Friday, June 30, 2006

Julian Cope hat eine Menge LSD eingeworfen. So viel ist schon mal klar.

Rideyourpony, the person responsible for the wonderful TWILIGHTZONE! blog, has recently posted a couple of Julian Cope recordings. I thought I would join in and post a little something by Mr. Cope to represent the English squad, which faces Portugal in a quarterfinal match today. So here it is, Peggy Suicide by Julian Cope.

Although Julian's ingestion of hallucinogenics certainly affected his music, it isn't really what I would would think of as "psychedelic". And for that matter, this album was released in 1991, by which time he was able to write "...I used to take so much LSD in the old days...", so it's less acid-tinged than his earlier material. My point is, don't be expecting spaced-out, trippy guitar solos and such.

So, what can you expect? A little of this a little of that, really. This album is a bit of a mixed-bag. There are a few tracks I could do without, such as Safesurfer. There's nothing wrong with writing a song about AIDS, it's just that this particular song does nothing for me. There are quite a few tracks that I do dig, though. There's Soldier Blue, written about the riots at the Anti-Polltax Demonstration on March 31, 1990, which features a bit of Lenny Bruce. There's Western Front 1992 C.E., which features three women singing under the Waterloo Bridge, yielding an incredibly cool echo-y sound. There's, ...well, you listen to it and pick out your favorite songs. There's a pretty wide variety from which to choose.

As far as the game, what can I tell you. I want England to win, so Portugal probably will. I expect Brazil will win also, but you didn't need me to tell you that.

Thanks to square dancer for assisting on my headline.


That's Julian on the left.

And now, ripped at 160 to keep it under 100MB,
http://rapidshare.de/files/24583768/PeggyCrap.rar.html
pw = SoldierBlue

Thursday, June 29, 2006

And then there were eight.

The World Cup has been like a wonderful Summer vacation that just flew by so fast. Only 8 games left. Can you believe it. Only 8! I'm already starting to feel like there's nothing to do. Ok, enough of that, today's entry is brought to you by the Library....again. For Germany......again, that play Argentina tomorrow. Karlheinz Stockhausen's: Stimmung, for 6 vocalists & 6 microphones. Songcircle. This one probably is in the top 10 weird things that I have. I figure if people don't care for the music I post, I'll just post more music that people don't like. I think there is also a 2 CD set version of this as well, but I don't know if it's any longer or what the difference is to this version because I couldn't find any info on it. This piece seems to be very open for interpretation so I could image a 24 hour performance of it. I'll let Mr. AMG describe it,
"One of Stockhausen's most accessible works, "Stimmung" ("Tuning") is based entirely on the overtones of a fundamental B-flat. It begins in a wordless vocalise suddenly interrupted by the appearance of language; the words "Gott nochmal", sung in a specific rhythmic and dynamic "model". Other models will follow, often on the names of various deities, or based around love poems written by Stockhausen. As each new "model" is introduced throughout the piece, the other singers slowly adapt their material to to include it, resulting in a constantly mutating fabric of rhythms and textures, not far removed from the work of Terry Riley or Philip Glass. In fact, one may say "Stimmung" is Stockhausen's answer to minimalism, though, as always with Stockhausen, the complexity of the intertwining rhythmic patterns and the density of the music are far from the simple repeating patterns of the minimalist school."

I mentioned a few days ago on The Raincoats post about them being called Avant-Garde. The Raincoats are not Avant-Garde, THIS is Avant-Garde. Keep in mind that not all of Stockhausen's music sounds like this. He was also a very early pioneer in the use of electronic music. You can listen to some of his other stuff here at his ugly website: http://www.stockhausen.org/stockhausen_multimedia.html
There's even a Bjork interview of him there too.
Wiki entry says, " Disparate musicians such as Anthony Braxton, Can, The Beatles, Kraftwerk, Coil, Björk, Sonic Youth, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, and Herbie Hancock cite Stockhausen as an influence"

The Germany Vs.Argentina game is the hardest one so far to make a prediction on. They are both on top of their game and play such contrasting styles. I'm going to go with Germany on this one only because they are playing at home. 3-2. The Germans haven't seen anyone as slick and fast as Argentina, and Argentina hasn't seen anyone as big and skilled as the Germans.

Track List:
01 - Model 1
" "
" "
51 - Model 51
That's right. 51 tracks. Some sites tried to name them, but I don't see the point of it. It really should be just one long track. The cuts can be intrusive to the music at times, but that's just the way the CD was.

Quick Stats:
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Song Circle
96 MB
192 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/24519969/CrapCircle.rar.html
pw = Stimmung

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Small World Cup lull, so I thought maybe I'd go back

and hit some countries that I missed the first time around. Like mine...uhhhhhh, the USA! It just wasn't our Cup and I'm greatly disappointed. The refs, the group the U.S. was in, questionable coaching decisions, the refs, mental preparation, and the allignment of the stars all contributed to a less than stellar performance. Excuse me, I'm going to go cry for a little bit.
Ok, I'm back. I figured that if I do a U.S. entry, it should probably be jazz. Jazz is one of the very few music forms that is truly American. It's ours, and you can't have it! But where do I start? There are already several excellent blogs that focus on Jazz that have already posted tons of stuff; blogs by people that are far more knowledgeable about Jazz than I'll ever be. So I looked around through my list and remembered I had this one, Kid Ory's Creole Trombone. (Escape Goat Note: The pic is not the same cover nor the same Cd I'm offering. The one I have is a comp on some weird German Label called Past Perfect. I also have a Red Norvo and a Charles Mingus compilation on that Label and can't find any info on them either.) I've not seen any Kid Ory postings anywhere so I thought I'd go with it. Kid Ory (Another Escape Goat Note: Kid Ory isn't really a kid.) is an old timey Dixieland trombone player that led a band in New Orleans from 1912 - 1919 that had King Oliver, a young Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, Sidney Bechet and Jimmie Noone in it. That's a pretty good band. He was also a member of Louis Armstrong's Hot 5 and Hot 7 bands. In a nutshell, it's Dixieland by a revolutionary trombone player that led the first African-American band from New Orleans to record in 1922.
Mr AMG Kid Ory Bio
Red Hot Jazz.com Bio

Track List:
01 - Ory's Creole Trombone
02 - 29th And Dearborn
03 - Gatemouth
04 - Papa Dip
05 - South
06 - Blues For Jimmy
07 - Muskrat Ramble
08 - Wolverine Blues
09 - Maple Leaf Rag
10 - Clarinet Marmalade
11 - That's A Plenty
12 - Gettysburg March
13 - Yellow Dog Blues
14 - I Found A New Baby
15 - When The Saints Go Marching In

Quick Stats:
74 MB
160 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/24421749/KidCrap.rar.html
pw = Creole

Monday, June 26, 2006

I, Escape Goatinho, have not forgotten Brazil!

