Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The Theremin hates our Freedom!

Whhhoooooooohoho whohohohohohohohh whooooooooooooo. A Theremin sounds just like that. I'm pretty good at making theremin noises, just ask my friend Darko, he'll tell you. Clara Rockmore: The Art Of The Theremin. Clara means business and doesn't fool around, this is some serious Theremin playing that tackles major Classical works. Just take a look at the track list. Most people think of the Theremin as a Classic Sci-Fi instrument used in movies like, "The Day The Earth Stood Still", and "Forbidden Planet" where flying saucers always make that sound and people walking down a dark spider webby hallway do too. Listening to Clara play will blow your mind.
You see Clara Rockmore is one of the original Theremin Gangstas. She was taught how to play by the inventor, Léon Theremin (Fun Wiki Theremin with all kinds of great facts). Clara Rockmore is SO good at playing it that I was a little disappointed. It didn't sound all campy goofy like all the other theremin playing I've heard. Sometimes it sounds just like a Violin and other times it sounds like someone singing Soprano. Whatever the case, it's pretty impressive and still kind of weird.
<------ That's Clara. I think she's sexy. Oh yeah, I even found a book by Clara Rockmore that teaches you how to play! It's in English, Italian, and Spanish. It's in PDF format and you can get it here. http://www.electrotheremin.com/claramethod.html
Escape Goat Warning: Do not listen to more than 20 minutes in one sitting. You will become hypnotized and walk around like a Mummy. This happened to me anyway.


Track List:
1. Vocalise, transcriptions for various instruments, Op. 34/14
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

2. Work(s) Song of Grusia
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

3. The Swan (from "Carnival of the Animals"), original (for 2 pianos & ensemble) and arrangements
Composed by Camille Saint-Saens
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

4. El Amor brujo, ballet for mezzo-soprano & orchestra in 1 act, G. 68 (revised version) Pantomime
Composed by Manuel de Falla
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

5. Hebrew Melody for violin & orchestra, Op.33
Composed by Joseph Achron
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

6. Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 Romance
Composed by Henryk Wieniawski
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

7. Berceuse, for violin & piano (after L'Oiseau de Feu, transcribed by Stravinsky)
Composed by Igor Stravinsky
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

8. Vocalise-Étude en forme de Habanera, for voice & piano
Composed by Maurice Ravel
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

9. Morceaux (18) for piano, Op. 72 Berceuse
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

10. Valse sentimentale, for piano (or violin & piano) in F minor, Op. 51/6
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

11. Sérénade mélancolique, for violin & orchestra (or piano) in B minor, Op. 26
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

12. Chant du ménéstral (Minstrel's Song) for cello & orchestra in F sharp minor, Op. 71
Composed by Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov
with Clara Rockmore, Nadia Reisenberg

Quick Stats:
Clara Rockmore - The Art of the Theremin
68 MB
192 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/27155541/Crapmore.rar.html
pw = whooo

Thursday, July 20, 2006

"I'm the other kind"

Hello. It is I, Larry Chupacabra. I realized I had a few things I can still legitimately post on this blog, crap that I found at my local library back in the days when I used to use the library as a cheap source of music. A good example of this is an album by Steve Earle and The Dukes, titled The Hard Way.

You probably know something about Steve Earle. He plays "country music", but not your average ordinary country music. I can't really call it country rock, because that brings to mind something else entirely, but it is country music that rocks. Country music for people who don't like country music. Anymore, his music has become very political. He's almost a modern day Woodie Guthrie. (Not musically like Woodie Guthrie, but spiritually.) Actually he's always been a little political. Some of his early albums include songs about the Vietnam War, and this album features Billy Austin, which deals with capital punishment.

This was Steve Earle's fourth album, and the last studio album he recorded for several years. He had to take a bit of a break, due to serving a prison sentence for drug possession. In fact, he recorded this album while his "well-documented addiction to heroin & cocaine was spiraling out of control". Earle says he "almost died in the process of making" this album. As a result, it's a little hit-and-miss. It has a few easily forgetable tracks, like Hopeless Romantics. However, it also has some real classics, like the chilling Billy Austin and The Other Kind.

