan James moved to Chicago to learn more about blues. Inspired by Chicago blues as well as bands like The Sonics and The MC5, he formed the Psychedelic Stooges and began calling himself Iggy. The seeds of Pop's stage persona were sown when Pop saw The Doors perform in 1967 at the University of Michigan. Pop was amazed by the stage antics and antagonism displayed by singer Jim Morrison, who's extreme behavior inspired the young Pop to push the boundaries of stage performance. Later, while inventing the stage-dive in Detroit,rolling around in broken glass, exposing himself to the crowd, and vomiting on stage, among many other exploits, Iggy himself would inspire others. The Stooges' first two albums, The Stooges, produced by John Cale, and Fun House, sold poorly. Iggy meanwhile got hooked on heroin and the band collapsed.

David Bowie helped to rejuvenate Iggy Pop's career by producing an album with him. The recording sessions produced the punk rock landmark Raw Power, in 1973. Still Iggy's drug problem persisted. The Stooges' last show ended in a fight between the band and a group of bikers, documented on the album Metallic K.O.. Drug abuse put his career on hold for a couple of years. After the second breakup of the Stooges, Iggy Pop made some recordings with James Williamson, but these were not released until 1977 (as Kill City). Iggy was unable to control his drug use and checked himself into a mental institution to try to clean up. Bowie was one of his few visitors there, and he continued to support his friend and collaborator. In 1976, Bowie took him along as his companion on the Station to Station tour. Bowie and Iggy Pop relocated to West Berlin to wean themselves off their addictions.

Although issued after Low, the opening installment of Bowie's so-called "Berlin Trilogy", the pair began writing and recording songs for The Idiot in mid-1976, before Bowie started work on his own album. As such, The Idiot has been claimed as heralding the unofficial beginning of Bowie's Berlin period, being compared particularly to Low and "Heroes" in its electronic effects, treated instrument sounds, introspective lyrics and overall mood. A departure from the hard rock of his former band The Stooges, The Idiot is regarded by critics as one of Pop’s best works, to lessen the confusion Pop quickly released a follow up..again with Bowie's writing in the wings, Lust For Life, it spawned two of his biggest hits, the titletrack and The Passenger.

The Lust for Life sessions took place soon after the completion of a concert tour in support of the The Idiot album, the tour ending on 16 April 1977.[Pop has stated, "David and I had determined that we would record that album very quickly, which we wrote, recorded, and mixed in eight days, and because we had done it so quickly, we had a lot of money left over from the advance, which we split." The singer slept little during its making. Lust for Life is generally considered to be more of an Iggy Pop record than the Bowie-dominated The Idiot, being less experimental musically and having more of a rock and roll flavor. However some of its themes were similarly dark, as in "The Passenger", one of Pop’s "most haunting" tracks, inspired by a Jim Morrison poem that saw "modern life as a journey by car". It has been covered by Nick Cave, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Michael Hutchence. Ultimately Iggy Pop managed to channel the aggressive power of his work with the Stooges with the intelligence and perception of The Idiot, and the result was the best of both worlds; smart, funny, edgy, and hard-rocking....



01 - Lust For Life (5:07)
02 - Sixteen (2:22)
03 - Some Weird Sin (3:36)
04 - The Passenger (4:37)
05 - Tonight (3:33)

06 - Success (4:20)
07 - Turn Blue (6:48)
08 - Neighborhood Threat (3:21)
09 - Fall In Love With Me (6:24)

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Into Paradise - Churchtown (91 ^ 282mb)

Into Paradise were a group from Dublin, Ireland whose influences included Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen. They formed in 1986 as 'Backwards into Paradise', and released their debut EP 'Blue Light' in 1989 on the independent label Setanta. Soon after came the EP 'Change' and the band's first full-length album, 'Under the Water'. During this period they became notorious for gigs which often ended with fighting between bandmembers.