I figured they'd be around a while so I wanted to hit the other Countries involved in the World Cup when I still had the chance. So here we are with Brazil. I had plenty of choices, but I'll start with this one: The Rough Guide to Samba, which is an excellent place to start if I do say so myself. I believe this is my 3rd Rough Guide posting and I wanted to really stay away from being repetitive, but these Rough Guide compilations are all done so damn well and this might be the best of the 3 I've posted. There's not one bad track on this one and highly enjoyable from start to finish. The object of this compilation is to let people know that there are many styles of Samba and to concentrate on lesser known artists. All I can say is that this is a fantastic Compilation! Some guy on Amazon said, "The song from GRC Escola de Samba Vai-Vai won the Carnaval Contest of 1999" and Mr. AMG has really good things to say about it as well.
Since Ronaldo has re-discovered that actually moving during a game allows you to get more touches, and more touches mean more shots, and more shots mean more shots on goal, and more shots on goal mean a higher probability of getting a goal, Ghana could be in trouble. But Ronaldo may have already forgotten all about that stuff since the last game with Japan. I wouldn't take Ghana lightly, but I don't think Brazil will.
Brazil 3
Ghana 1
But a round of applause is worthy for Ghana and their showing at the 2006 World Cup.

Track List:
1. Saudacao A Ossain - Leci Brandao
2. Jogo Rasteiro - Maocyr Luz
3. Pelo Telefone - Paulo Moura E Os Batutas
4. Choro #2 - Duo Barbieri-Schneiter
5. Axe De Langa (Pai Maior) - Dona Ivone Lara
6. Mangueira Chegou - Velha Guarda Da Mangueira
7. Quem Me Ve Sorrindo - Cartola
8. O Que E O Que E - Zizi Possi
9. Malandro E Malandro E Mane E Mane - Bezerra Da Silva
10. Manifestacao Do Povo - Da Melhor Qualidade
11. Nostradamus - Grc Escola De Samba Vai Vai
12. Meu Viver - Elton Medeiros
13. Feliz Eu Vivo No Morro - Monarco
14. Infra Estrutura - Nelson Sargento
15. Favela - Jards Macale
16. Olha Ze - Osvaldo Periera
17. A Cabeca - Familia Roitman
18. O Mar Serenou - Luciana Mello

Quick Stats:
The Rough Guide to Samba
65 MB
160kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/24225621/Crapba.rar.html
pw = SambaBoys

Shhhhhh. I've gotten hold of a clip of the Italian team's secret training methods. Don't tell anyone about this video. It's double double top secret!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

"I live in a town called Millhaven"

"And it's small, and it's mean, and it's cold."

Those are the first and second lines in what is probably my favorite song from today's offering. It's a song about a crazy woman named Loretta, the "Curse of Millhaven", singing about all the people she's murdered. That's fairly typical of the songs on this album, Murder Ballads, by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The album is what it says it is, Murder Ballads. Those of you familiar with Nick Cave don't need to be told, but this CD is not for everyone. The lyrics are quite brutal, and a few of the songs, Stagger Lee in particular, are packed with profanities. (Note the little parental advisory on the cover.) If you're not bothered by that, this is a mighty interesting little CD.

Nick is here to represent Australia for us. Australia play their match against Italy Monday. Australia is looking much better than I thought they would, but Italy is, well, Italy. However, after Australia's exciting match against Croatia, I'm becoming rather fond of the Socceroos. I say Australia will win 3-2 in overtime, after being down by two points late in the second half. I wouldn't dream of predicting the number of bookings.

Incidentally, there are some folks on this CD that are not Australian. The final song on the CD features PJ Harvey, on whom Escape Goat has a terrible crush. Polly, if you are reading this, Escape Goat loves you! The song also features the inimitable Shane MacGowan.

http://rapidshare.de/files/24099571/Nick.rar.html
pw = Loretta

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Hey kids, do you like your Rock 'n Roll to be loud,

abrasive, mostly unintelligible, simple, extra sloppy, and played by 4 Women that don't seem to be too concerned with pitch, melody, or timing.........with a screechy violin? Then today's offer from Escape Goat's Rock 'n Roll Library is just for you. Representing England, that takes to the pitch tomorrow against Ecuador, is The Raincoats debut album from 1980: The Raincoats. If the above description doesn't appeal to you, you probably should avoid this one and wait to see if I post some Bananarama or the Go-Go's. (Mr. Ride Your Pony has some Go-Go's up right now) This is just a perfect example of post-punk D.I.Y. attitude by an all-female band that was somewhat uncommon in punk music at the time. I'd heard of them when I checked this out, but I wasn't aware of the cult-like love the critics and many others had for them. I think it mainly stems from this, "In 1992 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana went into the Rough Trade shop in London in search of a new copy of The Raincoats and Jude Crighton sent him round the corner to see Ana da Silva. Cobain wrote passionately about this meeting in the liner notes of Nirvana’s Incesticide album." So if Kurt Cobain loves them, you know Spin Magazine loves them. In fact, they love them so much they were awarded with the #9 position in their, " The 50 Most Essential Punk Records" that you can find here:
http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/spin100.html#Punk Records Incredibly enough, they think this album is more essential than the Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks" album, but I think they're a little goofy in the head on that one. See how much clout Kurt Cobain had and still has. There's a few other laughable Spin Magazine lists there as well. Of course AMG loves them too and gives this one 4.5 stars. (Escape Goat Note: Many reviewers of this Album throw around the term, "avant-garde" to describe it. Singing off key and playing out of tune instruments every once in a while is not, "avant-garde." Trust me, I know what avant-garde is and this ain't it.) It also appears that this CD is somewhat rare due to the, "3 used & new available from $49.99" price tag Amazon has on it. So is it as great as everybody claims it is? I don't know, but it's definetly worth having and their cover of the Kinks' "Lola" is worth the price of admission. And yes, I really found this at the Library.
As far as the game goes tomorrow, I'll have to say that I'm more impressed by Ecuador's play than England's, but that's probably because I had higher expectations for England than I did for Ecuador. Ecuador is a fast and sneaky team that may cause problems for England, but I think England will start getting their act together. Is Beckham afraid to have people touch him or touch anyone on the pitch?
England 2
Ecuador 1

Track List:
1. Fairytale In The Supermarket
2. No Side To Fall In
3. Adventures Close To Home
4. Off Duty Trip
5. Black And White
6. Lola
7. The Void
8. Life On The Line
9. Your'e A Million
10. In Love
11. No Looking

Quick Stats:
The Raincoats - The Raincoats
40 MB
160 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/24004970/Crapcoats.rar.html
pw = Lola

Friday, June 23, 2006

"What's in the bag?"

The round of 16 starts today, and at this point we are just about forced to start posting music from countries we've done before. I offer you another soundtrack today, this time the soundtrack for the 1998 German film Lola rennt, released in the USA as Run Lola Run. I think this is a fine choice to represent Germany in the Germany-Sweden match tomorrow, especially because the introduction features the famous quote from former German national team coach Sepp Herberger, "Der Ball ist rund, und das Spiel dauert neunzig Minuten. So viel ist schon mal klar. Alles andere ist Theorie."

