Mike Westbrook - Off Abbey Road

The Beatles' 'ABBEY ROAD' album is the basis of Mike Westbrook's 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' project,- a re-creation by contemporary musicians of one of the master works of pop music. Premiered in Reggio Emilia, Italy in December 1988 as part of a Festival celebrating The Beatles, 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' was an instant success with audiences and critics.

From 1989-91 the Westbrook Band toured 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' throughout France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, appearing in many of the major European jazz festivals. A particular highlight was the 1990 Montreal Festival where the Band played an open-air concert to an audience of 30,000.'OFF ABBEY ROAD' made its UK debut with two performances at the Electric Cinema in Portobello Road, London, which were filmed for German TV, Recorded 'live' at the 1989 Willisau Jazz Festival, the 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' album was released in 1990 on ENJA Record's new TipToe label.

In 1995 'OFF ABBEY ROAD' was revived specially for a Beatles Festival in Trento, Italy. During '96 there were performances in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Finland, France and the UK. The Mike Westbrook Band, specially formed for 'OFF ABBEY ROAD', brings together some of the outstanding jazz performers associated with Westbrook's music in recent years.

Kate Westbrook (voice. tenor horn. piccolo),
Phil Minton (voice. trumpet).
Andy Grappy (tuba),
Peter Whyman, Alan Wakeman (saxophones),
Brian Godding (guitar).
Peter Fairclough (drums),
Mike Westbrook (piano).

OFF ABBEY ROAD
Mike Westbrook Band:
The music of The Beatles Music arranged by Mike Westbrook. Produced by William Strode and Mike Westbrook.

Reviews

02/01/1989 John Fordham THE GUARDIAN
"A rich and often thrilling performance that both transformed and burnished the original material."

02/01/1989 Gary Giddins VILLAGE VOICE
"Westbrook's faithful and wonderfully good humored rendition of The Beatles' 1969 album 'ABBEY ROAD' underscores its music-hall whimsy and ravishing melodies. The Beatles purists I have played it for are as delighted as I am."

02/01/1989 Manfred Schmidt STEREO MAGAZINE Germany - 'CD of the Month
"John Lennon, the most progressive of The Beatles, would have been delighted ... a real adventure on the borderlines between pop and jazz."

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Chelsea Wolfe – Apokalypsis (2010)

1.PRIMAL//CARNAL 00:24
2.MER 03:43
3.TRACKS (TALL BODIES) 03:56
4.DEMONS 03:14
5.THE WASTELAND 04:03
6.MOSES 04:07
7.FRIEDRICHSHAIN 02:47
8.PALE ON PALE 07:12
9.TO THE FOREST, TOWARDS THE SEA 02:44
10.MOVIE SCREEN 05:35

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Ray LaMontagne - Till the Sun Turns Black

If it weren't for his singing voice, so full of smoke and ether, one would be hard-pressed to believe that Till the Sun Turns Black was made by the same man who recorded Trouble just two years prior. Ray LaMontagne takes a brave leap from the rootsy singer/songwriter material of his debut album and does a 180. Once more collaborating with producer and multi-instrumentalist Ethan Johns, the singer-songwriter turns in a highly textured, atmospheric, and subdued performance on his sophomore effort. All the grit and earth in LaMontagne's voice on Trouble, and the basic country-folk and R&B (on the title track) has been swept out like ashes in the morning here. This new set is startling. The reliance on skeletal, delicate string arrangements adds much to the interior nature of these songs. LaMontagne has used the projection in his lyrics and his voice and turned them inside out. He's slower, more subtle, more restrained everywhere here. His lines are economical, full of space and tension, as if they were being performed alone in a room in the middle of the night. Johns' use of strings and keyboards paints LaMontagne's voice and underscores his delivery with a quiet drama that reveals itself inside the listener.

