Thursday, March 29, 2012

& the rain came down.


pastoral psychedelique folk floating in the gauzy haze of cold war germany nineteen seventy one.

if you wanna sing out, sing out.


some heavy lazer guided synth psych taking you into real beautiful kosmische zones. daniel lopatin (drone's dreamboat of the moment) & mark mcguire (emeralds) jam out on the one for skyward journeys.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Diane, I’m Holding In My Hand A Small Box Of Chocolate Bunnies.


so, twin peaks is the best show ever created. i don't think i really have to elaborate on the point because y'all have already seen this masterpiece. this is an audiobook that came out shortly after the series ended. doesn't include any of the tapes from season two, but covers all of the diane conversations from season one, plus quite a few extra bonus ones. more humorous than essential, this is still a really great listen, especially for the lynch acolyte out there. get yrself a damn fine cup of coffee & be prepared to be taken to where pies go to die.

what happens in miami, stays in miami.


miami vice season one rivals twin peaks as the greatest television show ever produced. the amount of intricacy & detail put into each scene that was shot is astounding. & the best part is that jan hammer's soundtrack for the show was fucking mind blowingly amazing. he wrote an entire score for each episode... what other show did that? anyway, click on the photo for some neon gnarly jams from that crazy dude from prague. & do yrself a favor & rent/buy season one. you totally won't be disappointed brah.

Monday, March 26, 2012

more manna.


Gu Mei (real name: Gu Jia-Mi, In English- Carrie Ku/Koo Mei) was born in 1934. Nicknamed "Lovebird" in her youth, at the height of her career she was dubbed "Little Skylark". She hails from Suzhou, in Jiangsu province in Southeastern China. In 1949 she moved to Hong Kong and two years later began to perform, landing a role in a Cantonese film "The Second Wife". By the next year she was acting and singing in Mandarin language films; her first song being called "I Don't Want to Be Apart from You".

In the 1950s she was signed to Great World, Big China and Phillips records, and largely remained a second tier actress. 1958 she went to Thailand to promote one of her movies, and she was invited to stay and make films there, where she became fluent in Thai and gained considerable popularity as a singer and actress in Bangkok. After her return to Hong Kong her popularity continued to increase on into the early sixties, as she continued to act, and her voice became familiar through the title songs of popular films ("Mountain Song" and "Dreams" - the latter is track 4 on this disc). Considered primarily a singer with only a few uneven appearances in films, in 1965 she starred in the Shaw Brothers' movie "The Lark" to great success and acclaim for both her singing and acting.

In 1969 she found herself free of all contracts, and she moved to Taiwan. There she began to host a variety show, "Everyday a Star" on TV. In 1971 she released her final record, a collaborative album with Chen Fen-Lan, another famous singer at the time in Taiwan. Her final movie was a Taiwanese ghost film, "The Bride From Hell". From that time on, she has neither sang nor acted, but instead started to paint. She has had many exhibitions in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, America and Canada. In 1977 she received an award from the Hong Kong Museum of Fine Arts. In May 1998, having not performed in 27 years, she sang as a favor for her brother at one of his concerts. She currently lives in Vancouver, Canada.- remorseful prober via what's in my ipod

another virgin being birthed. grab the only other album i could find from her here at this site.

edit: i stand corrected. gary at bodega pop already beat me to the punch with posting this gem. well, you can't always be king of the mountain eh?

ps thanks gary for letting me know. i bought this at a local store around here, & the dude knew nothing about it, & i couldn't find anything out about her other than on that ipod blog. it makes me feel like a writer for the new york times. pinky promise i will fact check before i just run my mouth.

mystery fados.


so i think i may be the first ever to birth this armando morais joint into the wastelands. i wish i had more information about this other than the fact that it is a collection of songs he did in the 70's. he has a really beautiful voice & this was a really great find. i hunted around the internet to see what i could drudge up about him, but the only thing i found was this video. it appears somewhat recent, but since i don't speak portuguese i have no clue. maybe some good samaritan will help a brother out. anyway, enjoy! ps thanks to my lovely girlfriend for scanning the cover.

quiet village on the seine.


my favorite frenchman making an exotica album. pretty fucking legit if you ask me. can't find this anywhere else in the wastelands, so get it while the going is good.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

fall on proverb.


i saw these brahs in the mid two thousands two or three times a month for a good six month stretch. they were the most exciting thing happening in hardcore at the time for me having moved from southern california & getting bummed at the way that every band wanted to sound like terror or hatebreed. i went to to see holy roman empire & ended up only catching not enough gold's set. i knew i was in love when they closed their set with unbroken's fall on proverb. they took the best parts of the hope conspiracy & married them with unbroken. their singer was this asian guy who was super fashionable, & he always had the nicest shoes. anyway, they broke up shortly before i left chicago as did tower of rome who i'll do a post about soon. i felt that it was kind of a sign that maybe my time in chicago was up. anyway, this is for you dudes who still like to bedroom mosh.

mali ba.