Lola rennt is a fun film, basically a 80 minute music video. It is a pounding, pulsing rollercoaster of a film. The music in the film has been described as "techno" by some, but I think that does it a disservice. Quite a bit of it is intended to get your adreneline flowing, but there are slow, easy numbers with nice vocals. The one problem I have with the soundtrack CD is that, in the interest of filling out an full-length CD, several of the tracks are remixes. This bugs me because a) I've already heard those songs, and b) the remixes do sound kind of techno (not that that's necessarily a bad thing.) Actually, I have another problem with the soundtrack. The music is in the wrong order, not the order it appears in the film. The introduction (which features the Sepp Herberger quote) is track 10 for Pete's sake.

In spite of those flaws, I do enjoy listening to this CD, and I think you will too. It helps to have seen the film, but even if you haven't, you might recognize some of the music from a tampon commercial.

Escape Goat informs me that I should really predict a winner in today's match. Under pressure, I feel my prediction will be too cautious, but I say the final score will be
Germany = 1 googol : Sweden < 0.000001

Today's post comes in two sizes. You can download the version ripped at a bitrate of 192, but it's more than 100 Mb, so you must download it in two parts. Alternatively, you can have a version ripped at a bitrate of 160 in a single download. In either case, the password is
Ball ist rund

192:
Part 1: http://rapidshare.de/files/23946638/Lola1.rar.html
Part 2: http://rapidshare.de/files/23947734/Lola2.rar.html

160: http://rapidshare.de/files/23953178/Lola160.rar.html

Thursday, June 22, 2006

"Grandfather informs me that this is not possible"

That's pretty much the response I get when I ask my CD collection for something to represent one of the eight teams playing today. It's also one of the funniest lines from the excellent film Everything is Illuminated. (Trust me, it's funny in the context of the film.)

Today's post is a bit of a stretch. Most of the musicians on the soundtrack for Everything Is Illuminated are not Ukrainian. However there is at least one Ukrainian-born muscian on the album, Eugene Hütz of the band Gogol Bordello, and the film itself is set mainly in the Ukraine. Therefore, I claim that this soundtrack is a valid post, representing today's Ukraine v. Tunisia match.

The film stars Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) as a third-generation American Jew who travels to the Ukraine to search for the woman who saved his grandfather’s life during the Nazi liquidation of his family shtetl. The aforementioned musician Eugene Hütz also plays a large role in the film as Frodo's translator. It is an excellent film, and you really should watch it if you haven't. I have some issues with the end of the film, but I'm not here to give spoilers.

Most of the music from the soundtrack "sounds" Ukrainian as far as I can tell, even if the musicians aren't all Ukrainian. There are songs by the bands Leningrad, Gogol Bordello, and Tin Hat Trio, to name a few, but most of the tracks are compositions by Paul Cantelon, performed by a roster of musicians too long to list here. It really is a nice soundtrack, regardless of whether you've seen and/or enjoyed the film.

I have no score prediction for the Ukraine - Tunisia match, but I think I can safely predict that none of today's matches will be as crazy nor as exciting as yesterday's Croatia - Australia match. Go Socceroos!

http://rapidshare.de/files/20217720/illum.zip.html
pw = sunflowers

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

In your face! I found a Ghana CD.

I post this as a celebration of the rich musical heritage Ghana has brought to the world. As far as soccer/football is concerned, I put giant hex on you! Your feet will be as of clay and your goal will always be downhill! This one, Ghana: Ancient Ceremonies: Songs & Dance Music is on the Nonesuch label which also puts out stuff by, Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass, David Byrne, Wilco, Varttina, Laurie Anderson, Pat Metheny, Ry Cooder, and on and on. If you ever see something that's on the Nonesuch label and you never heard of them, pick it up because chances are it'll be pretty good. This is another traditional music field recording type of thing. The quality is pretty good but I wish it was a little longer. I think it was just transferred from an Lp straight to a CD without any additional material added. If you go to the Nonesuch site, they have the complete liner notes to the CD posted and even have a streaming radio station. Buy stuff from their label, they're really great. This is all Mr. AMG had to say about it,
"A Nonesuch re-release of music recorded in the '70s is the best general introduction to Ghanian traditional music, in that there's variety in singing styles, types of music, and instrumentation, along with excellent playing and very fine recording quality."

Ghana is a scary team to face. It all depends on what U.S. team and what Ghana Team shows up to play. I do think that the guys Ghana will be missing for this match will hurt them more than the guys that the U.S. team will be missing. This one would normally be hard to predict, but due to my hex:
Ghana 2
U.S. 87

Track List:
1. Dogumbo Song (Sandema)
2. Dzil Duet (Accra)
3. Gonje Songs (Achimota)
4. Donno Drummers (Yeji)
5. Kassena-Nankani Festival (Navrongo)
6. Ahanta Chant I (Dixcove)
7. Ahanta Chant II (Dixcove)
8. Wiiks And Mpintintoa (Wiaga)
9. Marilli (Yeji)
10. Chohun And Gyamadudu (Nima)
11. Donno Drunmmers (Yeji)

Quick Stats:
Ghana Compilation - Nonesuch label
51 MB
192 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/23742834/Crhapna.rar.html
pw = Nonesuch

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Lusaphones unite!

Well it took a little thought and a little bit of imagination, but I came up with something close enough to represent Angola. They take the pitch tomorrow against Iran. I present: Putumayo Presents: Afro-Portuguese Odyssey. Yes it's another Putumayo Collection that only contains 3 songs from Angola, but it's the best I could do. I think you get the idea on this one so I don't need to do a lot of crazy talk about it. If you are still unsure, look here:
Amazon description
Mr. AMG Guy Description
What the hell is a Lusaphone?
Thanks to a lack luster performance so far by Mexico, Angola still has a shot to slip through. But I don't think they will. Iran is better than you think and I believe they'll pull this out 2 - 0.
Track List:

1. Ze Inacio - Paulo Flores
2. Maldeyeni - Mabulu
3. Na Bu Mons - Eneida Marta
4. Cor Di Rosa - Mendes Brothers
5. Homenagem A Liceu Vieira Dias - Ruy Mingas
6. Nha Fidjo - Agusto Cego
7. Canta Forte - Banda Maravilha
8. Ermons Di Terra - Manecas Costa
9. Considjo Di Garandis - Bidinte
10. N'Tchanha - Dulce Neves
11. Bu Fidjo Femia - Ze Manel
12. Ti Jom Poca - Leonel Almeida
13. Africa Mamae - Jovino Dos Santos

Quick Stats:
Putamayo - Afro-Portuguese
65 MB
160 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/23648811/Crapgola.zip.html
pw = Luanda

Monday, June 19, 2006

L Chupacabra's lollipop post video reminded me

of something. This is France Gall. She was a mid 60's (and on) French Yé-Yé pop star. Her first big hit or two was penned by Uber Pervert, Serge Gainsbourg. Please do yourself a favor and read the Wiki entry of Serge Gainsbourg. Ok, the down and dirty of this song and following video was that France Gall was supposedly (even though she was 19 at the time) unaware of the sexual double entendre of the Serge written song in 1966 called, "Les Sucettes" or, "The Lollipop." Wiki says, "Les Sucettes established a new trend for erotic double entendres in pop music." and , "Reportedly, 19-year-old Gall was upset upon learning this, leading to the ending of the successful partnership."