Check LaMontagne's opener, "Be Here Now," with the guitar finding its way toward the singer as a quartet of violins, two cellos, and a bowed bass emerge to support his voice in the void of silence Johns creates around it. Johns' piano fills in odd spaces. They don't seem to add up, but they do when LaMontagne's vocal whispers its way forward into that small swelling shadow. On the bluesy "You Can Bring Me Flowers," a horn section is used to highlight and extol LaMontagne's tough lyrics; but there is more Tim Buckley and Tom Rush here than Otis Redding or Sam Cooke, but it's all LaMontagne. The jazzy flute and funky dobro don't sound like country, but more like country-blues from an earlier time. By contrast, the whispering acoustic guitars and strings in the title cut are frames to fit a voice inside, and LaMontagne's does; then shatters it when confessed emotion blurs then shatters the edges. These are songs no one else can sing. LaMontagne's sense of phrase and rhyme are idiosyncratic, never overbearing; he allows the listener into his world, slowly, deliberately; his observations and nearly overwhelming emotion are too big to keep to himself -- as the strings swell, all he can do is moan, then nearly growl, wordlessly. Till the Sun Turns Black is a giant leap forward. LaMontagne reveals himself to be a sophisticated pop artist who can find in simple forms something utterly engaging and communicative. This record could have been made 20 years ago but in another two decades will still sound fresh.


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KARATE Pockets (2004)

1 With Age Farina, Goddard, McCarthy 3:45
2 Water Farina, Goddard, McCarthy 5:21
3 "The State I'm In" AKA "Goode Buy from Cobbs Creek Park" Farina, Goddard, McCarthy 2:39
4 Cacophony Farina, Goddard, McCarthy 4:21
5 Alingual Farina, Goddard, McCarthy 4:58
6 Tow Truck Farina, Goddard, McCarthy 4:01
7 Pines Farina, Goddard, McCarthy 4:27
8 Concrete Farina, Goddard, McCarthy 8:30

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Shannon Wright - Perishable Goods

Shannon Wright shifts the emphasis of her material again on this stellar mini-LP, opting for a short set of spare songs that, even in doing away with the wailing dissonance that made Maps of Tacit so cathartic, are just as effective in their contemplative beauty. The majority of the songs feature Wright cooing -- in her vaguely unsettling alto -- some of the most seductively pretty melodies she's penned (especially the heartbreaking "Azalea") over the accompaniment of acoustic guitar or piano. Even the full-band psychedelia of "Foul" is pacifying, to say nothing of her inspired take on the Bee Gees' hit "I Started a Joke," which itself seems to have been inspired by Low's cover of the same song a few years earlier. (Alan Sparhawk even offers backing vocals and additional guitar to the track.) However, what's truly remarkable about Wright's ability to make an impact across the dynamic range is exemplified in Perishable Goods' bookends. Two tracks that would later appear, in much more cacophonous incarnations, on her Dyed in the Wool LP, "Hinterland" and "The Path of Least Persistence," operate here as gentle reminders rather than scathing admonishments -- and lose nothing in the translation.

1 Hinterland Wright 2:44
2 Foul Wright 4:11
3 I Started a Joke Gibb 4:27
4 Azalea Wright 3:51
5 Familiar Settings Wright 2:52
6 Capsule of You Wright 3:37
7 The Path of Least Persistence Wright 2:00
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Yann Tiersen and Shannon Wright

1 No Mercy for She Wright 5:42
2 Dragon Fly Wright 3:15
3 Sound the Bells Wright 3:48
4 Something to Live For Wright 4:13
5 Dried Sea Wright 4:13
6 While You Sleep Wright 2:33
7 Ode to a Friend Wright 3:49
8 Ways to Make You See Wright 4:11
9 Callous Sun Wright 3:15
10 Pale White Wright 3:47
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Shannon Wright - Secret Blood (2010)

Artist: Shannon Wright

Album: Secret Blood

Released: 2010

Style: Indie Rock

Format: MP3 233Kbps

Size: 62 Mb




Tracklist:
01 – Palomino
02 – Violent Colors
03 – Fractured
04 – Dim Reader
05 – On The Riverside
06 – Commoner’s Saint
07 – Merciful Secret Blood Of A Noble Man
08 – Fairgrounds
09 – Satellites
10 – In The Needle
11 – Under The Luminaries
12 – Chair To Room


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Kocani Orkestar meets Paolo Fresu and Antonello Salis

que quieren que les diga. Esto es impresionante

Recorded live in Ravenna, Foligno, and Roma, Italy.

