Myra Davies: "Cities and Girls" (Moabit, 2008)

"Girls & Cities“ is the fourth collaboration between Colorado based poet Myra Davies and Berlin based producer and Monika label owner Gudrun Gut. The first three albums were called "Miasma, "Miasma 2“ and "Miasma 3“ and the band also played live under the name "Miasma“. For the third album, the two decided to release it only under the name of Myra Davies with Gudrun Gut acting as the producer. As another novelty, Gut is not the sole producer for Myra Davies, but Danielle de Picciotto and Alexander Hacke (the latter of Einst¸rzende Neubauten) as well as Beate Bartel (of Liaison Dangereuse) also each added their production skills to one song.

The non-Gut produced tracks are also the best ones on the album. On "Stuff“, De Picciotto and Hacke serve Davies with a very melodic piano and accordion based composition over which Davies tells her thoughts about greed and human's obsession with keeping and storing "stuff“. Bartel on the other hand has a slightly oriental tinged tune in store for a story about Viatnemese coffee on "Hanoi“. To be honest, the Gudrun Gut procuced tunes are mostly not spectacular so a lot depends on the lyrics and the stories Davies tells. And those vary in quality, but are overall quite good. The one about William S. Burroughs is very nice and atmospheric. "Rain“ for example doesn't live up to it and neither does "Qatar“ even though Davies' vocals have a nice rhythm to them (sort of like Last Poets or other pre-rap groups).

Excellent pieces overall are especially the last three ones. They begin with "Worm“ which features good lyrics and good music having a very old-time feel to it. Following comes "Calgary“, a piece about Calgary (ca. 1900) being compared to European cities which is based on a poem of E. Pauline Johnson and music by Carrie Jacobs bond. The album ends with "Goodbye Belfast“, again very old-timey with samples of Irish traditional songs and words about Ireland. Also the 60s inspired "My Friend Sherry“ is quite excellent although the refrain doesn't quite fit in. Accompaying the album comes "The Girl Suite“ EP to serve as a teaser. It also contains "My Friend Sherry“ and a different version of "Drill“. There are also two exclusive tracks to the EP, entitled "Love“ and "Valkyrie“ both of which are alright, but not as good as the tunes on the "Cities & Girls“ CD.

http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=3761

Pinacoteca 006: Domenico Beccafumi - "El Matrimonio Místico de Sta.Caterina" (1521)

Filmoteca 005: Stan Brakhage - "Mothlight" (1963)

Biblioteca 006: Leskov / Turguéniev

Una lady Macbeth de Mtsensk / El rey Lear de la estepa
N. S. Leskov / I. S. Turguéniev

Cualquier conocedor de Shakespeare se preguntará qué hacen dos personajes como Lady Macbeth y el rey Lear en medio de la estepa rusa del siglo XIX, y de qué manera habrán logrado Leskov y Turguéniev integrarlos en un escenario aparentemente ajeno a ellos y al contexto en el que estamos acostumbrados a verlos. Pues es bien sencillo: el amor, los celos, el deseo, la ambición desmedida, el honor, la traición… son los conceptos universales que sustentan estas dos historias, sea cual sea el lugar y el tiempo en el que se desarrollen. Las pasiones que atormentan al ser humano son las mismas en los castillos de la Inglaterra medieval y en las haciendas de la Rusia rural prerrevolucionaria. Los espléndidos relatos de Leskov y Turguéniev, dos escritores muy distintos tanto en su forma de ver la vida como en su prosa, son buena muestra de ello.

http://www.akal.com/libros/Una-lady-Macbeth-de-Mtsensk-El-rey-Lear-de-la-estepa/9788446026914

Impulse! - Discografía Completa

9000 Series - A 1

KAI WINDING & J.J. JOHNSON

"The Great Kai & J.J." (1960)

Músicos:
J.J. Johnson - Trombón

Kai Winding - Trombón

Bill Evans - Piano

Paul Chambers - Bajo

Roy Haynes - Batería

Tommy Williams - Bajo

Art Taylor - Batería .