Here are the translated lyrics in English to the song.
Annie likes lollipops,
Aniseed lollipops
Annie's aniseed lollipops
Give her kisses
An aniseed taste.
And when the barley sugar,
Perfumed with aniseed,
Slides down Annie's throat
She is in paradise.
For a few pennies
Annie,
Gets her aniseed lollipops.
They have the colour of her eyes,
The colour of happy days.
Annie likes lollipops,
Aniseed lollipops
Annie's aniseed lollipops
Give her kisses
An aniseed taste.
When on her tongue
Just a small stick remains,
She jumps to her feet
And returns to the drugstore.
For a few pennies
Annie,
Gets her aniseed lollipops.
They have the colour of her eyes,
The colour of happy days.
When the barley sugar,
Perfumed with aniseed,
Slides down Annie's throat
She is in paradise.

Ok, so here is the unbelievable video. I about died laughing when I first saw it. You might too. So be seated when you watch it. Serge Gainsbourg is in the very beginning. The guy is such a hilarious creep.


We Care

The final matches of the group stage begin today. Sweden faces a strong England team. To mark this occasion, I look back to 1993. That was the year that a Swedish band named Whale released the surprise hit single titled Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe. The success of the single was due in no small part to the video for the song, which appeared on Beavis and Butthead, among other places. It featured a young woman with curly red hair, braces, and a lollipop being tossed into the air by guys wearing nothing but shorts made out of what appeared to be aluminum foil. There was also a guy wearing a dress in there somewhere.

That was perhaps the only CD single I ever purchased. I just had to have that song, and Whale had not yet released a full-length album. Reportedly, they only recorded the single as a joke. Because of the success of the single, though, they did release the full-length We Care in 1995. This was followed by a second full-length CD, All Disco Dance Must End In Broken Bones, in 1998. The second album is actually better than the first. However, I thought I'd offer the first one, because it includes Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe, and because we really do care.

If you haven't seen the video, you really must watch it. You Tube also has the video for the song Pay For Me, which appears on We Care. After you watch the video, check out the rest of the songs on this album. There are several decent songs, perhaps even one or two indecent songs.

http://rapidshare.de/files/23551087/Whale.rar.html
pw = humpin




Sunday, June 18, 2006

Cante Jondo

Many people are familiar with flamenco dancing and the flamenco style of guitar playing. Fewer people are familiar with flamenco singing, in particular the cante jondo (deep song) which Billboard magazine calls "the Spanish equivalent of the Delta Blues". It is deep, emotional, tortured; singing that would seem fairly natural coming from someone serving serious prison time.

In 1996, the Spanish governement held a flamenco contest open to all prisoners in Spanish jails. 150 inmates submitted demo tapes. Thirty finalists were chosen and escorted to Cordoba for the competition. The prize was to be 5000 pesetas and the reduction of the sentence being served. The winners were José Serrano, serving 25 years for homicide, and Antonio "El Agujetas", serving 15 years on drug charges. The CD Two Cries of Freedom: Gypsy Flamenco from the Prisons of Spain consists of five songs sung by José Serrano, four songs sung by Antonio "El Agujetas", and a duet by the pair. Because of the success of this contest and the release of this recording, both singers have been paroled, and the contest is now held every other year.

To be honest, EscapeGoat doesn't like this CD very much. The one time I had him listen to it, he turned off the stereo halfway through because he just couldn't stand it anymore. I like this CD for the exact same reasons he doesn't like it: these are raw, unrestrained, agonized voices. Antonio "El Agujetas" in particular sounds like he is in some serious pain. (His singing has been compared to a "hurt beast".) His singing is quite often not so much singing as it is growling and moaning. I wouldn't listen to this CD every day, and I certainly wouldn't try to dance to it, but if you want to hear some music with real emotion behind it, you should check this out.

The complete liner notes (my source for a fair amount of what I've just told you) and an additional quote from a reviewer for Amazon.com can be found here.

On a different note, it appears that my algorithm for predicting World Cup scores had a couple of minor glitches. I have fixed those glitches, and can confidently predict that Spanish soccer fans will not be singing the cante jondo, but will rather be dancing in the streets. Their team will beat Tunisia by slightly more than seven tenths of a goal. The final score will be
Tunisia 2:Spain e

http://rapidshare.de/files/23451780/TCoF.rar.html
pw = gypsy

Saturday, June 17, 2006

I'm gonna eat jelly jelly jelly jelly jelly jelly jelly jelly beans!

You're gonna eat cherry cherry cherry cherry cherry cherry cherry cherry drops!

Japan is facing Croatia today. What better music to represent Japan in the World Cup than the Japanese girl group Shonen Knife, especially since this album has a picture of the world on the cover, with several nations' flags. For anyone who doesn't know, Shonen Knife is a trio of women that formed back in 1981 and is still recording and performing in 2006. Yes, you subtracted properly, the band is 25 years old this year! Actually, there have been a couple of substitutions. The original bass player was subbed out in 1999. The drummer moved forward to fill her position, and they brought on a new drummer. Mana "China" Nishiura was the drummer from 2000 until 2003. Sadly she was killed in a car accident in 2005 while touring with another band, DMBQ. But Shonen Knife has yet another drummer, and continues to play on.

The eponymous album I offer today is actually a compilation of their first two albums, and was released in 1990. It's full of happy, goofy pop confections (with lyrics partly in English and partly in Japanese). There are songs about Barbie dolls, Tortoise Brand pot cleaner, riding bikes, an elevator named Elmar, and of course my favorite, Flying Jelly Attack, which is about eating jelly beans and cherry drops. The Shonen Knife I heard most often on the radio back in the 80's, Banana Fish, is also on this album.

I saw Shonen Knife perform in December 1993. They opened the show, followed by The Breeders, and finally Nirvana. We got to the show a little late. (Who'd have thought they'd actually start on schedule?) Shonen Knife was already on stage performing a hilarious version of Heat Wave. The rest of their set was disappointing though, consisting of rather boring grunge music rather than the happy silliness that appears on this album.

It's actually not that strange that Shonen Knife opened for Nirvana. Kurt Cobain mentioned on several occassions that he admired the band. Several other bands have also praised Shonen knife, including Sonic Youth and Redd Kross. In fact, in 1989 the album Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them was released, which consisted of covers of Shonen Knife Songs done by admiring bands such as Sonic Youth, L7, and Babes in Toyland.

Well, I guess that's enough about this album. If you haven't heard Shonen Knife you really should listen to this. It'll make you happy. And if you're a fan of Japanese soccer, you're going to need something to make you happy. I won't give you the details of my analysis of the Japan-Croatia, because they're pretty complicated, with lots of mathematical formulas some pretty intense computer simulations. I'll just give you my prediction,
Croatia 666:Japan -3.14

http://rapidshare.de/files/23365472/knife.rar.html
pw = jellybean

Oh, and by the way, everyone should write a letter petitioning FIFA to fire referee Jorge Larrionda.
What a dumbass.

