Psychic TV- Themes

Part I- Piano and Clarinet
Part II- Tibetan Human Thigh Bones
Part III- Cowbell, Bicycle Wheel, and Vibes
Part IV- New Guinea Headhunter's Pipe, Large and Small Drum
Part V- Piano and String Machine
Part VI- Recording Made at Jonestown, Guyana at the time of the Suicides
Part VII- African Initiation Drum and Animal Tusk Horn
Part VIII- Various Temple Bells, Gongs, Cymbals and Vibes

An album to be used "in...rituals as functional music intended only to aid in the process of making things happen," and also meant to be a practical tool. Makes perfect sense to me. It's easy to picture some tribe or cult having ritual music like this. The functional/practical part seems subjective, to me. Try listening to this while doing anything creative (or even just take a walk) and there's a good chance the music can work its way in, invade your mind and the effect is pretty empowering. Hell, listening to this while walking through an old cemetery on a cold foggy day with an old manual camera and some black and white film was a hell of a lotta fun.
Recommended for Throbbing Gristle fans who may be turned off by how polished Psychic TV studio albums can be.

http://www.mediafire.com/?nbbsv8p5dlz6dl4

Hawaii- The Exotic Sounds of the Surfmen

I've bought a lot of bad Hawaii albums out of dollar bins, but when you find one like this it's all worth it. It's got that mind melting laziness of slow strumming and Hawaiian slide guitar, but these guys listened to Exotica, too. They come across like Budget Exotica (I could kind of tell by how cheaply this record was made that I had a good chance of liking it). Kind of like what Garage Rock was to the Kinks, but these guys were presumably looking up to Martin Denny with part stereotypical Hawaiian tunes, the other part Exotica. An all around great soundtrack for immobility.

http://www.mediafire.com/?raduhft2kkhsgsf

Esquivel- Exploring New Sounds In Stereo (vinyl rip)

Another wonderful collection of wacky greats by the almighty Esquivel. If you like constant changes in instrumentation and sounds flying back and forth between the speakers, I assume you already know Esquivel, but if you don't please enjoy. You don't come across stuff like this often, unfortunately.
Contains the classics "Lazy Bones" and "Whatchamacallit" and plenty of "zoo zoo" lyrics.
Esquivel also never seems to get the respect he deserves as a pianist either. Fucking amazing.

http://www.mediafire.com/?k8kxhu2fyuaw7pv

Holiday In Cuba In Mambo Tempo by The Cuban Orchestra

I love these old Mambo records. They always change the atmosphere of the room, in a matter of seconds, to be more fun, lively, and lighthearted. The Mambo just sweeps my cares aside and I can simply enjoy myself for a while. Big rhythm and slightly off kilter melodies gotta try real hard to go wrong. Ever notice how often Fellini used Mambo in night club scenes and how well it worked?
And this record is probably my favorite that I've heard so far.
Great stuff.

http://www.mediafire.com/?tvn5h14pxk1ak4f

Martin Denny- Quiet Village

It is a bit funny that Martin Denny's 6th album is titled, "Quiet Village," even though that single reached popularity before the first album, which it was also included on. At least they tacked it on to the 12 song album, rather than taking one of those tracks off to replace it. Easy way to sell more records, I guess.
Doesn't matter, though. This record should have been more than good enough to sell itself. Enough jungle calls, catchy tunes, and mind numbing/imagination inducing ambience for anyone. If you're in doubt, listen to "Tune From Rangoon." If you aren't into it, I don't know what to tell you.
See original liner notes below for more gushings.

http://www.mediafire.com/?jc6toj2poodcoe7

Three Albums by Arthur Lyman

Albums: Hawaiian Sunset, Isle of Enchantment, and Taboo (CD copy, my vinyl skips a bit).

I think Arthur Lyman gets a bit overlooked in the world of Exotica, even if he had hits in the Top 10 in the past, Martin Denny and Les Baxter seem to get all the credit, not to say that they don't deserve it.
Lyman was the vibraphone player in Martin Denny's group for the first couple of albums, and in my opinion, Denny's music lost some of its exoticness when Lyman left and took those subdued moody vibes to his new group. There's something more primitive (intended as a compliment) about this group, it was only a 4 piece, but it's more than that. Their approach seems more artistic and slightly less for the tourists (both Denny and Lyman did tons of performing at Hawaiian hotels).
Another thing that gives these records an odd feel is that all Lyman's records were recorded in the Aluminum Dome at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel.
3 dreamily exotic LPs, and at least you downloaders don't have to break the mood to get up and flip the record...