This Impulse set (which was given the catalog number of A-1 when it first came out) was the first recorded reunion of trombonists J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding. Given a straight reissue on CD (the original liner notes are reproduced so small as to be largely unreadable), the music still sounds fresh and lively. With pianist Bill Evans, either Paul Chambers or Tommy Williams on bass and Roy Haynes or Art Taylor on drums, the two trombonists are in melodic and witty form on such tunes as "This Could Be the Start of Something Big," "Blue Monk," "Side by Side" and the "Theme from Picnic." Recommended.

http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/artist/releases/default.aspx?pid=9526&aid=2802

Blue Note: Discografía Completa

78rpm Series:

BN1

Meade "Lux" Lewis: "Melancholy / Solitude" (1939)

12" 78rpm

Meade "Lux" Lewis (p)
probably WMGM Studio, NYC, January 6, 1939
tk.11 (444-11)
Melancholy
tk.12 (443-12)
Solitude

Primer disco publicado por el legendario sello Blue Note.

Se trata de un 12 pulgadas a 78 rpm, con dos temas de Meade "Lux" Lewis, pianista de Chicago nacido en 1905, uno de los grandes del boogie-woogie.

Estos dos temas se pueden encontrar en el recopilatorio "The First Day", que recoge diversos sencillos de Albert Ammons y el propio Meade "Lux" Lewis para el sello Blue Note.

The Jayhawks (Bunkhouse Records,1986)

Este es el primer álbum de los Jayhawks, conocido como Bunkhouse Album debido al nombre de la compañía que lo publicó en su momento. El disco es una auténtica rareza, ya que no pasó del ámbito local. En él se pueden observar, de manera mucho más pura, las principales influencias de Olson y Louris, como los Byrds o los Flying Burrito Bothers.

http://chico-cachalote.blogspot.com/2007/04/jayhawks-bunkhouse-album-1986.html

Biblioteca 005: Cormac McCarthy - "La Carretera" (2006)

"La carretera" (En inglés: The Road) es una novela escrita en 2006 por el escritor estadounidense Cormac McCarthy, creador de otras novelas como No es país para viejos y Ciudades en la llanura. "La carretera" ha sido galardonada con el Premio Pulitzer 2007 en la categoría de ficción.
La novela cuenta una historia post-apocalíptica sobre un viaje emprendido por un padre y su hijo a través de parajes que fueron destruidos años atrás durante un cataclismo no especificado que destruyó toda la civilización y la mayor parte de la vida sobre la Tierra. Con un lenguaje directo y descriptivo, que no ahonda en introspecciones psicológicas, McCarthy genera una historia fluida y breve a través de la cual engloba una profunda metáfora sobre la actualidad, así como bordea, indirectamente, concepciones profundas del comportamiento humano y sus características.
Obtenido de "http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_carretera"

Stax Singles (STA0025): Eddie Floyd - "I've Got To Have Your Love"

Canción compuesta por Steve Cropper junto al propio Eddie Floyd, y producida igualmente por el primero.

Se publicó como sencillo en 1969, ocupando la cara B el tema "Girl I Love You".

The Animals: "The Complete Animals 1964-65" (EMI, 1990)

Doble CD que recoje todas las canciones producidas por Mickie Most, incluyendo material previamente no editado e, incluso, un anuncio para la radio en el cual los miembros de la banda desean muchos años a las hordas de fanáticos animales. En "The Complete Animals" encontramos las 40 piezas que grabaron durante el periodo comprendido entre abril del 64 y octubre del 65.

Con simplicidad exquisita, sin edulcoración ni ornamentación, figuran las versiones de piezas de Ray Charles (el gran ídolo de Burdon): "Hallelujah I Love Her So", "I Believe To My Soul" o "Talkin' 'Bout You". Maravillosas lecturas de John Lee Hooker: "Boom Boom", "I'm Mad Again"... Recreaciones de clásicos de Chuck Berry: "Around And Around" o "Memphis Tennessee". Y devora interpretaciones de piezas de Sam Cooke, Fats Domino y Bo Diddley, encontramos las canciones escritas por Burdon y Alan Price: "I'm Crying", "Club-A-GoGo" o la valiosa "For Miss Caulker". Un recorrido frenético y delicioso con cargo a una de las más estimulantes bandas de rhythm and blues de los años 60 .

