Rho-Xs: 1/1/16

Jan 31, 2016

Sundaze 1605

Hello, we've started the new year with a month of, what in a sense is the concept behind sundaze music. Ataraxia is a Greek term used by Pyrrho and Epicurus for a lucid state of robust tranquility, characterized by ongoing freedom from distress and worry.

Today the fifth and final post on these Classic Goths, they are an Italian band and that means outside the Anglo-US sphere and it's dominance in the musical realm. As a result just getting noticed is no mean feat, and i hope by giving them some over exposure here, i gained them some more fans. Who knows, one day you might be able to see one of their shows..

“It’s a form of wisdom,

humbly and indulgently,

seeking inside ourselves

the deep meaning of life,

rather than expecting the others

to give us

their truth.”

Today's artists are one of those "condemned bands" that, due to their style, move between several fan environments. Prog heads, Gothic, lovers of medieval music, etc. have already surrendered to these magic and unclassifiable Italians. Their music takes after infinite sources whose roots belong to classical cultures (Greece and Rome), to the Middle Age, to some texts and to more recent works. Their concerts are always held in places that provide a perfect scenery for their music (abbeys, churches, castles, gardens), and they are always full of theatrical parts, dances, poetry and, definitely, beauty.
They are master of the neo-period ambient darkwave sound that comes from combining medieval liturgical chants and subdued Gothic influences. Ataraxia often uses authentic French minstrel material as the basis for their songs. They use simple drum rhythms, basic acoustic guitar sounds, and the nostalgic sound of free flute to accompany the multilingual renaissance harmonies of vocalists Francesca Nicoli and Vittorio Vandelli.......N'joy

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Ataraxia is an ensemble that, since many years, works in the balance between avant-garde and tradition writing music, setting up performances and giving concerts consisting of several art forms like theatre, poetry, painting and dance in castles, squares, parks, concert halls, and theaters all over Europe and Latin America. We define ourselves 'craftsmen of the sound' because of the wild, unusual mix of sacred and profane, early and contemporary, neoclassic and experimental music we create. We feel like 'traveling minstrels' inspired by the inner and geographical voyages we make in places that still preserve the charge of centuries and the mystery of history. Walking along old paths and listening to the call of the stone we become a 'living crossroad' between the Mediterranean and Celtic cultures. We make researches and write music about European legends and Greek and Latin myths. Our lyrics are written in several ancient and contemporary languages, we try to give a musical shape to the treasures and revelations hidden inside each language. Contemplation, dream experiences, twilight and elegiac atmospheres, ritual movements and our memories float in the mysterious garden of Psyche and Desire where enveloping textures of notes meet the echo of both acoustic and contemporary instruments. Four minstrels paint whimsical musical landscapes opening passages on far-off dimensions able to stir up emotions and memories. We walk along a path that has its origins in a very far time. The Ancient Spirits are still speaking. Ataraxia's best performances take place in natural or architectural fascinating environments where magic flows as it happened in the primordial drama.

They are a neo-classical band who combine modern technology with archaic instrumentation over various media. Ataraxia describe their music as a cross "between sacred and profane, ethereal and neo-classical, contemporary and early music". They make researches into the European legends crossing the Greek and Latin myths. Contemplation, dreamy experiences, elegiac atmospheres, ritual movements float in a mysterious garden where contemporary textures of notes meet the embracing echo of classic sounds. Their lyrics are written in many ancient and contemporary languages as they try to bring to surface the hidden treasures and revelations that each language owns. Many of their performances take place in locations the band professes to possess specific spiritual qualities.Since the beginning of the group in the late 80's, they released some 25 albums.

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In the pantheon of conceptual artistic works, Italy's Ataraxia have certainly had highly acclaimed releases but there has always been the traditionalistic medieval approach to assure the fans that their beloved trio have not completely abandoned their sound. They have decided to do exactly that with this new album "Paris Spleen". A neatly tied up album of maniacle overtures. If only it was that simple.

"Paris Spleen" came about due to a medium by the name of Josephine Corelli who was continually tormented by visions of a long-gone Parisian institution known as Circus Kump, a collective of deviants who, according to the tale, put on their theater of the grotesque for only one night before vanishing completely. These visions commanded her to get in touch with Ataraxia, a band she knew nothing about but who were completely suited to channeling these long departed characters onto an album. The results speak for themselves.

Ataraxia are an outfit primarily known for their alienated, vitriolic sound courtesy of vocalist Francesca Nicoli's unique vocal range fortified by Vittorio Vandelli's precise yet historically resonant guitar work. For this outing, the orchestrations border on the monumental with violent flourishes of kettle drum thundering down the length and breadth of certain tracks and classical arrangements that will take your breath away with their delicate tapestries; the frailty of this album is its core, the tenuous level of detail twists and eddys out into the black luminous sea... this is Ataraxia possessed. Gone is the lilting wistful balladeering of their last few albums, it has been replaced by madness. An intoxicating mixture designed to confront and terrify, "Paris Spleen" showcases the beauty in chaos, the elixir of dark ideals which have always been with us, whether we want to acknowledge them or not.

Ataraxia - Paris Spleen (flac 402mb)

01 Bienvenue A L'Enfer! 6:11
02 Où Vont Les Chiens? 5:09
03 N'importe Où! 5:46
04 Mon Cher Toutou... 4:27
05 Le Marchand De Nuages 4:15
06 Le Saltimbanque Décrépit 5:20
07 La Reine Des Hommes Aux Yeux Verts 4:50
08 Tango Des-Astres 5:54
09 Longtemps Pierrette D'Orient 4:41
10 Oh Rhadamante 4:34
11 Petite Chanson Lycanthrope 4:02
12 A Votre Guise ! 4:20

Ataraxia - Paris Spleen (ogg 144mb)

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Ataraxia return to Greek shores to rediscover ancient rituals and traditions. A felt following of "Lost Atlantis". The natural accomplishment of the voyage. The record includes fourteen songs. It is initiated as a ritual, with a chanting based composition over which Francesca's voice recites in Italian about nature, ointments and rituals. The voice slithers sweetly in a snake-like manner or drops with energy with a bombastic feeling, always surrounded by choruses, swaying instruments and chimes. After the introduction, the percussion explodes with rich rhythm layers and an epic, elongated instrumentation over which the voice chooses the energetic reciting in English about the rituals mentioned above. The guitar line works as an instrumental response to the voice, glowing with the intense arpeggios.

The voice is, as always in Ataraxia, the element that distinguishes each song the most. It is directly related with the instrumentation: its intensity and pace. Yet the combination of the different ways Francesca has to sing are really the axis over which the song swirls. In many songs the voice is almost speaking, emotional and strong. In others it murmurs, and yet in others it moves into the singing high-pitched falsetto. Depending on where the voice goes, the song undulates from passion to vigor to intimacy to heavenly voices. 'Kremasta Nera' is a perfect example of the complexity of the voice work, and all songs where the voice chooses to introduce all different shades become enthralling, deep and changing compositions. In this case, it is constructed over the contrast of gliding guitar notes and longing synths where the singing moves into reciting and mourning, always with a glimpse of delicate beauty escaping just in time, before it can be completely explained. There are other songs in the record that are similar in this way. For example the haunting beauty of 'Efestia', where Francesca's voice moves into the height of its modulation capacity, initiation as a subtle and crystal-like chanting, sometimes gaining unusual strength and approaching. A composition, during four minutes, created solely by the voice work, reverb and echoes. The percussion then slowly moves in, as if summoned by the voice, wrapped in a dense atmospheric synth where the voice slowly dissolves.

'Ochram' moves back into tribal, oriental-like percussion, always with the atmospheric synths enveloping the sound and carrying the composition into a darker place. 'Therma' moves into a liquid watery sound, where the female voice walks in almost whispering words that glide through the music. It includes, however, a male and a female chorus that seem to playfully move in and out of the background almost touching. The final result is sensual, mysterious and impulsive, making a luring composition. The instrument combination and the voice line's freedom are, as always in Ataraxia, deliciously remarkable. Vittorio Vandelli is a superb musician, and the italian band have managed to make a mark in the music world through their surprising mixture of the old and the new. 'Kremasta Nera' is another voyage through imagination on the wings of Ataraxia's sometimes sweet sometimes belligerent, always seductive music.

Ataraxia - Kremasta Nera (flac 465mb)

01 The Song Of Axieros 5:14
02 The Nine Rituals 6:07
03 Kremasta Nera 7:20
04 Ochram 4:59
05 Therma 3:38
06 Efestia 6:54
07 Ebur 4:12
08 Kaviria 6:01
09 Fengari 3:13
10 Klethra 5:09
11 Gria Vathra 2:55
12 Migratio Animae 7:23
13 Wings (I Had Once) 4:40
14 La Fame E La Danza 6:30

Ataraxia - Kremasta Nera (ogg 173mb)

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Three years after the last studio album “Kremasta Nera”, Ataraxia is back with a new album on the French Prikosnovenié label. Llyr (Lyra) is the name of the instrument of the Bards and the Greek lyrical poets.

