Snowy Red- The Right To Die

Snowy Red was the one man synth project of Marcel Thiel, aka Micky Mike. 1982's The Right to Die is his darkest, most synth heavy LP, bearing a resemblance to work by The Normal, John Foxx or early Gary Numan. Highlights include the tracks Euroshima (Wardance) and Lies In Your Eyes.

Basically, all of your Bret Easton Ellis soundtrack dreams come true....

http://www.zshare.net/download/53416214d101ce58/

Another Day At The Office...

Edan- Beauty & The Beat

Edan Portnoy is quoted as attempting to "put Syd Barrett's face on Biz Markie's body" with Kool G. Rap's brain" On his 2005 long player, Beauty & The Beat, he synthesizes these disparate influences to create a psychedelic masterpiece. Edan is the both the producer and rapper here, managing to create music with a playfulness, wordplay and savvy sampling not seen since The Beastie Boys's Paul's Boutique. Some of the artists sampled here include Iron Butterfly, Harumi, the Hollies, Pink Floyd, Lee Austin, The Small Faces and The Dells. The style is fast rapping, from the glory days of Prince Paul, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane and Kool G. Rap, but through a kaleidescope of coloured smoke, arriving at a sound that is wholly unique. Edan's delivery is a fantastic and boastful style, comparable to the genre's forefathers like Sport or Prince Paul.

Collaborators here include Insight, Percee-P, Dagha and Mr. Lif. some vocal samples include dialogue from Rudy Ray Moore's The Human Tornado and an early sixties interview with David Bowie. The album is worth checking out just for the track Rock And Roll, basically Sabbath meets hip hop, I dare you to find a heavier hip hop track that doesn't suck (think Judgment Night OST rather than Korn or some bullshit). You will not be able to stop listening to this.


http://bardoscolombia.blogspot.com/2008/05/edan-beauty-and-beat-2005.html

RECORD STORE DAY

For you vinyl freaks:




Tomorrow 4/18/09 is National RECORD STORE DAY!


check your local indie record shop for participation:
http://www.recordstoreday.com/Venues?state=CA

They definitely appreciate your patronage.

Here is a list of exclusive releases for Record Store Day:

ARTIST	TITLE/FORMAT	NOTES/OTHER STUFF TO KNOW
Arthur Russell	"Love Is Taking Me" 2LP	2LP (RSD exclusive)
Black Kids	Wizard of Ahhhs 10"	first time on physical format
Black Moth Super Rainbow	Born on a Day 7"	Two tracks from the forthcoming studio recorded album, Eating Us
Blitzen Trapper	"War is Placebo/Booksmart"	7" - two exclusive tracks w/die cut sleeve
Bob Dylan	7"--"Dreaming of You"/"Down Along the Cove"	tracks recorded live at Bonnaroo; packaged in clear sleeve with 3x5 photo
Booker T	"Warped Sister/Reunion Time" 7"	7"
Bruce Springsteen	7" "What Love Can Do"/"A Night With The Jersey Devil"	packaged in clear sleeve with 3x5 photo
Camera Obscura	"French Navy" 7"	7" (RSD exclusive)
Chicha Libre & Dengue Fever	Primavera En La Selva / Genjer Genjer (Split 7" Single)	exclusive RSD Release
Cold War Kids	Live at Fingerprints	Live at Fingerprints 5 song EP
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young	Deja Vu Live 2LP	Companion vinyl to the DVD
Dead Weather	Hang You From the Heavens 7"	Jack White's new band! The debut release from both the Dead Weather and Third Man Records
Def Jam 25: Volume 1 and 2	4 LP gatefold history of Def Jam, only physical version of this piece is for indies	4 LP gatefold history of Def Jam, only physical version of this piece is for indies
Depeche Mode	7" "Wrong"/"Oh Well"	7"
Dr. Dog/Floating Action	Split 7"	7" - exclusive
El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez	“Cryptomnesia”	Limited Edition Vinyl for RSD (3,000 pieces)
Elvis Costello*	"Complicated Shadows"/"Dirty Rotten Shame" picture disc	"Dirty Rotten Shame" is exclusive track--previously unreleased
Flaming Lips/Black Keys	split 7" "Borderline"/"Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles"	7" Borderline/Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles
Flight of the Conchords	"Pencils In The Wind"/"Albi The"	7" - two exclusive tracks w/die cut sleeve
Grateful Dead	T-Shirt	exclusive design for Record Store Day
Grizzly Bear	Live on KCRW 7"	two tracks, "While You Wait For The Others"/"He Hit Me"
Guided By Voices	Hold On Hope LP	Three bonus tracks
Jane's Addiction	7" "Mountain Song" / "Standing in the Shower…Thinking"	7" Mtn. Song/Standing In The Shower- Packaged in original replica picture sleeve
Jenny Lewis/Elvis Costello	7" --"Carpet Baggers"/"Go Away"	Never before available in the US
Jesus Lizard	9 x 7" pack	A pack of nine 7"s
King Crimson	40th Anniversary Tour Box	exclusive for Record Store Day
Leonard Cohen	7" "The Future/"Suzanne"	tracks recorded live in London, packaged in clear sleeve with 3x5 photo
Lykke Li/El Perro Del Mar	7" "After Laughter (Comes Tears)" / "At Your Best (You are Love)"	Made exclusively for Record Store Day featuring two unreleased cover songs.
Mastodon	T-Shirt	exclusive design for Record Store Day
MC 5	7" "Kick Out The Jams"/"Motor City Is Burning"	Packaged in the original rare picture sleeve, first time available since 1969
Metric	"Help I'm Alive" 7" Picture disc	"Help I'm Alive"/"Help I'm A B-Side"
Misfits	Walk Among Us LP	Pressed on 140 gram vinyl
Modest Mouse*	7" --"Satelite Skin"/"Guilty Cocker Spaniels"	both tracks are brand new
New Order	7" (live)	"Temptation" / "Hurt" - as and A&B side.
Neil Young	Sugar Mountain Live at Canterbury House 1968 2LP	The special vinyl package
Oasis	Falling Down Remix LP	Falling Down Remix LP
Obits	"I Can't Lose/Military Madness" 7"	7" - two exclusive tracks w/die cut sleeve
Pavement	"Live in Germany 1988" LP	unreleased show from 1988
Pretenders	"Break Up The Pavement"/Love's…" 7"	7" - one unrelased track, and track from new album on red vinyl
Queen EP	Queen's First EP	Limited Edition, Numbered CD for the first time in the US
Rivers Cuomo	Live @ Fingerprints CD and CD/DVD Combo	Live @ Fingerprints CD and CD/DVD Combo
Russian Circles/These Arms Are Snakes	Split !2	Previously Unreleased songs on Clear Vinyl (1,000 pieces)
Silversun Pickups	Pikul 12"	exclusive release ahead of their new album
Slayer	7" single "Psychopathy Red"	packaged in special X-Files-style, "confidential" packaging
Sonic Youth/Beck	split 7"	split 7" (RSD exclusive)
Sonic Youth/Jay Reatard	split 7"	split 7" (RSD exclusive)
Talking Heads	77 LP [reissue]	Pressed on 180 gram vinyl
The Decemberists	7" "The Rake's Song"/"East India Lanes"	B-side, "East India Lanes" is unreleased
The Smiths	7" "The Headmaster Ritual" /"Oscillate Widly"	Never before available in the US as a 7" single.
The Stooges	7" "1969"/"Real Cool Time"	Packaged in the original rare picture sleeve
Tom Waits	"Live from the Glitterdome" 7"	7" - live tracks from Atlanta & Edinburgh
Various artists	Records Toreism LP	tracks from Mountain Tortoise, Trans Am, White Hills, Double Dagger
Various artists	So Indie It Hurts: ROIR Rocks! Vol. One	exclusive RSD Release
Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs	It’s Blitz LP	vinyl version of forthcoming Yeah Yeah Yeahs CD

Lee Austin: Screwdriver

This little gem is a piece of funk from James Brown's hairdresser (!), Lee Austin.
Let your soul glo...