Incidentally, I am going to be away from this blog for a while. I will be cut off from the internet for almost a month. I'm sure Escape Goat will keep you all happy in the mean time with plenty of his crap. When I return, he wants me to post some of the more obscure things I have on vinyl, rather than sticking to a library motif. So that will be the plan. Until then, aloha.

http://rapidshare.de/files/26456475/HardCrap.rar.html
pw = BillyAustin

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Phkh huhukhtf ftyty JIO gyiu GHiyio!

Richard Horowitz & Sussan Deyhim: Majoun
I'd never heard of this CD or the people on it when I picked it up from the Library. I know who they are now and wish I'd heard of them sooner because this was a pretty good find. I looked up Horowitz and learned that I DID already have something by him, the soundtrack to, "The Sheltering Sky" I'd thought that it was Ryuichi Sakamoto that did the whole thing. You have to look really hard, but Horowitz composed 3 songs on that soundtrack. Then I looked up Sussan Deyhim and she is referred to as the, "Iranian Diva" a lot. However, the term, "Diva" has lost all meaning since it seems any woman put in front of a microphone is labeled as a, "Diva" anymore. (Mariah Carey if you're reading this, I'm talking to you.) From what I've read, Deyhim's solo effort, "Mad Man Of God" is supposed to be impressive and I'm going to keep my eye open for it. (Hint Hint) She has her own website strangely called http://www.sussandeyhim.com/
Some reviewers said this CD sounded like Enya. I can kind of see what they're getting at, but it's not quite right. This is very much Middle Eastern music and has more of an underlying danger or doom than Enya. I also think Enya is snoozefest and I'd hate the idea that something I liked sounded like her. One person said it reminded them of Dead Can Dance and I can see that connection. It also reminded me a little bit of Sheila Chandra. My only tiny complaint is that Horowitz manipulates her voice a bit much on this one. I guess I'll just have to find her solo stuff to really hear her let loose and sing. All in all it's pretty good and I think you should give it a shot. Mr. AMG gave it 4 1/2 stars and said, " This feast for the ears almost defies classification."
Track List:
1. Majoun
2. Kye Kye (Who is Who is)
3. Agonethi (Shadow Maps)
4. Whorl on the Mount of Moon
5. Coldest Day
6. Ipissima Verba
7. Murmur Mutanta
8. Botachine (Infinitely Curved)

Quick Stats:
Richard Horowitz & Sussan Deyhim: Majoun
85 MB
192 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/26242300/HoroHim.zip.html
pw = Crapjoun

Friday, July 14, 2006

Beep Beep! Whoooo Whoooo. Hahahahahaha.

Ding Ding Ding Ding. Clip Clop Clip Clop Clip Clop. This entry is another example of the little section in the Library with things like this: Essential Sound Effects. Now these aren't any ol' sound effects, these are Essential Sound Effects! I know for a fact that my regular blogger looker people already have this because they're Essential Sound Effects, but some of the non-regulars may not have this. I've given you this chance to be cool like everyone else. I also know alot of rappers look at my blog to see what's hip to sample and if I say it's hip it's hip. This is hip!
I'm not going to list all the sound effects because there are 74 of them. Yeah, 74! You get 74 Essential Sound Effects. for the price of 0 sound effects!
Here's the link to the sound track list

Quick Stats:
Essential Sound Effects
93 MB
192 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/25835880/Crapfects.rar.html
pw = Foley

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

TA DA!