After the slow and mysterious opening of “Siqillat” the drums give the song some temperament and the swelling synths are bringing the music slowly to a climax. Next song is the Scottish traditional “Scarborough Fair” which everybody will know ... but this version is of course very special. I like the the combination of the delicate vocals and guitars next to the drums and the beautiful orchestrations. Francesca Nicoli uses her voice in “Quintaluna” as an instrument. It has some beautiful vocal melodies and at one point I had to think of Lisa Gerrard ... because of the way she sings. “Llyr” has a great opening with a delicate classical guitar. The drums and the keyboard orchestrations brings the song to the next level. Again beautiful melodies can be heard. “Evnyssien” is an impressive and delicate song with beautiful vocals and acoustic guitars, flutes and percussion, one of the many highlights of this wonderful album. In “Klepsydra” you can hear some influences of Indian music.

The musical palet of Ataraxia's music is still growing. Francesca's singing is at some points breathtaking. This track is one of the finest ... the guitar brings a relaxed Mediterranean feel to the music, the flute lies on top of a bed of beautiful synth melodies and Francesca's voice is woven in between. The percussion in “Klepsydra” brings back some of the Indian influences. The song has a kind of lightness. While Elldamaar contains more of the dark, intriguing and mysterious side of Ataraxia's music. The last two compositions are impressive. The first one is called “Payatry Mantra” and is based on an Indian traditional (the “Mantra of Illumination”). “Voice is made to sing, to celebrate, to heal”. With Borea we return to the sounds of the sea. Ataraxia fans will recognise this ... what can I say about this song, it is breathtaking and goes straight for the heart. No further words for this highlight of this wonderful album ...

Ataraxia - Llyr (flac 345mb)

01 Siqillat 6:47
02 Scarborough Fair 5:52
03 Quintaluna 4:22
04 Llyr 5:58
05 Evnyssien 8:47
06 Klepsydra 4:50
07 Elldamaar 5:21
08 Gayatry Mantra 5:45
09 Borea 5:55
bonus
10 Lunar Oceans 4:12

Ataraxia - Llyr (ogg 122mb)

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Jan 30, 2016

RhoDeo 1604 Grooves

Hello,

Today's artists are an American R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970's and 1980's. Spanning over three decades, their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, disco, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blues, soul, funk, dance, country and rock. ... N'joy

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As children in West Oakland, the Pointer sisters and brothers were encouraged to listen to and sing gospel music by their parents Reverend Elton Pointer and Sarah Pointer. However, they were told rock and roll and the blues were "the devil's music", and it was only when they were away from their watchful parents that they could sing these styles. They regularly sang at the Church of God in Christ in West Oakland, but as the sisters grew older their love of other styles of music began to grow. When June, the youngest sister, brought home a copy of the Elvis Presley record All Shook Up, she was surprised that her mother allowed her to play it, until discovering that her mother had been pacified by the song "Crying in the Chapel" on the "B" side of the record.

After leaving school Ruth, the oldest sister, was already married with two children Faun (born 1965) and Malik (born 1966), Anita, the second oldest sister, also was married with a child Jada. Bonnie, the third oldest sister, and June sought a show business career and they formed a duo, "Pointers, A Pair". Later, Anita quit her job to join the group. They began touring and performing and provided backing vocals for artists such as Grace Slick, Sylvester James, Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop, and it was while supporting Bishop at a nightclub appearance in 1971, that the sisters were signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records. The resulting singles that came from their Atlantic tenure failed to become hits but, nevertheless, the sisters were enjoying their newfound recording career. The temptation to join them finally overwhelmed Ruth and, in December 1972, she joined the group. The quartet signed to Blue Thumb Records and began to record their first full-fledged album.

Upon signing, they agreed that they did not want to follow the current trend of pop music but wanted to create an original sound that combined jazz music, jazz singing, and be-bop music. In searching of a visual style for their act, they remembered the poverty of their childhood and their ability to improvise, and used their experience to assemble a collection of vintage 1940s clothes from thrift shops, that would comprise their costumes and give them the distinctive look they were searching for.

In 1972, they were asked to record "Pinball Number Count" for a series of educational cartoons teaching kids how to count. It made its debut on Sesame Street in 1977 and was a feature on the show for many years. They made their television debut performance at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles on The Helen Reddy Show. In 1974 they joined Reddy on the track "Showbiz" which appeared on her "Free and Easy" album. Their self-titled first album, was released in 1973 and received positive reviews, with the group being lauded for their versatility and originality. The group was backed up at this time by Bay Area stalwarts, the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils. The first single from this album, "Yes We Can Can", reached number 11 on the pop charts, and would go on to establish itself as an R&B classic. The Allen Toussaint penned song had been a small R&B hit for Lee Dorsey in 1970. The album's second single was a cover of Willie Dixon's Blues stomper "Wang Dang Doodle". It reached the R&B top 40 and the group's thrift shop style began to catch on with fans, many of whom would attend their shows in similar attire.

The following year they released their second album titled That's a Plenty. It continued in the jazz and be-bop style of its predecessor but provided one exception that caused a great deal of interest. The song "Fairytale", written by Anita and Bonnie, was a country song that reached #13 on the pop charts, and #37 on the country charts. Based on this success, the group was invited to Nashville, Tennessee where they achieved the singular distinction of becoming the first black female singers to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. In 1975, the quartet won a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Fairytale". Anita and Bonnie were also nominated as songwriters for the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. The song would later be covered by Elvis Presley.

Their third album, Steppin' was released in 1975. Steppin' produced their Grammy-nominated number one R&B single, "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)", which was sampled by female rap icons Salt-N-Pepa a decade later. The Pointer Sisters also scored another R&B hit from the album with "Going Down Slowly", another Allen Toussaint cover, and in 1976 appeared in the classic blaxploitation film Car Wash. Their song from the movie, "You Gotta Believe", made the R&B top 20 in early 1977. They were featured on the 1977 album Saffo Music by Italian R&B singer Lara Saint Paul and produced by Leon Ware, with bass by Chuck Rainey, guitar by Ray Parker Jr. and mixed by Bill Conti.[3] It was released in Italy under LASAPA records. Their last album as a quartet was the jazz/funk album Having a Party, released in 1977. Though this album neither produced any major hits nor had strong sales, it did feature the Bonnie-led "Don't It Drive You Crazy", which would become a cult hit in the UK as part of the rare groove phenomenon.

By 1977 both June and Bonnie had left the group. June wanted to take a break, and Bonnie left to start a solo career. Bonnie married Motown Records producer Jeffrey Bowen in 1978. She subsequently signed a contract with Motown and this led to a brief, moderately successful, solo career. Her first self-titled album produced the disco song "Heaven Must Have Sent You". The album was produced by Berry Gordy and husband Jeffrey Bowen. The song became a top 20 pop hit in September 1979. On 22 January 1978 Ruth gave birth to her second daughter and, now a duo, Ruth and Anita cut back their schedules and concentrated on raising their families. They began talking about the future of the group and what direction it should take. They agreed to dispense with the 1940s nostalgia and go in a contemporary direction. In July of that year June married William Oliver Whitmore II. The two sisters then signed a deal with producer Richard Perry's Planet Records, which was distributed by Elektra Records. After contributing guest vocals on the group's cover of Sly Stone's "Everybody Is A Star" June was persuaded to return to the group, making it a trio. With Perry the trio began working on an album of West Coast soft rock, which was released in 1978 with the title Energy. The first single, a cover version of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire", climbed to #2 on the US singles charts in early 1979, and a third Allen Toussaint cover, "Happiness", also charted.

In 1979 the trio released an album with a harder-edged rock sound entitled Priority, and though it was not a huge commercial success it received very positive critical reviews and further strengthened the group's reputation for being versatile. Over the next few years they achieved their greatest commercial success and continued to demonstrate their versatility. In 1980 the soulful pop single, "He's So Shy", reached number three on the charts, and the following year a slow, sultry ballad, "Slow Hand", reached number two. The follow-up, "Should I Do It" was classic girl-group. Richard Perry then switched distribution of Planet to RCA Records in 1982. The first release from this new union was "American Music", a patriotic-themed, modernized take on the girl-group sound while "I'm So Excited" was an influential, exuberant dance track. All these singles were significant hits in the US and were also successful in Australia, where all but "American Music" reached the Top 20.

In 1983, the Pointer Sisters released what became their biggest-selling album ever with Break Out. That year Ruth became a grandmother for the first time. With the advent of MTV the sisters were able to exploit their visual style and extend their audience. In 1984 they achieved four Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles in a row. "Automatic" reached #5; "Jump (for My Love)" reached #3; a remix of "I'm So Excited" was added to the album almost a year into its shelf life and reached #9; and another single from the album, "Neutron Dance", also featured on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, reached #6.
"I Need You" had been the lead single from the album, and was a significant R&B hit, peaking at #13 on the Black Singles charts. The album's last single, "Baby Come And Get It", did well on the Black Singles charts too but missed cracking the pop Top 40 by a hair. (It would be brought to life again in the next millennium through its use in Burger King television commercials.) They received Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Jump (For My Love)", and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices for "Automatic". These songs also followed "Slow Hand" into the UK Top 10, with "Automatic" peaking at number 2 in that country.

These Planet singles marked the end of their run of Top 10 hits in the US, with their subsequent RCA releases "Dare Me" in 1984 (the Sisters' last Australian Top 10 hit), and "Goldmine" in 1986, reaching numbers 11 and 33 respectively. In 1985 Ruth became a grandmother for the second time. The sisters eventually left RCA Records to record for Motown and then SBK, releasing several group albums and individual solo albums along the way, but these projects did not achieve the level of success of their earlier work.

