Sep 20, 2014

RhoDeo 1437 Grooves

Hello, so after weeks of anti Scottish self determination by the british media that's all news papers and the BBC, Sky what have you all made a concerted effort to bully free thinking Scots into submission. What a nasty country this Britain, obsessed with class and/or money. So how come these media unashamedly stood against freedom, ok so these people make on average some great dosh and they gladly serve their 1% masters as they are careering amoral assholes. So fear won a hollow victory..... Meanwhile the tech fashionistas drooled over that fruitcompany latest toy, what a bunch of sad losers they should be branded with the corporate logo on their forehead....



These weeks we focussed on an American singer-songwriter, actor, and producer. He was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes, Porter, Bill Withers, the Sherman Brothers, Steve Cropper, and John Fogerty were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of notable songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. He is also a 2002 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We'll we've reached the end......N'joy

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Few figures exerted greater influence over the music of the 1960s and 1970s than Isaac Hayes; after laying the groundwork for the Memphis soul sound through his work with Stax-Volt Records, Hayes began a highly successful solo career which predated not only the disco movement but also the evolution of rap.

Hayes was born on August 20, 1942, in Covington, TN; his parents died during his infancy, and he was raised by his grandparents. After making his public debut singing in church at the age of five, he taught himself piano, organ, and saxophone before moving to Memphis to perform on the city's club circuit in a series of short-lived groups like Sir Isaac and the Doo-Dads, the Teen Tones, and Sir Calvin and His Swinging Cats. In 1962, he began his recording career, cutting sides for a variety of local labels.

Two years later, Hayes began playing sax with the Mar-Keys, which resulted in the beginning of his long association with Stax Records. After playing on several sessions for Otis Redding, Hayes was tapped to play keyboards in the Stax house band, and eventually established a partnership with songwriter David Porter. Under the name the Soul Children, the Hayes-Porter duo composed some 200 songs, reeling off a string of hits for Stax luminaries like Sam & Dave (the brilliant "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby," "Soul Man," and "Hold on, I'm Comin'"), Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y"), and Johnnie Taylor ("I Got to Love Somebody's Baby," "I Had a Dream").

In 1967, Hayes issued his debut solo LP Presenting Isaac Hayes, a loose, jazz-flavored effort recorded in the early-morning hours following a raucous Stax party. With the release of 1969's landmark Hot Buttered Soul, he made his commercial breakthrough; the record's adventuresome structure (comprising four lengthy songs), ornate arrangements, and sensual grooves -- combined with the imposing figure cut by his shaven head, omnipresent sunglasses, and fondness for gold jewelry -- made Hayes one of the most distinctive figures in music.

After a pair of 1970 releases, The Isaac Hayes Movement and To Be Continued, he reached his commercial zenith in 1971 with the release of Shaft, the score from the Gordon Parks film of the same name. Not only did the album win Hayes an Academy Award for Best Score (the first African-American composer to garner such an honor), but the single "Theme from Shaft," a masterful blend of prime funk and pre-rap monologues, became a number one hit.

After 1971's superb Black Moses and 1973's Joy, Hayes composed two 1974 soundtracks, Tough Guys and Truck Turner (in which he also starred). By 1975, relations with Stax had disintegrated following a battle over royalties, and soon he severed his ties with the label to form his own Hot Buttered Soul imprint. Although both 1975's Chocolate Chip and 1976's Groove-a-Thon went gold, his records of the period attracted considerably less attention than prior efforts; combined with poor management and business associations, Hayes had no choice but to file for bankruptcy in 1976.

After the 1977 double-LP A Man and a Woman, recorded with Dionne Warwick, Hayes began a comeback on the strength of the hit singles "Zeke the Freak," "Don't Let Go." and "Do You Wanna Make Love." Following the success of his 1979 collection of duets with Millie Jackson titled Royal Rappins, he issued a pair of solo records, 1980's And Once Again and 1981's Lifetime Thing before retiring from music for five years. After returning in 1986 with the LP U Turn and the Top Ten R&B hit "Ike's Rap," Hayes surfaced two years later with Love Attack before again dropping out of music to focus on acting.

In 1995, fully enshrined as one of the forefathers of hip-hop and newly converted to Scientology, Hayes emerged with two concurrent releases, the vocal Branded and instrumental Raw and Refined. Under the official name Nene Katey Ocansey I, he also served as a member of the royal family of the African nation of Ghana while continuing simultaneous careers as an actor, composer, and humanitarian. In 1997, Hayes provided the voice of what was slated to be a one-time character on the animated series South Park -- Jerome "Chef" McElroy, the main characters' favorite school cafeteria worker. Hayes was an instant hit, and Chef became a regular character on the show, lending advice and, oftentimes, breaking into songs that gently sent up Hayes' image as one of R&B's ultimate love men.

South Park made Hayes more visible than ever and cemented his status as an icon with a whole new generation. He contributed the infamous "Chocolate Salty Balls" to the South Park tie-in album Chef Aid, and naturally appeared in the film South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut. (He left the show only after an episode made fun of Scientology.) In 2000, Hayes revisited his biggest triumph of the past by appearing in the remake of Shaft starring Samuel L. Jackson. The following year, he supported Alicia Keys as a musician and arranger on her acclaimed debut, Songs in A Minor.

On August 5, 2003, Hayes was honored as a BMI Icon at the 2003 BMI Urban Awards for his enduring influence on generations of music makers. Throughout his songwriting career, Hayes received five BMI R&B Awards, two BMI Pop Awards, two BMI Urban Awards and six Million-Air citations. As of 2008, his songs generated more than 12 million performances. Although he recorded little during the 2000s, he appeared in many films, including 2004's Hustle and Flow. Hayes was in ill health on August 10, 2008, when he collapsed at his home in Memphis and was pronounced dead later that day of a stroke due to high blood pressure.

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Isaac Hayes' album recording output during the 1980s after 1981's uneven "Lifetime Thing" was rather minimal and substandard. Apparently personal issues and other professional endeavors took priority over making records, and it shows somewhat on this 1988 Columbia Records release. Hayes made two transitional albums for Columbia in the mid to late 80s (this one and "U-Turn" in 1986), and for longtime fans neither lived up to all the expectation and hype prior to their release. However, Isaac Hayes has never released a bad album, and "Love Attack" is not without its moments. Thankfully there's classic and typical Hayes the balladeer and songster present - such as the sultry and seducing "Eye Of The Storm". Even the early two club/dance oriented tracks "Love Attack" and "Showdown" (a minor hit which received some radio & club play) manage to work for southern `soul man' Hayes trying to get his 'groove back' in the late 80s. Ike's raps on record are legendary and stirring, but the rap infected "Let Me Be Your Everything" is an obvious attempt to be hip and just doesn't hit on all cylinders. The last half of the album consists of more keyboard/drum programming and the 'same ole same ole', with Isaac rapping as an intro to his own low-budget updated remake of "I Stand Accused", putting his Black Moses stamp on Major Harris' classic "Love Won't Let Me Wait" (with another pre-song rap) and tastefully delivering a very personalized, soulful and tender reading of Billy Joel's "She's Got A Way". Although "Love Attack" is not showcasing Isaac Hayes in all his glory, it does play out nicely as a link from the Polydor Records era to the two stellar albums he released on Virgin Records ("Branded"/"Raw & Refined") in the mid nineties .



Isaac Hayes - Love Attack (flac 250mb)

01 Love Attack 5:34
02 Let Me Be Your Everything 6:40
03 Showdown 6:22
04 Eye Of The Storm 4:24
05 Accused Rap 4:44
06 I Stand Accused '88 5:38
07 She's Got The Way 4:28
08 Foreplay Rap 1:57
09 Love Won't Let Me Wait 5:41

Isaac Hayes - Love Attack (ogg 98mb)

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With about seven years of downtime on the recording front, Isaac Hayes burst to life again in 1995 with not one but two albums, released simultaneously with cover art that merges together when placed side by side. One was a collection of old demos and new instrumental tracks (Raw and Refined), but the other -- the disc at hand -- was a brand-new package hearkening back to Hayes' old extravagant ways. In a major attempt to restart his commercial engines, Hayes goes so far as to record in his original headquarters, Memphis, gathering around him many old cronies -- most notably his old writing partner from the Sam & Dave days, David Porter, and guitarists Michael Toles and Skip Pitts from the Stax period. Once again, Hayes attempts to transform well-known pop hits into wide-screen spectaculars, and he revisits tunes and ideas from his heyday. In a blatant imitation of the fold-out jacket of the original Black Moses LPs, the booklet even folds out in the shape of a cross. Yet there is a noticeable change in emphasis right at the start. "Fragile" begins with a rap that deals not with the usual Hayes topic of love gained or lost, but with a message about preserving the planet, and his treatment of Sting's song has a conga-driven momentum that ranks with many of Hayes' better extended rap/songs of the past. John Sebastian's "Summer in the City" is a tense amalgam of '70s funk and '90s digital synthesizers, a really effective update of the Hayes formula. But Hayes gets down to serious lovemaking business soon enough with new material like "Let Me Love You" and "I'll Do Anything (To Turn You On)." The Porter collaboration, "Thanks to the Fool," is a fine, humorous rap/song that picks up where "I Stand Accused" left off (this time, Ike gets the girl, albeit 25 years later!). The two golden oldies are handled in pointedly different ways. "Soulsville" (from the Shaft soundtrack) is almost unchanged from the original -- itself a comment that little has changed in the ghetto since 1971 -- while Chuck D. grafts a contemporary rap onto "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" -- which doesn't do much for the tune, but doesn't hurt either. Though it came too late for his heyday, and a bit soon for his comeback on the wings of the cable series South Park, this is actually one of Hayes' best albums -- and it holds up under repeated plays.