The group's debut, released in 1990 and produced by ex-Sound frontman Adrian Borland, found Into Paradise--singer/guitarist Dave Long, guitarist/keyboardist James Eadie, bassist Rachel Tighe and drummer Ronan Clarke--owing a heavy debt to the Bunnymen's landmark 1980 LP, Crocodiles. The shame was that a few genuinely good tracks got buried in the band's attempt at homage. However, someone kicked Into Paradise firmly in the collective rear just in time for the release of Churchtown the following year--the group sounded newly-energized on uptempo, "Churchtown" is just a straight forward rock album - nothing really fancy with this one however the songs are just incredible. Singer Dave Long spills his heart out over the 12 tracks , "Rain Comes Down" blasts your bloody speakers off the wall. Produced again by Borland, Churchtown showed off a large-scale dramatic sweep, augmented by consistently strong, attractive melodies.

The band followed that triumph with a pair of U.K.-only EPs--Down All The Days (1992) and For No One (1993)--before disappearing from view shortly afterwards.
The eight-song, 33-minute Down All the Days is by far Into Paradise's best and most consistent effort. The tighter format is a big plus, letting the quartet avoid the filler that dotted its first two releases. "Sleep," the invitingly atmospheric centerpiece, continues the band's tradition of hooking plaintively beautiful tunes to the direst of lyrics — in this case, Long's self-doubt over a hopeless affair. The seven-track For No One covers no new ground ("Letting Go," "Don't Let Me Down," "Move Over," "Move Up, Move Out")



01 - Rain Come Down (3:48)
02 - Burns My Skin (3:45)
03 - Yesterday's Men (3:55)
04 - I'm Still Waiting (3:07)
05 - Winter (4:32)
06 - Bring Me Up (3:12)
07 - All Down From Here (2:52)
08 - Angel (4:04)
09 - Dreaming (3:23)
10 - Dive (3:24)
11 - Tears In Your Eyes (2:57)
12 - Gently Falls (4:32)

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Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights (02 ^ 322mb)

The roots of the band stem from New York University, where all of the original line-up were students. Guitarist Daniel Kessler, eager to start a band, met drummer Greg Drudy on campus, Carlos Dengler ( bass) in a history class and ran into Paul Banks, remembered them meeting in Paris and asked him to become lead singer. In 2000, after releasing the Fukd I.D. #3 EP, Greg Drudy left the band, and Kessler recruited Sam Fogarino, whom he knew through Fogarino’s job at a local vintage clothing store. After self-releasing several EPs between 1998 - 2001, in early 2002 the band signed to indie label Matador, an independent label famous for breaking highly respected bands such as Pavement. The first release, a self-titled EP containing rerecorded versions of PDA and NYC was released June 2002 to widespread critical acclaim in the indie music scene, which built anticipation for the full-length album.

They didnt have to wait long, 11 weeks later Turn on the Bright Lights was released in August, again on Matador, and is widely considered one of the best albums of that year, it even became Pitchfork Media's "Album of the Year." Though much of Turn on the Bright Lights plays on the heady solemnity of post-punk-meets-modern-isolation, there are songs that toy with other influences. The gripping "PDA", burns with the intelligent rage so characteristic of The Fall; "The New" has the bruising emotion of Echo & the Bunnymen. And the album ends with "Leif Erikson", which, like its Viking namesake, sails the album toward the serene potential of another world. The album turned out to be what modern followers of post-punk have been waiting for. It is the album that makes all the hub-bub about the New York City music scene justified; it is the album that makes the time we're living through feel like an era rather than a haphazard, disconnected series of events. Interpol absorbed several decades of great music and produced something familiar, yet fresh and new.

The band regrouped in late 2003 to begin sessions for the follow-up album, again decamping to Tarquin Studios to record. On September 28, 2004, Antics was released on Matador. The album achieved far greater commercial success than Turn on the Bright Lights, perhaps due to the lighter, more accessible arrangements and bigger hooks. Though Interpol couldn't be expected to surpass their previous heights, the band has wisely ignored a shortsighted perception of their career which dictates that where Bright Lights was an audacious plunge from a great height, Antics is the crucial landing. And so Antics garnered much critical acclaim again and was once more a popular choice on critics' Top 10 lists for 2004 Interpol toured once again after the release of the album, playing more dates than ever before and at bigger venues, the tour stretched on for almost 18 months..

Interpols third album arrives belatedly on the back of persistent rumours of a split and a reportedly 'tempestuous genesis'. In the interim, drummer Sam Fogarino started a new band, the Setting Suns, with Adam Franklin of Nineties shoegazing outfit Swervedriver, while newly mustachioed bassist Carlos D was recently seen on a Guardian website blog rhapsodising about the 'gorgeous and irresistible power' of symphony orchestras. All of which could have made for a distracted-sounding major label debut from a band verging on the kind of superstardom you feel should have been theirs years ago. Our Love to Admire was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village and The Magic Shop Studios in New York City and released July 10, 2007 on Capitol Records.