In the six years since Mali's Habib Koite released his last new studio album, he developed a reputation in the West as one of his country's greatest cultural exports. On Afriki, Koite has fine-tuned his carefully manicured approach to melodic, acoustic-based songs of deep personal and global meaning. Always an engaging singer and songwriter, Koite's guitar is on equal footing here; his playing and the overall musicianship of his band, Bamada, outshines anything they offered in their previous outings. Koite exhibits a newfound sensitivity in his playing, always intricate, evocative, rhythmic and moving. Some of the instrumental work is reminiscent of the folk guitar styles of the '60s, but on tracks like the exquisite "N'Teri," a simple song of thanks, Koite brings in lush orchestration and background vocalists, as well as an array of native African instruments such as the balofon and n'goni. Other tracks, among them the album-opening "Namania" and "Africa" (with horns arranged by James Brown veteran Pee Wee Ellis), a song calling for African self-reliance, apply Koite's guitar, soulful voice and the gap-filling backup singers to a more polyrhythmic setting. "Fimani" reunites Mali with the blues it spawned, while the closing "Titati" is a solo showcase for Koite's lone (but never lonesome) guitar. Some may say that the key to Koite's escalating popularity lies in an eagerness to look outside of Mali for ideas to incorporate with his own; that may be so, but that's not such a bad thing at all if the result is an uplifting, empowering world music that truly does bring together so much of the world, in such a warm and enchanting way. - Jeff Tamarkin

found out about this cat through a rough guide to mali comp a couple of years back, was blown away by the pure emotion of the song, mali ba. tracked this down, & while the album is not as strong as that track, it's still extremely enjoyable.

take the red carnation.


if yr not familiar with xmal deutschland, then all you need to know is they were on 4ad & they were the far superior version of siouxsie & the banshees.

stoli on the rocks.


happy sunday y'all! ghosts & vodka was victor villareal's band post cap'n jazz. super noodly jazzy post rock in the midwestern 1997 style. just download & enjoy with some mimosas.

even punks have to use the atm.


one of my all time favorite directors is alejandro jodorowsky. if you have never seen el topo, do yrself a favor. it is my third favorite movie ever, right after suspiria & blue velvet, & is a pure work of art. this is a zip of the el topo & holy mountain soundtracks. jodorowsky wrote both & they are both mind blowingly phenomenal.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

a flash of briliance.


in response to flash's post of jazz today, i thought i would add my own voice to this conversation. i know this is a pretty recent release, & maybe y'all might have this one already, but this is my sunday morning go to every time. the bastard child of fela, tortoise, & jaga jazzist, with strong hints of south american horn stabs thrown in. this will definitely not be on some puta mayo cd anytime in the near future.

for feq.


here is scott 1 & 2 for y'all. if yr not familiar with this cat, then you really should be. as flash describes it, he has the voice of a god. watch the documentary about him, it's extremely fascinating. i personally enjoy 3 & 4 a smidge more, but i think it's good to start from the beginning & work yr way towards the end.

Friday, March 23, 2012

housework for three.


somewhere inbetween the smooth soul sounds of the make*up & the heavy funk of weird war lies scene creamers. another ian s. record, so of course i will highly back this one. good to blast from yr car stereo with the windows down & the sun shining while driving along the pch. this is dedicated to zach.

you won't have a name when you ride the big airplane.


i'm not sure how well spread around this record is. i bought this a few years ago because it's my two favorite wobblies & it was on vanguard. at the time it was my favorite label along with folkways & i always snapped up any record put out on either label. anyway, cisco houston has this really smooth deep beautiful booming baritone that is as clear as a bell. his selection of guthrie tunes is lovingly curated from a long time of being woody's right hand man riding the rails & serving together over in europe. more than any record i have posted here, i highly highly highly suggest getting this one. it's a record that i hold really close to my heart.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

do you just puff on it or what?


this record is dedicated to all the radical brahs out there who enjoy getting loose. bill lays a real heavy trip on some bummed out kids & in between the heavy handed q&a session are some pretty groovy funk tracks where bill just riffs about how bad drugs are. the rip is not mine, so not the best of quality, but i have had this kicking around on my hard drive for a year or so now, & it's one of my all time favorites.