All 3 albums in one file:
http://www.mediafire.com/?wdz9ds4tx2jlat4

Echoes Of Vienna

Side one is a variety of Waltzes you'd hear on many other Vienna albums, but this is a bit more stripped down- just piano, guitar, and bass performed by the Belvedere Trio. Unfortunately the track listing on the record does not correspond to the order of the songs...so no tracklist for side one. Nice stuff.
Side two is an orchestral medley of, you guessed it, waltzes, this time by Viennese Symphonic Orchestra led by Franz Lehar. Good n' woozy.
Both sides are great background music for anything with a nice and easy pace.

http://www.mediafire.com/?x2m9m7yvblp67rt

The Best of Martin Denny

I'm sure all you hipsters and collector nerds turn your noses up at best of comps., but good music is good no matter how it comes. 12 great exotica tunes from 12 albums, plus his biggest hit "Quiet Village" is not on this LP, a nice touch. It still flows like one great record that can still provide a soundtrack to easily help you unwind and forget (attn: hipsters and collectors). No complaints from this grump!

http://www.mediafire.com/?q4yi05m8inueu4x

Esquivel- Latin-esque (vinyl rip)

If Beethoven is considered the main genius in classical music, then Esquivel would be the Beethoven of the 20th Century. Okay most of the songs weren't his own compositions, but his arrangements are completely unpredictable in terms of instrumentation, placement, and often zooming from one speaker to the other. I can't put it into words well, but this is instant good mood music, never fails.
On the record two orchestras were put in two different studios for complete stereo separation with all kinds of overdubs all over the place. There's even a live, 2 studio, piano delay, that sounds infinitely better than any delay pedal ever has.
I almost always prefer mono records, but not Esquivel. So many other groups don't know how to use stereo, hell listen to a lot of 60's pop/rock albums and you can't help but wonder what the hell the engineer was thinking. Esquivel is the master some sort of goofy art form of stereo mixing and arrangement. Too bad musicians these days take everything, especially themselves, so damn seriously, leaving music this fun to the past.
This is a masterpiece of wackiness.

http://www.mediafire.com/?lz3hb3a7necxjpw

Nino Rota- I Clowns

All the tracks on the record blur together, so I just did each side on its own track. This is mostly more circusy versions of songs from "Juliet of the Spirits" and "8 1/2" with Italian and French clown dialogue, a few other tunes, and nicely rounded off with "Ebb Tide," a very fun record.
Yet another in the series of wonderful Nino Rota Fellini scores.
Seems like this made for TV movie is looked over way too much, Fellini fans who only like a few of his films really confuse me.
From the liner notes:
"It is all intricate and tragic and superbly simple-minded. As if to say: the clown is not dead and cannot die, but perhaps the world that cherished the clown is dead, the world of those who saw the clown in themselves. And that- the feeling that most people, so serious now, have forgotten that we are all partly clowns- is sad indeed."

http://www.mediafire.com/?grhmbnrz6pfn8rm

Debussy- La Mer/Iberia

La Mer- Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos
Iberia- The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy

Two great performances of two great pieces by one great composer on one scratchy record.

http://www.mediafire.com/?9ihed7qmjo55257

Sleepy John Estes: 1929-1940

This copy is a bit rough, surely there's some surface noise from the 78 mastering and then the surface noise from this old LP. Not bad though, no skips or anything.
There's something so lazy about Sleepy John Estes, and I sure love lazy music. Great old blues.
Yet another "if the river was whiskey and I was a duck" song plus other nuggets of wisdom like "life is too short to worry about the one you love."
If Blind Willie Johnson is my favorite in harsh blues, Sleepy John is favorite of the lighter side...too lazy to get all worked up. Yep.

http://www.mediafire.com/?hqk7o0htes48mum

Doob Doob O' Rama Vol. 1&2- Filmsongs From Bollywood

Two collections of great overblown energy from Bollywood.
I'm a bit partial to Vol. 2, probably because that's the one I heard first.

Volume 1:

http://www.mediafire.com/?8pn8s5xwwgj2cc5

Volume 2:

http://www.mediafire.com/?rkdtalqqrw9s9o3

Dizzy Gillespie- Afro

I must say that a lot of jazz really doesn't do that much for me, or maybe I just haven't heard the right stuff. The combination of Cuban jazz combined with 50's American improv. jazz makes for a good mix to me, but I have been watching a lot of Film Noir lately...a time when I'm much more vulnerable to jazz. It also helps that this is way less masturbatory than a lot of jazz sounds to me and with passionate performances, atmospheric qualities, song-ish elements, and the persistent energy, of the Cuban side, it can't help but hold my ear. Thankfully, not too flute heavy either.