In recent years the sisters have maintained a lower public profile but have continued to perform. Anita became a grandmother in 1990 when her only child Jada gave birth to Roxie. On September 8, 1990 Ruth married a man named Michael Sayles (born 1957). The sisters entertained US troops in the Persian Gulf in 1991 with Bob Hope. By 1991, June Pointer had ended her thirteen-year marriage to William Oliver Whitmore II. In August, 1993 at age 47 Ruth Pointer gave birth to twins Ali and Conor Sayles. In 1994, the Pointer Sisters were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and began touring with a production of the Fats Waller-based musical Ain't Misbehavin'. In 1995 Pointer Sisters recorded "Feel for the Physical" as a duet with Thomas Anders (of Modern Talking fame) for his album Souled. They were also one of the featured acts at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics.

In 1995-96 the Pointer Sisters returned to their original jazzy incarnation touring nationally in Ain't

Misbehavin'; during this tour issues with June Pointer came to the fore as June Pointer missed many performances - understudy Wendy Edmead replaced her on these occasions - and in 2002 Ruth Pointer's daughter Issa Pointer began performing with the Pointer Sisters in June Pointer's stead. On June 9, 2002 June Pointer and Bonnie Pointer performed as a duo on the bill at the San Jose Gay Pride Celebration the pair having been recruited by a promoter who had failed to recruit the official Pointer Sisters trio for the event: the June/Bonnie Pointer duo's appearance at San Jose Pride was promoted as a "Pointer Sisters" gig with pictures of June Pointer performing with Anita Pointer and Ruth Pointer utilized in its promotion, causing Anita Pointer and Ruth Pointer to sue the promoter and other affiliates of the June/Bonnie Pointer duo's San Jose Pride gig (neither Bonnie Pointer nor June Pointer was named in the suit). Bonnie Pointer and June Pointer subsequently performed as a duo at other Gay Pride celebrations and participated in the Get Up 'n' Dance disco music tour in the summer of 2003, the duo being officially billed as "Bonnie and June Pointer, formerly of the Pointer Sisters".

In 2004 Issa Pointer officially replaced June Pointer in the Pointer Sisters trio being featured on the live album The Pointer Sisters - Live in Billings recorded April 2004 at the Alberta Bair Theatre in Billings, Montana. The first studio recording by the Pointer Sisters to feature Issa Pointer was "Christmas in New York" for YMC Records www.ymcrecords.com recorded in the summer of 2005 for release for the multi-artist seasonal release Smooth & Soulful Christmas Collection on YMC Records: "Christmas in New York" afforded the Pointer Sisters their last appearance on a Billboard chart to date, the track reaching #21 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Christmas In New York was written by Nathan East and Chris Christian and produced by them. The group's next recording was a remake of the Eurythmics' "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" recorded with Natalia: this track spent sixteen weeks in the Top 20 of Belgium's Flemish chart from October 2005 with a peak of #2. In 2008 Anita Pointer and Ruth Pointer recorded the last Pointer Sisters album to date The Pointer Sisters Favorites consisting of remakes of ten of the group's biggest hits: recorded in response to the group's failure to receive royalties from the inclusion of any Pointer Sisters' hits on multi-artist hits compilations, "...Favorites" was sold exclusively at the group's live gigs and at the website ThePointerSisters.com, but was added to iTunes in 2013.

In November 2000, the sisters lost their mother Sarah; in 2003, sister Anita lost her only child Jada to cancer. Jada was the subject of the 1973 song "Jada". On April 11, 2006, June Pointer died of lung cancer.

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With a big push from their Blue Thumb label, who introduced the band by way of a full-page ad in Billboard magazine, the Pointer Sisters took their eponymous debut straight to the top of the R&B charts in summer 1973 on the strengths of their penchant for mixing classic '60s R&B with fresh forward-thinking grooves. Add the sisters' harmonies and complex vocal moves, and there's no doubt the group was destined for a fast rise. Produced by David Rubinson, The Pointer Sisters contained effusive covers that cradled two of the Pointers' own compositions. That remarkable combo, then, allowed the Allen Toussaint classic "Yes We Can Can" to rub shoulders with the original "Jada," a boogie blues-shaded slab of jazz, and a perfect fingerprint of the eclectic style that would define the Pointers' core. That same bent also allowed them to give equal energy to the Willie Dixon gem "Wang Dang Doodle," a song which quickly became a live set favorite, and also to their own "Sugar." Other high points include "River Boulevard," a mid-tempo vocal that gives way to a light rock riot. It was easy to see exactly where the Pointer Sisters were headed. With talent to spare and an energy that was fresh and unending, this set emerges a cohesive and joyous cabaret, allowing the quartet to do what it does best.

The Pointer Sisters - I (flac 293mb)

01 Yes We Can Can 6:02
02 Cloudburst 3:12
03 Jada 4:40
04 River Boulevard 5:52
05 Old Songs 4:01
06 That's How I Feel 7:07
07 Sugar 2:19
08 Pains And Tears 2:36
09 Naked Foot 3:46
10 Wang Dang Doodle 7:34

The Pointer Sisters - I (ogg 115mb)

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For their second studio long-player, the Pointer Sisters -- consisting of singing siblings Anita, Bonnie, June, and Ruth Pointer -- cut loose with a powerful collection of vintage pop, jazz, and modern R&B. Stylistically, 1973's That's A Plenty is as diverse as their eponymous debut and proves that the immense talents of the Oakland-born quartet were far more than just a one-off fluke. In fact, it was their multiplicity that may have initially prevented them from getting the exposure they deserved. The opening medley couples the tongue-in-cheek saga of their humble beginnings on the tastefully (if not a tad dramatically) arranged "Bangin' On the Pipes" with the rollicking bop of "Steam Heat," derived from the 1954 score of The Pajama Game. Things are cranked up considerably on the Pointers' breakneck rendition of Dizzy Gillespie's bebop classic "Salt Peanuts." The selection is taken at such an accelerated pace that the flurry might leave the listener exhausted by the song's conclusion. Of equal note are the accompanying instrumentalists, who ably keep pace with substantial verve and sonic savoir-faire. Although almost a musical antithesis, the uptown blues-infused take of Son House's "Grinning in Your Face" (aka "Don't Mind People Grinning in Your Face") unleashes a decidedly funky East Bay vibe. While steeped in the original, it is at once a wholly unique presence. "Shaky Flat Blues" is one of the two Pointer-penned pieces, as the Sisters take their cues more from the sophistication of Duke Ellington than anything happening in early-'70s pop or soul. That's A Plenty's title track is a hot-steppin' Dixieland rag with a tricky syncopation and mile-a-minute lyrics, while "Little Pony" is another classy remake of a venerable jazz number, this time from the luminous Count Basie catalog. The Pointers definitely do it justice by bringing it to an entirely new audience. The surprising rural twang of "Fairytale" is undoubtedly the most incongruous entry on the LP, garnering the ladies their first foray onto the country singles survey. The success resulted in not only a guest appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, but formidable lauds as Elvis Presley covered it to great effect both in the studio -- where it surfaced on 1975's Today -- and on the road. All the more compelling is the dark and lymphatic torch reading of "Black Coffee," brooding and seething with an undercurrent of palpable emotion -- especially during the improvised double-time scat vocals at the tune's conclusion. Perhaps saving their best for last, the redux of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's "Love in Them There Hills" is an extended outing that churns and burns into an inspired eight-minutes of unfettered funk, proving that the Pointers are easily as relevant as any of their contemporaries.

The Pointer Sisters - That's A Plenty (flac 315mb)

01 Bangin' On The Pipes / Steam Heat 5:39
02 Salt Peanuts 5:10
03 Grinning In Your Face 4:49
04 Shaky Flat Blues 4:41
05 That's A Plenty / Surfeit, U.S.A. 3:42
06 Little Pony 4:43
07 Fairytale 5:04
08 Black Coffee 6:07
09 Love In Them There Hills 8:30

The Pointer Sisters - That's A Plenty (ogg 113mb)

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Keeping their forward momentum at warp speed, the Pointer Sisters brought the effusive Steppin' to bear in summer 1975. Having already danced into the spotlight across their first three albums, it was no surprise when the David Rubinson-produced LP, which boasted one of the era's best cut-out sleeves (slingback high-heeled tap sneakers!), cruised to number three R&B. Keeping their feet planted firmly in the older soul tradition which had served them so well, the Pointer Sisters continued to look ahead, carving their own niche in a genre soon to be glutted with contenders. This set is a thriller, from the opening funk groove of the number one hit "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)," which remains a delicious collision of mid-period soul, funk, and nascent disco, to their energetic cover of Stevie Wonder's "Sleeping Alone" and "Chainey Do," which sports jazz fusionist Herbie Hancock on clavinet. Sparklers like these only serve to whet the Pointer Sisters' own appetite, though, as they work their way through a hefty course of vibes. Their love of early standards blossoms across the smoky, sultry, six-minute "I Ain't Got Nothing but the Blues" -- a wonderful tribute to Duke Ellington sung in medley form, allowing the quartet's vocal harmonies to shine across a big band backdrop. Elsewhere, they take a spin through Allen Toussaint's "Going Down Slowly," which scored them another R&B hit at the end of 1975. And although the Pointer Sisters are best-remembered for the mid-'80s disco soul they plied so well, it's albums like Steppin' which best capture the sisters' true spirit.