Friday, June 16, 2006

CIAO ITALIA!

This entry is for the U.S. vs. Italy game tomorrow afternoon. The David Lomax Collection: Italian Treasury: Folk Music & Songs of Italy. First things first. This is NOT Vic Damone! This is NOT Jerry Vale. This is NOT Frank Sinatra. You will NOT hear this at the Olive Garden or any other of those fakey Italian restaurants. Although there are a couple of songs on this collection that do sound familiar, the rest are rather alien sounding. This is a sampler of the several Italian field recording sessions done by Alan Lomax in the mid-fifties. You can find them on Amazon.
I picked this one because it sounded interesting and boy is it. After you hear this one you'll probably never think of, "Italian Music" in the same way again. Well unless you're from Italy, then it might be old news. There was a rather funny review of this by an Amazon Customer who said,
"i bought this expecting songs like you'd hear while eating in Olive garden or lively Italian songs, you know, like what everyone thinks of when they think of Italian music, there are about one to three songs on it that sound similar to that kind of music, but the rest are elderly Italians chanting at high pitches that sound dark, strange, and not what you want if you want Italian music."
The follow-up comments to his comment beat him into the ground and are also funny, but in a different way kind of funny. I hope he isn't really that simple minded.
Once again, if you want to sing and dance and clap your hands, this one probably isn't for you. But if you're adventuresome and genuinely interested in hearing something unusual, give it a spin. I put this up for the smartest people in the world that look at this blog that not only expect but DEMAND oddball stuff like this.
The U.S. team has a lot to be thankful for. Thankful that the Czechs didn't beat them 8-0. Italy isn't going to be any easier. Italy is also loaded with talent and they don't really have a weakness to go at. We might have a chance if their Goal Keeper suffers from Narcolepsy, but other than that, it might be another long day for the U.S. With that in mind my prediction is
Italy -8
U.S. 23

Track List:
01 - Complesso Enalistico - Zumba Lariula
02 - Giuseppe Infuso - A La Sulfatara
03 - Rocco Cannavino - A Lina Lina and Urallira.
04 - Unidentified - Balletto
05 - Giuseppe Buieti - Tarantella
06 - Antonia Pingitore - Alla Campagnola
07 - Unidentified - Serenata
08 - Unidentified - La Strina
09 - Unidentified - Ueje Eli
10 - Unidentified - Stornelli
11 - Unidentified - Ninna Nanna
12 - Unidentified - Olive Pressing Song
13 - Maddalena Farina - Tammurriata
14 - Coro di Caldari - Alla Fiera Di Lanciano
15 - Alfredo 'Raffone' Durante - Saltarello
16 - 'Calamita' and Gucci - Stornelli
17 - Stefano Valente - Lipa Ma Marica
18 - Alberico Zanacchi - Villanella
19 - Band and Chorus of Tonco - Donna, Donna
20 - Unidentified - Trallalero
21 - Unidentified - Su Tenore a Ballu
22 - Unidentified - Ballo Tondo

Quick Stats:
The David Lomax Collection: Italian Treasury: Folk Music & Songs of Italy
67 MB
160 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/23279563/Crapitano.rar.html
pw = Totti

Thursday, June 15, 2006

HOLA! That's Spanish for Hola. Today we have

some more World Cup dancing music, but this isn't jump up and down and shake dancing music. This is fancy dancing music that only like 6 or 8 people in the world can do right. I am not one of them. You can tell Argentina is a fun place to be because of the happy fun smiley sun face on their flag. The Story of Tango is today's musical selection because Argentina takes the pitch tomorrow against Serbia and Montenegro. I want to let you in on a secret about this one. Even though it's called, The Story of Tango, it's not a book or anything you have to read. It's really just some old school Tango music. So don't be afraid of it or anything. Mr. AMG Said, "The tango craze from Argentina is celebrated by all its masters on one disc: Francisco Canaro, Florindo Sassone, Raul Garello, and many others. The essential "La Cumparsita" leads off the charge, and there's no looking back. What is so amazing is that so much musical invention could be applied to one narrow style." I totally agree with him or something.
Argentina looked pretty sharp the last game they played and I was very impressed by Riquelme. He's a fun guy to watch. This should be an interesting game to watch because of the contrasting styles. Serbia/Mont is a big physical team that will try to push around the Argentina team and try to get away with as much as they can. I think this will be close, but I give Argentina the nod on this one 2-1. Speed Kills.

Track List:
1. La Cumparsita - Jose Basso
2. El Choclo - Sexteto Mayor
3. De Vuelta Y Media - Francisco Varela
4. Quejas de Bandoneon - Anibal Troilo
5. Verano Porteno - Raul Garello
6. La Cachila - Osvaldo Pugliese
7. El Dia Que Me Quieras - Carlos Gardel
8. Grisel - Mariano Mores
9. La Punalada - Francisco Canaro
10. Yira, Yira - Florindo Sassone
11. La Yumba - Osvaldo Pugliese
12. Adios Nonino - Sexteto Mayor
13. Margarita de Agosto - Raul Garello
14. El Firulete - Jose Basso
15. Taquito Militar - Mariano Mores
16. La Tablada - Francisco
17. Danzarin - Anibal Troilo
18. Palomita Bianca - Francisco Varela
19. Adios Muchachos - Florindo Sassone
20. Mi Buenos Aires Querido - Carlos Gardel

Quick Stats:
The Story of Tango
62 Mb
160 Kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/23140223/Crapo.rar.html
pw = Riquelme

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Another good Air Mail/Playa Sound selection.

Today's entry is, Air Mail Music: Tunisia for tomorrow's Tunisia vs. Saudi Arabia match. The Air Mail series goes for a simple, authentic, and traditional approach to their compilations. If you liked the Ethiopian one I put up before, you'll like this one. Blurb from the Playa Sound site,
"Here we find pieces ranging from Hispano-Moorish music - which gave rise to the ma’lûf (Tunisian name for traditional art music of Andalusian origin) - to the music of the desert nomads, and the listener is treated to a fascinating demonstration of Oriental classical instruments, including the qânûn (zither), the ‘ûd (lute), various types of drums (darbukka, târ, bendir) and also the zukra (oboe), the nây (reed flute) and the mizwid (bagpipe)."
Tunisia's team is called, "The Carthage Eagles" and were the first African Nation to win a World Cup game in 1978 when they defeated Mexico 3 - 0. Since then, they've been in 3 World Cups: 1998, 2002 and 2006. I don't really know much about these teams so I'm not going to make a prediction. But I'm sure Saudi Arabia wants to win it's first game badly so it can erase the 8 - 0 mauling from their first World Cup game in 2002 from Germany.

Track List:
1. Tunis, I'Orientale
2. Danse Des Carabines
3. Solo De Nay
4. Danse Bedouine
5. Hommage A Zyriab
6. Danses Du Desert
7. Danse Des Gnaouas
8. Sale Guibli
9. Introduction Au Malouf
10. Fantasia
11. Danse Du Ventre
12. Danse Du Sud
13. Maloufs (Extraits)

Quick Stats:
Air Mail Music: Tunisia
63 MB
160kbpshttp://rapidshare.de/files/23008051/Crapisia.zip.html
pw = Berber

The U.S team took an embarrassing beatin' Monday by the Czechs. I have exclusive hidden camera footage of the U.S. teams secret training and preparation sessions for its next game against Italy. Italy, be afraid, be very afraid!

