arDATE = new Array( "September/October 2006" ) arARTIST = new Array( "Elephant Pixel", "The Album Leaf", "Dntel", "Loess", "bitcrush", "The Workhouse", "gel-sol", "Languis", "For Against", "Another Electronic Musician", "Osaka", "Deux Filles", "Sergio Mendes and the New Brasil '77", "Dorothy Logan", "Recordio One-Off records", "Virgin Prunes", "Rosie and the Originals", "The Robins", "Santo & Johnny", "Sylvia Syms", "O Yuki Conjugate", "thefatrooster", "hungryhippo1970", "Small Cruel Party", "General Strike", "Hiller/Isaacson/Baker", "The Hafler Trio", "Miles Davis", "Languis", "Various Artists", "Hovercraft", "Pilot", "Mark Lane", "Gescom", "Gimmik" ) arTRACK = new Array( "1. Glass (Chegoku Remix)", "A1. Project Loop", "7. Why I'm So Unhappy", "B1. Alt.Tone.Two", "1. Post (9:05)", "A. John Noakes", "5. Numby Numbs", "4. I Forgot I Forgot", "B1. Amen Yves", "A1. H+", "B1. Apu", "A1. The Letter", "Side A", "Side B", "10. Eat To LIve", "A1. Baby Turns Blue", "Side A", "Side A", "Side A", "Side A", "A1. Kyrie", "thefatrooster", "hungryhippo1970", "Side C", "A4. Baby Cart to Hell", "A3. Illiac Suite for String Quartet, 3rd Movement", "A. Soundtrack To 'Alternation, Perception, And Resistance' - A Comprehension Exercise", "A2. Black Satin", "6. Countryside", "A4. Hit By A Truck - Crash '84", "A. Stereo Specific Polymerization", "Side A", "1. Quest", "Tracks 60 - 69", "Mignon(1993)" ) arTITLE = new Array( "Folk, Lysergia, Computers", "In An Off White Room", "Life is Full of Possibilities", "3D Concepts, Part 2", "In Distance", "Split Single", "Gel-Sol 1104", "Other Desert Cities EP", "In The Marshes", "Use", "Brandon Whiskey", "Silence and Wisdom", "The Real Thing", "Small Town Man", "One of One", "If I die, I Die", "Angle Baby", "Smokey Joe's Cafe", "Sleep Walk", "About A Quarter TO Nine", "Scene In Mirage", "thefatrooster", "hungryhippo1970", "Anodyne Effect of Habit", "Danger In Paradise", "Computer Music from the University of Illinois", "Alternation Perception and Resistance", "On The Corner", "Unithematic", "Plow!", "Hovercraft", "Magic", "The Reflection", "Gescom", "News From the Past" ) arLABEL = new Array( "igloo", "Troubleman Unlimited", "Plug Research", "Toytronic", "n5MD", "Awkward Silence", "em:t", "pehr", "Independent Project", "n5MD", "Jonathon Whiskey", "Papier Mache", "Elektra", "Drexel", "Dish Recordings", "Rough Trade UK", "Highland", "Spark", "Canadian American", "Rori", "A-Mission", "thefatrooster", "hungryhippo1970", "self-produced", "Touch", "Heliodor", "L.A.Y.L.A.H.", "Columbia", "Simball Sounds", "Oraganik", "Repellent", "EMI", "Artwerk", "OR/Touch", "Toytronic" ) arFORMAT = new Array( "CD", "10-Inch", "CD", "LP", "CD", "7-inch", "CD", "CD", "10-inch", "CD", "7-inch", "LP", "7-inch", "78RPM", "CD", "LP", "7-inch", "78RPM", "7-inch", "7-inch", "LP", "thefatrooster", "hungryhippo1970", "Double 7-inch in special handmade box", "cassette", "LP", "LP", "LP", "CD", "LP", "10-inch", "7-inch", "Flexi", "minidisc", "mp3" ) arDESC = new Array( "Living high among a forest of skyscrapers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Franco Di Lorenzo (a.k.a. dilo and elephant pixel) works diligently in his home studio. His musical tastes and influences include indie rock, folk, idm, abstract hip-hop, minimal techno, click and electro -- all of which are represented throughout his various music productions. In 2003, Dilo (alongside Bruno De Vincenti a.k.a. Ivan Johnson) launched the cd label, zensible, featuring new artists from Argentina. In 2005, he launched his own record & netlabel, igloo. Dilo's music is currently released or forthcoming on his own labels, plus sinergy networks, unfoundsound, series, filtro, zimplism, roman-photo, spezialmaterial and others. His live and dj sets have been heard in argentina, columbia, switzlerland, usa, spain and germany -- playing alongside people like Akufen, Sonja Moonear, Someone else, Monolake, Plaid, Machine Drum and others. This was the surprise CD of the year for me. It's fucken awesome.", "When Jimmy LaValle isn't contributing to Tristeza, San Diego's artful torrent of noise, he is composing more introspective works as The Album Leaf. A veteran of such esteemed San Diego hardcore outfits as Swing Kids, The Locust, and Gogogo Airheart, LaValle shows his calm, quiet side with these mostly instrumental songs built from soothing, shimmering layers of synthesizer, guitar, strings, and percussion that fall over each other like waterfalls tumbling into murky, rippling pools. Sometimes the songs sound like they're moving backwards and forwards at the same time. This is music to fuel beautiful melancholy, the kind of songs you turn to when you want to wallow in your feelings. These pieces are less momentous in scale than Tristeza's, but equally dynamic; here, LaValle explores similar melodies and emotions, expanding small jazzy motifs into grander statements.