The Pointer Sisters - Steppin' (flac 258mb)

01 How Long (Betcha' Got A Chick On The Side) 7:21
02 Sleeping Alone 4:29
03 Easy Days 3:37
04 Chainey Do 6:05
05 I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues (A Medley In Tribute To Duke Ellington) 6:08
06 Save The Bones For Henry Jones 3:10
07 Wanting Things 3:11
08 Going Down Slowly 7:56

The Pointer Sisters - Steppin' (ogg 93mb)

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Jan 29, 2016

RhoDeo 1604 Goldy Rhox 246

Hello, today the 246th post of Goldy Rhox, classic pop rock in the darklight a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), his younger brother David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion). Their sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, and blues, and came closest to beat music within the context of rock and roll. Despite the prominence of punk rock during the band's early years, the band's stripped-down sound contrasted with punk, demonstrating a more "rootsy" influence that emerged from pub rock.

They also became one of the world's most commercially successful bands, with worldwide album sales of over 120 million. The band won numerous music awards during their career, including four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards—winning Best British Group twice, and two MTV Video Music Awards. They originally split up in 1988, but reformed in 1991, and disbanded for good in 1995 when Mark Knopfler launched his career full-time as a solo artist. There were several changes in personnel over both periods, leaving Mark Knopfler and John Illsley as the only two original bandmates who had remained throughout the band's career.

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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.

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Today's mystery album is the fourth studio album by today's mystery British rock band, released on 20 September 1982 by Vertigo Records internationally The album produced two singles: "Private Investigations", which reached the number 2 position on the UK Singles Chart, and "Industrial Disease", which reached the number 9 position on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks in the United States. The fourteen-minute opus "Telegraph Road" has gone on to become a big favorite of FM radio world-wide. Today's mystery album was certified gold in the United States, platinum in France and Germany, and double-platinum in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Today's mystery album was recorded at the Power Station in New York from 8 March to 11 June 1982. Knopfler produced the album, with Neil Dorfsman as his engineer—the first in a long line of collaborations between the two. Knopfler used several guitars during the sessions, including four Schecter Stratocasters—two red, one blue, and one sunburst—a black Schecter Telecaster, an Ovation classical guitar on "Private Investigations" and "Love over Gold", a custom Erlewine Automatic on "Industrial Disease", and his 1937 National steel guitar on "Telegraph Road".

Several songs were written and recorded during the Love over Gold session that were not released on the album. "Private Dancer" was originally planned for the album, with all but the vocal tracks being recorded. Knopfler decided that a female voice would be more appropriate and handed the song to Tina Turner for her comeback album, Private Dancer. "The Way It Always Starts" ended up on Knopfler's soundtrack to the film Local Hero, with vocals sung by Gerry Rafferty.

Fricke (Rolling Stone):

"Two drastically different moods dominate the new album. One is sharp and fiery (like the bolt of lightning on the cover); the other is soft and seductive. That dichotomy is particularly explicit in "Private Investigations", a long, unorthodox ballad in which Knopfler plays a private detective hardened by a life of combing through other people's dirty laundry. Over a discreet synthesizer ring, gurgling marimba and a delicately plucked acoustic guitar, he grumbles into his whiskey glass like Bob Dylan in a trench coat: "You get to meet all sorts in this line of work Treachery and treason There's always an excuse for it," he recites in a raspy nicotine snarl. Then John Illsley sounds a quiet warning with a stalking bass line before the song erupts in dramatic bursts of guitar gunfire and tragic-sounding piano playing. This wracking schizophrenia between the heart and the heartless, the loving and the pain, has always informed Knopfler's songs and arrangements. Love Over Gold, however, finds Knopfler casting further than ever for ways to articulate the frustrations that color his romantic streak." Here today its 2013 Japanese remaster. ...N'Joy

Goldy Rhox 246 (flac 221mb)

Goldy Rhox 246 (ogg 97mb)

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Jan 27, 2016

RhoDeo 1604 Aetix

Hello, ok so the retarded UK MP's have declared every psychoactive illegal, as if the police hasn't anything else to do. It proves once again how backward looking this country is, the past oh that glorious past when we ruled the world. The government’s non-descript psychoactive bill was supported by those halfwit MP's who down a bottle of clarid (or more) on a daily basis. Specially the gays worry about their 'poppers' used to relax their muscles. Once again gays can expect jailtime and i guess in this case those 'macho' police will love to round up gays and throw away the key. Meanwhile in Iceland the Pirate Party is set to take over advocating 35-hour working weeks, the loosening of drug regulation and a drastic rethink of copyright law. How far have they come away from their original Danish masters who just introduced a new law, stripping refugees of any valuables.

Today's artist Die Form is a French post-industrial and electronic band formed in 1977-78. The name 'Die Form' means '(the) form/shape' in German, like the Bauhaus diary and is a play on the English homonym 'deformed' and on the French homonym 'difforme' (deformed). .....N'Joy

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Die Form is the primary project of the French electronic musician and multimedia artist Philippe Fichot. He began by recording a number of experimental cassette releases, starting with Die Form 1 in 1977, and with the first Die Form vinyl release ('Die Puppe') appearing in 1982. Whilst the project was still in its infancy, the underlying concepts were still evident - a combination of esoteric electronic experiments with an underlying theme of erotism, death and other 'taboo' subjects, apparent in both the music and the album artwork, which Philippe also produces. Other early projects of Philippe Fichot included Krylon Hertz, Mental Code, Camera Obscura, Eva-Johanna Reichstag, Hurt and Fine Automatic.

'Some Experiences With Shock' followed in 1984, with the project taking a direction towards a more commercial sound on 1986's 'Poupée Mécanique'. The project then consolidated its experimental and melodic sides on 'Photogrammes', before introducing vocalist (and model) Eliane P. on the 1990 album 'Corpus Delicti', who remains with the project to this day. The next release, 1992's 'Confessions' saw a club hit in 'Silent Order', with sister album 'Ad Infinitum' (which originated from the same recording sessions) released a year later.

The next 'Die Form' releases saw the poetic, emotional side of their sound richen via 'The Trilogy of Passions', starting with 'Suspiria De Profundis' in 1994, followed by 'L'âme électrique' the following year. 1997's 'Duality' does not complete the trilogy, Phillipe Fichot choosing to leave the project open-ended. The 'Histories' compilation discs appeared in 1998, with the next album 'Extremum/XX' appearing in 2000. Then followed the 'diptych' of 'InHuman' (2004) and 'ExHuman' (2006), continuing their release of interrelated concept albums.

"The Bach project" was released in January 2008, an album obviously devoted to Bach. Die Form first presented this work live during the annual Bach Days in the German city of Leipzig, where they got invited. Die Form has created a new show for this project with the German dancer Sabine Seume.

Die Form left Trisol to join Out of Line in late 2008. A new single, "Her[t]z Frequenz", was released in October 2008, followed by the "Best of XXX" in November 2008 (a compilation with reworked and remastered songs from the past 30 years). In 2009, "Noir Magnétique" saw Die Form back in a club-oriented sound. The album was made available on CD only, with a special edition limited to 999 copies in a box with a 7" single and extra artwork. Die Form created a new show with Laina Fischbeck on stage. In March 2010, a vinyl boxset compilation of early K-Cassette material was released on Vinyl-On-Demand. In 2011, a double-CD digipak limited edition of Sombre Printemps ("Ambient & Film Music 1+2") has been released on Out Of Line.

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Philippe Fichot is the creator of Die Form, and has been a photographer for more than 43 years. His work is almost always in black & white, described as being, "an exploration of the subconscious of eroticism and of the dark poetry of the human body." An artist whose work continually seeks to expose the ultimate beauty, he has mastered the use of light and shade, as well as darkroom manipulation, to an extreme degree. Each photograph is timeless, like seen through old mirrors, and an esthetic offense bordering on the prohibited. The figures float between life and death in obscure fluids - perhaps drowned, or perhaps sleeping and always exposed to the eye of the voyeur. Eroticism (and sex) are in this case not excuses for exhibitionism, but a reflex of the soul which emerges from obscurity : absolute phantoms whose sensitive image commences to exist...

All these dream visions are projections of the theatre of the spirit. They are put on stage with precision and then reprocessed in the dark room by hand, engendering an unknown, microscopical and abstract reality under the surface of the picture. The ultimate dimension of passing time emerges... petrified beauty, a soiled and diaphanous icon.

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In 1982 Die Form released their debut vinyl album, “Die Puppe” in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. These are the first esoteric electronic experiments, often improvised, from what would become the sound of the project. Underlying themes of eroticism, death and other ‘taboo’ subjects are apparent in both the music and the album artwork, which Philippe also produces. The album was recorded with entirely analog equipment (Roland MC4 Micro-Composer, TR-808 Rhythm Composer, ARP 2600, Kawai 60F, Revox B77). Songs range from hypnotic, minimalistic proto-IDM to pure, daring experimental sound manipulation. Unable to fit into any genre, “Die Puppe” is in a class of music all its own. All songs have been remastered from the original master tapes for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket is an exact replica of the original 1982 edition designed by Philippe Fichot, with a photograph of a porcelain doll holding a syringe. Prepare to indulge your lustiest hedonistic fetishes..