Isaac Hayes - Branded (flac 389mb)

01 Ike's Plea 1:19
02 Life's Mood 2:52
03 Fragile 6:21
04 Life's Mood II 3:21
05 Summer In The City 6:55
06 Let Me Love You 4:42
07 I'll Do Anything (To Turn You On) 7:45
08 Thanks To The Fool 7:40
09 Branded 7:02
10 Soulsville 4:09
11 Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic (feat Chuck D.)12:00

Isaac Hayes - Branded  (ogg 147mb)

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After about seven years of inactivity on the recording front, Isaac Hayes suddenly burst forth with two albums, the all-new Branded and this curious compilation of new and old instrumental tracks dating back about a quarter-century, we think. There is no documentation to help the inquisitive listener; all David Ritz's otherwise copious liner notes say is that some of these tunes are demos going back to his days at Stax, while others were newly recorded in Memphis. So all one can do is use one's ears to put approximate dates on the material. More often than not, the usual ingredients from Hayes' early-'70s heyday are in place -- the funky rhythm section in various states of arousal; Hayes noodling at the piano, organ, synthesizer, or even alto sax; a symphony orchestra often at hand. Yet most of the time, what one hears is a soundtrack in search of a movie -- one directionless vamp after another, setting the stage for scenes that never materialize. Some vamps are more interesting than others. "Memphis Trax" sounds like an extrapolation of "Grazing in the Grass," a fairly recent hit at the time this might have been recorded. "Soul Fiddle" generates some interest with its varied structure (is that Hayes on vibes in the center of the piece?). "Southern Breeze" comes the closest to a jazz session, though Hayes never does quite let go and burn. "The Birth of Shaft" is exactly that -- a vamp waiting to happen, waiting for the burst of inspiration (specifically, the signature wah-wah guitar riff) that would make the idea take off ("Funky Junky" actually comes closer to critical mass in that regard). Ah, but there is one vocal by Hayes, a deep, sexy rap over the languorous vamp of "You Make Me Live" -- and a female chorus adds some overtly seductive charm to "Making Love at the Ocean."



Isaac Hayes Movement - Raw & Refined  (flac 424mb)

01 Birth Of Shaft 3:30
02 Urban Nights 4:30
03 Funkalicious 5:37
04 Tahoe Spring 4:27
05 The Night Before 4:38
06 Memphis Trax 3:35
07 Soul Fiddle 6:35
08 Funky Junky 7:02
09 You Make Me Live 3:45
10 Making Love At The Ocean 5:42
11 Southern Breeze 5:55
12 Didn't Know Love Was So Good 3:50
13 The 405 6:42

Isaac Hayes Movement - Raw & Refined (ogg 160mb)

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Sep 18, 2014

RhoDeo 1437 Goldy Rhox 178

Hello, today the 178th post of GoldyRhox, classic pop rock in the darklight an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician whose career spans five decades. With a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa constrictors, baby dolls, crutch and dueling sword , considered by fans and peers alike to be "The Godfather of Shock Rock"; Vincent Damon Furnier, has drawn equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a grandly theatrical and macabre brand of rock designed to shock.

Originating in Phoenix in the late 1960s after Furnier moved from Detroit, originally a band consisting of Furnier on vocals and harmonica, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar, and drummer Neal Smith. The original band broke into the international music mainstream with the 1971 hit "I'm Eighteen" from the album Love It to Death, which was followed by the even bigger single "School's Out" in 1972. The band reached their commercial peak with the 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies.

Furnier adopted the band's name as his own name in the 1970s and began a solo career with the 1975 concept album Welcome to My Nightmare. In 2011 he released Welcome 2 My Nightmare, his 19th album as a solo artist, and his 26th album in total. Expanding from his Detroit rock roots, in his career he has experimented with a number of musical styles, including conceptual rock, art rock, hard rock, heavy metal, new wave, pop rock, experimental rock and industrial rock.

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Most of the albums i 'll post made many millions for the music industry and a lot of what i intend to post still gets repackaged and remastered decades later, squeezing the last drop of profit out of bands that for the most part have ceased to exist long ago, although sometimes they get lured out of the mothballs to do a big bucks gig or tour. Now i'm not as naive to post this kinda music for all to see and have deleted, these will be a black box posts, i'm sorry for those on limited bandwidth but for most of you a gamble will get you a quality rip don't like it, deleting is just 2 clicks...That said i will try to accommodate somewhat and produce some cryptic info on the artist and or album.

Today's mystery album was initially released November 1971, it is the fourth studio album by the band. The band wasted little time following up the breakthrough success of Love It to Death with another album released the same year, today's mystery album. Again, producer Bob Ezrin was on board and helps the group solidify their heavy rock (yet wide-ranging) style even further. The band's stage show dealt with the macabre, and such disturbing tracks as "Dead Babies" and the title track fit in perfectly. Other songs were even more exceptional, such as the perennial barnstorming concert standard "Under My Wheels," the melodic yet gritty "Be My Lover," and the tribute to their fallen friend Jim Morrison, "Desperado." The long and winding "Halo of Flies" correctly hinted that the band would be tackling more complex song structures on future albums, while "You Drive Me Nervous" and "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" showed that they hadn't completely abandoned their early garage rock direction. With Killer, they became one of the world's top rock bands and concert attractions; it rewarded them as being among the most notorious and misunderstood entertainers, thoroughly despised by grownups.

The album reached #21 on the Billboard album chart, and two singles made the Hot 100 chart. Musicians such as Jello Biafra and Johnny Rotten have referred back to the album as an influence. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. called today's mystery album the greatest rock album of all time. Punk icons Jello Biafra & The Melvins covered the song "Halo of Flies" on their 2005 release Sieg Howdy! Psychobilly musicians Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper covered the song "Be My Lover" on their 1986 release Frenzy. This here is 2009's 24K gold disc Audio Fidelity HDCD rip.



Goldy Rhox 178   (flac 231mb)

Goldy Rhox 178    (ogg 89mb)


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Sep 17, 2014

RhoDeo 1437 Aetix

Hello, still two nights before the Scots get split between the fearful selfish ones and the collective optimist ones and i'm afraid the ISIS policy of fear will win. Yes a no vote is a vote for IS now why didn't those campaign strategists see that one coming. It looks that many a no voter is afraid to come out for his/her cowardice, and some expect a nasty friday with serious riots if the yes vote is defeated...

Today's band is an American rock band from New York City underground during the post-punk era, they are remembered as one of the most under-appreciated indie-rock bands of the 1980's and to this day have many fans throughout the world. Although the band never sold many records, they are considered to be influential in the indie rock scene today.  ....N'Joy

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Of the countless bands to emerge from the New York City underground during the post-punk era, few if any were as unique and influential as the Feelies; nerdy, nervous, and noisy, even decades later their droning, skittering avant-garde pop remains a key touchstone of the American indie music scene. Named in reference to Aldous Huxley's paranoid classic Brave New World, the Feelies formed in 1976 in suburban Haledon, NJ, where singers/guitarists Bill Million and Glenn Mercer first met while in high school; bassist John J. and drummer Dave Weckerman rounded out the original lineup, although they were replaced in 1977 by bassist Keith Clayton and drummer Vinny Denunzio. The revamped group soon made its N.Y.C. debut, quickly creating a buzz throughout the city's new wave circuit -- a Village Voice headline even dubbed them "The Best Underground Band in New York."

Drummer Anton Fier replaced Denunzio in 1978, and a year later the Feelies cut their debut single, "Fa Ce-La," for the British indie Rough Trade. Their refusal to work with outside producers jeopardized their immediate hopes for a major-label deal, however, and so their brilliant 1980 LP, Crazy Rhythms, instead appeared on another U.K. indie, Stiff; the record's manic melodies, jittery rhythms, and opaque lyrics made it a huge critical favorite, and although it made little impact outside of underground circles, many latter-day acts -- R.E.M. chief among them -- cited the album as a major influence. Still, Crazy Rhythms' commercial failure sat badly with Stiff, which began pressuring the Feelies to produce a hit single; the pressure ultimately forced the group into a kind of suspended animation, with Fier soon exiting to join the Lounge Lizards and later mounting the Golden Palominos.

With the Feelies out of action for the better part of the early '80s, the remaining members turned their focus to a variety of side projects -- in 1982, Million and Mercer reunited to compose the score to Susan Seidelman's film Smithereens, concurrently playing in a series of Jersey-area bands including Weckerman's new outfit Yung Wu, the Trypes (who issued the 1984 EP The Explorers Hold), and the instrumental Willies. Finally, Million and Mercer reactivated the Feelies banner in 1983, reuniting with Weckerman as well as two of their Willies bandmates, percussionist Stanley Demeski and bassist Brenda Sauter; still, the revitalized group's performance schedule was sporadic at best, limited primarily to holiday appearances. Finally, they entered the studio with producer Peter Buck of R.E.M., releasing the folky The Good Earth on Coyote in 1986.

That same year, the Feelies appeared in director Jonathan Demme's film hit Something Wild; combined with critical praise for The Good Earth, the group's raised media visibility caught the attention of A&M, which released the follow-up, Only Life, in 1988. Time for a Witness followed in 1991, but on July 5 of that year the Feelies gathered at the Maxwell's club in Hoboken, NJ to play their final show -- soon after Million unexpectedly moved to Florida without telling any of his bandmates, not even leaving a forwarding address. In the months to follow Demeski began playing in Luna, Sauter worked with Speed the Plough and Wild Carnation, and Mercer and Weckerman reteamed in Wake Ooloo; when that band fell apart in 1998 after three LPs for the Pravda label, the duo again joined forces to form another new unit, Sunburst.

In the summer of 2008 the classic 1983 lineup held a low-key reunion, opening for Sonic Youth and playing two sold-out shows at Maxwell's. A year later they appeared at a tribute to R.E.M. concert at Carnegie Hall and performed at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello NY, playing the Crazy Rhythms album in its entirety. The band signed with Bar/None that same year, and began work on a new album. Recorded at Water Music in Hoboken, 2011's Here Before represented the outfit's first collection of new music in nearly 19 years.

But The Feelies needn't have worried -- one play confirms Here Before is excellent, an album that finds the band seemingly picking up where it left off and sounding as committed and invigorating as ever, reveling in the beauty and power of rhythm guitars and cracking percussion. Here Before features the complete Feelies Mk. 2 lineup that recorded The Good Earth, Only Life, and Time for a Witness -- guitarists Glenn Mercer and Bill Million, bassist Brenda Sauter, drummer Stanley Demeski, and percussionist Dave Weckerman -- and stylistically, it hits a middle ground between the gentler, more pastoral tone of The Good Earth and the more potent, electric feel of the two albums that followed.

The Feelies have reunited sporadically over the last two decades to play concerts at their early home at Maxwell's. The band most recently performed there for three consecutive nights on July 4-6, 2013.