LaValle began pursuing this solo project in 1998 and in the fall of that year, he recorded the material for his first (and only) full-length -- more of a post-rock concerto, really -- the 10-track An Orchestrated Rise to Fall on Linkwork Records, which includes 'Once We Were' and 'Airplane.' He released the record to rave reviews in 2000 and soon returned to the studio to pursue more of his private, instrumental tone poetry and came out again with the 2001 LP One Day I Will Be on Time, a lovely study in layered guitar ambience, burbling basslines, and evocative sampling. ", "Dntel comforts himself by combining melancholy melodies with an assortment of electronic production styles, as well as enlisting friends to add vocals and guitar on some tracks. The results range from Timbaland inspired minimal techno to pop songs buried in static, cut-up acoustic guitars, sampled symphonies struggling to find somewhere to settle, found sound and blissed-out drones. This album includes vocal contributions from Chris Gunst (Beachwood Sparks, ex-Strictly Ballroom), Mia Doi Todd (solo artist, City Zen records), Meredith Figurine (Figurine), Rachel Haden (solo artist, ex-That Dog), and Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), plus guitar by Paul Larson (Athalia, ex-Strictly Ballroom) and Brian McMahan (The For Carnation, ex-Slint).", "Loess is part of the Philadelphia based 'nonresponse' collective, a group of musicians and film makers making gorgeous music and astoudning art. With the release of their first CD, they quickly climbed to the top of my list of ambient, IDM, post-rock artists. They have since released much work on notable imprints such as n5MD, JIP and Toytronic, from which this recording is culled.", "Bitcrush is the escapist solo project of Mike Cadoo (ex-Gridlock member). Contrary to his work in Gridlock and his earlier solo project as Dryft, Bitcrush strives to fuse live instrumentation with experimental electronica's glitch-centric production techniques. His debut album (entitled Enarc) on Component Records was, by the artists admission, a snapshot of his musical history thus far. Earlier this year a follow-up EP was released via n5MD sister website en:peg Digital entitled Shimmer and Fade. Shimmer and Fade featured heavily processed digital fluctuations blended with genuine percussion, shimmering guitars, interwoven dual bass guitar work and a sprinkling of vocals throughout. Bitcrush is continuing to expand upon this style of fusing emotive electronics and live instrumentation. -from the n5MD website ", "Guitar effects have been an integral part of the music scene since the mid-80s and whilst bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Jesus And Mary Chain and Kitchens Of Distinction have earned their own places in this rich history there are many others who struggle to grasp the concept of melody. On this score, The Workhouse are well ahead of the game fitting snugly between the aforementioned behemoths of rock and modern post-rock offerings such as Mogwai and Godspeed! You Black Emperor. 'Peacon' and 'John Noakes' are howling gale force-type records which are countered by the experimental centrepiece 'Stoichkov' that is juxtaposed itself with the acoustic 'Never Kill Your Dreams'. Farewells to Bolton Wanderers players are an unlikely topic for the sadness-tinged epics 'Goodbye Gudni' and 'Ricketts' but whilst the subject matter may be questionable the music quality never is, particularly when the huge wind-tunnel type melody of 'Trading Estate' takes centre stage with the apocalyptic 'The End Of The Pier' making for a powerful and thrilling finale. This is right up there with the best of the loud ethereal bands.", "The fruits of a lifetime’s musical progression by producer Andrew Reichel, gel-sol 1104, continues the label’s tradition of reinventing and advancing intelligent dance music for future generations.