Yay, circus music! Great American Main St. Band :
Under The Bigtop. Once upon a time the circus used to travel with a big band that played during the performances. As travel costs increased they just brought along a few musicians and picked up musicians to play with them from the town they were performing in. Now the music is either pre-recorded or all done by a guy on a keyboard. I guess it's kind of sad that the music is done like this now because hearing a big band live is pretty cool.
The Library has quite a bit of oddball CDs like this that usually sit in its own little section along with Military Bands, Sousa marches, National Anthems and such.
One interesting little factoid that the liner notes discuss is the exclusion of, "Stars and Stripes Forever" on this CD. If you're ever at the circus and you hear, "Stars and Stripes Forever" being played, something horrible has just happened. They only played this song if a a Tiger bit a guy's head off or something. The Clowns upon hearing the song would quickly run out and do their Clown things to distract the audience from the carnage in the ring. So if you're ever walking down the street and hear, "Stars and Stripes Forever".......PANIC AND SCREAM, because somebody somewhere has been mangled or disfigured.
One more quick thing:
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are really making an effort to clean up their image. Here's a link about their, "Center for Elephant Conservation"
http://www.ringling.com/cec/jul2005birth.aspx
Track List:
1. Entry Of The Gladiators
2. Memphis The Majestic March 3. Caesar's Triumphal March
4. Miss Trombone - (a slippery rag)
5. Cantonians March, The
6. Broadway One-Step
7. Wedding Of The Winds - (waltz)
8. Honey Boys On Parade - (march) [Song they play when they beat the Horses]
9. Kentucky Sunrise - (two-step)
10. Jungle Queen - (oriental two-step) [Song they play when they beat the Lions and Tigers]
11. Big Cage, The - (circus galop)
12. Trombone Blues
13. Royal Decree - (march) [ Song they play when they beat the Elephants]
14. Booster, The - (an American absurdity rag)
15. Russian Circus March [ Song they play when they beat the Bears]
16. Olympia Hippodrome March
17. Clownette - (novelty) [Song they play when they beat the Chimps]
18. Circus King, The - (march)
19. Walking Frog - (two-step) [Song they play when they beat the Clowns]
20. Night In June, A - (serenade)
21. Stop It! - (one-step)
22. Follies Bergere - (march And two-step)
23. Fan-Tan - (Chinese march characteristique)
24. Copa Cabana - (samba)
25. Crimson Petal - (valse caprice)
26. Circus Echoes - (galop)
27. Storming Of El Caney
28. Barnum & Bailey's Favorite - (march)

Quick Stats:
Under The Big Top - Circus Music
82 MB
192 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/25564488/Crapus.rar.html
pw = Trapeze

Once again at no additional charge, I've included a little clip of, "Circus Bloopers"
Acrobats falling on their faces and things of that order.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

I just want to thank everyone for the overwhelmingly

marginal response to the World Cup music theme this last month.
I especially want to think L. Chupacabra for his assistance in putting this together by offering music from his own private vault. Mr. Chupacabra, you are always welcome to drop by and share with the world something that you deem necessary to share with the world. I trust your opinion and taste.
A round of applause is in order for Larry Chupacabra.
If you grabbed anything he put up, tell him thanks.

The very last game of the 2006 World Cup is upon us.

It's absolutely true. I am not making this up. Tomorrow is the last game! Our little World Cup theme fun is over. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with myself now. I may pretend it never ended and invent World Cup games between countries that are well represented by what the Library has to offer. Something like Native Americans Vs. Ireland or Vietnam Vs. Yanni. Yeah, Vietnam. There is sizable population of Vietnamese people in my town and the Library stocks about 100 or so Vietnamese kiddie pop CDs to make them feel at home or something.
So today is for FRANCE. Allez Les Bleus! I will cheer for them and maybe this will bring good luck.
Serge Gainsbourg: Du Jazz Dans Le Ravin. Is the last World Cup music entry. I even made a special trip to the Library today to get it because I wanted to get something special for the smartest blog lookers in the world. Before Serge was a hilarious pervert (he was probably just a mildly humorous latent pervert then), he was a jazzy kind of guy. This is a compilation of his early jazz type stuff he put out from 1958 to 1964. It's kind of cool and cheesey at the same time.
Track List:
1. Angoisse (Instrumental)
2. Du Jazz Dans Le Ravin
3. Requiem Pour Un Twisteur
4. Chez Les Ye-Ye
5. Black March (Instrumental)
6. Black Trombone
7. Ce Mortel Ennui
8. Generique
9. Coco And Co
10. Intoxicated Man
11. Elaeudanla Teiteia
12. Le Talkie Walkie
13. Some Small Chance (Instrumental)
14. Quand Tu T'y Mets
15. La Fille Au Rasoir
16. Quand Mon 6.35 Me Fait Les Yeux Doux
17. Fugee (Instrumental)
18. Machins Choses
19. Negative Blues
20. Wake Me At Five (Instrumental)