Happily, that 'tempestuous genesis' sounds like a storm in a teacup - Our Love to Admire fleshes out the dark edges of Interpol's sound to create a polished, muscular-sounding record that teems with life and bristling potency. It was the first time they have included keyboards in the arrangements from the start of the songwriting process. As a result, the album is more atmospheric and diverse than its predecessors. That might come as a disappointment to those who enjoyed the brittle existentialism of the first record, but it makes for an electrifying listen in its own right. Still the reviews turned out a mixed bag.



01 - Untitled (3:56)
02 - Obstacle 1 (4:11)
03 - NYC (4:19)
04 - PDA (4:59)
05 - Say Hello To the Angels (4:28)
06 - Hands Away (3:05)
07 - Obstacle 2 (3:47)
08 - Stella Was A Diver And She Was Always Down (6:27)
09 - Roland (3:35)
10 - The New (6:07)
11 - Leif Erikson (4:00)

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Eight-X (35)

Hello, another Eight-X, so whats cooking..well two new names to the blog, starter Echo & The Bunnymen has passed the Eight-X gate 3 months ago with ther debut album and today with their third, Porcupine ..im not sure if they felt besieged by predators, or reviewers after their second album fell somewhat thru the cracks, whatever with Porcupine they established themselves...Second a Dutch band Nasmak who had been lauded (but not payed) the years before and when they put in all they had learned music-technically they were shunned by the (arty farty)avantgarde, still Silhoutte is a good album, Japan folded as they couldnt follow up on 81 Tin Drum, Nasmak here lacks David Sylvian.....Finally, the Tin Tin Twin detectives they had a string of hits in the early/mid eighties with surprisng unassuming music but with in general good percussive work. Five million people got Into The Gap, this overcrowding caused main man Tom Bailey a nervous breakdown when he was working on the follow up ("will it fit ?, will it fit ?) And yet, The Thompson Twins made their mark and went their own way ....

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Echo And The Bunnymen - Porcupine (83 ^ 521mb)

The Bunnymen grew out of the Crucial Three, a late-'70s trio featuring vocalist Ian McCulloch, Pete Wylie, and Julian Cope. Cope and Wylie left the group by the end of 1977, forming the Teardrop Explodes and Wah!, respectively. McCulloch met guitarist Will Sergeant in the summer of 1978 and the pair began recording demos with a drum machine that the duo called "Echo." Adding bassist Les Pattinson, the band made its live debut at the Liverpool club Eric's at the end of 1978, calling itself Echo & the Bunnymen. In March of 1979, the group released its first single, "Pictures on My Wall"/"Read It in Books," on the local Zoo record label. The single and their popular live performances led to a contract with Korova. After signing the contract, the group discarded the drum machine, adding drummer Pete de Freitas.

Their debut album, Crocodile, was produced by The Chameleons and Ian Broudie. Echo's brilliant, often harrowing debut album beginning with the dramatic, building climb of "Going Up," at once showcases four individual players sure of their own gifts and their ability to bring it all together to make things more than the sum of their parts. Will Sergeant in particular is a revelation -- plays the electric guitar as just that, electric not acoustic, dedicated to finding out what can be done with it while never using it as an excuse to bend frets.

The group's third album, Porcupine, is a solid outing, a noticeably better listen than its predecessor, Heaven Up Here. Songs are intriguing and elaborate, often featuring swooping, howling melodic lines. Arrangements here owe a lot to 1960s psychedelia and feature lots of reverb, washed textures, intricate production touches, and altered guitar sounds. Ian McCulloch's vocals are yearning, soaring, and hyper-expressive here, almost to the point of being histrionic, most notably on "Clay," "Ripeness," and the title track. Driving bass and drums lend the songs urgency and keep the music from collapsing into self-indulgence.