West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band: "Volume 1" (1965-67)

Primer y rarisimo disco de los West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, grabado en Beverly Hills entre el '65 y el '67. Una buena dosis de garage, psicodelia y pop.

Volume One was the first album recorded by the influential psychedelic rock band, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. The album was first released in 1966 on the small record label, FIFO, before being reissued on compact disc in 1997 by the recording label Sundazed. The album features covers of popular songs from the mid 1960's such as Richard Berry's Louie, Louie and The Kinks' You Really Got Me. The songs mellow out into a blues/folk style with covers of Bob Dylan songs.

Bob Markley - vocals
Shaun Harris - bass guitar
Dan Harris - guitar, vocals
Michael Lloyd - guitar, vocals
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volume_One_(West_Coast_Pop_Art_Experimental_Band_album)"

Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars (Mobile Fidelity, 1977)

The All-Stars were a dream aggregation of Levon Helm's favourite musicians, including names like Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John), Paul Butterfield, Booker T. Jones, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Steve Cropper, Tom Malone, Alan Rubin and the two old-timers Henry Glover and Fred Carter from the Hawks-period. Only one track, "Blues So Bad", was written by Levon himself. The songs, recorded partly at Shangri-La and partly at Levon's own RCO studio in Woodstock, were mostly good-time, bar-band rhythm and blues, disappointing Band fans that still were hoping for material more like the early Band albums. Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars stopped at #142 on the album chart, despite several innovative attempts to promote the album, including a mega release party and some very memorable live dates with the All-Stars.

From http://theband.hiof.no/albums/rco_all_stars.html

"The Biggest Dancehall Anthems 1979-82" (Greensleeves, 2002)

An unmatched collection of the biggest, most-legendary hits forged when a rugged new mood and a tough, stripped-down, new sound came to dominate the music of Jamaica. A sound that they named Dancehall.

Dancehall was just what it claimed to be: a music to take Jamaicans back to the ghetto dances, back to the birthplace of all that was great in reggae, back home - where it remains to this day.

Dancehall was the swinging sound of the ghetto: more importantly, it was a sound driven by the ghetto's youth; a sound to capture the mood of the day; a sound that took you far beyond the front line.

By the late 1970's Jamaican music was ripe for re-invention: the revolutionary zeal of Rasta had declined into orthodoxy and convention while Lovers Rock sometimes seemed tepid and pale.

Dancehall emerged at a time when many international record companies were trying to water Reggae down with a romanticized, pastoral 'roots' sound that was a million miles away from the fire of Tubby's, Randys, Studio One or any of the great Jamaican studios.

As much as anyone, these new artists were represented by Barrington Levy and the new ghetto producers were epitomised by Henry "Junjo" Lawes. When 'Shine Eye Gal' hit the stores, it moved like a runaway train. The core sound of this new revolution was a distillation of Junjo's production magic, The Roots Radics' rhythms and the whole Channel One vibes with Junjo at the helm and Scientist on the mix.

As much as anything Dancehall represented a change in flavour, a new mood for a new generation of artists. Here was a sound that arrived straight off the plane, fresh out of the ghetto. It was here: flash, brash, independent and on our streets TODAY. It was all happening faster than before and the established stars of the day were quick to catch the vibes. Alongside the new stars like Toyan, Yellowman, and Eek-A-Mouse artists like John Holt, The Wailing Souls and Johnny Osbourne would see their careers scale new heights over the thunderous drive of the new Dancehall vibe.