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Even the cover is a winner, with a washed-out look that screams new wave via horn-rimmed glasses, even more so than contemporaneous pictures of either Elvis Costello or the Embarrassment. But if it was all look and no brain, Crazy Rhythms would long ago have been dismissed as an early-'80s relic. That's exactly what this album is not, right from the soft, haunting hints of percussion that preface the suddenly energetic jump of the appropriately titled "The Boy With the Perpetual Nervousness." From there the band delivers seven more originals plus a striking cover of the Beatles' "Everybody's Got Something to Hide" that rips along even more quickly than the original. The guitar team of Mercer and Million smokes throughout, whether it's soft, rhythmic chiming with a mysterious, distanced air or blasting, angular solos. But Fier is the band's secret weapon, able to play straight-up beats but aiming at a rumbling, strange punch that updates Velvet Underground/Krautrock trance into giddier realms. Mercer's obvious Lou Reed vocal inflections make the VU roots even clearer, but even at this stage of the game there's something fresh about the work the quartet does, even 20 years on -- a good blend of past and present, rave-up and reflection. When the group's later label, A&M, finally got around to reissuing the album for the first time stateside, a curious bonus was included: a version of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black," recorded by the later lineup of the band in 1990. Mercer's voice is noticeably different from his decade-old self, but it's an enthusiastic rendition not too far out of place. Here's the 09 remaster



The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms  (flac 249mb)

01 The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness 5:14
02 Fa Cé-La 2:05
03 Loveless Love 5:07
04 Forces At Work 7:07
05 Original Love 2:57
06 Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except For Me And My Monkey) 4:08
07 Moscow Nights 4:26
08 Raised Eyebrows 3:01
09 Crazy Rhythms 6:12

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After the various side projects and explorations the band got up to for most of the early '80s, not to mention switching some members around (with bassist Sauter and drummer Demeski now forming the rhythm section), the Feelies made a fine return with The Good Earth. With co-production from noted fan Peter Buck, the group exchanged some of the understated tense frazzle of Crazy Rhythms for a gentler propulsion without losing its trancy edge. Compared to the wispy jangle rock that passed for much of college radio at the time, the Feelies proposed a different path with the songs' steady pace and murkier feeling. Demeski's a more than fine replacement for Fier (his martial playing on "Tomorrow Today" is one of his many entertaining touches), Sauter's playing emphasizes controlled understatement, and the Million/Mercer guitar duo still nails it. The brisker jauntiness of songs like "The Last Roundup," which wears just enough of a country & western edge without seeming like a parody or half-assed, varies the calmer moods elsewhere very well. At the album's considerable best, such as the brief but really lovely acoustic/electric blend of "When Company Comes" or the title track, with an almost epic ending, Million and Mercer sound like they inhabit the same body playing two guitars, everything's that much in lovely sync. Their vocals ride low in the mix this time out, but thankfully the sometimes all-too-obvious hints of Lou Reed in Mercer's style have been replaced with a more unique, stronger edge -- not that the connection still isn't there on a track like the building groove of "Slipping (Into Something)." Reed would also love its concluding guitar solo!



The Feelies - The Good Earth  (flac 248mb)

01 On The Roof 2:51
02 The High Road 4:20
03 The Last Roundup 2:50
04 Slipping (Into Something) 5:54
05 When Company Comes 2:15
06 Let's Go 2:37
07 Two Rooms 2:32
08 The Good Earth 3:48
09 Tomorrow Today 5:30
10 Slow Down 3:13

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With an unchanged lineup but more attention due to their A&M deal, the Feelies hit the jackpot with their third album, a warm, inviting collection that finally addresses the endless Lou Reed comparisons with a cover of his "What Goes On." With its clearer feeling and peppier overall delivery, it avoids simply cloning the original arrangement and performance. The rest of the album shows off the band's distinctive yet flexible sound, as much jangle as it is quietly moody. Mercer and Million's previously tense guitar power becomes attractive shadings, implying a louder approach without always delivering it, while the Demeski/Sauter rhythm team takes the lead throughout; his steady drums and her low, rolling performances giving the guitarists something to play around instead of dominate. the Feelies always make this tranced-out rock their own, but this time around it's as quietly thrilling, if not more so, than ever. "Higher Ground" is a great example, with Mercer and Million trading off not merely notes and passages but differing approaches, whether laden with distortion or chiming clearly. Though Weckerman's work, as earlier, isn't easily distinguished from Demeski's, from the sound of it everything fit in right when recording. Where appears more audibly, as on the start of "The Undertow," his percussion adds an intriguing wild card to the proceedings, aiming at the same goal with slightly different sonics. Mercer's ghost-of-you-know-who vocals still pop up at times, but here his own ability to actually sing and hold notes comes forward, giving him a technical edge that he uses to great effect on the brisk "Away."



The Feelies - Only Life  (flac 242mb)

01 It's Only Life 3:01
02 Too Much 4:38
03 Deep Fascination 4:07
04 Higher Ground 4:38
05 The Undertow 3:43
06 For Awhile 4:05
07 The Final Word 2:23
08 Too Far Gone 3:38
09 Away 5:27
10 What Goes On 3:37

The Feelies - Only Life  (ogg 92mb)

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Sep 16, 2014

RhoDeo 1437 Roots

Hello, as the the day of Scotland's vote for independence from what is basically greedy London nears, the rest of Britain is reminded that should the Scots go, the rest will immediately be living in the most unequal country of the world, yes surpassing the US. Interesting isn't it that 'United' countries are bastions of ruthless capitalism, playgrounds for the rich and like the nazi's already knew, as they drugged those in the camps with fluoridated water to keep them docile, most citizens in the US and UK get the same treatment. Something forbidden in most civilized countries... go figure. I hope those Scots that have been intimidated by the no campaign, will choose for freedom and show those in the north of England why they should get rid of the Tories and the city scumbags supporting them.


'Boy those days really were golden if you judge them by the warm and affectionate glow that emanates from this music. Their swing and jazz-influenced highlife is very 'Chugga Chugga'. Get your bongs going, ladies and gentlemen, fill them up with that sinsemilla, lay down on a hammock and let the soothing vibes of Rogie's music make you forget all the crap in the world. Alternatively, you can grab a beer or two :). Or
delve into the forgotten raw and psychedelic Afro sounds from 70s Benin and Togo and experience the African Scream Contest. ... N'joy

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 In 1998 Ghana lost one of its greatest highlife exponents, the Accra born King Bruce who composed many highlife classics, particularly in his native language Ga. He had a particular ability to write his Ga lyrics in a poetic way and put to haunting and relaxed melodies.

King Bruce was born in James Town, Accra, in 1922. His musical experiences started early and were varied. His mother belonged to a traditional women’s singing group called Etsi Penfo. His eldest brother Kpakpo Thompson taught him piano. Another brother, Eddie Bruce, played palm wine guitar styles like “fireman” and “dagomba wire,” in a band with a group of seamen called Canteen. At the same time and much against his parent’s wishes, King was a keen follower of the Accra street music, such as the alaha (also called adaha), kolomashie, tsibode, koyin, and other popular dance-styles played by the local Ga-Adangme ethnic group.

 At the prestigious Achimota College secondary school, King continued to be inspired by music, particularly by some of the teachers who taught there. These included Phillip Gbeho, who composed Ghana’s national anthem, and Doctor Ephraim Amu. Doctor Amu was, as King recalled, “my house-master as well as my music teacher and taught us his Twi and Ewe songs. He had come to Achimota after he lost his appointment as a teacher at the Akropong Training College because of his strong African tendencies. He didn’t believe in the idea of going to classes or church in Western-style suits, but always wore traditional kente cloth or batakari. He had these strong feelings about African culture as far back as the 1930s and was welcomed at Achimota, as the founders of the school—Guggisberg, Fraser, and Aggrey—were strongly interested in promoting African ways.”

 It was at the end of his schooldays at Achimota that King developed a taste for swing and dance-band music, for as he told me, “These were the war years and we had British and American army units stationed here. They had bands for their entertainment and so ballroom music progressed very much. The airport was virtually taken over by the Americans and one wing of Achimota College itself was taken over by he British resident minister, who was taking care of the British war effort here. So this was the time of musicians like Glenn Miller, Benny Goodnmn and Artie Shaw; so by the time I left Achimota, I had a definite taste for jazz and swing.”

 King did not actually start playing in dance band, however, until he had spent a couple of years in England studying to be a civil servant with the P & T (Posts and Telegraphs) and learning to play the trumpet. On returning to Accra in 1951 he hung around for awhile with top musicians like Adolf Doku, E.T. Mensah, Kofi Ghanaba (Guy Warren), Joe Kelly, and Papa Hughes. He occasionally played clips (claves) for Ghana’s leading highlife dance-band, the Tempos. When King felt he was ready to go on stage with his trumpet, he joined Teacher Lamptey’s Accra Orchestra.

 King stayed with this group until 1952, when he and tenor saxophonist Saka Acquaye formed the Black Beats band. King recalled, “The name just came out spontaneously. One evening when we were coming home from rehearsals, Saka asked me what name we were going to use. Without hesitation, I said `Black Beats.’ The reason was that Doctor Amu at Achimota had impressed on us the necessity for doing things African. At the same time, we were all very much enamored with jazz, swing and music with a beat. So we were all interested in playing good dance-band music, but keen on giving everything a recognizably African beat.”

 In contrast with other Ghanaian dance-bands, the Black Beats vocalists (the Black Birds, Lewis Wadawa, and Frank Barnes) dominated the instrumental line-up; and in this they were influenced by the swing and “jump” music of Afro-American Louis Jordan. It was with this high vocal profile that the Black Beats began to release a string of highlife hits for the labels of the day, HWV, Senophone, and Decca. The titles King composed included “Teemon Sane” (A Confidential Matter), “Laimomo” (Old Lover), “Nkuse Mbaa Dong” (I’ll Never Return), “Nomo Noko” (A Thing of Joy), “Srotoi Ye Mli” (Distinctions), and “Agoogyl” (Money - a song composed by Oscarmore Ofori).

 In 1961 disaster struck the band. Alto saxophonist Jerry Hansen and nine musicians left the semi-professional Black Beats to form the fully professional Ramblers dance band. Nevertheless, within a few months King had reorganized his band and with this second-generation Black Beats began releasing more hits for Decca, like “Se Nea Woti Ara” (1 Love You Just as You Are), “Kwemo Ni Okagbi” (Take Care You Don’t Dry Up), “Odo Fofor” (New Love), and “Nkase Din” (I Am Quietly Poised).