A collision of sounds that at once caress and confuse the senses, this album of elegaic electronic beauty hails from Washington State, USA, as em:t continues to trawl every corner of the planet to unearth the finest talents.

Taking a lead from trailblazers like The Orb, FSOL, Plaid and Aphex Twin, yet infused with the experimental spirit of rock both kraut and prog, Gel-Sol’s album represents a stunning advance on his earlier jiva, the standout track which brought em:t’s 0004 compilation to a close.

Guided throughout by a montage of samples parodying the banality of modern life, it’s an album designed to provoke as well as entertain; how could any album featuring a track entitled schwein kuchen – Pork Cake in English be taken too seriously?

As its author admits, it represents a dichotomy, the music simultaneously minimal and complex, ambient and beat-driven, organic yet mechanical.

Going by the subtitle Music Made For You...And By You, I Mean Me, the album is five years of experimentation and fantasy made flesh and a journey full of surprises.

With work underway on a ground-breaking follow-up and dark side-project 302 Acid’s debut album in the offering; it’s time to climb on board Gel-Sol’s sonic ride. ", "The duo known as Languis -- Marcos Chloca and Alejandro Cohen -- has been making music together since 1991, when they were both classmates in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1996, they sold their guitars and amps and moved to Los Angeles, where they occasionally perform with other artists who are associated with that city's somewhat experimental, underground lo-fi electronic movement, much of it centered around the Internet-based 'dublab' collective dublab.com. Musically, Languis' recordings may remind some listeners of Stereolab's less motorik/more downbeat recordings, or Teutonic post-ambient groups like To Rococo Rot and Tarwater. However, Languis doesn't really seem to align itself with any particular style or genre, falling somewhere in the 'chill-out' side of the post-rock electronic genre, just this side of laptop techno-noir. Languis utilizes both analog and digital synthesizers, as well as various organs, samplers, sequencer, signal processors, abstract electronic percussion, and guitars (mostly acoustic) -- even vocals, some heavily processed and vocoder-y, and others barely whispered into a telephone handset -- in a uniquely refreshing and organically futurist fashion.