Die Form - Die Puppe (flac 387mb)

01 Re-Search 2:36
02 Automatic Death 3:19
03 Invalid 5:35
04 Hand In Hand 3:52
05 Darkness 4:21
06 Prefazione Di Pompei 4:18
07 In A Tea-Room 4:49
08 After The Crime 2:24
09 Leders Club 6:05
10 After The Last Gaze 3:54
11 Eastern Ghost 1:55
12 Message Through Her[t]z 6:00
13 Strange[r] 3:45
14 Sex By Force 4:38
15 Ton Retrait Des Eaux 2:47
16 Hidden Track 2:39

Die Form - Die Puppe (ogg 152mb)

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This is a re mastered version of the 1983 album "Some Experiences With Shock". Knowing that, you have to understand that even though they are on Metropolis, it isn't going to sound like a VAC album. Also, since this is much older, Elaine wasn't part of the project yet. This album is designed for people who have become attached to the Die Form sound,and want to hear all of Philippe's older and rare music, but dont have the time to search used record stores for the original copies. As far as the music goes, you can tell he was doing alot of experimentation with the sounds he had, and still avoiding being influenced by other bands (Although, a few songs did have a resemblance to Skinny Puppy's "Back And Forth"). Its hard to accurately describe this album with words. Sonic and visual experiments, splitting the work into two parts that contradict each other - 'Survival & Determination' might be framed under cold synthetic goth rock tag, while 'Lacerations & Immolation' is clearly more experimental and daring dark avantgarde industrial music experience, quite new thing back in time!. If you are a serious Die Form lover, or listen to bands with original abstract sounds like Mental Destruction, Einsturzende Neubauten, or maybe even Mentallo & The Fixer, you might enjoy this one.

Die Form - Some Experiences With Shock (flac 342mb)

Survival & Determination
01 Heart Of The Monster 5:59
02 Autolyse 2:00
03 CloseUp 2:04
04 Damaged Corpse 3:49
05 Masochist 1:48
06 Caresse 3:03
07 Red Action 1:59
Lacerations & Immolation
08 Intractable Pain A.A. 6:10
09 Survival Of A Severely Burned Child 2:18
10 Catheterization 2:51
11 Anesthesia & Disfigurement 2:42
12 Medical Canthus Operation 7:23
13 Periods 2:24
bonus
14 Life Inside The Machines 2:54
15 Distress 2:42
16 La Fille Aux Yeux D'Or 6:40

Die Form - Some Experiences With Shock (ogg 131mb)

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The album ‘Poupee Mecanique’ (1987) marks a turn of the project to more technoid yet still playful tunes. Early on, Die Form forged a Gothic brand of Industrial music... in time they became more Gothic Techno. This album is an odd one for them though, being very strong New Wave/Synth Pop. All the fetish imagery is present in the art and lyrics. The music is a great blend of analog/digital sounds (DX7, Prophet 5, Super Jupiter, etc) and the production is perhaps the slickest I've ever heard from Die Form -- strong hooks & very melodic! Not all of the original art is presented (the LP came with lyrics and instrument list, both of which are missing here) but the Slow Love 12" is included on the CD, and alternate versions of a few tracks.

Die Form - Poupee Mecanique (flac 311mb)

01 Grey Scale 3:29
02 Dawn Is Near 2:37
03 Slave 2:25
04 Poupée Mécanique 3:29
05 Strike Me 3:27
06 Film 1:51
07 Strangulation 2:31
08 The Beast 2:54
09 Metaphase 2:04
10 Knee Down 2:58
11 Bypass 2:59
12 Little Boy 1:56
13 Slow Love 4:02
14 Poupée Mécanique (Instr.) 3:32
15 Metaphase (Pre) 2:11
16 A Case Report 3:50

Die Form - Poupee Mecanique (ogg 112mb)

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Jan 25, 2016

RhoDeo 1604 Solaris 2

Hello,

Solaris is a 1961 Polish philosophical science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem. The book centers upon the themes of the nature of human memory, experience and the ultimate inadequacy of communication between human and non-human species. In probing and examining the oceanic surface of the planet Solaris from a hovering research station the human scientists are, in turn, being studied by the sentient planet itself, which probes for and examines the thoughts of the human beings who are analyzing it.In two parts... N'Joy

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During the Soviet era, Polish writer Stanislaw Lem was the most celebrated SF author in the Communist world. Although he read Western SF when he was young, he soon found it shallow and turned for inspiration to the long tradition of Eastern European philosophical fantasy. Western readers not familiar with this tradition often misread his works, expecting more action-oriented, technophilic fiction. Solaris comes closer to being a traditional SF novel than most of his works, but its main thrust is still philosophical. There is a deep strain of irony which runs through this work, for all its occasionally grim moments.

The story begins as the narrator, a scientist named Kris Kelvin, is descending toward the surface of the mysterious planet Solaris. How many instances can you find in this chapter of failures to perceive, breakdowns in communication, etc.? This is to be the main theme of the book. Whereas conventional SF poses puzzles only to solve them, Solaris concentrates on the puzzling nature of reality and the limits of science. The ship that has brought Kelvin to Solaris is called the Promethus, a name associated with civilization and enlightenment in Greek mythology, but also with condemnation to terrible torment. As he enters the station suspended above the planet's surface, note the many instances of wear, disorder and confusion. In the original Polish, Snow's name is "Snaut." What do the many concrete details given suggest about the state of things in the station?

Hattie Naylor's dramatisation of Stansilaw Lem's modern sci-fi classic.

With:
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Kris....Ron Cook
Rheya....Joanne Froggatt
Snow....Tim McMullan
Sartorius....Stuart Richman
Woman....Maxine Burth

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Stansilaw Lem - Solaris 2 (mp3 52mb)

01 Solaris 2 56:54

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previously

Stansilaw Lem - Solaris 1 (mp3 52mb)

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Jan 24, 2016

Sundaze 1604

Hello, we're still starting the new year with, what in a sense is the concept behind sundaze music. Ataraxia is a Greek term used by Pyrrho and Epicurus for a lucid state of robust tranquility, characterized by ongoing freedom from distress and worry.

“It’s a form of wisdom,
humbly and indulgently,
seeking inside ourselves
the deep meaning of life,
rather than expecting the others
to give us
their truth.”

Today's artists are one of those "condemned bands" that, due to their style, move between several fan environments. Prog heads, Gothic, lovers of medieval music, etc. have already surrendered to these magic and unclassifiable Italians. Their music takes after infinite sources whose roots belong to classical cultures (Greece and Rome), to the Middle Age, to some texts and to more recent works. Their concerts are always held in places that provide a perfect scenery for their music (abbeys, churches, castles, gardens), and they are always full of theatrical parts, dances, poetry and, definitely, beauty.
They are master of the neo-period ambient darkwave sound that comes from combining medieval liturgical chants and subdued Gothic influences. Ataraxia often uses authentic French minstrel material as the basis for their songs. They use simple drum rhythms, basic acoustic guitar sounds, and the nostalgic sound of free flute to accompany the multilingual renaissance harmonies of vocalists Francesca Nicoli and Vittorio Vandelli.......N'joy

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Ataraxia is an ensemble that, since many years, works in the balance between avant-garde and tradition writing music, setting up performances and giving concerts consisting of several art forms like theatre, poetry, painting and dance in castles, squares, parks, concert halls, and theatres all over Europe and Latin America. We define ourselves 'craftsmen of the sound' because of the wild, unusual mix of sacred and profane, early and contemporary, neoclassic and experimental music we create. We feel like 'traveling minstrels' inspired by the inner and geographical voyages we make in places that still preserve the charge of centuries and the mystery of history. Walking along old paths and listening to the call of the stone we become a 'living crossroad' between the Mediterranean and Celtic cultures. We make researches and write music about European legends and Greek and Latin myths. Our lyrics are written in several ancient and contemporary languages, we try to give a musical shape to the treasures and revelations hidden inside each language. Contemplation, dream experiences, twilight and elegiac atmospheres, ritual movements and our memories float in the mysterious garden of Psyche and Desire where enveloping textures of notes meet the echo of both acoustic and contemporary instruments. Four minstrels paint whimsical musical landscapes opening passages on far-off dimensions able to stir up emotions and memories. We walk along a path that has its origins in a very far time. The Ancient Spirits are still speaking. Ataraxia's best performances take place in natural or architectural fascinating environments where magic flows as it happened in the primordial drama.

They are a neo-classical band who combine modern technology with archaic instrumentation over various media. Ataraxia describe their music as a cross "between sacred and profane, ethereal and neo-classical, contemporary and early music". They make researches into the European legends crossing the Greek and Latin myths. Contemplation, dreamy experiences, elegiac atmospheres, ritual movements float in a mysterious garden where contemporary textures of notes meet the embracing echo of classic sounds. Their lyrics are written in many ancient and contemporary languages as they try to bring to surface the hidden treasures and revelations that each language owns. Many of their performances take place in locations the band professes to possess specific spiritual qualities.Since the beginning of the group in the late 80's, they released some 25 albums.

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Two years after releasing "Lost Atlantis", the musicians of Ataraxia (Francesca Nicoli: vocals, flute, cymbals; Vittorio Vandelli: classical and medieval guitars, vocals; Giovanni Pagliari: keyboards, vocals; Francesco Banchini: percussion, clarinet and vocals; Lorenzo Busi: actor) go out from monasteries, gardens and oceans to offer us another work plenty of musical investigations, art and beauty entitled "Sueños", an album divided in three different parts, with diverse instrumentation, atmospheres and languages. These Italian musicians go on exploring with each album they release instead of repeating the same music.