les paumés du petit matin.


this is really late in the game for me. i have been listening to yeye & chanson for a real long time now, but i somehow overlooked this dude until a few weeks ago. i'm sure y'all have this one already, but if you don't, then i suggest grabbing this one right quick.

music's not for everyone.


david candy is an alter-ego of ian svenonius, who if yr not familiar with him or his vast body of work (nation of ulysses, the make*up, weird war, & a million others) including his current stint as the host of soft focus on vbs & chain & the gang, then do yrself a favor & listen to everything he has ever put out right now. anyway, ian is my hero, & has been for quite some time now... a decade & a half now? jesus, i'm old. this is his 60's soul record which was part of a whole series of records including made up characters from other performers. i don't know too much about those nor do i really care (ok maybe i do & if people want to share them, please do). point being, this is pretty fantastic stuff from the hardest working man in show business.

look what the owl dragged in.


all thanks to owlqaeda for dropping this gem in my lap. if you didn't grab the owl hallows tape from holy warbles a few months ago, then you may not have heard this enchantress' voice coming through yr speakers. otherworldly chanson of the highest order that you need to hear. this post is dedicated to sonic adventurers everywhere, but especially mike. godspeed my friend & good luck on yr adventure down south.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

watch out noah.


the deluge has began. one of my favorte records from the nineties, i wore out a couple of copies of this one along with a few needles. dark propulsive post rock from ex slint & rodan. this was jason noble's side project from the rachels. get it while you can dudes & dudettes..

hey sandy.


the japanese polaris. nuff' said. just trust me on this kiddos.

getting curiouser & curiouser.


i cracked my ipod so i could upload the files from there into my mediafre, so expect to see tons more albums being posted everyday, starting with this crusher. if y'all aren't aware of the sheer majestic power that this band wields, then you need to get this. touched is a great starting point since i know their discography can be pretty daunting since they have forty or fifty releases out there. imagine if godflesh & my bloody valentine decided to start a doom band together... that's kinda underwhelming compared to the actual record. just listen.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

happy first day of spring!


some really soothing tunes for the end of the first day of spring. i should have actually posted this earlier when we all needed to let the sheer joy of the season wash over us with music to lift yr spirits. i don't know about y'all, but i'm ready for sunshine & warm weather & oud playing gets me in that headspace. download this if you don't already have this one. dude is a master & will melt yr face.

Monday, March 19, 2012

feel good hit of the fall.


there isn't a whole lot of information out there about about mirosław rajkowski other than a myspace page & this page where he posts photos that look like l ron hubbard had a hand in them. he says he's an overtone singer (does anyone out there know what that means?) but this album is just really creepy dark ambient utilizing found sounds & manipulated voices. it's really good if yr into this sort of thing... shit that you would hear in an european horror film as the background music.

running up that hill.


forest swords is some british dude jamming on the one to create foot paths into unchartable psychic realms. get into this. intersecting somewhere between dub, drone & electronica with a dash of post flylo hip hop, this is really fantastic. by far one of my favorite bands to have come out in the last five years.

goodbye surfing, hello god.


the beach boys are tied with the smiths as my favorite band of all time. i feel they are put down by snobby condescending people as that kokomo band, or even worse people only remember them as that kokomo band. i think the greatest travesty of it all though is when those pitchfork hipster assholes who name drop the beach boys are asked what their favorite song or album is, & it's always pet sounds. don't get me wrong, pet sounds is one of the most creative & beautful albums ever put to tape, but they have such a wide career! granted, i don't listen to anything after friends, but brian wilson is the reason i listen to the beach boys. he is single handedly the greatest songwriter of all time. anyway, this is my mix of pre-pet sounds material, picking all of my favorite tunes from them. ps mike love is a motherfucker who deserved to die 45 years ago, & still deserves to die now. don't besmirch the good name of brian wilson for a few bucks you money hungry no talent ass clown.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

out of the wood work.


there used to be this blog that i followed religiously called butterxface, mainly for the photos they would post along with some really snide & hilarious commentary. they shut down when altered zones happened, & denise started rips tapes a while after that. that had a really short run, but did produce this gem. go grab it from her, as it's extremely enchanting. two really long tracks to help you explore the hole in the side of yr head. & on a positive note, butterxface has a slick new look & a recent post, so perhaps denise is back. i hope so.