With their 4th album Ocean Rain came not only critical succeess and sales , it started off a rut, big trouble with Warner(label)when they finally did come together again Pete de Freitas had left the band, but later returned and everything was rerecorded. in the end the epynomous album had taken 3 years. It was unsurprisingly not that well recieved, by now it was 1987. A year later McCulloch quit the band in 1988 and de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident in mid-1989. The remaining members werent really able to resurrect the band... In 1994 McCulloch and Sergeant began working together again under the name Electrafixion; in 1997 Pattinson rejoined the duo, meaning the three surviving members of the original Bunnymen lineup were now working together again. Rather than continue as Electrafixion, the trio resurrected the Echo & the Bunnymen name and released the album Evergreen (1997) and since What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001) and Siberia (2005). Ian McCulloch has announced The Fountain as the title of the new Echo & the Bunnyman album due in 2008.



01 - The Cutter (3:50)
02 - Back Of Love (3:13)
03 - My White Devil (4:38)
04 - Clay (4:08)
05 - Porcupine (5:46)

06 - Heads Will Roll (3:29)
07 - Ripeness (4:42)
08 - Higher Hell (4:57)
09 - Gods Will Be Gods (5:21)
10 - In Bluer Skies (4:16)
Bonus
11 - Fuel 4:05
12 - The Cutter (Alternate Version) 4:08
13 - My White Devil (Alternate Version) 5:03
14 - Porcupine (Alternate Version) 4:04
15 - Ripeness (Alternate Version) 4:42
16 - Gods Will Be Gods (Alternate Version) 5:31
17 - Never Stop (Discotheque) 4:45


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Nasmak - Silhouette (83 ^ 216mb)

Nasmak and friends were from the South of the country Nuenen,near Philips's researchlabs and headquarters (at the time) they were interested in repetitive structures, but their music was less harsh and mechanical, more fluid and danceable. Initially in 78 they sang in dutch and were called Nasmaak (after taste) They dropped the dutch and an a and so Nasmak came about. Their first record (on Plurex) Nasmak Plus Instruments/Instruments Plus Nasmak(1980), was hailed by John Peel as the best continental record of the year. Nasmak was the first Dutch band to do a Peel session. They combined traditional gitar/bass/drums with Truus de Groot, playing the unpredictable 'crackling box' noise(s)and tapes, yes bit of an art band..from the provence no less...Well their efforts were well recieved national aswell as international. All members had their own side-projects, such as + Instruments (Truus de Groot with varying personnel including Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth)

In 81 Truus de Groot leaves for New York, where she, together with drummer David Linton en gitarist Lee Renaldo , further develops her band + Instruments. Nasmak goes on and they release two double cassettes Indecent Exposure 1 & 2 (Music For Brass, Woodwinds, Drums & Violins) en Indecent Exposure 3 & 4 (The Smell Remains). In 82 they release 4ourclicks, an original and hypnotic album which gets rave reviews.

Their third album, Duel (83) is more melodic and less well recieved, Joop van Brakel (gitar) left shortly before the release. On their fourth and final album, Silhoutte, Nasmak tried a more smoother sound, the end result was certainly not bad. it dissapointed their hard core fans who had them down as avant garde..but that dont pay any bills. It's true certainly looking back that the influence of Talking Heads and specially Japan loomed large over this album, but hey so what! They had come a long way in just 6 years and after the promotour in 84 it was all over for Nasmak. ..Were it not for the internet..hefty prices are payed for their rareties like this 81 Flexi



01 - Visions (3:34)
02 - Walk Away (3:35)
03 - Air (4:35)
04 - Disturbance (3:48)
05 - Silhouette (3:59)

06 - Crystal Clear (3:45)
07 - Don't Be Anxious (4:02)
08 - Below (3:41)
09 - Believe In Woman (4:09)
10 - Womb (3:39)

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Thompson Twins - Into The Gap   (84 ^ 472mb)

The Thompson Twins was formed 1977 in Sheffield, England by three friends - Tom Bailey (bass), Pete Dodd (vocals and guitar) and John Roog (guitar). The name came from the twin detecives in Hergé's comic book series "Adventures of Tintin". In 1979 they moved to London with very little money, they lived as squatters in Lillieshall Road, London. Future Thompson Twins' member Alannah Currie lived in another squat in the same street — which is how she met Bailey.Drummer Chris Bell replaced "Pod" Podgorski who had decided to stay in the north. Early 1980 Tom Bailey took over lead vocals from Pete Dodd. .
By 1981, the line-up was Bailey, Dodd, Roog and three new members: Chris Bell on drums, Joe Leeway on congas and percussion, and Jane Shorter on saxophone. This line-up recorded the first Thompson Twins album A Product of ... (Participation). Currie, who had been hanging out with the band for a few years, played and sang on the first album, but was not yet a full member.