Quick Stats:
Serge Gainsbourg - Du Jazz Dans Le Ravin
62 MB
192 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/25319962/Crapbourg.rar.html
pw = Perv

I 'm also including an extra special video for you frr of charge. I'm passing the savings on to you.
Serge meets Whitney Houston and has a beautiful message of love for her.

Once again if you missed it, here's a link to the Serge/France Gall video about girls and their lollipops.

http://crapifoundatthelibrary.blogspot.com/2006/06/l-chupacabras-lollipop-post-video.html

Friday, July 07, 2006

Auf Wiedersehen

The 2006 World Cup will soon be over. I thought that this would be a good time to remind you all that I, Larry Chupacabra, really am a different person from Escape Goat. I am not just an alias. Escape Goat invited me to help out with his World Cup theme by posting CDs from my own collection, CDs that I did not find in a library. Since the World Cup is drawing to a close, my job is done. Barring unforeseen circumstances, this will be my final post to this blog. Keep looking at this fine blog, though. I know I will. I'm sure Escape Goat will be posting plenty more crap.

For my final entry, I chose Black Earth by the German band Bohren & der Club of Gore, since the atmosphere evoked by this album is a pretty fair reflection of my mood at the end of the Germany-Italy semifinal. Dark, sad, all of that. Just look at the album cover. (Actually, the real album cover is a little different. Think of the album cover for Smell the Glove by Spinal Tap. It's flat black, with the skull and lettering done in a shinier, slightly darker shade of black. I tried to scan it once, just to see what I'd get, and, as expected, simply got a solid black square.) The best description I can give of this music is that it would not seem out of place in a David Lynch film. It reminds me very much of the creepy dark spooky music that Angelo Badalamenti wrote for, say, Twin Peaks or Blue Velvet. It's sort of jazzy, but not jazzy in a good, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, kind of way. Jazzy in a bad way, evoking a dingy, sleezy nightclub with velvet wallpaper and nasty-looking people giving you the evil eye. The band calls it "horror jazz", it's got smoky saxaphone, simple snare drum keeping the slo-o-ow beat, echo-y keyboards, and a bass that will rattle your china. Really, there's stuff all over my house that rattles and buzzes when I play this CD. Every song on this CD is slow and malicious. Every song. Let me say this clearly: this is a relentlessly oppressive CD.

But it's a cool CD if you like that kind of thing. I like it, really, I just don't listen to it very often. I haven't been giving track lists in my posts, but I think it's worth doing here:
1. Midnight Black Earth
2. Crimson Ways
3. Maximum Black
4. Vigilante Crusade
5. Destroying Angels
6. Grave Wisdom
7. Constant Fear
8. Skeletal Remains
9. Art of Coffins
See what I mean? The CD is quite long (99MB ripped at 192), making it that much more oppressive.

I have no prediction for the third place match. I just hope Germany and Portugal both show up ready to play. Third place games between sides that really don't care, because they didn't make the final, are a bit depressing.

http://rapidshare.de/files/25235866/Gore.rar.html
pw = BlackCrap

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

"They say there is no crown for little monkey in this town."