The first part of the album - Ego promitto domino - opens with the polyphonic and monastic "Parti de mal" in which some voices form a leiv motiv motiv while a male voice leads all the choral. The second track is the happy "Saderaladon". Great work of Francesca whose voice multiplies in a cascade of wonderful voices which continue in the enigmatic and delicate beauty of "Belle jolande", a journey through an unexplored territory with the compass of the voice, the percussion and the Spanish guitar. The first part finishes with "Il bagatto", a medieval traditional song covered years ago by Jordi Savall and, the most popular cover, by Blackmore´s Night (yeah, "Play Minstrel Play", the song in which Ian Anderson collaborates and Ritchie signs as if it was an own composition).

The second part - L´âme d´eau - begins with a very decadent and sad song in which an accordion sound transports us to the fog of the ports of Marseilles. The melancholy and the aquatic references persist in "Eleven", another sad song, and in the enigmatic, fragile and crystalline "Mnemosine". The last track, "I love every waving thing", is an Ataraxia´s statement about their love for oceans.

The third and last part of "Sueños" is Sandy dunes, an allegory to the miscegenation produced by the irruption of the Islam in the European medieval music. The first song "Encrucijada" ("crossroad" in English language) is simply a doctoral thesis about the influence of the Arab world in the Spanish medieval musical forms. All those Arabian influences along with European influences (and, in spite of what people think, more European than Arabian) in Spanish music create the worldwide known style "Flamenco". "Funeral in Datea" it is more solemn, martial and epic, evoking anonymous gestes and legendary victories of the Crusaders, while "The corals of Áqaba" is a marvelous acoustic song with Francesca´s vocal harmonies impossible to describe with human words. The grand finale of Sandy dunes and therefore the whole work is "Nemrut Dagi", probably one of the most epic tracks written by the band.

Ataraxia - Suenos (flac 331mb)

Part I: Ego Promitto Domino
01 Parti De Mal 2:58
02 Saderaladon 4:24
03 Belle Jolande 5:39
04 Il Bagatto 4:14
Part II: L'Âme D'Eau
05 Mon Âme Sorcière 3:05
06 Eleven 5:35
07 Mnemosine 4:37
08 I Love Every Waving Thing 3:15
Part III: Sandy Dunes
09 Encrucijada 7:06
10 Funeral In Dacia 3:09
11 The Corals Of Aqaba 3:33
12 Nemrut Dagi 3:32

Ataraxia - Suenos (ogg 130mb)

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With Mon Seul Désir, after many albums based on pain, struggle, far lands and sunken civilizations Ataraxia finally released material based on love in all his power, unique love driven by destiny, the one that unifies elected souls and save our poor life when we are hopeless and deceived. Listening to Mon Seul Désir you’ll find a green path leading to an enchanted lake, it is a sort of purifying journey to get rid of our unhappy condition. You’ll perceive the deep connection among love and music, a dimension where everything is undefined and the passing among a dreamy state to a conscious one is prophetic and magic describable only through the poetry of notes.

Wisps of near-nothingness, luring you into misty idylls of mythology. Tangible reality transformed into a gorgeous voyage of escapism. Women caress you with their harmonics, beguile you with images gasped from flesh-and-blood mouths. They manage to be both untouchable and erotic at the same time, not openly flirtatious, yet unabashed as we listen to every nuance with a lion hunger. Their every tone caresses your senses, seducing some incorruptible child within the adult you, taking you back to a time when innocence brushed against proto-sensual, the first delicate whispers of all the storms, squalls and pain to come. Des Paroles Blanches is a high point in a musical career which has known few lows. If you have never experienced their sound and feel you need some truely beautiful sounds in your life, then this is a perfect starting point. Your soul may soar, your spirit fly, to touch such beauty'll make you cry.

Ataraxia - Mon Seul Desir + Des Paroles Blanches (EP) (flac 390mb)

01 Alsicon 6:27
02 Jarem Gitti 6:30
03 Eaudelamer 7:22
04 Sendero En Lago Verde 5:36
05 A L'Aube 3:39
06 Mundus Est Jocundum 12:50
Des Paroles Blanches (EP)
07 Etretat 6:54
08 Veules Les Roses 7:02
09 Hovering (Part I, Part II) 7:49

Ataraxia - Mon Seul Desir + Des Paroles Blanches (EP) (ogg 146mb)

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A very nice, slim and pretty cardboard fold accompanies this CD of ghostly ambience and classical overtones. Ataraxia take guitars, strings and add some backwash synthesizer to their music along with ghostly effects and vocals – the result is a feeling of deep antiquity that borders on just the edge of your black and white field of dreams.

Cobalt immediately ushers in a feeling of comfort with the Celtic rhythms and orchestration while applying female vocals hovering just beyond words to convey a deep seated idea of loss and age. The juxtaposition of the two has an eerie effect on your mind and psyche. Fans of the Medeival Babes or Dream Into Dust[1] would find a lot of brooding goodness here. Occasionally I find some of Arcana Eco leaning a bit towards operatic vocal movements which, admittedly, isn’t really my bag. The surrounding music however, the strumming and twinkling of Astimelusa for example, is nonetheless nice and bittersweet.

Mirsilo grabs a swifter rhythm with an Arabian-like style. Then we get a little old world Spanish as Fire in the Wood comes in powerfully and with gusto. Fire in the Wood is one of the highlights to Arcana Eco and retains most of its charm due to its close-to-roots exterior – a break from the backwashes is given here though the ghostly female vocalist is still wooing us with her cold touch. De Pourpre et d’Argent steps close to opera again, so I won’t comment much on it.

Ataraxia’s work here is brilliant on the whole with superb rhythms, old world classical and infused with dark elements and ghostly ambience. They’ve taken classical music and laced it with only a touch of modernism so Arcana Eco remains steeped in splendid antiquity.

Ataraxia - Arcana Eco (flac 242mb)

01 Cobalt 5:22
02 Astimelusa (Key-Chimes Version) 5:27
03 Mirsilo 6:38
04 Fire In The Wood 5:00
05 Nossa Senhora Dos Anjos (Studio Version) 4:38
06 De Pourpre Et D'Argent (A Baroque Divertissement Version) 4:00
07 The Island Of Docteur Moreau 4:45

Ataraxia - Arcana Eco (ogg 84mb)

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Jan 23, 2016

RhoDeo 1603 Grooves

Hello,

The Jackson 5 are an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana. Formed in 1964 under the name the Jackson Brothers, the founding members were Jackie, Tito and Jermaine. Marlon and Michael would later join, and the band's name would be changed to The Jackson 5. After participating in talent shows and the chitlin' circuit, they entered the professional music scene in 1967 as The Jackson Five, signing with Steeltown Records and releasing two singles. In 1969, they left Steeltown Records in order to sign with Motown. They were among the first groups of black American performers to attain a crossover following. ... N'joy

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The Jackson 5 were one of the biggest phenomenons in pop music during the early '70s, and the last great group to come out of the Motown hitmaking machine before Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder shifted the label's focus to more individual visions. The Jackson 5's infectious brand of funky pop-soul was a definite departure from the typically smooth, elegant Motown sound, as befitting the group's youth and the dawn of a new decade. That youth, coupled with the merchandising juggernaut that sprang up behind them, inevitably got them tagged a bubblegum group. But they were far more talented musically than that label would suggest, especially lead singer Michael, and their material, while sunny and upbeat, didn't pander to its audience. Solo careers and overexposure gradually weakened The Jackson 5, but their best music still holds up surprisingly well as some of the most vibrant mainstream pop/R&B of its era.

Originally, The Jackson 5 were composed of brothers Jackie (born Sigmund Jackson, May 4, 1951), Tito (guitar, born Toriano Jackson, October 15, 1953), Jermaine (bass, lead vocals, born December 11, 1954), Marlon (born March 12, 1957), and Michael (lead vocals, born August 29, 1958). By all accounts, the Jackson family's upbringing in Gary, IN, was strict; their mother Katherine was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and their father Joe was a stern, temperamental disciplinarian. Allowed few outside interests, the boys gravitated to music, which was in their blood -- prior to his job as a crane operator for a steel company, Joe had played guitar in an R&B group called the Falcons (not the same group that launched Wilson Pickett's career). One night, Joe discovered that Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine had been playing his treasured old guitar without permission; though initially furious, he quickly discovered that his sons had genuine talent, and began to conceive of a family singing group that might eventually get them out of their tough working-class life in Gary. The eldest three sons began performing around the area together in 1962, teamed with two cousins (Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer), who were replaced by Marlon and five-year-old Michael. Supervised by Joe, who became their manager and began working only part-time, the group practiced and rehearsed often, and improved as dancers, singers, and instrumentalists at a rapid rate. In particular, Michael proved himself a dynamic performer, soon replacing Jermaine as the featured lead vocalist, and establishing himself as a nimble dancer able to mimic talents like James Brown. At first, the group was known as Ripples & Waves Plus Michael, then the Jackson Brothers, and finally The Jackson 5.

In 1966, The Jackson 5 won an important local talent competition with a Michael-led rendition of the Temptations' "My Girl." Their father, who had been chauffeuring them to out-of-state performances, also booked their first paid professional gigs that year. In 1967, the group won an amateur talent competition at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater, where they earned an influential fan in Gladys Knight (probably the first person to recommend the group to Motown). At the end of the year, The Jackson 5 made their first studio recordings for the small Gary-based Steeltown label, and their single "Big Boy" became something of a local hit. Championed again to Motown by Bobby Taylor, a member of the Vancouvers who'd seen the group in Chicago, and Diana Ross, The Jackson 5 finally got a chance to audition for the label in the summer of 1968. Desperately needing new blood, an impressed Berry Gordy signed the group and flew them out to his new headquarters in Los Angeles, where he and his assistants groomed them to be the label's next breakout stars. Having lost his famed Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, Gordy formed a new partnership with Freddie Perren, Fonce Mizell, and Deke Richards dubbed the Corporation, which set about crafting material for the group.