March 1982 they released the album ''Set'' - produced by Steve Lillywhite - and the single ''In The Name Of Love''. Which becomes one of the biggest US dance songs of the decade, spending five weeks topping the Billboard charts. Now as a three-piece, the new Thompson Twins released their first album in February 1983. ''Quick Step And Side Kick'' (''Side Kicks'' in North America) - produced by Alex Sadkin. They release "Lies" and "Love On Your Side", which became the band's first UK Top 10 single, followed with "We Are Detective" (another Top 10 UK hit) and "Watching".

At the end of 1983, a new single, "Hold Me Now", was released. A simple love song with gentle guitar lines, it marked a clear break from the Thompson Twins' previously dance-oriented sound. The song was an international chart success, peaking at number three in the US and becoming their biggest American hit, and also hitting number four in their native UK. In January 1984 they released their second album as a threesome, ''Into The Gap'', which produced the additional hits ''Doctor! Doctor!'', ''You Take Me Up'' and ''Sister Of Mercy''. By the end of 1984 ''Into The Gap'' sold over 5,000,000 copies worldwide.

Tom collapses from nervous exhaustion producing the follow-up LP and the album and tour is post-poned and Nile Rodgers is brought in to help finish the job. September 1985 finally sees the release of ''Here's To Future Days''. It contains the hits ''Don't Mess With Doctor Dream'', ''Lay Your Hands On Me'' and ''King For A Day''. Upon finishing the world tour in early 1986, Joe Leeway leaves the Thompson Twins to pursue a solo career. Thompson Twins now became the duo their name had always implied. After doing the title track to the movie sountrack for ''Nothing In Common'', The Thompson Twins release their first album as a duo in 1987, ''Close To The Bone''. The single ''Get That Love'' was a top 40 hit.

Bailey and Currie had been romantically involved since 1980, and had their first child eight years later. The Twins signed a record deal with Warner Bros and in October 1989 the fruits of this labour produce the album ''Big Trash'' with the hit ''Sugar Daddy''. In September 1991, Tom Bailey and Alannah Currie released an album titled ''Queer''. Masquerading as ''Feedback Max'' in the U.K., the first single ''Come Inside'' reached #1 in the Dance Charts before people discovered that ''Feedback Max'' was actually the Twins in disguise. In 1993 the Twins finally formally disbanded, and Bailey and Currie teamed up with engineer Keith Fernley to forge a new musical direction under the name of ''Babble''. Babble's first album, entitled ''The Stone'', is a mixture of tribal, trance and ambient music. Then they also released a second album named ''Ether''.

In 1999, Bailey produced and played keyboards on the hit album "Mix" by the New Zealand band Stellar, and won the "producer of the year" award at the New Zealand equivalent of the Grammys. He has also arranged soundtracks and has provided instrumental music for several films. In the mid 1990s, Currie gave up the music business to set up her own glass-casting studio in Auckland. After her sister died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Currie founded a group in New Zealand called "Mothers Against Genetic-Engineering in Food and the Environment" (also known as MADGE) which soon had thousands of members. Bailey and Currie split up in 2003, and are now divorced. They both left New Zealand and live separately in Britain, but are still close friends.



01 - Doctor! Doctor! (4:33)
02- You Take Me Up (4:20)
03 - Day After Day (3:43)
04 - Sister Of Mercy (5:00)
05 - No Peace For The Wicked (4:00)
06 - The Gap (4:39)
07 - Hold Me Now (4:40)
08 - Storm On The Sea (5:22)
09 - Who Can Stop The Rain (5:36)
The Cassette Remixes
10 - Leopard Ray 3:19
11 - Doctor! Doctor !7:50
12 - Panic Station (Day After Day) 4:43
13 - Down Tools 4:23
14 - Hold Me Now 9:45
15 - Funeral Dance (No Peace For The Wicked) 3:14

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Around The World (35)

Hello, Around the Worldmusics goes back, way back into time..., not sure how to classify this..its been around for more than a 1000 years and supposedly not that much has changed after Charlemagne and the Pope, in a cynical division of absolute power, made it compulsary and punishable by death to sing any other way. These days one can do anything with it, and it worked wonders as background music to erotica...well there's no beats here and the experts argue about the rhythm-if any, make your own noise with it...