http://www.mediafire.com/?45a9un5w31gv3d7

Two Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 Solo Projects

Reviews from Trouser Press:
-Mr. (Brian) Hageman's solo album, Twin Smooth Snouts, is a little simpler than full TFUL282 music and also less accessible. He usually uses one or two contrasted or combined sounds (as opposed to the Fellers' four or five), retaining the band's loose, detuned string sound; his lyrical imagery is cryptic, thick and vaguely country-ish. He mostly sings in a monotone, and his instrumentals drag on (great titles, though: "Johnosaurus Wayne," "Shave the Gum," "Hamburger Pharmacy"). There are some nice touches, like the sound of a vibrator, erhu, car radio and metal rod, and creative stereo separation. "Rosa" transforms a traditional Cuban melody into a bar-room ballad.
-Going under the name the White Shark, goofier, odder Feller Mark Davies (wears skirts, plays banjo) is behind the Muggy Bog EP. A cheerful and complex musical vision, its wry lightness is based on the oddness of ordinary beauty: the chorus of "Waiting for the Day" is "doing the dishes, scrubbing the dog, getting out of bed and going to work" (of course, the day he's waiting for is the Apocalypse ). One song is sung from the point of view of mosquitoes ("We suck blood as a means to survive"); "Sodium Chloride" is a mini-musical about a man addicted to salt. There are also extraneous covers of Rod McKuen and Burt Bacharach.
----
Go figure Fellers side projects would be wacky listens. Each does its own thing and is enjoyable in its own way. A must for TFUL 282 addicts and something different for anyone else.

Twin Smooth Snouts:

http://www.mediafire.com/?7364ai5z4pj9dzu

Muggy Bog:

http://www.mediafire.com/?jhjoha981ilmtqi

Jo Ann Castle and Crazy Otto- One Album Each

(click on the picture for a great example of the good ol' back cover write up)

Found both of these records at Goodwill the other day, and it's not too surprising that they both came from the same person's collection (the name Dupuis is written on both covers). Two great ragtime/honky tonk piano albums, each in their own way.
Jo Ann Castle- 12 Great Hits in Ragtime
I recognized the name Jo Ann Castle from "Incredibly Strange Music Vol. 1," even though she was playing accordion on that, the lightning pace, lightness, and accuracy of her frantic playing remains. Its only weakness is the one song that adds overly wholesome vocals...would've been much better as an instrumental.
Crazy Otto- Golden Award Songs
Crazy Otto (classical pianist Fritz Schulz-Reichel) takes a much looser approach, using a de-tuned piano he calls his "Tipsy Wire Box." He also occasionally sings along, non-verbally, in a drunken Germanic slur sounding like it was picked up by the piano mic, to fantastic effect. Check out liner notes above. Great record.

both albums in one file:

http://www.mediafire.com/?hg5c2su4wvsccya

2 Elvis 45's

What can I say, not everything he did was all that great, but when he was on, he was ON. My parent's old pile of Elvis 45's is pretty much all the Elvis I've ever had (other than the fantastic "Tiger Man" CD from the 68 Comeback, which showed he had a much better sense of humor about himself than any other superstar I can think of). Unfortunately his (early) kind of showmanship (lays it on thick, but doesn't overdo it) is a thing of the past. Plus, if someone can get me into sappy love songs, then they've really got some fucking talent.

1) (Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame
2) Little Sister
3) One Night
4) I Got Stung

http://www.mediafire.com/?epd91s416xlpdde

World Of Pooh- The Land Of Thirst

World Of Pooh was Barbara Manning, Brendan Kearney, and Jay Paget (from Thinking Fellers Union Local 282) from late 80's San Francisco. I have to plead ignorance to Barbara Manning because I only came across this a a huge TFUL 282 fan, but it's definitely got me curious. It is kind of like a more accessible less weirdo spastic version of TFUL 282, but by no means an ordinary pop group. Maybe if this album had come out in '93, instead of '89, it would've gotten a hell of a lot more attention. Well, all the young folk these days seem to be all about everything 90's (goddam 20 year pop culture recycle program) so maybe this'll will get more attention, or re-issued...
I unfortunately forget about this album most of the time, I guess because I don't have a physical copy. I have no idea how so many fucking people only listen to music on computers, for some reason it just can't hold my attention quite as well and I miss out on a lot of stuff. I guess I need to get over that...just a little, at least.

http://www.mediafire.com/?qh3x38q4gw6cs9s

The Fall- Live @ The Keystone, Berkeley, California: 10th July 1981

Another great show from the 1981 U.S. tour (nothing here on "A Part Of America Therein, 1981"). I don't like Berkeley, and it seems like such an unlikely place for the Fall to play. I hope a lot of those fuckers were squirming, and they probably were, because the Fall are in very fine form here.
Great set, bass is too quiet, though. Leave it to some dipshit soundman from Berkeley to turn Steve Hanley down.

1) Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul
2) An Older Lover
3) Totally Wired
4) The N.W.R.A.
5) Fit And Working Again
6) Hip Priest
7) New Face In Hell
8) Prole Art Threat
9) Container Drivers
10) No Xmas For John Quays

http://www.mediafire.com/?xebg0st7dd72yy8

The Fall- Slippy Floor

1) Slippy Floor (Mark Mix): trimmed, leaner, and a bit more zip than the perfectly fine album version
2) Hot Cake-Part 2: great Slippy Floor extension into "Hot Cake"
3) Strangetown (Live at Camden Crawl): long intro, Mark enters later to big applause into rough and loose live take, yes.


http://www.mediafire.com/?q4r374mc4mqciyc

The Fall- C.R.E.E.P. Show Bootleg

Lifted this from the blog, Symphony Of Ghosts (http://symphonyofghosts.blogspot.com/search/label/Fall)
Live in Munich April 4, 1984, sound is a bit quiet, but very good overall, great energetic performance,and check out that set list...
If (when) you enjoy this, I highly recommend the "Live at the Hacienda" DVD which has 4 sets, one around "Perverted By Language," two around "Wonderful and Frightening World," and one around "This Nation's Saving Grace." Plus the omnibus editions of "Wonderful..." and "This Nation..." are totally worth picking up, a must for any rabid Fall fan. There's never enough Fall...

1) Lay Of The Land
2) Ludd Gang
3) Kicker Conspiracy
4) Smile
5) 2x4
6) C.R.E.E.P.
7) Neighborhood Of Infinity
8) Copped It
9) Garden

http://www.mediafire.com/?19l4ib7jathkwxk

The Fall- Austerbaejarbio

Live in Iceland, May 06, 1983 on the way back from a U.S. tour around the time of "Perverted By Language."
Great set-list, great performance, good recording, also features the 12+ minute unreleased, "Backdrop."
I can never get enough of the Fall, and it seems each song was never really played the exact same way twice, which makes mixing in live albums more appealing than just listening to the albums over and over (even though I have no problem with that) and bootlegs of this quality are always appreciated.

1) Tempo House
2) The Classical
3) Eat Y'Self Fitter
4) Hexen Definitive
5) I Feel Voxish
6) The Man Whose Head Expanded
7) Garden
8) Kicker Conspiracy
9) Look, Know
10) Backdrop

http://www.mediafire.com/?pdleoxf3c0x9q43

Clara Rockmore- Theremin

Big thanks to my friend Mark for loaning me this record. As the owner of a Theremin, I've never been able to produce any better than a bunch of shitty, squealing sci-fi noise...at best the sound of a flying saucer landing in a 50's B-movie. If the aliens were classically trained in whatever their equivalent was to a violin, and they made a record with an Earth pianist, it might sound like this.
Rather than blather on, I urge you to watch the videos posted below to see how oddly hypnotic Clara Rockmore is.
A note on the recording: there is some serious dynamic range going on here, near inaudible to red-lining in no time. Just play loud. I'm assuming your neighbors already think you're weird anyway.

http://www.mediafire.com/?hlqokhtmk3guxx2

Nino Rota- La Dolce Vita

I've tried not to go on too much about the genius of the meeting of the minds of Fellini and Rota, and will spare you here. I'm also assuming you've seen the movie and that's why you looked for this.
Great stuff. This movie has always had one of two polar effects on me; it makes me either want to start going out all the time, or lock the doors and never leave the house. The music is also either a great warm up, or follow up, to a night out or an ideal soundtrack for a solitary party.
There are several songs in each track, which is rough if you're searching for a particular tune. However, like all good records, it's best listened to from start to finish, even if you have to endure "Jingle Bells," but seeing as it's summer when I write this, it adds a bit of humor to the shitty heat.

http://www.mediafire.com/?jk37ejlcbxcftd7



one of my favorite scenes

Recent Rebel E.P. Info

http://monofonuspress.com/store/the-rebel

There's a link to stream and/or buy the newest Rebel E.P. "The Five Year Plan"
Only one complaint...he sent them 13 tracks, they pressed 3 on one side and screened a 2 tone picture of a ball on the other. To people who thought "A Forest" was a waste of vinyl, I offer this as a counter argument.

http://savourydays.blogspot.com/2011/02/save10ksr049-rebelbomber-jackets-split.html
Another recent split between The Rebel and The Bomber Jackets. Thankfully The Bomber Jackets side is excellent, equal at least, unlike other splits with terrible bands like Eezee Tiger and Bo Knows.

The Rebel's songs on both records are very good, definitely worth picking both up, but I can't help but think he's saving the cream of the crop for the next album.