From http://www.reggaeplanet.com/p/dancehall-anthems-cd/

Broken Flag Records: BF01 Ramleh - "31/5/1962-1982"

Comenzamos nuestro repaso al tremendo sello Broken Flag, fundado por Gary Mundy para dar salida a las grabaciones de Ramleh y Skullflower, dos formaciones de las que formaba parte.
Este es sin duda un sello no apto para corazones débiles. La mayoría de sus referencias salieron exclusivamente en cassette, menos algunos LPs.

Esta es la primera referencia del sello, publicada en 1982.

Tracklisting:
A1 Suction (3:03)
A2 Throatsuck (5:39)
A3 Deathtoll (4:08)
B1 Ramleh (5:10)
B2 May 31 (9:38)
B3 1962 (8:54)

Helms Alee: "Night Terror" (Hydra Head, 2008)

Hailing from Seattle, Helms Alee are a three-piece consisting of two women and one dude, that masculine entry being a former member of post-hardcore units Harkonen and briefly of These Arms Are Snakes. (The name Helms Alee, for anyone who may care, is a nautical term. I learned that in all my years in the Merchant Marine. Or maybe I just looked it up.) Despite their self-description as simply "rock," Helms Alee isn’t the Motorhead-esque type of band that immediately sprang to my mind—they’re not amphetamine-fueled speed or bluesy classic rock redux. Helms’ particular brand of indie-influenced metallic rock exhibits the artier side of hardcore, that edgy awkwardness of riff coupled here with a healthy dose of shoegaze dreaminess and copious amounts of weighty post-metal atmosphere. At times, Harkonen themselves are an apt comparison, and at other times, particularly during the shoegaze moments, Helms drifts from that band's hardcore stylings. This is dissonant riffing topped by Pixies-ish male/female vocal trade-offs, and both performed at a deliberate pounding pace, even when the music is "rocking."

Night Terror is the band’s first full-length, following a self-titled EP a year or so back, many of the songs from which are reprised here. This latest and longest endeavor is an interesting ride, starting with the instrumental intro "Left Handy Man Handle," with its dirty bass riff that slides into a repetitive 7/8 descending figure that in turn morphs into (and out of) hanging surf-rock tremolo chords. After that, Helms Alee run through a variety of brash indie-rock guitar lines, pounding rhythms, fuzzy Kyuss-like bass tones and those dueling loud/soft, brash/sweet vocals. Where the album lets me down somewhat is in the songs themselves—there’s not one particular track that stands out. The whole thing ebbs and flows, goes up and goes down, but never does any individual song reach out and grab me as a fully developed sub-section of the whole, as anything more than just another verse in some thirty-minute long opus that doesn’t quite coalesce when all is screamed and done. Before anyone scoffs: I don’t require radio singles, from this band or any other, but Night Terror suffers a bit from "one giant song" syndrome, which is another way of saying, "This song is good, but gets a bit old after thirty minutes and ninety different sections, only about twelve of which stand out." Only the intro track, the busy riffing of "Big Spider," and the devastating fuzz-bass in "Paraphrase" really reach out and grab me, and all three of those are arguably the most "riffy" moments of anything on hand. (In its best moments, "Paraphrase" is especially powerful.)All in all, regardless of catchy songcraft (or more often, regardless of a lack of it), I don’t think Night Terror is a record the vast majority of metal-heads will immediately "get," and thus I don’t think it’s one the vast majority of them will love. But I do think that, like most everything released on Hydra Head, it’s a worthwhile listen—if perhaps not an essential one—and especially so for those with a penchant for indie-rock or for those interested in a new twist on stoner and post-hardcore/post-metal.

From http://www.metalreview.com/Reviews/4663/Helms-Alee-Night-Terror.aspx

Filmoteca 004: Marcel Duchamp - "Anemic Cinema" (1926)

This characteristically dada film by Marcel Duchamp consists of a series of visual and verbal puns with nonsense phrases inscribed around rotating spiral patterns, creating an almost hypnotic effect.