 During the whole period when King was running the Black Beats, he was slowly working his way up the civil service ladder, but getting a lot of criticism from his superiors for playing on stage. As King told me, “At first the opposition from my employers came in hints. Then in 1967 the opposition came in black and white as a result of a letter I received from the government. It was from the head of the Administrative Civil Service and they told me that I had now got to the stage where I was due for promotion from assistant to full principal secretary and that the only thing that stood in my way was my dance band playing. So I had to decide whether to continue playing or accept promotion. I replied that I had commitments to play up to Easter 1968, but that from April and thereafter I would comply with the undertaking and wouldn’t play in public anymore.”

 When I asked King how he felt about this he replied, “I was very much annoyed because I had always believed that it was the actual playing in a band that sharpens your faculties and brings new ideas. When you sit down doing nothing you don’t create new music. So the ban on my playing hurt me very much as I had to sacrifice a lot to play music and had always wanted to pursue it and make something out of it.”

 To keep his band running, King handed the Black Beats’ leadership to Sammy Odoh. And instead of playing, King started managing the band, as well as other bands that soon began to base themselves at his house in James Town. During the 1970s he was running eight “BB” bands: the Black Beats, Barbecues, Barons, Bonafides, Barristers, Boulders, “B” Soyaaya, and Blessed Apostles.

 Besides being a senior civil servant, composer, band leader, manager, and teacher of the hundred or so musicians who have passed through his groups, King Bruce also found time to help organize all three of Ghana’s music unions: the 1950s Gold Coast Association of Musicians, the short-lived (1960-1966) Ghana Musicians Union, and the present-day Musician’s Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), formed in 1974.

 It was around this time that I first met King Bruce when I hired equipment from him for my own Bokoor guitar-band. I was also living in James Town, Accra, and for a while we were both on the executive board of MUSIGA. In August 1987, King gave a number of interesting presentations at the conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) held in Accra on “Africa in the World of Popular Music.” After that I recorded in my Bokoor Studio a set of King’s songs that was subsequently released locally on cassette. The tracks included “Esheo Heko” (There Comes a Time), “Onyiemo Feo Mi Feo” (Walk Beautiful), “Ekole” (Perhaps), and “Tsutsu Tsosemo” (Old time Training).

 After 1977, King Bruce retired from the civil service but continued to actively pursue his musical career. He kept running two bands “B” bands (the Black Beats and Barristers) and began to re-record some of his old hits. He was also active in MUSIGA, and was involved in the recent changes in the copyright law that now make royalty infringement a criminal offence. Towards the end of his life he became for a while the manager of the sixteen-track Elephant Walk recording studio in Kaneshie, Accra, established in the 1970’s by Phonogram and the local producer Dick Essilfie-Bondzie.

 On April 30, 1988, an award was given to King Bruce by the Entertainment Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ECRAG) for his “immense contribution to the development of Ghanaian art and culture in the field of highlife music.” This musician’s career in dance band music spans nearly forty years. In 1995 King, with the help of his son Eddie, launched a very successful double cassette album of old Black Beats hits on the local market. This was followed by a fifteen track CD called the `Golden Highlife Classics’ released in London by the Retroafric label. 1996 he was involved in the `Highlife Month’ organized by the German Goethe Institute and the local BAPMAF African popular music NGO to which he was a founding member. His biography “The King of Black Beats,” written jointly by King and myself in the late 1980s, is forthcoming from Anansesem Press, Accra.

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The anniversary of Ghana's Independence in March 1957 marked 40 years of African autonomy. To acknowledge that auspicious occasion RetroAfric released a nostalgic collection by the dance band supremos King Bruce and The Black Beats, titled Golden Highlife Classics.  'Bruce formed the BBs in 1952, fronting a guitar/bass/drums combo with a luxurious spread of horns that now have all the acoustic properties of a Thirties 78, a vintage crispness that's no bad thing when you're whirling around to such quaint confections today' The album features 15 memorable tracks from the 1950s and 1960s.



King Bruce and The Black Beats - Golden Highlife Classics  (flac  186mb)

01 Srotoi Ye Mii 2.42
02 Medahao Mao 3.09
03 Enya Wo Do Fo 3.04
04 Misumo Bo Tamo She 2.55
05 Mikuu Mise Mbaa Don 2.52
06 Anuatra Hrebil 2.52
07 Aban Kaba 2.53
08 Nantsew Yie 3.00
09 Abasi Do 2.50
10 Odor Fofor 3:03
11 Suumo Gboo Ke Moo Shi 3.04
12 Dear St Abotar 3.02
13 Agodzi 2.58
14 Won Ma Mewnka 2.45
15 The Queen's Visit 2.49

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The title of this album proved to be tragically ironic, as the 68-year-old Rogie died shortly before his international debut was released. But if there's any justice in this world, the deceptively simple charms of Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana will leave the singer/guitarist from Sierra Leone immortalized by his music. Rogie is a master of palm wine music, which is named for a drink made from the milky white sap of Sierra Leone's palm trees, and the atmospheric, carefree feel of the tunes conjures up images of relaxing times on breezy beaches watching lush, tropical sunsets. Rogie's lilting guitar, backed only by standup bass and subtle percussion, has a rootsy folk-blues feel, while his soothing, buttery baritone caresses you like a warm Caribbean wind. With traditional African call-and-response vocals, the music comes off like a cross between the laid-back island rhythms of reggae, the back-porch vibe of rustic blues, and the spiritual feel of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, making this a sweet, stirring testament to an undeservedly little-known talent.



S. E. Rogie - Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana  (flac  244mb)

01 Kpindigbee (Morning, Noon And Night) 4:09
02 A Time In My Life 3:25
03 Nor Weigh Me Lek Dat (Woman To Woman) 4:03
04 Jaimgba Tutu (The Joy Of Success) 2:36
05 Koneh Pelawoe (Please Open Your Heart) 5:02
06 Jojo Yalah Jo (I Lost My Wife) 4:41
07 Nyalomei Luange (Love Me My Love) 2:52
08 African Gospel 4:18
09 Nyalimagotee (The Cornerstone Of My Heart) 4:47
10 Dieman Noba Smoke Tafee (Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana) 6:38

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The subtitle here (Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds), intriguing as it is, isn't completely accurate, since the emphasis is actually more on soul and funk than raw garage rock and psychedelia. Indeed, there's a strong James Brown fixation for many artists here, and Roger Damawuzen should have won an award (or a lawsuit) for his uncanny imitation of the Godfather of Soul. It does get a little wild at times, as with "Congolaise Benin Ye" from Le Super Borgou de Parakou, but one thing that never falters here is the groove. Once a band latches onto it, they don't let go, keeping it rock-solid, but with plenty of polyrhythms happening as part of it, giving it a wonderful, flexible feeling. There's no a bad cut here, and it's obvious that this is the result of a labor of love -- the result of two-and-a-half years work and nine trips to the countries. It may be the Francophone influence that steers the musicians away from the more obvious English and American rock sounds, although you can definitely hear the Afro-Latin percussion of Santana in the mix (and the fiery guitar work, too, at times). But whatever the artists are doing, they thankfully never try to ditch their Afro roots -- which, of course, are the bedrock of soul and rock. This all takes it in another, fabulous direction. In many ways it proved to be a bit of a dead end historically, but the music that came out of it is nothing less than sublime. And keep the player going after the last track for the hidden bonus. It's worthwhile.



VA - African Scream Contest  (flac  444mb)

01 Lokonon André & Les Volcans - Mi Kple Dogbekpo 3:54
02 Picoby Band D'Abomey - Mi Ma Kpe Dji 4:06
03 Gabo Brown & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - It's A Vanity 4:22
04 El Rego Et Ses Commandos - Se Na Min 3:21
05 Napo De Mi Amor Et Ses Black Devils - Leki Santchi 3:25
06 Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou - Gbeti Madjro 2:54
07 Roger Damawuzan - Wait For Me 3:19
08 Ounsou Corneille & Black Santiagos - Vinon So Minsou 4:57
09 Orchestre Super Jheevs Des Paillotes - Ye Nan Lon An 3:03
10 Tidiani Koné & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - Djanfa Magni 9:51
11 Discafric Band - Houiou Djin Nan Zon Aklumon 4:18
12 Le Super Borgou De Parakou Congolaise -  Benin Ye 2:59
13 Vincent Ahehehinnou - Ou C'est Lui Ou C'est Moi 10:06
14 Les Volcans De La Capital - Oya Ka Jojo 7:43

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Sep 15, 2014

RhoDeo 1437 Cabin P 23

Hello,

The penultimate Cabin Pressure episode coming up

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Cabin Pressure is a radio situation comedy series written by John Finnemore. Its first series was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008. The show follows the exploits of the oddball crew of the single aeroplane owned by "MJN Air" as they are chartered to take all manner of items, people or animals across the world. The show stars Stephanie Cole, Roger Allam, Benedict Cumberbatch and John Finnemore.

The principal cast, the 4-person crew, is the following:

As part of her last divorce settlement, Carolyn Knapp-Shappey (Stephanie Cole) received a mid-size (16 seat) jet aeroplane named "GERTI" (a "Lockheed McDonnell 312", registration G-ERTI). As a result, she founds her very own single plane charter airline, "MJN Air" ("My Jet Now"), which is crewed by an oddball mixture of characters who fly to various cities around the world, encountering a variety of situations.

The airline's only Captain, Martin Crieff (Benedict Cumberbatch), has wanted to be a pilot since he was six years old (before which he wanted to be an aeroplane). He suffers, however, from a distinct lack of natural ability in that department. He was rejected by at least one flight school, and had to put himself through the required coursework, barely qualifying for his certification – on his seventh attempt. He took the job with MJN for no salary at all, as long as he could be Captain. He appears to have no outside interests beyond flying. He is a stickler for procedures and regulations, but is more prissy than pompous. At the end of series two he tells Douglas that he survives financially by running a delivery service using the van he inherited from his father (running two different jobs largely explaining the lack of hobbies). This was his only inheritance (apart from a tool kit and multimeter) because his father believed he would waste any money he received trying to become a pilot. He has two siblings, Caitlin, now a traffic warden and Simon, a council administrator who often frustrates Martin with his annoying superiority. This isn't helped by his Mother's constant admiration of Simon, often saying that "Simon knows best".