In August 1969, shortly before Michael turned 11, The Jackson 5 opened for Diana Ross at the L.A. Forum, and in December, they issued their debut album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5. On October 7, 1969, The Jackson 5 released their first single, "I Want You Back," a Corporation composition that had originally been intended for Gladys Knight. It was an instant smash, hitting number one on both the pop and R&B charts. So did their next two singles, "ABC" and "The Love You Save" (both from their second album, ABC), which solidified the group's so-called bubblegum-soul sound and certified them as pop sensations. Third Album was released before year's end, spawning the hit ballad "I'll Be There," which not only proved that the group (and lead singer Michael) were more mature and versatile than their bright, bouncy initial singles let on, but also made them the first group in pop history to have their first four singles hit number one. It also became the best-selling single in Motown history, spending a stellar five weeks at number one. And it had still been less than a year since the group's national debut.

A virtual Jackson 5 cottage industry sprang up in the wake of their success, producing everything from dolls to a cartoon show on -- what else? -- the ABC network (during the summer of 1971). Younger and younger listeners were brought into the fold, adding to an already broad appeal that transcended color lines, and the record label that once billed itself as "the Sound of Young America" could once again lay legitimate claim to the title. Meanwhile, following their four straight number ones, The Jackson 5 opened 1971 with a pair of number two hits, "Mama's Pearl" and the ballad "Never Can Say Goodbye"; "Maybe Tomorrow" was their first single not to make the pop Top Ten, though it still reached the R&B Top Five. That year, Motown executives began grooming Michael and Jermaine for solo careers that would run concurrently with The Jackson 5. Michael was the first to debut on his own (toward the end of 1971), and was an instant success; his first two singles, "Got to Be There" and "Rockin' Robin," both made the Top Five, and later in 1972 he scored his first pop number one with "Ben." Jermaine debuted at the end of 1972, and his first single, "Daddy's Home," reached the Top Ten, though the follow-ups didn't sustain the momentum as well as Michael.

In the meantime, the fantastically hyped Jackson 5 craze was beginning to cool down. Their prolific LP release schedule slowed a bit, and while their singles continued to perform reliably well on the R&B charts, they were no longer a sure-fire bet for the pop Top Ten. After a relatively lengthy drought, The Jackson 5 scored what would be their last major smash for Motown, the 1974 number two hit "Dancing Machine," a nod to the emerging sound of disco (it also topped the R&B charts). The group's frustrations with Motown had been building -- not only did the label seem less interested in their career, but they still refused to allow the Jacksons to write or choose their own material, or play their own instruments on their records. Finally, in early 1976, they left Motown to sign with Epic. When the legal battles finally ended, Motown won a breach-of-contract settlement and retained rights to the Jackson 5 name, forcing the group to become the Jacksons. They also lost Jermaine, whose marriage to Berry Gordy's daughter Hazel made it extremely impractical for him to join his brothers. He was replaced by younger brother Randy (born Steven Randall Jackson, October 29, 1961), who had been appearing (unofficially) with the group as a percussionist for some time.

In 1997, The Jackson 5 were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

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Although they were still getting hits, there were some problems creeping into the Jackson 5's Motown albums. The main one was that the company was no longer in the forefront of black music production, and their '60s-style efforts were sounding dated. Only Michael Jackson's individual brilliance and the group's polished performances salvaged much of this material, and they soon openly expressed their disapproval.

Jackson 5 - Get It Together (flac 293mb)

01 Get It Together 2:47
02 Don't Say Good Bye Again 3:26
03 Reflections 2:58
04 Hum Along And Dance 8:33
05 Mama I Got A Brand New Thing (Don't Say No) 7:14
06 It's Too Late To Change The Time 4:00
07 You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You) 3:51
08 Dancing Machine 3:22

Jackson 5 - Get It Together (ogg 109mb)

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For a brief time, it seemed as if the magic was back between Motown and the Jackson 5. The title track was their best up-tempo hit since "ABC," and put them back on top of the R&B charts for the first time in three years. It just missed topping the pop charts as well, peaking at number two. They even got a second chart hit from the album, and it restored their position within the pop and R&B communities.

Jackson 5 - Dancing Machine (flac 204mb)

01 I Am Love 7:29
02 Whatever You Got, I Want 2:58
03 She's A Rhythm Child 2:39
04 Dancing Machine 2:43
05 The Life Of The Party 2:35
06 What You Don't Know 4:25
07 If I Don't Love You This Way 3:28
08 It All Begins And Ends With Love 3:07
09 The Mirrors Of My Mind 3:08

Jackson 5 - Dancing Machine (ogg 75mb)

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The Jackson 5 closed out their celebrated Motown tenure with Moving Violation, a slight if intermittently engaging LP buoyed, as always, by the brothers' remarkable vocals. A slickly commercial overture to the growing disco audience, the record is a patchwork of borrowed sounds and styles, from the Philly soul-inspired title cut to the percolating nightclub groover "Body Language" to the futuristic climax "Time Explosion." It's telling that the siblings sound most galvanized on an over-the-top cover of the Supremes' "Forever Came Today," the album's lone nod to Motown's rich legacy. Also noteworthy is the gossamer ballad "All I Do Is Think of You," which anticipates the quiet storm sensibility of the decade to follow. It's also a showcase for the gorgeous sibling harmonies that would begin to fracture with Jermaine Jackson's subsequent exit from the Jackson 5 ranks.

Jackson 5 - Moving Violation (flac 294mb)

01 Forever Came Today 6:23
02 Moving Violation 3:37
03 (You Were Made) Especially For Me 3:28
04 Honey Love 4:39
05 Body Language (Do The Love Dance) 4:08
06 All I Do Is Think Of You 3:10
07 Breezy 3:37
08 Call Of The Wild 2:33
09 Time Explosion 4:12

Jackson 5 - Moving Violation (ogg 106mb)

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Jan 22, 2016

RhoDeo 1603 Goldy Rhox 245

Hello, today the 245th post of Goldy Rhox, classic pop rock. In the darklight today are a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968 in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee; guitarist and backing vocalist Alex Lifeson; and drummer, percussionist, and lyricist Neil Peart. The band and its membership went through several reconfigurations between 1968 and 1974, achieving its current lineup when Peart replaced original drummer John Rutsey in July 1974, two weeks before the group's first United States tour.

The band is known for its musicianship, complex compositions, and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy, history, and philosophy. The band's musical style has changed several times over the years, from a blues-inspired hard rock beginning, later moving into progressive rock, and including a period marked by heavy use of synthesizers. In the early 1990s, they returned to a guitar-driven hard rock sound, which has continued to the present. The band's latest studio album, Clockwork Angels (2012) won the Album Of The Year Award from Progressive Music Awards.

According to the RIAA the group ranks 80th with sales of 25 million units in the U.S. Although total worldwide album sales are not calculated by any single entity, several industry sources estimated their total worldwide album sales at over 40 million units as of 2004. The group has been awarded 24 gold, 14 platinum, and 3 multi-platinum albums. Over their careers, the members have been acknowledged as some of the most proficient players on their respective instruments, with each band member winning numerous awards in magazine readers' polls.

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Jan 20, 2016

RhoDeo 1603 Aetix

Hello, ok so Glen Frey kicked the bucket yesterday, with hindsight he was the first artist who's work depressed me, i just hated sirrupy guitar songs, how ironic his band was a vipers nest whilst their music pretended the totally opposite. Little wonder then all that hypocrisy was so popular in the States.

Today's artist released under the various project names of Foetus, Wiseblood, Steroid Maximus, Baby Zizanie, Manorexia and others—it includes elements of 20th century classical music, noise, big band, Americana, jazz, punk rock, African and Cuban percussion, and epic/horror film soundtracks. Much of his aural output is built on a percussive, rock music-type structure, though to call it rock music would be inaccurate. His music employs elements of many genres: with an often frenzied aesthetic, his music combines percussion, strings, distortion, brass, electric guitars, electronic sounds and voice. Recurring lyrical themes include destruction, persecution, anxiety, abuse, incest, masochism, angst, self-destruction, self-abuse, lust, prejudice, murder, failure and machismo, often expressed using American colloquialism and black humour. N'Joy

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James George Thirlwell (born 29 January 1960) – also known as Clint Ruin, Frank Want, Foetus among other names – is an Australian singer, composer, and record producer. He is known for juxtaposing a variety of different musical styles.
Thirlwell was born in Melbourne, Australia. He briefly studied Fine Art at Melbourne State College before moving to London, England in 1978, where he played with the post-punk band prag VEC and formed the first of his numerous musical projects, Foetus. In the 1980s, under the pseudonyms Clint Ruin and Frank Want, he contributed to various releases by Nurse With Wound, Marc Almond, The The and Nick Cave. He released his first 7" single, OKFM/Spite Your Face, in 1981, on his own Self-Immolation record label in his first incarnation as Foetus. Over the next few years, he would release two more singles, a 12" EP, and four full-length albums, Deaf, Ache, Hole and Nail Some Bizzare Records . After visiting the United States during a live stint with the Immaculate Consumptive (Lydia Lunch, Nick Cave and Marc Almond) Thirlwell settled in New York City, where he is still based. Since his move he has released several singles, fourteen EPs (including Stinkfist, with fellow New York artist Lydia Lunch and Thurston Moore), and seventeen full-length albums.