Friday, March 16, 2012

flip yr psyche.


all you hep cats need to grab this immediately. this is some far out library music from the italian masters of the 6o's & 7o's, including some of my favorites like alessandro alessandroni & amedeo tomassi. if you found the gianni ferrio album to be lacking some groovy psych geetars, then this comp will be right up yr alley. & if you dug the ferrio post, then you'll dig this too.

no time for love.


this here record is a fucking beast of jazzy funk fusion shit with a little heaviness thrown in there for some serious head nodding while moving yr body. alphonse mouzon has played with some of my favorite cats including wayne shorter (!), mccoy tyner, freddie hubbard, & herbie fucking hancock. if that pedigree doesn't make you want to grab this, then i don't even know what to say.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

let's fly kites.


family might are a bunch of teenage doods making scrappy sloppy emotional punk that is perfectly suited for summer bike rides & drinking sweet tea on porches & high fives & loving yr friends & smiling at strangers. here's to teenage romance & hand claps & bear hugs & screaming at the top of yr lungs because it reminds you that yr fucking alive. support these guys in any way that you can. fuck, support heartfelt diy punk in any way that you can.

secret handshakes.



the other part of my mid nineties trifecta. & i never got a chance to see any of these three bands, which is still a bummer for me to this day. i think all three of these bands resonate so much with me because they are extremely emotional & have a lot of really sweet quiet/loud/quiet parts that i think speaks to a teen's heart. & now i'm almost thirty, but these records have such a great air of nostalgia for me. plus who doesn't like air drumming to anthemic dc inspired bombastic angular shit? if you don't like this, you might not have a heart.

i've crossed the dutchman's path.


the hal al shedad are one of my all time favorite bands hands down. in the same echelon as roadside monument & the vehicle birth who are bands i always thought of as leaps & bounds ahead of their peers but never got the recognition they deserved. dark mathy angular post hardcore in the louisville vein, but with a style & flair all their own. i'm not sure why all the people who are downloading the world records aren't downloading my mid nineties posts? any suggestions? comments are welcome. don't be an idiot, just download this & thank me later.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Yaln‡zlar R‡ht‡m‡.


this is for the cats who aren't familiar with erkin koray. y'all really should be. he was one of the major figures in turkish psych rock, and pretty much pioneered rock & roll in turkey in the fifties. this contains three albums of pure manna to help soothe yr world weary souls when yr feeling down in the mouth.

Monday, March 12, 2012

another hung over work day blues.


sorry for the lack of posts, i have been going out every night, then sleeping till i need to go to work. anyway, iamspoonbender is one of my favorite groups ever. they were on gsl if that means anything to anyone. i always felt they had their own aesthetic & sound, but i guess you could describe them as the point where motorik, cold wave, & mid nineties synth punk meet. definitely good to listen to when you need to dance in the morning because life just seems so bleak when yr head is pounding.

Friday, March 9, 2012

neu wavve.


i'm pretty sure that when one of those gross dirty filth/blatz fucks comes up to you & yells in yr face that punk isn't fucking dead you square, that the mutant is talking about this album. this is punk as fuck in the immortal words of andrew kenny. i grabbed this ages ago from the owl, which i think might have been poached from another blog... moootant soundz i think? ghostycapital? regardless, just get this & be delighted in the far superior sounds of haniwa chan. kind of like polyphonic spree without the robes & better songs.

bb come back.


james ferraro is really hit or miss, but has had flashes of brilliance like this lo-fi warped mutant glue sniffing pop masterpiece. & if yr reading this right now man, don't get bummed. make a new grippers album.

steel sings through the night.


i know y'all are probably thinking what's up with all of the foreign psych records? well, i have to meet the needs of my constituency, plus everyone enjoys getting trill every once in a while right? perfect for those codeine nights when yr digging on some pied piper at the gates of dawn vybez. dutch steez from the sixties, grab this, & realign yr vision.

secrets behind the wall.


continuing right along, here is another post for the bros out there. some really fantastic japanese psych from 68' for slow sunday mornings that help you unwind for the psychonauts out there. you may know him from his later outfit flower travellin' band. definitely recommended if you like to get weird in the words of brother flash.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

walking through the set of a giallo thriller.


another thing you should know is gialli is my favorite genre of film, & the soundtracks for them are fucking legit. gianni ferrio is my favorite composer, & this is one of my favorite albums from that cat. real smooth sweet jams that make you feel like yr hanging out in Rome running down a dark alley one moment & then cruising around on a boat with the sun shining on yr face the next. this is the fucking jam y'all.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

mr. walking drugstore man.


more hot fire from shinki chen. this cat is blowing my mind wide open. admittedly the lyrics & vocals are really really terrible, but the music itself is fucking incredible. if this was instrumental & released now, southern lord would be sucking their dicks to release this.

mountains of backmasked lysergic dirges.


shinki chen is the japanese jimi hendrix. he put out this beast of a fucking psych record back in 71'. this record will literally melt yr face. this post is dedicated to my brother who's into this sort of astral traveling. godspeed man.

walking on water.