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Gregorian chant is a form of monophonic liturgical chant of Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. This vast repertory of chants is the oldest music known as it is the first repertory to have been adequately notated in the 10th century. In general, the chants were learnt by the viva voce method, that is by following the given example orally, which took many years of experience in the Schola Cantorum. Gregorian chant originated in Monastic life, in which singing the 'Divine Service' nine times a day at the proper hours was upheld according to the Rule of St. Benedict. Singing psalms made up a large part of the life in a monastic community, while a smaller group and soloists sang the chants. In its long history Gregorian Chant has been subjected to many gradual changes.

Gregorian chant was organized, codified, and notated mainly in the Frankish lands of western and central Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries, with later additions and redactions, but the texts and many of the melodies have antecedents going back several centuries earlier. The chant bearing Gregory I 's name arose from a later Carolingian synthesis of Roman and Gallican chant and that at that time the attribution to the Pope was a 'marketing ruse' to invest it with a pedigree of Holy Inspiration in efforts to create one liturgic protocol that would be practised throughout the entire Empire. One Empire, one Church, one Chant - imposing Unity was a central issue in Carolingian days. It appeared in a remarkably uniform state across Europe within a short time. Charlemagne, once elevated to Holy Roman Emperor, aggressively spread Gregorian chant throughout his empire to consolidate religious and secular power, requiring the clergy to use the new repertory on pain of death. From English and German sources, Gregorian chant spread north to Scandinavia, Iceland and Finland. In 885, Pope Stephen V banned the Slavonic liturgy, leading to the ascendancy of Gregorian chant in Eastern Catholic lands including Poland, Moravia, Slovakia, and Austria.

Gregorian chants are organized into eight modes. Typical melodic features include characteristic incipits and cadences, the use of reciting tones around which the other notes of the melody revolve, and a vocabulary of musical motifs woven together through a process called centonization to create families of related chants. Gregorian chant was traditionally sung by choirs of men and boys in churches, or by women and men of religious orders in their chapels. It is the music of the Roman Rite, performed in the Mass and the monastic Office. Although Gregorian chant is no longer obligatory, the Roman Catholic Church still officially considers it the music most suitable for worship

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Schola Cantotum - Gregorian Chant (94 ^ 141mb)



01 - Requiem Mass - Introitus (1:57)
02 - Requiem Mass - Kyrie (1:43)
03 - Requiem Mass - Graduale (3:04)
04 - Requiem Mass - Tractus (2:22)
05 - Requiem Mass - Sequentia (5:31)
06 - Requiem Mass - Offertorium (3:47)
07 - Requiem Mass - Sanctus (0:48)
08 - Requiem Mass - Agnus Dei (0:46)
09 - Requiem Mass - Communio (0:48)
10 - Hymns From Office Of The Dead - Invatorium (5:18)
11 - Hymns From Office Of The Dead - Responsorium (3:05)
12 - Hymns From Office Of The Dead - Canticum Zachariae (4:10)
13 - Hymns From Office Of The Dead - Responsorium (5:22)
14 - Hymns From Office Of The Dead - Antifoon (1:02)
15 - Passiontide - Hymne (1:03)
16 - Passiontide - Responsorium (2:30)
17 - Passiontide - Graduale (2:35)
18 - Passiontide - Communio (1:11 )
19 - Passiontide - Improperia (5:37)
20 - White Sunday Mass - Introitus (3:23)
21 - White Sunday Mass - Kyrie I (1:59)
22 - White Sunday Mass - Gloria I (3:10)
23 - White Sunday Mass - Alleluia (1:34)
24 - White Sunday Mass - Alleluia. (1:58)
25 - White Sunday Mass - Sequentia (2:28)
26 - White Sunday Mass - Offertorium (1:39)
27 - White Sunday Mass - Sanctus I (1:20)
28 - White Sunday Mass - Agnus Dei I (1:18)
29 - White Sunday Mass - Communio (1:04)

Schola Cantotum - Gegorian Chant (94 * 99mb)

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