Monday, June 12, 2006

Organ Works

France plays Switzerland Tuesday. I have very little French music and no music to represent Switzerland. I do have a collection of organ music by French composer Jehan Alain (1911-1940), performed by Eric Lebrun on the Cavaillé-Coll Organ of the Church of Saint-Antoine des Quinze-Vingts in Paris, France. It's on the Naxos label, which produces quality classical recordings at very decent prices. According to their guide, "The A to Z of Classical Music":
"Son of the composer Albert Alain and brother of the famous organist Marie-Claire Alain, the French composer and organist Jehan Alain left a fascinating body of music for piano and for organ, much of it published after his premature death in action in 1940. A pupil of Marcel Dupré, Paul Dukas and Roger-Ducasse, Alain wrote music of originality, within the French tradition to which he belonged."

That doesn't really tell me anything. All I know is I like organ music and I like this recording, and it's French. If you want to read more about Jehan Alain, you can do so on the Naxos site. I offer, for your listening pleasure, Alain: Organ Works Vol. 1

http://rapidshare.de/files/22902461/organ.rar.html
pw = france

Sunday, June 11, 2006

"Czech It Out", hahahahah get it? Check It Out?

"Czech It Out", hahahaha! Whooo, that's a good one huh? I absolutely had to Czech It out from the Library. Hahaha, get it? Check It out from the Library? Ok, enough of that. It just looked corny and cheesey enough that I had to hear it and boy was I unprepared for what I heard. His cornball sense of humor is quickly forgotten after you hear this guy play the hell out of the Mandolin and other Mandolin type of instruments that were built by him. From his web site. "After only a short period of time, Zenkl was performing at major music festivals and sharing the stage with artists such as Jerry Garcia/David Grisman, Tuck & Patti, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, David Grisman Quintet, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Tim O'Brien, Peter Rowan, John McCutcheon, Dan Hicks and many others." If you're a fan of Bela Fleck, you'll like this guy. He's not as jazzy as Bela Fleck, but his technical ability is every bit as good. It's just him doing solo work with no overdubs. Every once in a while you grab something from the library that you've never heard of and are pleasantly surprised. This is one of the those times.
I picked this one up of course because The U.S. meets the Czech Republic on the pitch tomorrow. I didn't really know much about the Czech team until I looked at their roster. All I can say is Uh Oh. The Czechs are loaded with world class talent at about every position. In my opinion Onyewu is the key to American success against the Czechs. I believe Onyewu is one of the few backs in the World Cup that might be able to out muscle Koller. Problem is, the Czechs have more than just Koller to worry about. If the Czechs click together on the field, they will be a nightmare for any team they face.
I'm going to be conservative with my prediction.
U.S. - 27 (Landon Donovan will have 19 goals - Which is a 3 piece suit trick)
Czech Republic - 3

Track List:
1. Eastern Feast Yearn
2. When I Ride Through That Forest
3. Mountain Ghost
4. Annie Little Soul
5. Happygrass
6. Rock Slide Area
7. Uneaten Apples
8. Johann Do Banjolim
9. Czech And Slovak Medley
10. Al Di Mandola
11. Beauty, Power And Pain

Quick Stats:
Radim Zenkl - Czech This Out: Solo Mandolin Portraits of Eastern Europe
58 MB
192 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/22787388/CrapItOut.rar.html
pw = Mandolin

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Zocalo, Hidalgo, Chabacano..


Those are a few of the streets you can travel to on El metro in Mexico City, apparently (not that I've ever been there). Escapegoat asked me if I wanted to post something in honor of the Mexico-Iran game, and since I don't own any Iranian music, I offer you Re, the third and possibly best album by the Mexican band Cafe Tacuba, a band named after an actual restaurant in Mexico City. Their first two albums, although good, were fairly straightforward latin-flavored rock, nothing to make you really sit up and take notice. Re finds the band starting to experiment. This album jumps all over the place. Every song is different, and every song is good. There are traditional-sounding songs like El aparato, the funky El ciclon, the punky, snarling, almost industrial sound of El borrego. There are smooth pop songs like El metro and slow, haunting songs like Verde. They're all good. I really like this album.
After this album Cafe Tacuba got even more experimental with the double album Reves/Yosoy, which I sometimes think I like more than Re, it just depends on my mood. Unfortunately, they have since stopped experimenting and gone back to recording very straightforward, boring songs that anyone could write. (Well, maybe not me...)

Escapegoat has been attempting to predict match scores. If pressed, I
guess I predict Mexico 4, Iran 0.

http://rapidshare.de/files/22753080/Cafe.rar.html

pw = metro

Friday, June 09, 2006

DON'T TOUCH ME TOMATO!


Uh oh, another Putumayo Compilation coming at you. Calypso: Vintage Songs from the Caribbean. This one is posted for Trinidad and Tobago who take the pitch tomorrow against Sweden. True, not every song on this comp is from T & T (where Calypso originated), but tracks 9,10 and 13 are. The rest are from Jamaica, Bahamas, and one from Haiti. This is good enough for me. This is of the older, "Banana Boat Song" type of Calypso and not so much of the 150 Steel Drummers playing on the boat dock of the Carnival Cruise Line variety of Calypso. Mr. AMG Reviewer didn't have very good things to say about this one because it wasn't the definitive collection of Calypso. To him I say feh. It is what it is and what it is is enjoyable enough for me. He did make one interesting point though, Eddy "Electric Avenue" Grant's, " Ice Records owns the original masters of much classic Trinidadian calypso, and that it proved impossible to license that material for this disc."
I know what you're thinking, "Mr. Escape Goat, does this compilation include a stupid Limbo song?" Yes gentle viewer. It includes a stupid Limbo song. So after you're done marching around in circles in your living room with the Oktoberfest music, you can grab a broom and start doing the stupid Limbo. Who knew the World Cup could be so much fun!
Track 2 will make you laugh after the first two or 3 lines or so, but the smile will fade quickly after the joke is ran into the ground for two more minutes. This one is mostly enjoyable. So enjoy!
Welcome to the World Cup Trinidad! I think it was nice that you brought your friend Tobago with you. T & T is better than you think, but that isn't going to be enough to handle Sweden.
Sweden 3
T & T 0

"Do you have a sister or brother that's really lively? That's Trinidad!"
I'm not so sure that's as big as a glowing endorsement as they think it is.
Visit Trinidad and Tobago