In addition to being a prolific artist in his own right, Thirlwell has remixed and produced numerous pieces for artists including Faith No More, Nine Inch Nails, Pantera, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The The, Zola Jesus and Swans. He has also done voice-over work for MTV and other entities.

Since 2000 Thirlwell has become more active as a composer, having written commissions for Bang on a Can, League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots and Kronos Quartet, and scoring the Adult Swim cartoon The Venture Bros. He also revived his primary instrumental project, Steroid Maximus, and initiated a more experimental instrumental project in Manorexia. He continues to write and perform regularly as a solo artist and with various ensembles. He is also a member of the freq_out sound art collective, and has created solo sound installations in Kaliningrad, Santarcangelo and Vienna.

Throughout the span of his career, Thirlwell has toyed with his own identity by releasing music in the guise of numerous alter egos. During the earliest phases of his recording, Thirlwell's "groups" were composed of a plethora of fictional characters: Foetus Under Glass supposedly consisted of Frank Want, Phillip Toss and two Brazilian statistics collectors; Scraping Foetus off the Wheel was claimed to be the work of Want and Clint Ruin. Furthering the confusion, Thirlwell adopted these personas outside of his own recordings; for example, Frank Want can be found on The The's Soul Mining and on releases by Orange Juice, with whom he appeared on Top of the Pops.

Thirlwell's persona of Clint Ruin was particularly notable. During the mid-1980s and early-1990s Thirlwell exclusively went by this pseudonym, even conducting interviews as Ruin. As Ruin, Thirlwell was a member of Wiseblood with Roli Mosimann and Flesh Volcano with Marc Almond. He also recorded two collaborative EPs with Lydia Lunch, and starred in and scored films of Richard Kern under the Ruin alias. Ruin is also credited on numerous releases for a variety of roles with Boss Hog, Coil, Fur Bible, Annie Hogan, Nurse With Wound, Pigface, Sonic Youth, Workdogs and others.
This practice seems to have been discontinued since 1995, and "JG Thirlwell" is credited on all subsequent musical recordings.

Thirlwell's projects.

Foetus: From 1981's single 'OKFM' until 2013's 'Soak', most Foetus songs featured lead vocals. Though popularly known as simply "Foetus", Thirlwell released albums under diverse variations of the name, including: Foetus Art Terrorism; Foetus Über Frisco; Foetus Corruptus; Foetus In Excelsis Corruptus Deluxe; Foetus Inc.; Foetus Interruptus; Foetus Over Frisco; Foetus Under Glass; Philip and His Foetus Vibrations; Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel; The Foetus All-Nude Revue; The Foetus of Excellence; The Foetus Symphony Orchestra; and You've Got Foetus On Your Breath.
Steroid Maximus: Primary instrumental project.
Manorexia: Experimental instrumental project.
Wiseblood: Collaboration with Roli Mosimann.
Flesh Volcano: Collaboration with Marc Almond.
Baby Zizanie: Collaboration with Jim Coleman.
Hydroze Plus: Collaboration with Electronicat.
Garage Monsters: Collaboration with skater artist the P!zz. (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
The Immaculate Consumptive: Touring ensemble with Lydia Lunch, Nick Cave, and Marc Almond
The Venture Bros.: Musical score by Thirlwell.

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Recorded on the supporting European tour for Thaw in 1988, Rife is an authorized bootleg finding Jim Thirlwell backed by a band tagged Foetus Corruptus, which also includes Algis Kizys, Norman Westberg, Ted Parsons, and Raymond Watts. This is an "official bootleg" release (aka "auto-bootleg"). After the initial releases of the regular black vinyl double-LP (RIFLE 1), the double picture disc LP (RIFLEPIC 1), and the CD (RIFLECD 1) without any label involvement, Jungle Records was awarded the rights to distribute 2,000 more copies, split between the three formats.

Foetus Corruptus - Rife (flac 512mb)

01 Fin 2:58
02 Honey I'm Home 7:47
03 The Dipsomaniac Kiss 5:51
04 English Faggot 6:12
05 Grab Yr. Ankles 6:00
06 Slut 3:25
07 A Prayer For My Death 6:26
08 ¡Chingada! 8:00
09 Hate Feeler 8:10
10 The Fudge Punch 8:02
11 Clothes Hoist 4:37
12 Private War / Anything (Viva!) 11:21

Foetus Corruptus - Rife (ogg 192mb)

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Given Foetus' eternally evolving and productive career, anything like a complete career overview -- counting side projects, collaborations, and more besides -- would probably take one heck of a box set. In terms of the '80s, though, this one-disc collection more than suffices. More or less arranged to have one track go right into the next, Sink skips about merrily from 1980 to 1989 and all points between, drawing some of the amazing highlights from Thirlwell's multi-named and multi-themed career. Kicking off with the noir hell of "Bedrock" from the Foetus All-Nude Revue release of that name -- a long, sleaze-out number that mixes Tom Waits, Cab Calloway, and Foetus' own brand of aural hell -- Sink burns with a vicious, relentless energy. If anything else it makes the case that Thirlwell was the solo industrial icon of the time, but one who never got anywhere near the level of attention Trent Reznor did in the '90s -- ironic and sadly typical given the one's clear debt to the other. While a good half of the songs are familiar versions from earlier releases, there's a brace of rare or otherwise unreleased numbers, making Sink as much of interest to hardcore fans as neophytes. Happily, the quality of said rare tracks is consistently strong enough to ensure that the collection steers away from unevenness, focusing in on more quietly threatening moments as it does skullbashers. Highlights of the obscurities include the cinematic, moody instrumental collage "Lilith" and the equally chaotic but generally louder rant'n'rip "Anxiety Attack," done for Dutch radio. Add in such standouts of sheer entertaining pain as the raging "Ramrod" and "The Only Good Christian Is a Dead Christian," and about the only thing missing is a kitchen sink. A then complete discography, liner notes, and full lyric sheet make the whole thing total value for money.

Foetus Inc. - 'Sink' (flac 524mb)

01 The Foetus All Nude Revue - Bedrock 7:17
02 Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel - Ramrod 5:57
03 Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel - Boxhead 3:45
04 Foetus Eruptus Lilith 4:23
05 The Foetus All Nude Revue - Shut 0:56
06 The Foetus All Nude Revue - Diabolus In Musica 7:16
07 Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel - Smut 3:49
08 Foetus Über Frisco - Sick Minutes 2:23
09 The Foetus All Nude Revue - Rattlesnake Insurance 2:16
10 Foetus In Your Bed - Himmelfahrtstransport / Primordial Industry 1:47
11 Foetus Eruptus - Spit On The Griddle (The Drowning Of G. Walhof) 3:44
12 Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel - Anxiety Attack 5:10
13 Foetus Interruptus - Baphomet 1:07
14 Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel - The Only Good Christian Is A Dead Christian 3:26
15 Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel - Halo Flamin Lead 4:30
16 Foetus Under Glass - OKFM 4:33
17 Foetus Art Terrorism - Catastrophe Crunch 4:18
18 You've Got Foetus On Your Breath - Wash It All Off 4:03
19 You've Got Foetus On Your Breath - Today I Started Slogging Again 4:57
20 Foetus Art Terrorism - Calamity Crush 4:19

Foetus Inc. - 'Sink' (ogg 193mb)

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This post features two collaborative 12” singles from two of NYC no-wave’s greatest. Clint Ruin and Lydia Lunch (ex-Teenage Jesus and the Jerks) dated a spell in the late eighties/early nineties, and during the scuzz-punk romance of the century, cut two 12” singles.

Memorable mainly for its dirty cover snap, Stinkfist — Lunch's first documented date with Clint Ruin — is the primally percussive end result of a convoluted and protracted recording/performance process involving Cliff Martinez (ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers), D.J. Bonebrake (X), Roli Mosimann and others. What actually made it onto vinyl is the clattering all-but-instrumental title track (plus a bonus-beats version, "Son of Stink") and the three-part "Meltdown Oratorio," a Lunch recitation and sexy moaning session over rhythmic Ruin-ous noise adventures. A party on the precipice of perdition. (Stinkfist was later combined on CD with The Crumb, her noisy squonk party with Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore, Bush Tetras guitarist Pat Place, pianist Kristian Hoffman, drummer Richard Edson and sax torturer Jim Sclavunos.)

The four-song Don't Fear the Reaper contains two originals (the total overload insanity of "Clinch" and the jazzily appealing "Serpentine"), a rough'n'tumble but essentially respectful version of the titular Blue Öyster Cult hit and a demolition derby version of the Beatles' "Why Don't We Do It in the Road." Inconclusive but intermittently entertaining.

Clint Ruin & Lydia Lunch - Stinkfist-Reaper (flac 275mb)

Stinkfist
01 Stinkfist 6:57
02 Meltdown Oratorio (The Reckoning, The Crack, The Meltdown) (9:55)
03 Son Of Stink 3:47
04 The Crumb 5:39
Don't Fear The Reaper
05 Don't Fear The Reaper 5:16
06 Clinch 4:24
07 Serpentine 3:41
08 Why Don't We Do It In The Road 3:31

Clint Ruin & Lydia Lunch - Stinkfist-Reaper (ogg 103mb)

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