First Officer Douglas Richardson (Roger Allam) is, on the other hand, a quite competent pilot who worked for Air England – until he was fired for smuggling. He chafes at his subordinate position to Martin, and misses no opportunity to flaunt his superiority in the younger pilot's face. In later episodes, it is revealed that Douglas, ashamed of his second-rate job, dresses in Captain's uniform for his wife Helena's benefit, changing to First Officer's uniform before he gets to work. Douglas is, however, something of a smooth operator who knows all of the dodges available to airline officers, and enjoys taking part in all of them.

Carolyn's son Arthur Shappey (John Finnemore) is an eager and cheery dimwit aged 29, who is supposed to be the flight attendant but usually manages to get in everyone's way. He is half-English and half-Australian; Carolyn is his English mother, and Gordon, Carolyn's ex-husband, his Australian father (original owner of Gertie). Arthur is a relentless optimist, whose biggest claim to fame is being the inventor (or at least discoverer) of fizzy yoghurt (the recipe for which is yoghurt plus time). He also celebrates Birling day, Birling day eve, Gertie's birthday and Summer Christmas, and is a definite polar bear enthusiast and expert. He is very allergic to dragon fruit and strawberries, but frequently forgets, having eaten strawberry mousse on occasion.

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Cabin Pressure 405 - Xinzhou (ogg 25mb)

405 - Xinzhou 28:05

The crew must spend the night on Gertie but are distracted by uncomplicated word games, which Arthur cannot understand, and a constant alarm requiring trips out into the snow. Martin reveals his developing relationship with a princess, and Carolyn must make a decision about Herc.


Cabin Pressure - 301 Qikiqtarjuaq (ogg 25mb)
Cabin Pressure - 302 Paris (ogg 25mb)
Cabin Pressure - 303 Newcastle (ogg 25mb)
Cabin Pressure - 304 - Ottery St Mary (ogg 25mb)
Cabin Pressure - 305 - Rotterdam (ogg 25mb)
Cabin Pressure - 306 - St Petersburg (ogg 25mb)
Cabin Pressure - 401 - Timbuktu (ogg 25mb)
Cabin Pressure 402 - Uskerty (ogg 25mb)
Cabin Pressure 403 - Vaduz (ogg 25mb)
Cabin Pressure 404 - Wokingham (ogg 25mb)


previously, alas those mediafirelinks are down but i compiled season 1 and 2

Cabin Pressure - Season 1 (ogg 153mb)

Cabin Pressure - Season 2 (+Xmas bonus) (ogg 179mb)

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Sep 14, 2014

Sundaze 1437

Hello,  as the IS persists in killing defenseless people, most of which we don't get to see, yet somehow extremely violent games are ok. In fact there's so much violence on tv and specially in the movies, I wonder why joe public needs to be 'protected' from seeing the obscene violence of IS. These are insane people serving an insane alien socalled god, the same creep that is worshiped by Jews and Christians who have had their insane slaughter days...and still billions don't get it..


Ishq means "love" in Persian and Hindi, it is also a word used by such past masters as Rumi to express love of the divine and the ecstatic love of the Sufi or lover of God and all God's creation. It's also the name of a band that will feature these weeks... ...N'Joy

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After various attempts in Cornwall, England, trying to make the most of a guitar-based sound, Mark Hillier decided that the U.K. festival scene was the new direction to turn. Inspired by Ozric Tentacles, Hawkwind, Steve Hillage, and others, Hillier moved into electronica and ambient music in 1991. Working under a number of aliases, including Indigo Egg and Cyandragonfly, Hillier has used various philosophies such as raja yoga, Buddhism, and Sufism to influence his music and his approach to it also.

Ishq are Matt Hillier and Jacqueline Kersley, they are based in St Ives Cornwall, UK and have been making music since about 1995 under various guises including Indigo egg, Ishvara, Elve, and a few other alter egos. Ishq music skirts between IDM electronica, deep ambience and even has some newage overtones. The emphasis seems to be on music as harmony.

Ishq's music has something of this overflowing and romatic spiritual quality and "'Beauty", it could be summed up as music of the heart (though also of the head).

Matt and Jacqueline also run Virtual (3), a limited edition CD label which releases their more experimental soundscape music and other studio works.

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INTERVIEW:
Matt Hillier & Ishq - Painting the Invisible Landscape

by Mike G, June 26 2014...see last week



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Elve is yet another musical incarnation of Matt Hillier. Also known as Ishq, Ishvara and Indigo Egg, Hillier's work as Elve is decidedly more towards the Ambient, yet keeps it author's signature Earthen atmosphere. More than an album of environmental field recordings under stacks of synthesizers, Emerald (64'35") uses the natural sounds of woodlands as a textural element to be mingled creatively with electronic tones, swirling modulations and gently sweeping harmonies. The result is a work that creates a sensory experience of being deep within a surreal living forest - a place powered by the electrical current of the mind. With the constant texture of nature expanding and shifting throughout a soundfield of buzzing electronics, smooth breathing drones, stretched bells and mellow keys, Emerald fades into the listener's state - providing a profound soundscape full of natural and synthetic detail, or just as easily a barely perceptible Ambient dreamscape. At either level, the perpetual place conjured up by Emerald welcomes new inhabitants to its cathedral of aural wilderness.

As with all the Virtualworld series of releases the album was written with immersive headphone listeners in mind and sounds best on high definition headphones or hifi systems .It probably not best to describe this as ambient chill as the idea is to create moments of slight intensity aswell as moments of release in these works and so expect a ride .Its invocative music really and also more about painting a landscape with sound and stimulating the senses aswell as chilling them.



Elve - Emerald  (flac 321mb)

01 Epena Ceremony 4:13
02 Plant Cell Perceptions 9:02
03 Tree Memories 9:08
04 Pollen Forms 2:10
05 Delphinium Dream 4:31
06 Green Lake 2:05
07 Waterfalls 3:23
08 Emerald Forest 2:41
09 Mesmeric Sun Kingdom 11:59
10 Plateua 8:52
11 Eden 6:32

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Ishq makes a welcome return to Interchill with an otherworldly excursion into sublime ambience. And Awake is the next chapter of their meditative chronicles that began with the 2004 debut album 'Orchid' (Interchill/Dakini) and left off with their most recent release 'Sama' (Electronic Soundscapes). Imbued with mystical properties, the rich harmonic layers of And Awake create space for the busy mind to unwind and drift away to a subtle realm of inner quietude.

And Awake sees Ishq return with a fine album of their trademark tropical liquid sparkle. Colourful, vivid and intricate; Ishq establishes a warm sense of the exotic right from the start. Drifting pads with meandering melodic phrases, a childlike voice mouthing "...and awake..." are given a special lustre by means of bright electronic effects. There are many layers to most pieces: interwoven harmonic motifs; secondary melodies; underlying drones; water and nature sounds; glitch flicker and, on the initial tracks, a dreamy digital beat.

The tone of the music is always inviting; suggestive of soft sunshine and the wonders of the world: somehow managing to carry the listener from floating on the lapping calm of a clear lagoon to wandering among the curves and curls of moist frondescence right down to marveling at the veins of a single leaf. Soft flutes, oriental strings and Jacqueline Kersley's wordless vocals along with heaving tides and the cries of seagulls all combine to ensure that the Ishq journey is lush, expansive and truly captivating.



Ishq - And Awake (flac  447mb)

01 And Awake 9:56
02 Diving Into Sun 11:43
03 Leaf 14:34
04 Mizu 8:34
05 Skylike 10:32
06 Blue Drop 11:50
07 Kong 6:05
08 A New Life 4:01
09 And Awake [Return] 6:20

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'Skyspaces' by Ishq is the first release in the ' Virtual light '' series of limited edition. The Virtual light series of cd releases will all place an emphasis on space, light and minimalism rather than the more complex and detailed soundscape style of the Virtual world series. Skyspaces' as a work is inspired greatly by the open sky and its ever changing dreamlike quality. The album was written to capture something of the nature of the sky as it changes over a 24 hour period but also to invoke in the listener deeper meaning and an inner stillness.
'Skyspaces' is in a sense a twofold work. From one angle it can be percieved as a simple meditative work in the classic ambient style but deeper listening on headphones in particular will reveal hidden depths and layers and invoke a more complex inner landscape to the listener.

Well, this meditative, highly textural and flowing minimal music featuring a careful layering of gentle soundscapes is very suitable to put a busy mind to rest with. Alternatively, it can also open the doorway to the listener to find deeper meaning in the gracious core of "Skyscapes" inner stillness. It’s quite easy to lean back and imagine peacefull green meadows, a gentle breeze and pastoral landscape panoramas blanked in the sun as the textural music with field recordings smoothly evolves and passes by. Headphones will especially do the trick for this, while revealing the delicate and detailed structuring of Mr Hillier’s well-mastered expansive sound tapesteries during the journey.



Ishq - Skyspaces  (flac 248mb)

01 Dawns First Light 6:49
02 The Sun Arcs A Smile 4:50
03 Haze Of Yesterday 6:50
04 Distant Shores - Long Before 7:35
05 Evensong - Still 9:36
06 As Starlight Shining Bright 8:44
07 Moonlight Sea 7:59
08 A New Day 10:09

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Sep 13, 2014

RhoDeo 1436 Grooves

Hello, Oscar Pistorius, the way this poster boy has been treated boggles my mind, an arrogant hot head, rarely have i seen a bigger coward, a disingenuous despicable human being, hence loved by the media, this guy deserves serious jailtime and certainly not the silk gloves he's been subjected to, but i'm afraid the judge has been gotten too. The fact that this guy was a legless olympic athlete should not be taken into account..he's a nasty selfish coward full of selfpity who should at least have killed himself after killing his girlfriend (on Valentine's day !).

These weeks we focus on an American singer-songwriter, actor, and producer. He was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes, Porter, Bill Withers, the Sherman Brothers, Steve Cropper, and John Fogerty were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of notable songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. He is also a 2002 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We'll start at the beginning ......N'joy

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Few figures exerted greater influence over the music of the 1960s and 1970s than Isaac Hayes; after laying the groundwork for the Memphis soul sound through his work with Stax-Volt Records, Hayes began a highly successful solo career which predated not only the disco movement but also the evolution of rap.

Hayes was born on August 20, 1942, in Covington, TN; his parents died during his infancy, and he was raised by his grandparents. After making his public debut singing in church at the age of five, he taught himself piano, organ, and saxophone before moving to Memphis to perform on the city's club circuit in a series of short-lived groups like Sir Isaac and the Doo-Dads, the Teen Tones, and Sir Calvin and His Swinging Cats. In 1962, he began his recording career, cutting sides for a variety of local labels.