Track List:
1. Don't Touch Me Tomato - George Symonette
2. Yes, Yes, Yes - Calypso Mama
3. Take Me Back To Jamaica - The Jolly Boys
4. Crazy Like Mad - Leslie Scott & Irene Williams
5. Peas And Rice - Blind Blake And His Royal Victorians
6. Linstead Market - Lord Composer
7. No More Rocking And Rolling - King Sparrow
8. Goombay Drum - The Percentie Brothers
9. Fed-A-Ray - Lord Beginner
10. Kim - Lord Shorty
11. Little Nassau/Bahama Mama - Andre Toussaint
12. Barbados Carnival - Mighty Panther
13. J.P. Morgan - The Percentie Brothers
14. The Limbo Song - Frankie Anderson
15. It's Always Springtime In Nassau - Delbon Johnson

Quick Stats:
Calypso: Vintage Songs from the Caribbean
48 MB
160 MB
http://rapidshare.de/files/22652176/Craplypso.rar.html
pw = Calypso

If that wasn't enough fun for you, here's a little clip of David Hasselhoff singing about doing the limbo in Jamaica. This video will probably make you sick with the amount of fun-ness it contains. Once again, I don't think they realize that David Hasselhoff is not as big as a glowing endorsement for tourism as they think it is.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Let me introduce myself. I am L. Chupacabra,

Escapegoat's evil twin. (The L. stands for Larry.) I will be posting a few odds and ends to this
blog during the World Cup. I like the idea of posting music related to
the countries competing each day, and it seems to me that it would be a
shame to avoid posting something really appropriate just because it
wasn't found at the library. That is my job: to post crap I didn't find at
the library.

My first post is actually not related to any of the teams competing in
the 2006 World Cup. However, it is related to a previous World Cup, and
even though it's just a single song, it's just too amusing to pass up.
The song is Ally's Tartan Army by Andy Cameron. Andy Cameron is a
Scottish comedian who, in the 1970's developed a football hooligan character
for his act. In honor of Scotland's trip to the 1978 World Cup in
Argentina, he wrote this song, boasting that Scotland, "the world's greatest
football team", would win that World Cup. Although Scotland beat the
Netherlands 3-2 and ended the first round with the same point total as
Netherlands, the Netherlands progressed to the second round by goal
differential, while Scotland went home. In fact, although Scotland have
appeared in eight World Cups, they have never progressed past the first
round.

Apparently Andy Cameron is still doing his football related comedy. He
performs a stand-up routine before Rangers home games.

Again, this is just one song, but it's worth a laugh if you've never
heard it before.

Escape Goat Note: This is one song that's a little over 2 Mbs. As you may know, it's possible often times to download a small file from Rapid Share without it screwing up your que or making you wait 80 Minutes to dl another file. I was able to dl this song and then dl another 60Mb file 2 minutes later. I just wanted to point out that this one small file shouldn't screw up your Rapid Share que, so don't be afraid to snag it. It's well worth it.
Even if you hate Soccer, this song is hilarious.

http://rapidshare.de/files/22558155/tartan.rar.html
pw = chupa

You'll have to move your furniture into the corner

before you play this one. This way you'll have plenty of room to march around in circles in your living room. Polkas, drinking songs, and waltzes make up, Music of Oktoberfest - by The Bavarian Oktoberfest Band. It's exactly what you think it is and this means it's fun fun fun! This is the perfect CD to kick off the World Cup which is 18 Hours, 58 minutes and 15 seconds away.
My Prediction: Germany 2 - Costa Rica - 0
The absence of Ballack made me change my prediction a little.
On to the music!

Track List:
1. Old Comrades March
2. In Munich Stands The Hofbrauhaus
3. The Hunters' March
4. In Mainz, On The Beautiful Rhine/Oh, You Wonderful Rhine
5. Grasshopper Polka
6. As Long As There's The Old St. Peter/Fun In The Munich Hofbrauhaus
7. Munich Schmankerl
8. In Rudesheim In The Drosselgasse/From Rudeshein To Assmannhausen
9. Isarwinkler Landler
10. The Beer-Spray Gallop
11. Mountain Air
12. In Your Eyes Waltz
13. Silver Wedding
14. Happiness In The Mountains
15. Bartholoma
16. It Was Beautiful At Home
17. Krazlhuber Polka
18. Such A Real Bavarian Boy
19. Patrona Bavarae



Quick Stats:
Music of Oktoberfest - The Bavarian Oktoberfest Band
54 MB
160 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/22562123/crapah.rar.html
pw = oompah

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Uh oh, this can only mean 1 of 4 things!

Thing 1: This was the last CD left in the Library.
Thing 2: I'm a big fan of sissy musicals.
Thing 3: I grabbed the wrong damn CD.
Thing 4: I am one of the 2,337 Americans that get excited about the World Cup.
If you guessed mostly Thing 4 with a little Thing 3 thrown in, you win.
I'm not afraid to admit that I love the World Cup. I will spend the next month in front of the TV in a drooling semi-comatose stupor watching every second of every game. So with that in mind I thought I'd do a little stupid World Cup theme thingy for the next month. I'm going to start putting up Music from Countries that are in the World Cup. Keep in mind that I'm only going to be putting stuff up that I get in the Library so my choices might really be stretching it or might not be the most representative of the Country or cover every Country. So don't gripe, I'll do my best to make it interesting. There is hope; My good friend and, "evil twin", L Chupacabra will be assisting me this month. I have given him the go ahead to put up stuff from his own collection and to do those write ups. If we're not careful, something that people like might accidentally get posted. I can't speak for L Chupacabra, but I'll give some of my expert commentary and game predictions.
You the Viewer should make Predictions too. I'm enforcing participation!
With that, I wish all nations involved Good luck and to (not nations playing the U.S. I put voodoo hex on them) play fair and to play well!
GJIOghYiohyohiodftyedhyUOPUI{IKOPYUDFTYFCETYjpojopikopghsdtrDFTYRUYU!!!!
YEAH!
Now about this CD.
The Beautiful Game (2000 Original London Cast)
AMG Review
It wasn't exactly what I thought it was. I wasn't aware that it was an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. I'm not hip on those kinds of things. I'm not going to say a lot about this other than it's a musical about some soccer players in Northern Ireland in 1969. I like the accents, I like the slang, there's one funny line. That's about it. It wasn't as sissified as I thought it would be, but I set the expectation sissy bar pretty low for this.
I don't care too much for this kind of stuff, but some people may. So I put it up for you. If you like this kind of stuff be my guest and download away.
Enjoy!

Track List:
1. Overture
2. The Beautiful Game
3. Clean The Kit
4. Don't Like You
5. God's Own Country
6. God's Own Country (Protestant March)
7. Let Us Love In Peace
8. The Final (A Game Of Two Halves)
9. Off To The Party
11. Don't Like You (Reprise)
12. Our Kind Of Love
13. Let Us Love In Peace (Reprise)
14. The Happiest Day
15. To Have And To Hold
16. The First Time
17. I'd Rather Die On My Feet Than Live On My Knees
18. God's Own Country (Reprise)
19. The Selection
20. Dead Zone
21. If This Is What We're Fighting For
22. All the Love I Have
23. Finale

Quick Stats:
The Beautiful Game
85 MB
160 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/22500410/BeautifulCrap.rar.html
pw = WorldCup

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

This probably isn't what you expect.