The first proper Languis release, Simball Sounds, was recorded on a borrowed four-track recorder at the duo's home studio and released by L.A.-based Simball Sounds Recordings (hence the title) in August 1998. Their follow-up album, Last Frequency Presets, was released in the spring of 1999. A limited-edition 7-inch single, 'Soft Music,' issued in February 2000, contained three instrumentals that were closely related to sound collage material; full of atmospherics, loops, acoustic guitar, and static rhythms. In November 2000, Languis issued Unithematic, which explored a more melodic song-based side, utilizing more vocals, acoustic guitars, and pianos than previous releases. Languis' next release, the boldly experimental 'Parallel to the Atmospheric Sound of Silence,' a split 10-inch with Safety Scissors, was issued by the Plug Research label. This recording added various elements -- hiss, noise, peaks, distortion, static, clicks, and pops -- that sound somewhat audibly influenced by Stefan Betke's recordings as Pole, using a sound-processing device called the Waldorf 4 Pole-Filter. Blevin Blectum (of Blectum From Blechdom) also contributed vocals to this recording. In 2002, the hectic and lush Untied was released. In addition to their releases on the Simball imprint, Languis has also collaborated on projects and compilations with various other electronic labels, including Phthalo Records, Tigerbeat6, Ubiquity Records, and Zealrecords. ", "For Against is one of America's most enduring and endeared independent musical ensembles, founded in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1984. The origins of For Against date back to a series of line-up changes in local Lincoln bands in the early 1980s. In 1983 guitarist Harry Dingman (formerly of Cartoon Pupils), and drummer Greg Hill formed a quartet called Glue with Liz Panarelli (bass) and John Fynbu (vocals, formerly of Hymn to Joy). Jeffrey Runnings (also from Hymn to Joy), joined the quartet on keyboards, and the group subsequently changed their name to D.B.L. Runnings had previously moved back to Lincoln from Athens, Georgia, where he had toured playing keyboards with ex-Lincoln resident Matthew Sweet. D.B.L. eventually became known as Four Against One.

After a year, Panarelli left the quintet and her departure shifted Runnings from keyboards to bass. Runnings also started to sing on a few songs, and after performing one show as the downsized quartet, Hill convinced the band to change the band name once again - this time to For Against. By the autumn of 1984, Fynbu left the band and Runnings took over as the trio's full-time singer. This line-up would remain unchanged for the next four years.

In 1985 For Against released their debut 7inch — the remarkable Autocrat / It's a Lie single on their own Republic Issue record label. 'Autocrat' weaves Dingman's Gang of Four-inspired choppy, but ingeniously precise feedback and guitar stabs through Hill and Runnings' punchy, but solid rhythm section. Runnings wryly captures the song's essence with a repetitive one-line vocal melody: 'Yeah, that's right, that's the way it is.'

The strength of this single launched a huge career withBruce Licher's Independent Projects label, and the band became part of the label's archival series of 10-inch LP releases, from which this track is culled. ", "Some artists spend their early years cutting their teeth on net labels, various compilation appearances and giveaway CDr releases. Jase Rex who records under the rather self deprecating moniker 'Another Electronic Musician' (or AEM for short) is a classic example of this type of artist. Carving away his own niche on the web for the last few years has evolved his sound with what we think could quite possibly be mathematical precision. Don't let AEM’s moniker fool you though... he’s not 'just' 'another electronic musician' but a highly skilled programmer, producer and songwriter. His evolution has brought him to a place where an infectious mixture of stark thoughtful melodies, 'minimal' style production techniques, leg quivering low-end, and firmly planted percussion flows with a serious head-nodding groove. All of which are melded together in a complex yet honest space. -from the n5MD website ", "Quiet, guitar based excusrions, reminiscent of a lower-register Durutti Column, Osaka has released a few great works. Osaka is based in France and consists of Sébastien Roué, whose solo work is also available, and Yannick Martin. I've only heard this track and their Life For Dead Spaces CD, from 2001. It's wonderful. ", "The short, mysterious career of the aptly named female French duo Deux Filles is bookended by tragedy. Gemini Forque and Claudine Coule met as teenagers at a holiday pilgrimage to Lourdes, during which Coule's mother died of an incurable lung disease and Forque's mother was killed and her father paralyzed in a grisly auto accident. The two teens bonded over their shared grief and worked through their bereavement with music. However, after recording two critically acclaimed albums and playing throughout Europe and North America, Forque and Coule disappeared without a trace in North Africa in 1984 during a trip to visit Algiers, where Forque had lived from birth to the age of five. Theories from abduction and murder to a planned disappearance to spontaneous human combustion have been floated, but in the ensuing years, not a trace of the duo has turned up except for a mysterious letter purportedly written by Coule claiming that the pair journeyed to India on a spiritual quest, only to meet with further hardships. Indeed, the short and terribly unhappy lives of Forque and Coule are at the root of the small but fervent cult following the mysterious duo have gained since their disappearance, not least because the placid, largely instrumental music on the duo's albums betrays no hint of the sorrow that framed their personal lives.