Two years later, Hayes began playing sax with the Mar-Keys, which resulted in the beginning of his long association with Stax Records. After playing on several sessions for Otis Redding, Hayes was tapped to play keyboards in the Stax house band, and eventually established a partnership with songwriter David Porter. Under the name the Soul Children, the Hayes-Porter duo composed some 200 songs, reeling off a string of hits for Stax luminaries like Sam & Dave (the brilliant "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby," "Soul Man," and "Hold on, I'm Comin'"), Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y"), and Johnnie Taylor ("I Got to Love Somebody's Baby," "I Had a Dream").

In 1967, Hayes issued his debut solo LP Presenting Isaac Hayes, a loose, jazz-flavored effort recorded in the early-morning hours following a raucous Stax party. With the release of 1969's landmark Hot Buttered Soul, he made his commercial breakthrough; the record's adventuresome structure (comprising four lengthy songs), ornate arrangements, and sensual grooves -- combined with the imposing figure cut by his shaven head, omnipresent sunglasses, and fondness for gold jewelry -- made Hayes one of the most distinctive figures in music.

After a pair of 1970 releases, The Isaac Hayes Movement and To Be Continued, he reached his commercial zenith in 1971 with the release of Shaft, the score from the Gordon Parks film of the same name. Not only did the album win Hayes an Academy Award for Best Score (the first African-American composer to garner such an honor), but the single "Theme from Shaft," a masterful blend of prime funk and pre-rap monologues, became a number one hit.

After 1971's superb Black Moses and 1973's Joy, Hayes composed two 1974 soundtracks, Tough Guys and Truck Turner (in which he also starred). By 1975, relations with Stax had disintegrated following a battle over royalties, and soon he severed his ties with the label to form his own Hot Buttered Soul imprint. Although both 1975's Chocolate Chip and 1976's Groove-a-Thon went gold, his records of the period attracted considerably less attention than prior efforts; combined with poor management and business associations, Hayes had no choice but to file for bankruptcy in 1976.

After the 1977 double-LP A Man and a Woman, recorded with Dionne Warwick, Hayes began a comeback on the strength of the hit singles "Zeke the Freak," "Don't Let Go." and "Do You Wanna Make Love." Following the success of his 1979 collection of duets with Millie Jackson titled Royal Rappins, he issued a pair of solo records, 1980's And Once Again and 1981's Lifetime Thing before retiring from music for five years. After returning in 1986 with the LP U Turn and the Top Ten R&B hit "Ike's Rap," Hayes surfaced two years later with Love Attack before again dropping out of music to focus on acting.

In 1995, fully enshrined as one of the forefathers of hip-hop and newly converted to Scientology, Hayes emerged with two concurrent releases, the vocal Branded and instrumental Raw and Refined. Under the official name Nene Katey Ocansey I, he also served as a member of the royal family of the African nation of Ghana while continuing simultaneous careers as an actor, composer, and humanitarian. In 1997, Hayes provided the voice of what was slated to be a one-time character on the animated series South Park -- Jerome "Chef" McElroy, the main characters' favorite school cafeteria worker. Hayes was an instant hit, and Chef became a regular character on the show, lending advice and, oftentimes, breaking into songs that gently sent up Hayes' image as one of R&B's ultimate love men.

South Park made Hayes more visible than ever and cemented his status as an icon with a whole new generation. He contributed the infamous "Chocolate Salty Balls" to the South Park tie-in album Chef Aid, and naturally appeared in the film South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut. (He left the show only after an episode made fun of Scientology.) In 2000, Hayes revisited his biggest triumph of the past by appearing in the remake of Shaft starring Samuel L. Jackson. The following year, he supported Alicia Keys as a musician and arranger on her acclaimed debut, Songs in A Minor.

On August 5, 2003, Hayes was honored as a BMI Icon at the 2003 BMI Urban Awards for his enduring influence on generations of music makers. Throughout his songwriting career, Hayes received five BMI R&B Awards, two BMI Pop Awards, two BMI Urban Awards and six Million-Air citations. As of 2008, his songs generated more than 12 million performances. Although he recorded little during the 2000s, he appeared in many films, including 2004's Hustle and Flow. Hayes was in ill health on August 10, 2008, when he collapsed at his home in Memphis and was pronounced dead later that day of a stroke due to high blood pressure.

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This is the follow-up to his successful 1975 album Chocolate Chip. But what was so enduring and skilled on that effort doesn't show up here. By 1973, Hayes' hitmaking skill became streaky. On this effort, he seems to be in a holding pattern. Hayes doesn't make any significant strides forward and fails to expound on the melodic richness of Chocolate Chip. This starts off with the title track. "Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) is just one of those songs that had to happen. The song has no shame and features a two-minute intro of Hayes and his bandmembers at a "disco," whooping it up with some loud woman. Although this is the unquestionable nadir, with lyrics like "They say disco music is here to stay/And it will never go away," Hayes' trademark arranging skills bailed him out. By this time, Hayes' fans could tell one of his lackluster efforts from miles away. This is one. The ballad "Let's Don't Ever Blow Our Thing" clocking in at 6:08 is probably too long-winded for even his biggest fans. Being one of the more talented and underrated artists, Hayes was going to get one or two prime moments. The album's best track is the haunting "Lady of the Night." The song has Hayes perplexed and falling in love with a prostitute as he sings, "How many Johns have come and gone/I wonder but I really don't want to know." That track is about as interesting as Hayes is going to get here. This album was oddly reminiscent of his mid-'70s disappointments Tough Guys and Truck Turner. Hayes sounds a little distracted throughout, and without any big hits, this album quickly came and went. Here the Stax issued remastered 2009 edition of the album.



Isaac Hayes - Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) (flac 250mb)

01 Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) 9:40
02 Let's Don't Ever Blow Our Thing 6:08
03 The Storm Is Over 4:42
04 Music To Make Love By 6:23
05 Thank You Love 4:47
06 Lady Of The Night 4:10
07 Love Me Or Lose Me 5:33

Isaac Hayes - Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) (ogg 98mb)

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After 1975's classic Chocolate Chip and a strong production job for the Masqueraders album Everybody Wanna Live On, Hayes' subsequent work with ABC was often poorly executed and conceived, save for the one or two tracks that properly displayed his melodic genius. With his last ABC effort being a live album with Dionne Warwick that just didn't sell, some changes had to be made. This is the first effort for Polydor and it turned out to be successful partnership. With a new label, Hayes also began to record at Master Sound in Georgia rather than his studio in Memphis, Hot Buttered Soul. Both the label and locale switch seemed to freshen up his musical approach. This album didn't start off on the best footing, though. Hayes' ghastly disco-fied cover of "Stranger in Paradise" shows little trace of his arranging skills or song-picking abilities. The other dance tracks are markedly better. "Moonlight Lovin' (Ménage à Trois)" has him doing Barry White one better by bringing an extra woman into the mix. With its playful rhythm and sweeping changes, he sang gleefully about the "the rendezvous of me and you and you" and said ménage à trois enough times that his "dates" thought it was their idea. On New Horizon Hayes turns in two of his best ballads. The meditative "Don't Take Your Love Away" has him going for more subtle surroundings in a style that suffered the most on his post-Chocolate Chip work. On "It's Heaven to Me" he displays a winning vulnerability, and it is easily one of the prettiest songs he ever recorded. Although some of the best tracks on New Horizon are available on compilations, the entire album is worth seeking out.



Isaac Hayes - New Horizon (flac 414mb)

01 Stranger In Paradise 10:11
02 Moonlight Lovin' (Ménage Á Trois) 10:01
03 Don't Take Your Love Away 7:36
04 Out Of The Ghetto 5:47
05 It's Heaven To Me 4:23
Bonus Tracks
06 Moonlight Lovin' (Ménage Á Trois) (Long Version) 16:15
07 Out Of The Ghetto 3:58
08 Moonlight Lovin' (Ménage Á Trois) (Single Version) 3:54

Isaac Hayes - New Horizon  (ogg 156mb)

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Isaac Hayes' 1977-1982 stint on Polydor had him often doing strong work that differed from both his efforts at Enterprise and ABC. By the late '70s, Hayes had refined and updated his sound and stopped recording in Memphis. Although this album's predecessor, New Horizon, wasn't a big seller, it certainly helped him adapt to the changing musical landscape. In turn, Don't Let Go has Hayes even more confident and comfortable with his new sound. The title track has Roy Hamilton's jaunty classic all but unrecognizable with Hayes' propulsive and expert disco take. With pushy horns, cooing background girls, and his subdued vocal, he effortlessly attained disco's sense of fun. The song's insouciance seemed to rub off on the rest of this album. "What Does It Take" has Hayes steaming it up with help from a high-pitched bassline and a subtle buzzing guitar. On the best ballad here, the teasing "Few More Kisses to Go," Hayes plays the pathway to adulthood as waits for his "precious moment," singing "girl's gonna be a full-grown woman, before this night is through." The best tracks on this album have Hayes' infallible sense of melody, but there are a few duds. His disco version of "Fever" comes off a little desperate and pointless. The last track, "Someone Who Will Take the Place of You," is a good angry ballad, but clocking in at ten-and-a-half minutes, it's a little too much of a good thing. Don't Let Go is Hayes' most successful effort for Polydor.



Isaac Hayes - Don't Let Go  (flac 464mb)

01 Don't Let Go 7:15
02 What Does It Take 6:01
03 A Few More Kisses To Go 6:10
04 Fever 8:22
05 Someone Who Will Take The Place Of You 10:32
Bonus Tracks
06 You Can't Hold Your Woman 4:51
07 Don't Let Go (12'' Disco Version) 12:52
08 A Few More Kisses To Go (12'' Long Version) 7:24
09 Someone Who Will Take The Place Of You (Single Version) 3:57
10 Don't Let Go (Single Version) 3:58
11 A Few More Kisses To Go (Single Version) 4:09

Isaac Hayes - Don't Let Go (ogg 174mb)

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Sep 11, 2014

RhoDeo 1436 Goldy Rhox 177

Hello, today the 177th post of GoldyRhox, classic pop rock in the darklight is a UK band.  In April 1964, Van Morrison established an R&B club at the Maritime Hotel. With an anticipated opening night for the new R&B club approaching, he embarked on a mission to find his ideal line-up. He had recently been introduced to The Gamblers, an East Belfast group formed in 1962 by Ronnie Millings (drums, born 1937), Billy Harrison (guitar and lead vocals, born William Harrison on 14 October 1942), and Alan Henderson (bass guitar, born 26 November 1944). Eric Wrixon, who was still in school, had been recruited as piano player and keyboardist. Morrison joined in on tenor saxophone, harmonica and vocals. The group rehearsed over Dougie Knight's bicycle shop in Shaftesbury Square, Belfast in preparation for their debut at the Maritime. As the group now felt they needed a new name, they followed Eric Wrixon's suggestion and The Gamblers changed to "?" after the 1954 sci-fi horror film.