The cover and label of this one is different than the one I have. The one I have is on the Playa Sound label and the picture here says Air Mail Music even though it's the same CD. I'm pretty sure the world has gone crazy. I'm not sure what the deal is, but here's the Playa Sound label web site. They have a lot of interesting things like this. This is a recording that concentrates on traditional musics of Ethiopia. This label does not try to pick and choose songs that they think they can sell. It's focus is on authenticity.
It starts off with a few Urban songs with the vocals having a Middle Eastern quality about them. But as the CD unfolds, the songs get more and more sparse with little instrumentation to the point of celebratory and sacred music that are just hand claps and chanting.
Blurb from review,
"Ethiopia has an incredibly rich musical heritage. Four different aspects of that heritage are presented here: folk music, religious music, polyphony from Dorzé, polyphony of the tribes living in the south-western part of the country. The principal musical instruments we hear are the kabaro (tapered drum with two laced heads), the masenqo (single-string spike fiddle), the krar (bowl lyre with five or six strings), and the washint (end-blown flute with four finger-holes)."
All in all, if you want to sing and dance stick to a Putumayo Compilation. But if you have a genuine interest in Ethnic musics you should give it a shot.
Track 6 "Dama" is pretty dang cool.

Track List:
01. Tizeta
02. Akale-wobe
03. Chant de la région du godjam
04. Linega-linetu
05. Bati
06. Dama
07. Mara
08. Makalamelo
09. Masenqo 1
10. Masenqo 2
11. Polyphonie bodi 1
12. Polyphonie bodi 2
13. Polyphonie hammar 1
14. Polyphonie hammar 2
15. Chant liturgique en ezel
16. Chant de louange

Quick Stats:
Musiques Traditionnelles - Ethiopie
69 MB
160 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/22401553/Crapiopia.rar.html
pw = Ethiopie

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Hi, I'm a singing Robot!

Yay, it's that robot guy from that third Star Track series! I never really watched it much, but I recognized his mug on the cover. It was in the, "Easy Listening" section along with Anne Murray, Harry Belafonte, Judy Garland, The Ray Conniff Singers, 1001 Strings and stuff like that. When I first saw this I laughed to myself and knew I had to share it with the WORLD! Then I looked it up on Amazon to find the Cover art, and saw this, "Buy new: $245.00 -- Used & new from: $80.00" and stopped laughing. I thought about it a little bit, and then I started laughing again. All I can say is if you've done something bad today, you should listen to this to punish your brain. It will serve as penance. He can carry a tune ok, but he's trying too hard to show you this. The painfully cheesey arrangements do not help matters much either. Let's face it, this will only appeal to Star Track fans as a collectors item, people like me who think this kind of stuff is funny....or maybe your Grandma.
"Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye" is highly recommended for pain inducing laughter.
"It's a Sin to Tell a Lie", might put you in the hospital, because Brent is joined by the Star Track Barber Shoppe Quartet of, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes and Patrick Stuart who can't be bothered to actually sing. He just talks a bit in the middle of the song.
I'm going to follow the activity on this one with great interest.
P.S. Yes, I made Star Trek errors on purpose. I have known some Star Trek fans that almost went into convulsions when I said, "Star Track" or pronounced a character's name wrong. It's my blog and I can be annoying if I want to damn it!

Track List:
1. Time After Time
2. Very Thought of You
3. More Than You Know
4. Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye
5. Embraceable You
6. It's a Sin to Tell a Lie - LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Patrick Stewart,
7. Long, Long Time
8. Carolina in the Morning
9. Marie
10. Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart
11. When I Fall in Love
12. Goodnight Sweetheart

Quick Stats:
Brent Spiner - Ol' Green Eyes is Back
39 MB
160kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/22208000/CrapTrek.rar.html
pw = Tootsie

Saturday, June 03, 2006

When Johnny wasn't busy singing, he was layin' track.


Johnny Cash - Blood, Sweat and Tears. Released in 1963, this is a short and sweet (30 Min) collection of Cash covers of Workin' Man songs. It leads off with a highly entertaining 8 minute version of, "The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer" and this song alone is worth the price of admission. The Library has a few Cash CDs but they are mostly of the Greatest Hits variety. There's nothing wrong with Greatest Hits packages, but it's just cool to hear an actual Cash release. This is classic Cash; simple arrangements, June Carter harmonizing and Johnny's dead pan delivery.
Johnny Cash is GREAT!


Track List:
1. The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer
2. Tell Him I'm Gone
3. Another Man Done Gone
4. Busted
5. Casey Jones
6. Nine Pound Hammer
7. Chain Gang
8. Waiting For A Train
9. Roughneck

Quick Stats:
Johnny Cash - Blood, Sweat, and Tears
34 MB
160 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/22114416/CashCrap.rar.html
pw = JohnHenry

Thursday, June 01, 2006

"People of Valencia! I bring you bread!"

That's what El Cid (Charlton Heston) says to the people of Valencia. I'd be a little disappointed if that's all El Cid brought for me. Well unless he promised to bring some ham and swiss the next time. In that case I'd be pretty excited.
Miklos Rozsa's - El Cid popped into my head today for some reason and that's why it's here. The Library has lots and lots of cool old film scores like this one and I dig 'em. It's been a long time since I've seen El Cid so I don't remember much about it. However, if you keep these 4 things in mind,
1. Huge Hollywood 1961 Blockbuster Epic.
2. Stars shirtless Charlton Heston.
3. Stars almost shirtless Sophia Loren
4. This Film Score
then you don't really need to see the movie. The film score tells you the whole story in your head.
You will know when an Army is marching into a battle. When a battle is taking place, and when the battle is over by the sad music they play when the camera pans slowly over the wounded and dead on the battlefield. Between battles there are some love scenes. You know this because they play gentle love scene music while Charlton Heston probably has Sophia Loren in a vice-grip like embrace while smashing his lips into her face. I guess they used to kiss like that back in the olden days. P.S. You could also read the song titles, they kind of tell you what's going on as well. Ok, now that I've ruined the movie for you forever, let's talk about the film score.
I like it. It's exactly what you would expect from a Huge Hollywood Blockbuster Epic. Miklos Rozsa is no slouch, he did a lot of film scores for these type of movies. Ben-Hur (which is #21 on AFI's Greatest film scores list), King of Kings, Julius Caesar, Sodom And Gomorrah, and The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad just to name a few. So you have a good idea of what you're getting here.
There are at least 5 different versions of El Cid that I've seen. This version is on the Koch label that was recorded in 1995 and isn't even on Amazon and although listen on AMG, the track titles aren't.

Miklos Rozsa did a ton of film scores!


Track List,
01 - Overture
02 - Prelude
03 - Courage And Honor
04 - Fight For Calahorra
05 - Palace Music 1
06 - Palace Music 2
07 - Palace Music 3
08 - Road To Asturias
09 - Wedding Night
10 - Coronation
11 - Love Scene
12 - El Cid March
13 - Battle Of Valencia
14 - Death Of El Cid
15 - Legend And Epilogue

Quick Stats:
Miklos Rozsa - El Cid (Film Score)
91 MB
192 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/21973924/El-Crap.rar.html
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