Pinacoteca 005: Roy Lichtenstein - "Haystacks #1" (1969)

Shelby Lynne: "Just a Little Lovin' " (Lost Highway, 2008)

Shelby Lynne hasn’t remained in one place for very long. It matters very little, however, whether the alterations to her style were driven by her own creative instincts or by the whims of the record labels for which she has recorded. The bottom line is that the twists and turns that she increasingly has taken with her work — as well as the ups and downs that went right along with them — aren’t terribly different from the pathways that Dusty Springfield had followed over the course of the 30-odd years she spent in the music business. In fact, coming in the wake of her 2005 effort Suit Yourself — on which she not only offered the country-soul tune I Cry Everyday but also collaborated with songwriter/guitarist Tony Joe White — Lynne’s latest sojourn Just a Little Lovin’ makes perfect sense.
Tackling nine songs that her predecessor had interpreted in her prime while adding one new composition, Lynne uses Just a Little Lovin’ to pay tribute to Springfield without completely copping the British interpreter’s hit-seeking approach. Although she draws mostly from Springfield’s foray into R&B — several of the album’s tracks were culled from the seminal 1969 outing Dusty in Memphis — Lynne’s country-imbued roots as well as her pop-oriented aspirations are never far from reach. The duo undeniably are kindred spirits, but Lynne subtly turns the tables by singing most of the material with an air of sad, desperate longing rather than one of tender seduction. Even the once-perky single I Only Want to Be with You is given a relaxed, melancholy framework.
Unfortunately, Just a Little Lovin’ never quite succeeds in its mission, though, at the same time, it also never completely fails. The problems with the album stem almost entirely from the arrangements that surround Lynne’s voice. It’s expected that they would be polished and precise, with each note fitting squarely into a predetermined and proper place. Nevertheless, there remains a lifeless, generic quality to many of them, and this inevitably sinks at least a portion of the affair. On You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, for example, the music is so polite that it sounds as if Lynne is conjuring Barbra Streisand rather than Dusty Springfield, and the umpteenth rendition of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s The Look of Love might as well have been recorded by Diana Krall.

There’s no doubt that Just a Little Lovin’ was designed specifically to showcase Lynne’s commanding vocal presence, and fortunately, it largely achieves this goal. Sounding a lot like the version of Joss Stone that was revealed on The Soul Sessions — as opposed to the overly emotive diva that has turned up ever since — Lynne delivers the title track and I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore with stunning perfection, her voice standing in sharp contrast to the generally unsupportive music.
The highlights of Just a Little Lovin’, however, are Breakfast in Bed and Willie and Laura Mae Jones, during which the arrangements finally engage Lynne directly. Sliding neatly into the middle of the set, these tunes provide an indication about how much promise was left unfulfilled, and they leave the listener to ponder what might have happened if Lynne had attempted to interpret Silver Threads and Golden Needles or Son of a Preacher Man. Indeed, Just a Little Lovin’ might have fared better if Lynne and producer Phil Ramone had favored inspiration over reverence.

(Written by John Metzger)

Interzona TV: The Jesus & Mary Chain - "Just Like Honey & Inside Me (Live)"

Actuación en directo emitida por la televisión británica de una de las mejores bandas de los 80 en su primera época, con Bobby Gillespie a la batería, los hermanos Reid al frente y Douglas Hart en el bajo.

Chess 1425: Gene Ammons - "Bless You / My Foolish Heart" (1950)

Éste es el primer disco editado bajo el sello Chess, un single del saxofonista Gene Ammons, y va a inaugurar nuestro repaso a la historia y la discografía completa de este sello capital en la historia del blues y del rock'n'roll.