There is no crown for Germany, anyway. But maybe France has a chance. I could talk about how upset I am about the outcome of the first semi-final match, but I think for now I'll try to remain positive and celebrate France, the team that faces Portugal in the second semi-final. France is represented today by Mano Negra, a band which, although from France, was kind of a mutt, really. They sang songs in English, Spanish, and yes, a little French. I'm thinking there's probably some other languages in there too, if you listen close. If fact, a key member of the band, who now goes by the name Manu Chao, is, according to Wikipedia, a "French Latin folk singer of Spanish origin...Manu Chao sings in French, Spanish, Arabic, Galician, Portuguese, English, and Wolof, often mixing them in the same song."

The headline of this post comes from the song King of Bongo, which appears on today's offering, King of Bongo by Mano Negra. This song was rerecorded by Manu Chao on his first solo album as Bongo Bong. The two versions are similar, but different, and both are good in their own ways. I would like to point out to anyone familiar with Manu Chao's solo material that Mano Negra was, as I just said, similar, but different, and both are good in their own ways. Mano Chao was less, eclectic, less sprawling, less all-over-the-place. Mano Negra was more about straight-ahead rock, less ambitious, but still fun to listen to. There are plenty of good songs on this CD besides the title track. They are all good, really, but in particular, Letter To The Censors rocks fairly hard.

I don't know who will win this semi-final match. I'd kind of like France to win, for a number of reasons that include their stellar performance against Brazil. All I know is, whoever wins, come Sunday I'll be rooting for them to kick Italian butts.

http://rapidshare.de/files/24959061/Bongo.rar.html
pw = Chao

Monday, July 03, 2006

My most favoritest thing I've posted so far.

Ennio Morricone's film score to, "The Mission" which won a Golden Globe and Bafta award for Best Film Score. This one is for Italy that will take the pitch and be promptly stomped by Germany tomorrow. This is in my top 10 favorite film scores of all time. I feel a little embarrassed to say this but, it's an absolutely beautiful work that makes me a little misty eyed whenever I hear it. I think maybe seeing the movie might put the music into context a little more, but it still holds up wonderfully even if you haven't seen the movie. I don't want to give away the movie but do try to see it. Here's the IMDB link. Ennio Morricone is most known for his Spaghetti Western film scores like, "A Fistful of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" that he did in the 60's, but this one sounds nothing like those. In fact, he has IMDB credits for 577 films! That's right, 577 films! All in all, this is a wonderful and moving film score and I highly recommend it. The weird thing is that I couldn't find an AMG write up on this one. It's not like it's obscure or anything. Amazon has 72 customer reviews of it and it averaged a 5 star rating.
Germany has a huge home field advantage against Italy and if the rumors are correct, are very angry at the Italian team. The Germans will play physical and the Italians don't like that, look for a Red Card or two. Italian histrionics and diving will set the German crowd off in a big way.
Germany 2
Italy 1

Track List:
1. On Earth As It Is In Heaven
2. Falls
3. Gabriel's Oboe
4. Ave Maria Guarani
5. Brothers
6. Carlotta
7. Vita Nostra
8. Climb
9. Remorse
10. Penance
11. The Mission
12. River
13. Gabriel's Oboe
14. Te Deum Guarani
15. Refusal
16. Asuncion
17. Alone
18. Guarani
19. The Sword
20. Miserere

Quick Stats:
78 MB
224 kbps
http://rapidshare.de/files/24874449/ItalyCrap.rar.html
pw = Gabriel

Somebody posted a lot of links to Arabic

music in the comments to the entry on the, H. Aram Gulezyan - "Music of the Near East: The Oud" post from May 23.


Make sure you look around the http://www.mazajy.com/users/ link he also provided. Lots of stuff there too.

Thanks Mr. Anonymous.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Upset Special! France over Brazil

You heard it here first. It's my prediction. If I'm wrong, I can just delete the post. I never said it.
The internet is magic like that.