In Macedonia, Koçani plays for a variety of ritual and celebratory events for every stage of life. Rich patrons hire Koçani to play outside the hospital upon the birth of the baby; later most communities hire live music for the baby's naming ceremony. Muslim communities also use duvaçki orkestar for circumcision celebrations. They also play for all aspects of wedding events, from agreement ceremonies, engagements, to all segments of the wedding ceremonies. Some segments of the Macedonian population hire duvaçki orkestar to play for funeral processions and burials. Outside of ritual events, duvaçki orkestars such as Koçani also perform at special banquet evenings and small coffeehouses (kafic).
Tracks

1. Notti A Mogadiscio
2. Gajda
3. …Del Viaggio
4. Papigo
5. Variazioni Sul Ballo
6. Jacquelina
7. Siki Siki Baba
8. Good By Macedonia
9. Red Bull
Musicians:
Paolo Fresu - trumpet, bugle, effects
Antonello Salis - piano, accordion
and:
Kocani Orkestar
Durak Demirov - saxophone
Turan Gaberov - trumpet
Sukri Kadriev - trumpet
Nijazi Alimov - bariton tuba
Saban Jasarov - tapan
Suad Asanov - bass tuba
Dedzai Durmisev - bariton tuba
Sukri Zejnelov - baroton tuba
Dzeladin Demirov - clarinet, vocals
Ajnur Azizov - vocals

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Taraf de Haïdouks

he ancient musical traditions of the "lautari" gypsies of Romania are extended through the unique performances of Taraf de Haïdouks, a band of twelve instrumentalists and singers aged twenty to seventy eight. In addition to recording four memorable albums of traditional tunes, the group has appeared on television with Yehudi Menuhin and has recorded and performed with Swiss pop star Stephan Eicher. The music of Taraf de Haïdouks was featured in Tony Gartlif's award-winning film, "Latcho Drom". According to David Harrington of Kronos Quartet, Taraf de Haïdouks "take their listeners to the essence of music; that place where the bow meets the string and a world of action follows". Taraf de Haïdouks, who take their name from the Haidouks, Robin Hood-like thieves who are recalled in many of the group's ballads, hail from the small Romanian vollage of Clejani, southwest of Bucharest. The group stuck close to their home village until being discovered" by Stephen Karo and Michael Winter, two Belgian music fans who became enchanted with Taraf de Haïdouks' music during a trip to Romania in 1990. In addition to organizing several concerts for the band in Belgium, Karo and Winter brought them to the attention of world music record label, Crammed Discs. After performing to an enthusiastic crowd at the WOMAD festival in 1991, Taraf de Haïdouks released their debut album, "Musique Des Tsiganes De Roumanie". The album reached the top slot on Europe's world music charts and introduced the band's music to a global audience. Taraf de Haïdouks' second album, "Honourable Brigands, Magic Horses And Evil Eyes", released in 1994, was voted "Best World Music Album" by the German Critics Association. The group continued their success with "Dumbala Dumba", released in 1998, which featured appearances by such guests as Rosioru, a master of Valachian Gypsy crooners, Viorica Rudareasa, a renown Romanian female vocalist, and Napoleon, a member of the Urasi, a Romanian bear trainer caste. Taraf de Haïdouks' self-titled fourth album was released in 1999. A documentary video of Taraf de Haïdouks was filmed by French director Guy Demoy in 1998.
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re up. TOTEM

Dedos, Chevere, De este Cielo Santo, Dias de esos, Todos, Biafra, El Tábano, Mañana, No me molestes, La lluvia cae para todos igual.
De nada (año 1970-71 128 Kbps)

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Electric Gypsyland

It's rare to find a remix album that really works, but this does. Four Balkan gypsy groups reworked in any number of ways might sound limiting, but the studio wizards here have managed to retain the spirit of the original tracks while taking them in very eclectic directions. From the work of Arto Lindsay and Melvin Gibbs on "Mugur Mugurel," which recalls the adventurous no wave era of downtown New York, to the glory of Lightning Head's "L'Orient Est Rouge," where African soukous and house music mix gloriously with the original, this is a delight. Turkey's Mercan Dede brings his hypnotic sensibilities to "Siki, Siki Baba," while Olaf Hund's "Are You Gypsified?" medley is nothing less than mad, creating a jam session among three of the bands that veers with loving drunkenness all over the road. The musicianship of the gypsy musicians isn't in question when they include the worldbeating Taraf de Haidouks and Kocani Orkestar, although the virtuosity isn't the important element here. Instead, the remixers exploit the melodies and the feel while surprising with context, as Bucovina Club do on "Carolina" -- a dancehall/Balkan mash-up no one could have anticipated, but which whets the appetite for the rest of the disc. Where the European version contains 13 tracks, the North American release adds two bonus cuts, including Taraf de Haidouks' "A la Turk" given the full house treatment by Cop & Thief in a manner that could make it a club favorite. This is the kind of disc that renews your faith in the possibilities of the remix.
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Electric Gypsyland, Vol. 2