This would be a terribly sad story if a word of it were true. In reality, Deux Filles were Simon Fisher Turner, former child star/teen idol and future soundtrack composer, and his mate Colin Lloyd Tucker. Turner and Tucker left an early incarnation of The The in 1981 to pursue another musical direction. Turner claims that the idea of Deux Filles came to him in a dream, and he and Tucker strictly maintained the fiction throughout the duo's career. Not only did they pose in drag for the album covers, the duo once even played live without the audience realizing that the tragic French girls on-stage were actually a pair of blokes from south London having a giggle. Deux Filles released two albums through Turner and Tucker's Papier Mache label, 1982's Silence & Wisdom and 1983's Double Happiness. After that, the duo scrapped the Deux Filles concept and released two ambient pop albums as Jeremy's Secret.", "Sergio Mendes' group, Brasil '66, created some of the best jet set pop ever heard. For much of the last thirty years, Brasil '66 albums gathered dust in thrift store racks along side several million copies of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass' Whipped Cream and Other Delights. Then, in the mid-1990s, the lounge music movement and compilations like In Flight Entertainment reminded us what wonderful sounds were locked up in these forgotten records.

Trained at the local conservatory in Niteroi, Mendes became a versatile pianist. Starting out as a professional musician just as the roots of bossa nova were beginning to emerge, Mendes embraced the hybrid of jazz and Latin music and was soon appearing alongside Jobim and Gilberto at Rio clubs. Leading a group known as the Bossa Nova Trio, he toured Europe in 1963, playing at numerous jazz festivals. With the huge interest in bossa nova in the U.S., Mendes moved to New York in 1964 and worked with Art Farmer, Bud Shank, vocalist Wanda de Sah, Jobim, and others on bossa nova recordings.

He formed the group, Brasil '66, in late 1965, combining veteran Latin percussionists Jose Soares and Joao Palma, Bob Matthews on bass, Mendes on piano, and singer Lani Hall (who later married of Herb Alpert). (This was an entirely different group from the instrumental combo, Brasil '65, with whom he recorded albums for Atlantic and Capitol, by the way.)

Leading off their first album for A&M, their explosive cover of Jorge Ben's 'Mais Que Nada' (which roughly translates to, 'It's nothing') became their first hit. Hall (who was double-tracked on the album) and Janis Hansen (who joined when Alpert hired the group to open for the Tijuana Brass road tour) learned the lyrics phonetically, but no one needed to understand what they were singing--the upbeat rhythm and lively vocal harmonies were enough to hook American listeners. 'Mais Que Nada' soon became one of the favorite cover tunes of the period, and other Brasil '66 tunes such as 'Look Around,' 'Fool on the Hill,' and 'Constant Rain' climbed up the Top 40 charts.

The group toured alongside the Tijuana Brass and fellow label-mates the Baja Marimba Band, and was all over U.S. television variety shows. By 1968, however, Hall had left the group to pursue her own solo career and was replaced by Karen Phillips. Mendes slacked off the arranging chores and turned most over to Dave Grusin. The group attempted to mutate to adapt to the changing fashions and tastes, going from pop material like 'Going Out of My Head' and Bacharach's 'The Look of Love' (one of the best covers ever of that great tune) to Joanie Mitchell's 'Chelsea Morning' and Otis Redding's 'Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay.'

It's clear the group's work had become half-hearted and audiences could tell. In 1971, Mendes updated the group once again, to Brasil '77. By then, Janis Hansen had also left, being replaced by Gracinha Leoporace (who later married Mendes). The group did moderately well on Elektra, but disappeared from pop singles charts.

In 1982, leading a 'New' Brasil '77, Mendes re-signed with A&M and recorded several albums, garnering a Top 10 hit in 1983 with 'Never Let You Go.' He wasn't able to keep that streak going, however, and his contract lapsed after two albums.