The Left Banke: Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina LP

The Left Banke – Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina
"Thoughts that raised my mind, just pushed aside
All the chances there, that we once had"
The Left Banke's first LP, 1967's Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina has the dubious honor of being one of the most haunting, well orchestrated and melodious albums of the 60's; while being consistently overlooked as the compelling and rewarding listening experience the album offers as a whole.
The Left Banke are best remembered for the lush, ornate sound of their first two singles, which their debut LP is named for. Yet Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina is rarely celebrated as a whole listening experience, with most sixties music fans being at a loss when asked to recall non-title tracks from the album. Today, albums such as The Beach Boy's Pet Sounds and Love's Forever Changes are critically hailed as required listening from beginning to end. Both Brian Wilson and Arthur Lee have enjoyed recent successes with their Pet Sounds and Forever Changes tours, respectively, yet the Left Banke are confined to the remembrances of obscure blog pages and back issues of pop magazines. Yet comparisons to both Love and the Beach Boys are also unavoidable.
The Left Banke's principal songwriter and arranger, Michael Brown (née Michael Lookofsky), was a driven young prodigy who created perfect pop arrangements, employing the use of instruments and concepts unique to pop music; including harpsichord, a string quartet and minor keyed melodies coupled with traditional rock music instrumentation to create a singular new sound. Vocalist Steve Martin Caro's vibrant, unpretentious and soaring approach to singing was also an unmistakably vital contribution to what makes the Left Banke sound so special. One of the most remarkable things about the maturity and depth of the songs on the Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina album is the youth of the Left Banke's members, Michael Brown was merely 15 years old when he wrote both the Walk Away Renee and Pretty Ballerina singles.
Yet the potential of the group to fully reap the success of their melancholy, pocket symphony pop sound was hampered by internal struggles within the ranks; caused by disagreements with other band members over the merits of touring and the presence of Michael Brown's father, Harry Lookofsky, as their manager (Brian Wilson anyone?) Toward the end of the group's existence, there were two different incarnations of the group calling themselves the Left Banke, the Michael Brown camp and those disgruntled with Lookofsky having relegated them to sidemen rather than members of an equal partnership.
The Left Banke developed their sound during an uncommon period in the music industry, where pop music was still open to musical experimentation and risks could still be taken. A sort of mini-movement coincided with their short stint on the upper end of the pop chart, labeled "baroque pop." Other practitioners/ peers in this new field of pop included such canonized acts as the Zombies, The Turtles, The Association, the Byrds and even the Beatles.
Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina LP's influence on other musical groups is undeniable, and their many fans include R.E.M., Jans Leckman, Air and The Flaming Lips. The Left Banke's Walk Away Renee/ Pretty Ballerina deserves to be recognized as on of the truly great albums of the late 60's, alongside with other such celebrated albums as Pet sounds, Forever Changes, The Notorious Byrd Brothers, Revolver and the like.

Les Sinners- Vox Populi

Vox Populi translates as "Voice of the People," but most of the people aren't hip to Les Sinners...which is unfortunate. It isn't the most psyched out, the most out there, or the coolest 60's record....but there is something about it. Imagine The Who's Sell Out LP, francophone style. It is very pop, but there are plenty of fuzzed out guitars and hypnotic pulses that take it out of the realm of, say Herman's Hermits. The majority of the Vox Populi LP is sung in French,but is pretty far above most French music at the time, exceptions being Michel Polnareff, Jacques Dutronc and early Serge Gainsbourg. What's really interesting is that Les Sinners aren't even French, but are from Quebec. How many Quebecois psych pop bands do you know of? (The Haunted and The Ugly Ducklings are actually two more amazing Quebecois psych groups.)

The first track, C'est L'Espoire D'une Vox Populi (It's the Hope of the People) seems to actually be a section from what can best be described as French "raga rock," kind of a trancey, repetitive song commenting on the everyday and how different types of people react to their surroundings (I know, deep!). The song is cut into segments and is peppered in between the songs on the album. These interstitial tracks are probably the most "psychedelic" part of the record.

One standout track is Le Fou De Roi (The King's Fool). which is just amazing. It is the best parts of the early Who, Kinks, great drum fills, amazing vocals, really upbeat, sounds good, right?

The other killer track is Devoir Partir (Don't You Run Away); killer fuzz guitar, great arrangements, almost sounds like Clinic or (again) early tracks by The Who like "I Can See For Miles" or "Jaguar." There's an underlying melancholy, but it is totally upbeat and driving. Other similar bands that come to mind include Q65, The Outsiders or The Yardbirds.

What is really great about the Vox Populi album is that almost every song is really solid, which was rare at this point in the sixties, where the majority of albums wee driven by singles, with filler to fill up the rest of the LP. This album was part of a trend to change that, with albums like Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band obviously at the forefront of this change in the way albums were conceived. There are some more ballad-esque songs like Depuis Longtemps Deja (The Days Are Gone), which are great, similar to more mellow tracks from The Outsiders or an early Dylan goes electric type of sound. Then there are songs like "Monsieur Ding Ding," a real bouncy, humorous song about some really cool fellow named Mr. Ding Ding, who everybody apparently needs to meet. Their main songwriter/singer Francois Guy has a really cool voice and a really unique outlook on the subject matter of his songs. Guy totally projects this almost adolescent innocence to his singing and lyrics while at the same time being very clever and satirical.

Anyway, do yourself a favor and listen to Vox Populi by Les Sinners. There are vinyl copies on ebay, but they can be kinda pricey (mine costs a little more than I'd like to admit ;))

There are a couple of sites online with download links, like these:

http://mza-garage.blogspot.com/2008/09/les-sinners-vox-populi-can-1968.html

or

http://chocoreve.blogspot.com/2008/01/les-sinners-les-sinners.html


I am NOT condoning using these sites for a download, I'm just sayin..

Until next time, Allons y Alonzo!

Lieutenant E.