Like its predecessor, Electric Gypsyland 2 is a collection of reinterpretations of recordings by several modern Balkan bands -- some of the new versions are relatively straightforward remixes, while others are much more dramatic and imaginative reworkings of the source material. Unlike the first volume in this series, however, this one also includes a bonus disc that offers original, untouched versions of songs by those same bands (though they're not always the same tracks as the ones remixed on the first disc). The format and presentation of this collection may be a bit unusual and even disconcerting, but that's probably as it should be -- the same is true of the music itself, which is a wild fusion of musical styles even in its original form and is even more kaleidoscopically varied in the remixes. Check out the wild, almost klezmer-sounding clarinet on Koçani Orkestar's "Mi Bori San Korani," and the glitchy techno underpinnings that Smadji installs beneath it, or the dubwise production effects that DJ ClicK applies to Mahala Raï Banda's already faintly reggae-inflected "Romano Dance." But the album's highlight is "Red Bula," a brilliant piece of party-ready horn-based Gypsy dance funk given an even wilder setting by Balkan Beat Box. Contributions by Cibelle and Oi Va Voi are equally exciting. Highly recommended

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EXSONVALDES - NO PLACE LIKE HOMES

Exsonvaldes es un grupo de rock proveniente de Paris, Francia. En palabras de la propia banda, su estilo es influenciado por la musica de Nirvana y Radiohead. Algunas de sus canciones tienen ciertos elementos electronicos, lo que hace de su sonido algo interesante. Otro aspecto importante es que las letras de sus canciones estan escritas enteramente en ingles y no en su idioma natal.
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The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night

Beginning with the first of two two-part songs, this being titled "Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent," The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, even more than the group's first two albums, feels like the band's bid for some sort of new prog rock status now that the term is no longer a dirty word. (Not for nothing, perhaps, is one song later in the album called "And This Is What We Call Progress.") Certainly the combination of howling guitar and moody drones that kicks things off feels more than a little at home with Pink Floyd 1975, say, not to mention the high-pitched vocals of Jace Lasek, but the drums sound much more Dave Fridmann than Nick Mason. Call it Sigur Rós meets Supertramp in the end, perhaps most especially on the penultimate number, "Light Up the Night," with its keyboard-led opening moving into a slow, sweet-sounding swagger of an arrangement thanks again to a big beat and guitar chug, but the signs of that kind of sonic grandness, if not full-on grandiosity, abound. "Chicago Train" has distanced vocals and a lushly mournful string arrangement at the start, moving into hero-rock guitars that aren't "go nowhere" solos, and the whole is a full-bodied embrace of going big without regrets. "Albatross" may be the apotheosis of the whole approach, thanks to Olga Goreas' strong vocal performance and the whole pump-it-up, make-it-huge wallop becoming a powerful swoon, while her concluding turn on "The Lonely Moan," echoed words against a booming guitar burst before a final sweeping performance, also achieves great heights
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Isobel Campbell And Mark Lanegan – Live At The Barbican (2010)

Tracklist:
01 – We Die And See Beauty Reign
02 – You Won’t Let Me Down Again
03 – Come Undone
04 – Snake Song
05 – Who Built The Road
06 – Free To Walk
07 – The Circus Is Leaving Town
08 – No Place To Fall [feat. Willy Mason]
09 – Cool Water [feat. Willy Mason]
10 – To Hell & Back Again
11 – Back Burner
12 – Time Of The Season
13 – Salvation
14 – Come On Over (Turn Me On)
15 – Get Behind Me
16 – Revolver
17 – (Do You Wanna) Come Walk With Me
18 – Ramblin’ Man
19 – Wedding Dress

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Mogwai -- Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

1 White Noise
2 Mexican Grand Prix
3 Rano Pano
4 Death Rays
5 San Pedro
6 Letters to the Metro
7 George Square Thatcher DeathParty
8 How to Be a Werewolf
9 Too Raging to Cheers
10 You’re Lionel Richie

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