Their first recording session took place in London on 5 July 1964. "Turn on Your Love Light" and "Gloria" were recorded during this session as were both sides of their first single, "Don't Start Crying Now" and "One Two Brown Eyes" as well as "Groovin'", "Philosophy" and Bo Diddley's "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover". The band released their first album, The Angry Young bandname, in June 1965 (UK) and it appeared in the USA on Parrot Records in July. But their next single, "One More Time", chosen by Phil Solomon, failed – according to Billy Harrison because it never constituted single material. In July 1965, the band added drummer Terry Noon and lead guitarist Joe Baldi (born Joseph Baldi, 10 March 1943, in La Spezia, Italy) but they left in September. Their second album," bandname Again", was released in January 1966 in the UK and in April 1966 in the USA.

They played a US tour in May 1966. From May 30 to June 18, they had a residency at the famous Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. For the final week The Doors opened for Them and on the last night the two bands and Morrisons jammed a twenty-minute version of "Gloria" and a twenty-five minute version of "In the Midnight Hour". Them went on to headline at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California and then to Hawaii, where disputes erupted among band members and with management over money. The band broke apart, Morrison and Henderson returning to Belfast while Ray Elliott (born Raymond Elliott, 13 September 1943, in Belfast, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland) and David Harvey (born David Tufney, 29 July 1943, in Bude, Cornwall) decided to stay in America.

Van Morrison went on to great success and fame as a solo artist, his band's combination of garage rock and blues proved a major influence on the next generations of rock musicians, and the group's best-known singles have become staples of rock and roll

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Most of the albums i 'll post made many millions for the music industry and a lot of what i intend to post still gets repackaged and remastered decades later, squeezing the last drop of profit out of bands that for the most part have ceased to exist long ago, although sometimes they get lured out of the mothballs to do a big bucks gig or tour. Now i'm not as naive to post this kinda music for all to see and have deleted, these will be a black box posts, i'm sorry for those on limited bandwidth but for most of you a gamble will get you a quality rip don't like it, deleting is just 2 clicks...That said i will try to accommodate somewhat and produce some cryptic info on the artist and or album.

Today's mystery album reissue features the album's original British configuration a 13-track set and a U.S. But then, only four of Them's singles were hits, either in the U.K. or the U.S. -- "Baby, Please Don't Go," "Gloria," "Here Comes the Night," and "Mystic Eyes," all included here. Also featured are such non-charting singles as "Don't Start Crying Now," "One More Time," "(It Won't Hurt) Half as Much," and "Richard Cory."  And then there's "Gloria," rock's ultimate '60s sex anthem, and one of the handful of white-authored songs that can just about hold its own against any blues standard you'd care to name.



Goldy Rhox 177   (flac 195mb)

Goldy Rhox 177    (ogg 72mb)


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Sep 10, 2014

RhoDeo 1436 Aetix

Hello, so the infamous fruit company launched it's smart NSA watch today, suckers will pay a bonus to be under complete surveillance everywhere they go, as if that phone isn't enough-no it isn't, the watch is the final link in the control chain. Oh yes and those fruits finally decided to make bigger phones, proof they are already no longer a leading tech company- how could they be, these conservatives sit on 100 billion profit, stashed away from tax collection, and this is money that no longer rolls ... If only those fruitcake customers would wake up and take that pill...

Today's band is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980. One of the first popular alternative rock bands they gained early attention because of Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and the singers's unclear vocals. The band brought guitar pop back into the underground lexicon. Combining ringing guitar hooks with mumbled, cryptic lyrics and a D.I.Y. aesthetic borrowed from post-punk, the band simultaneously sounded traditional and modern. Though there were no overt innovations in their music, they had an identity and sense of purpose that transformed the American underground. Throughout the '80s, they worked relentlessly, releasing records every year and touring constantly, playing both theaters and backwoods dives. Along the way, they inspired countless bands.  ....N'Joy

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R.E.M. marked the point when post-punk turned into alternative rock. When their first single, "Radio Free Europe," was released in 1981, it sparked a back-to-the-garage movement in the American underground. While there were a number of hardcore and punk bands in the U.S. during the early '80s, R.E.M. brought guitar pop back into the underground lexicon. Combining ringing guitar hooks with mumbled, cryptic lyrics and a D.I.Y. aesthetic borrowed from post-punk, the band simultaneously sounded traditional and modern. Though there were no overt innovations in their music, R.E.M. had an identity and sense of purpose that transformed the American underground. Throughout the '80s, they worked relentlessly, releasing records every year and touring constantly, playing both theaters and backwoods dives. Along the way, they inspired countless bands, from the legions of jangle pop groups in the mid-'80s to scores of alternative pop groups in the '90s, who admired their slow climb to stardom.

It did take R.E.M. several years to break into the top of the charts, but they had a cult following the release of their debut EP, Chronic Town, in 1982. Chronic Town established the haunting folk and garage rock that became the band's signature sound, and over the next five years, they continued to expand their music with a series of critically acclaimed albums. By the late '80s, the group's fan base had grown large enough to guarantee strong sales, but the Top Ten success in 1987 of Document and "The One I Love" was unexpected, especially since R.E.M. had only altered their sound slightly. Following Document, R.E.M. slowly became one of the world's most popular bands. After an exhaustive international tour supporting 1988's Green, the band retired from touring for six years and retreated into the studio to produce their most popular records, Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992). By the time they returned to performing with the Monster tour in 1995, the band had been acknowledged by critics and musicians as one of the forefathers of the thriving alternative rock movement, and they were rewarded with the most lucrative tour of their career. Toward the late '90s, R.E.M. was an institution, as its influence was felt in new generations of bands.

Though R.E.M. formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980, Mike Mills (born December 17, 1958) and Bill Berry (born July 31, 1958) were the only Southerners in the group. Both had attended high school together in Macon, playing in a number of bands during their teens. Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960) was a military brat, moving throughout the country during his childhood. By his teens, he had discovered punk rock through Patti Smith, Television, and Wire, and began playing in cover bands in St. Louis. By 1978, he had begun studying art at the University of Georgia in Athens, where he began frequenting the Wuxtry record store. Peter Buck (born December 6, 1956), a native of California, was a clerk at Wuxtry. Buck had been a fanatical record collector, consuming everything from classic rock to punk and free jazz, and was just beginning to learn how to play guitar. Discovering they had similar tastes, Buck and Stipe began working together, eventually meeting Berry and Mills through a mutual friend. In April of 1980, the band formed to play a party for their friend, rehearsing a number of garage, psychedelic bubblegum, and punk covers in an converted Episcopalian church. At the time, the group was played under the name the Twisted Kites. By the summer, the band had settled on the name R.E.M. after flipping randomly through the dictionary, and had met Jefferson Holt, who became their manager after witnessing the group's first out-of-state concert in North Carolina.

Over the next year and a half, R.E.M. toured throughout the South, playing a variety of garage rock covers and folk-rock originals. At the time, the band was still learning how to play, as Buck began to develop his distinctive, arpeggiated jangle and Stipe ironed out his cryptic lyrics. During the summer of 1981, R.E.M. recorded their first single, "Radio Free Europe," at Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studios. Released on the local indie label Hib-Tone, "Radio Free Europe" was pressed in a run of only 1,000 copies, but most of the those singles fell into the right hands. Due to strong word of mouth, the single became a hit on college radio and topped the Village Voice's year-end poll of Best Independent Singles. The single also earned the attention of larger independent labels, and by the beginning of 1982, the band had signed to I.R.S. Records, releasing the EP Chronic Town in the spring. Like the single, Chronic Town was well received, paving the way for the group's full-length debut album, 1983's Murmur. With its subdued, haunting atmosphere and understated production, Murmur was noticeably different than Chronic Town and was welcomed with enthusiastic reviews upon its spring release; Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1983, beating out Michael Jackson's Thriller and the Police's Synchronicity. Murmur also expanded the group's cult significantly, breaking into the American Top 40.

R.E.M. returned to a rougher-edged sound on 1984's Reckoning, which featured the college hit "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)." By the time the band hit the road to support Reckoning, they had become well known in the American underground for their constant touring, aversion to videos, support of college radio, Stipe's mumbled vocals and detached stage presence, Buck's ringing guitar, and their purposely enigmatic artwork. Bands that imitated these very things ran rampant throughout the American underground, and R.E.M. threw their support toward these bands, having them open at shows and mentioning them in interviews. By 1985, the American underground was awash with R.E.M.soundalikess and bands like Game Theory and the Rain Parade, which shared similar aesthetics and sounds.

Just as the signature R.E.M. sound dominated the underground, the band entered darker territory with its third album, 1985's Fables of the Reconstruction. Recorded in London with producer Joe Boyd (Richard Thompson, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake), Fables of the Reconstruction was made at a difficult period in R.E.M.'s history, as the band was fraught with tension produced by endless touring. The album reflected the group's dark moods, as well as its obsession with the rural South, and both of these fascinations popped up on the supporting tour. Stipe, whose on-stage behavior was always slightly strange, entered his most bizarre phase, as he put on weight, dyed his hair bleached blonde, and wore countless layers of clothing. None of the new quirks in R.E.M.'s persona prevented Fables of the Reconstruction from becoming their most successful album to date, selling nearly 300,000 copies in the U.S. R.E.M. decided to record their next album with Don Gehman, who had previously worked with John Mellencamp. Gehman had the band clean up its sound and Stipe enunciate his vocals, making Lifes Rich Pageant their most accessible record to date. Upon its late summer release in 1986, Lifes Rich Pageant was greeted with the positive reviews that had become customary with each new R.E.M. album, and it outstripped the sales of its predecessor. Several months after Lifes Rich Pageant, the group released the B-sides and rarities collection Dead Letter Office in the spring of 1987.