La siguiente historia está tomada de la página: http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/chess1.html

On June 3, 1950, Leonard and Phil Chess, now the sole owners of Aristocrat Recording Corporation, changed the name of the label to Chess. They launched a new series of releases at number 1425, commemorating their family's first home in Chicago, which was located at 1425 South Karlov Street.
Of the first 8 releases on the new label (Chess 1425 through 1432), 6 used material recorded in June 1950 or earlier; they mark a transitional phase from Aristocrat to Chess. During the new label's first two years, its proprietors dipped continually, but not very systematically, into the Aristocrat archives. Meanwhile, the Aristocrat records that they had in stock kept on being distributed until January 13, 1951, when the old label was officially discontinued. Leonard and Phil Chess made ample use of older Gene Ammons sides, reissuing several of his Aristocrat singles, but showed no apparent interest in older Muddy Waters performances. Muddy's only Aristocrat-era side to be reissued on Chess during this period was his 1948 hit "I Can't Be Satisfied," hastily retitled to serve as the flip side to Chess 1514. After the middle of 1952, Aristocrat material ceased to be of interest; it would not draw attention again until Chess took up the LP in 1956.

The Chess brothers were eager to record their top-selling artist, Gene Ammons, whose May session had produced "My Foolish Heart," the label's biggest hit of the year. Jug entered the studio in August to cut four sides with the latest version of his working group: Bill Massey on trumpet, Mattthew Gee on trombone, Junior Mance at the piano, Gene Wright, bass, and Wes Landers, drums. He even got his celebrity front-line partner Sonny Stitt to participate, on baritone sax. All four sides were promptly released on two singles.

The City Lights: "El Sol" (Bittersweet, 2008)

Cuatro años han pasado desde que los australianos editaran su primer disco "Escape From Tomorrow Today", demasiado tiempo para una banda nueva que quiera consolidarse dentro de la abundantísima oferta musical actual. El caso es que sus componentes andan metidos en multitud de proyectos diferentes, aun así parece que The City Light no será un divertimento esporádico sino toda una realidad como así suscriben ellos mismos y así lo demuestran, sobre todo, con este nuevo disco, el El Sol, explicito homenaje a la sala madrileña donde presentaron su primer disco en 2004.

Comienza el disco con"Get ready" un auténtico trallazo de "power pop aguerrido" a base de guitarras radiantes a volumen alto, perfecta para escuchar un sábado noche con el neón de la ciudad reflejado en el capó del coche que conduces. Le siguen por la misma línea "Eveyone out", "Never let you go" y "Here to stay". No hay respiro en estos primeros diez minutos en los que, los de Sydney demuestran tener aprendido el garaje rock de las clásicas bandas australianas de los 80': Radio Bridman, Hoodo Gurus, Celibate Rifles, ... aunque se perciben también en estas canciones influencias "british", sobre todo en los arreglos de guitarra.

Hasta ahora todo bien; los cánones aprendidos y perfectamente ejecutados con algún detalle de personalidad propia pero... aun queda mucho disco y el género requiere imaginación... de repente aun con el nervio metido en el cuerpo ¡¡¡ oh sorpresa !!! aparecen seguidas "Got the news today", "Anyone who is anyanyone", "Grand Pacific song" y "Take a picture of the sun" en los que se desbarata una amplio muestrario de sonidos, con innumerables matices y detalles. Las melodías de guitarra electrizantes son ahora más pausadas y reconocibles, las canciones se toman su tiempo, las emociones no son ya instantáneas... ¡¡¡ aquí hay más cosas !!! ¡¡¡ y buenas !!! Consiguen por tanto de forma eficaz y sin grandes sobresaltos llevarnos por otros terrenos (no fáciles).

Se van colando con naturalidad punteos luminosos, pianos, trompetas y saxofones, coros y voces dobladas casi en susurro, guitarras acústicas... sonidos fronterizos, ecos de la costa oeste, medios tiempos hipnóticos... el sábado noche se ha convertido en despunte de madrugada dominical y las luces ahora se reflejan inconcretas.

El viaje se cierra con una vuelta a las guitarras instantáneas, un curioso"Spy theme 3" un instrumental hipnótico que se mueve como anécdota entre "Endless sandman" de Metallica y The Shadows, y "You aint' heard the last of us", particular homenaje a The Clash en su última época, la de "Sandinista".

Reseña tomada de http://elconfiscadordesonajeros.blogspot.com/2008/10/cityt-lights-el-sol-bittersweet.html