“This is an excellent reissue of 78s first recorded from 1929 to 1951 in France of Franco-Creole Biguines from Martinique. This CD issue contains a generous 23 selections (9 more than the 1988 LP issue). There is a similarity to some of the calypso and New Orleans jazz of the same era, but Martinique has its own sound, rooted in the rhythms of its indigenous dance, the biguine. This music was recorded by Martiniquans living in Paris on major labels of the era. The premier musicians were Alexandre Stellio on clarinet, Ernest Leardée on violin, and trombonist Archange St. Hillaire who performed together and fronted their own groups. This is a pleasing collection of exciting Caribbean music (my mother, who grew up dancing to beguines [Spanish spelling] in her native Virgin Islands, loves it too!) that never has failed to lift my spirits.”

-Kerry Blech



another great find from yesterday's exploits. moving from the south i'm not used to all of this cold weather, so i've been searching out warm blooded music & this is just what i needed. kick out the jams!

a picture postcard.


a mid nineties comp of the who's who of the creme de la creme of indie rock/emo. i listened to this so much, and had a few of the actual seven inches that comprised this comp. sometimes i get really sad i sold off most of my collection via ebay & skylab (does anyone even remember that website?). if you were ever into jade tree, polyvinyl, crank, or caufield, then grab this & grab yr old cardigan & horn rimmed glasses & get ready to shed a few tears.

summering in crete.


another great find from a friend in the west. reminds me a bit of gypsy folk, especially taraf de haidouks, but with a much more mediterranean vibe to it. ridiculously good, this is another one i just had to share with y'all.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

venezuelan heat.


all praise go to the almighty hawaiian who wishes to remain anonymous for dropping this in my lap. this shit is fucking crazy good, sounding like a south american free design with a little more oomph in all the right places. i can not recommend this enough! dude gave it to me a while back, and finally got around listening to it earlier tonight, & just had to post it for y'all to grab. get this now & don't sleep on it like i did!

the ghost of alan lomax's beard.


found this today while out and about enjoying the rare sun that seattle has to offer these days. definitely warms the spirit to hear these soul fire jams. don't be fooled by the terrible cover art, this is legit & should be in yr library. the ram gopaul track is especially enchanting. alan lomax may be one of the greatest men to have ever lived, & his contribution to music is both impressive & awe inspiring.

fire in the jungle.


this is for flash. machito is a new find for me, & this was extremely difficult to find. i had to stroll down some very nefarious russian alleyways to find this burner, & lovingly assemble & fix tags & information for y'all. definitely in line with tito & sabu. if you dig those cats, then you'll be all over this. definitely a day starter.

Monday, March 5, 2012

prophesying the end times.


so there isn't very much information floating around the internet currently about this release other that it was put out posthumously after the pigs sniped koresh. two pretty decent songs, and a great sermon in the middle, especially when he snarkily puts down amy grant. i like to loop it when i sleep as it's rather comforting... his voice is very soothing. he's extremely charismatic when he speaks, but not on the same level as my hero jim jones. if you like weird records, then this will scratch yr itch.

sperm ridden burden.


roadside monument were always a terribly under appreciated band. they always got stuck with the stigma of being on tooth and nail, which profoundly impacted people's opinions of them, and also the fact that they were always considered an "emo" band versus what they were really were, a louisville band birthed in the wrong city at the wrong time. the pacific north west never was and still isn't ready for the emotional catharsis that is inherent in their music. and if this seems like overblown praise, wait till you hear the release in sunken anchor. i got into this band because of their prior band, mr. bishop's fist was featured on the helpless amongst friends comp, and i really dug the chunky mid nineties hardcore they were playing. then i bought eight hours away from being a man and was instantly hooked by sperm ridden burden because at fifteen in 1997 i was really into ebullition, mountain coop, shit like that. i never got the chance to see them... i'm not sure why. i was constantly going to shows at the time, maybe they just never came down? anyway, this album remains one of my favorites to this day. jonathan ford's bass parts are probably the best thing about this album, but the guitar and drums... i take that back everything about this album is perfect. it is one of the few records i can play the entire way through over and over again and never get tired of it. i also included i am the day of current taste, which is way more angular and just as good but different. trust me, you'll be thanking me later for this one.