R.E.M. had laid the groundwork for mainstream success, but they had never explicitly courted widespread success. Nevertheless, their audience had grown quite large, and it wasn't that surprising that the group's fifth album, Document, became a hit shortly after its fall 1987 release. Produced by Scott Litt -- who would produce all of their records over the course of the next decade -- Document climbed into the U.S. Top Ten and went platinum on the strength of the single "The One I Love," which also went into the Top Ten; it also became their biggest U.K. hit to date, reaching the British Top 40. The following year, the band left I.R.S. Records, signing with Warner Bros. for a reported six million dollars. The first album under the new contract was Green, which was released on election day 1988. Green continued the success of Document, going double platinum and generating the Top Ten single "Stand." R.E.M. supported Green with an exhaustive international tour, in which they played their first stadium dates in the U.S. Though they had graduated to stadiums in America, the group continued to play clubs throughout Europe.

The Green tour proved to be draining for the group, and they took an extended rest upon its completion in 1989. During the break, each member pursued side projects, and Hindu Love Gods, an album Buck, Berry, and Mills recorded with Warren Zevon in 1986, was released. R.E.M. reconvened during 1990 to record their seventh album, Out of Time, which was released in the spring of 1991. Entering the U.S. and U.K. charts at number one, Out of Time was a lush pop and folk album, boasting a wider array of sounds than the group's previous efforts; its lead single, "Losing My Religion," became the group's biggest single, reaching number four in the U.S. Since the band was exhausted from the Green tour, they chose to stay off the road. Nevertheless, Out of Time became their biggest album, selling over four million copies in the U.S. and spending two weeks at the top of the charts. R.E.M. released the dark, meditative Automatic for the People in the fall of 1992. Though the group had promised a rock album after the softer textures of Out of Time, Automatic for the People was slow, quiet, and reflective, with many songs being graced by string arrangements by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Like its predecessor, Automatic for the People was a quadruple platinum success, generating the Top 40 hit singles "Drive," "Man on the Moon," and "Everybody Hurts."

After piecing together two albums in the studio, R.E.M. decided to return to being a rock band with 1994's Monster. Though the record was conceived as a back-to-basics album, the recording of Monster was difficult and plagued with tension. Nevertheless, the album was a huge hit upon its fall release, entering the U.S. and U.K. charts at number one; furthermore, the album won praise from a number of old-school critics who had been reluctant to praise the band, since they didn't "rock" in conventional terms. Experiencing some of the strongest sales and reviews of their career, R.E.M. began their first tour since Green early in 1995. Two months into the tour, Bill Berry suffered a brain aneurysm while performing; he had surgery immediately and had fully recovered within a month. R.E.M. resumed their tour two months after Berry's aneurysm, but his illness was only the beginning of a series of problems that plagued the Monster tour. Mills had to undergo abdominal surgery to remove an intestinal tumor in July; a month later, Stipe had to have an emergency surgery to remove a hernia. Despite all the problems, the tour was an enormous financial success, and the group recorded the bulk of a new album. Before the record was released in the fall of 1996, R.E.M. parted ways with their long-time manager Jefferson Holt, allegedly due to sexual harassment charges levied against Holt; the group's lawyer, Bertis Downs, assumed managerial duties.

New Adventures in Hi-Fi was released in September 1996, just before it was announced that the band had re-signed with Warner Bros., reportedly for a record-breaking sum of 80 million dollars. In light of such a huge figure, the commercial failure of New Adventures in Hi-Fi was ironic. Though it received strong reviews and debuted at number two in the U.S. and number one in the U.K., the album failed to generate a hit single, and it only went platinum where its three predecessors went quadruple platinum. By early 1997, the album had already begun its descent down the charts. However, the members of R.E.M. were already pursuing new projects, as Stipe worked with his film company, Single Cell Pictures, and Buck co-wrote songs with Mark Eitzel and worked with a free jazz group, Tuatara.

In October of 1997, R.E.M. shocked fans and the media with the announcement that Berry was amicably exiting the group to retire to life on his farm; the remaining members continued on as a three-piece, soon convening in Hawaii to begin preliminary work on their next LP. Replacing Berry with a drum machine, the sessions resulted in 1998's Up, widely touted as R.E.M.'s most experimental recording in years. It was only a brief change of direction, since the band's next album, 2001's Reveal, marked a return to their classic sound. Around the Sun followed in 2004. A world-wide tour convened in 2005, which included an appearance at the London branch of Live 8. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and began work on their next album, Accelerate, which was released in 2008. The album sported a faster, more guitar-driven sound than Around the Sun, which had received lukewarm reviews and sold poorly, particularly in America. It earned rave reviews and topped charts around the world (although it halted at number two in America). For 2011's Collapse into Now, the band favored a more expansive sound, one that combined Accelerate's rock songs with slower ballads and moody atmospherics. Reviews were mostly positive, and it debuted in the Top Five in America. Unexpectedly, in September 2011, the band announced its amicable breakup after 31 years together. Immediately after the split, the band issued a double disc compilation entitled, Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage: 1982-2011, covering both their years at IRS and Warner.

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Fables of the Reconstruction was intentionally murky, and Lifes Rich Pageant was constructed as its polar opposite. Teaming with producer Don Gehman, who previously worked with John Mellencamp, R.E.M. developed their most forceful record to date. Where previous records kept the rhythm section in the background, Pageant emphasizes the beat, and the band turns in its hardest rockers to date, including the anthemic "Begin the Begin" and the punky "Just a Touch." But the cleaner production also benefits the ballads and the mid-tempo janglers, particularly since it helps reveal Michael Stipe's growing political obsessions, especially on the environmental anthems "Fall on Me" and "Cuyahoga." The group hasn't entirely left myths behind -- witness the Civil War ballad "Swan Swan H" -- but the band sound more contemporary both musically and lyrically than they did on either Fables or Murmur, which helps give the record an extra kick. And even with excellent songs like "I Believe," "Flowers of Guatemala," "These Days," and "What if We Give It Away," it's ironic that the most memorable moment comes from the garage rock obscurity "Superman," which is sung with glee by Mike Mills. With R.E.M.'s fan base grown beyond its college rock boundaries, Lifes Rich Pageant proved to be at the time the band's most commercially successful album in the U.S., peaking at #21 on the Billboard charts and scoring them their first gold record.



R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant  (flac 269mb)

01 Begin The Begin 3:24
02 These Days 3:21
03 Fall On Me 2:49
04 Cuyahoga 4:17
05 Hyena 2:48
06 Underneath The Bunker 1:24
07 The Flowers Of Guatamala 3:53
08 I Believe 3:32
09 What If We Give It Away? 3:31
10 Just A Touch 2:56
11 Swan Swan H 2:39
12 Superman 2:50

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Document was R.E.M.'s first album co-produced by Scott Litt and the band, a collaboration that continued through Green, Out of Time, Automatic for the People, Monster, and New Adventures in Hi-Fi. The album's clear production and muscular rock riffs helped to move the band towards mainstream success and built on the work done by Don Gehman, who had produced their previous album Lifes Rich Pageant. This release not only launched "The One I Love," R.E.M.'s first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, but also gave them their first platinum album.

R.E.M. expanded their instrumentation somewhat on the album, adding dulcimer to "King of Birds" and saxophone to "Fireplace".Steve Berlin was brought in to add his saxophone skills because of a prior relationship with producer Scott Litt. This experimentation would lead to their adoption of the mandolin, which featured prominently on their subsequent albums Green and Out of Time. Furthermore, the band's musicians began swapping instruments both in concert and in the studio in an effort to create new sounds and avoid stagnation.



R.E.M. - Document  (flac 421mb)

01 Finest Worksong 3:48
02 Welcome To The Occupation 2:48
03 Exhuming McCarthy 3:19
04 Disturbance At The Heron House 3:33
05 Strange 2:32
06 It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) 4:07
07 The One I Love 3:17
08 Fireplace 3:24
09 Lightnin' Hopkins 3:18
10 King Of Birds 4:07
11 Oddfellows Local 151 5:21
bonus
12 Finest Worksong (Other Mix) 3:47
13 Last Date (Floyd Cramer) – 2:16
14 The One I Love (Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop) 4:06
15 Time After Time, Etc. (Live) 8:22
16 Disturbance at the Heron House (Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop) 3:26
17 Finest Worksong" (Lengthy Club Mix) 5:52

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With the release of Document in 1987, R.E.M. fulfilled its contract with I.R.S. Records. Frustrated that its records did not see satisfactory overseas distribution, in early 1988 the band told I.R.S. head Jay Boberg that it was leaving the label.[1] Guitarist Peter Buck also explained that his group felt it was being pressured to sell well by I.R.S., yet felt I.R.S.'s distributor MCA Records did not consider the ensemble a priority. R.E.M. ultimately signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records—reportedly between $6 million and $12 million—due to the company's assurance of total creative freedom. As far as major-label debuts by underground bands go, Green is fairly uncompromising. While it displays a more powerful guitar sound on "Get Up," "Turn You Inside Out," and "Orange Crush," it also takes more detours than Document, whether it's the bizarrely affecting contemporary folk of "The Wrong Child" and "You Are the Everything," the bubblegum of "Stand" and "Pop Song 89," or the introspection of the lovely "Hairshirt" and "World Leader Pretend." But instead of presenting a portrait of a band with a rich, eclectic vision, Green is incoherent. While its best moments are flat-out great, the band has bitten off more than it can chew; many of the songs sound like failed experiments, and its arena-ready production now sounds slightly dated. Nevertheless, half of the record is brilliant, and it certainly indicates that R.E.M. are continuing to diversify their sound.

Although the title of the album is Green, the cover artwork to the album is orange in color. The reason for this is that, staring at the orange image for several seconds and then closing one's eyes causes a green negative image to appear. When viewed in this manner, the cover art appears to depict green grass. To promote Green, the band embarked on an 11 month world tour and released four singles: "Orange Crush", "Stand", "Pop Song 89", and "Get Up". Green ultimately went double-platinum in the U.S.



REM - Green  (flac 267mb)

01 Pop Song 89 3:03
02 Get Up 2:35
03 You Are The Everything 3:45
04 Stand 3:10
05 World Leader Pretend 4:15
06 The Wrong Child 3:35
07 Orange Crush 3:50
08 Turn You Inside-Out 4:15
09 Hairshirt 3:55
10 I Remember California 5:05
11 Untitled 3:09

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