In the early 1990s, he started yet another group, this time called Brasil '99, moving more and more into a non-pop oriented blend of funk, jazz, and Brazilian music. ", "The story of this song begins in early 1950's Chicago with a vocal group called the Gems. The Gems began around 1952, in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois. The five neighborhood friends, in their early twenties, were: Ray Pettis (tenor lead), Bobby Pee Wee Robinson (first tenor and guitar), David “Moose” Taylor (second tenor), Wilson James (baritone and bass), and Rip Reed (bass).

After a couple of years of practice, they met up with Paul King, one of the owners of Drexel records (at 7319 South Vernon Street). Another partner was Les Caldwell, but there seemed to be a third party, hidden in the shadows. Even the company itself was shadowy. The Gems never saw the company's headquarters (the address seems to have been that of Paul King), rehearsing at a friend's house and recording at Universal Recording Studios, legendary for producing the earliest recordings of the Moonglows and Flamingos.

Considering that Drexel was a small label, it's difficult to tell if songs were recorded at the same session based on the master numbers. Their first four songs have consecutive numbers, so it's possible that they were recorded on the same day. (It's just as possible that they were recorded at two different sessions). At any rate, the tunes were: 'Deed I Do,' 'You're Tired Of Love,' 'Talk About The Weather,' and 'Ol' Man River.' All four were led by Ray Pettis.

There was a blurb in the trades, dated June 5, 1954 announcing the formation of Drexel. Of course, in true music business style, they also announced that two releases were already on the market. President Paul King was described as a “Chicago businessman” and Les Caldwell (general manager and head of A&R) was 'a former salesman for King.'

On a later release, the Gems backed up Dorothy Logan on a throaty version of 'Since I Fell For You,' the A Side of this record, competing with the Harptones version [a very weak competitor...] on Bruce. This old standard penned by Buddy Johnson would be immortalized in the sixties by Lenny Welch, still in rotation today on many EZ listening stations. On this sexy blues track presented here, Dorothy Logan warns of the perils of bringing your sexy stud hard-workin backwoods boyfriend into the city of slick-chicks and stud-stealing good-for-nothing floozies - not to mention Bears. It's this song that should have been the A Side!

The Gems themselves were a spectacular group who remained hopelessly obscure because Drexel, like so many currently sought after labels, totally sucked at promoting their records and artists. It wasn't until the first rock n roll revival of the early sixties that collectors really picked up on this stuff. As such, the Drexel releases are exceedingly rare. ", "Rather than bring you an actuals 'strange' record his month, I am presenting a really unique compilation of recordings called 'One of One'. If you are a record collector, you immediately get teh joke; for decades, artists and labels strapped for cash have compensated by creating a mystique of highly desirable opbscurity and unavailability by labeling their output as 'limited, numbered edition, 100 copies only' and so on. 'One of One' pushes that to its limit by stating the records documented by this collection existed as single copies only; the owner of which owned the entire, hopelessly obscure edition of one copy.

I am referring, of course, to those objects of a time-gone-by, the recordio-gram. Recordio-grams were blanc discs invented first for use along beachside boardwalks and then for in home use to record sound on record for loved ones far away. Obviously, the advent of magnetic tape and ultimately of digital optical techniques would render this medium obsolete. Nevertheless, thousands of these historical documents can be found in thrift shops everywhere. These are moments captured in time - letters to loved ones overseas at war, first birthday parties. Taken individually, these are sappy and irrlevant, but you don't have to be much of a romantic to feel your heart tugging after listening to a collection of them.

I have not been able to find any additional nformation onthis CD, and i am surprised a second volume has not appeared. I selcted this particular track in the spirit of the Incredibly strange Theme usually posted here, as it is the oddest of the bunch...", "One of the more adventurous and avant-garde acts to rise out of the punk era, the Virgin Prunes formed in Dublin, Ireland in mid-1977. The group was led by the theatrical singer/songwriter Gavin Friday (born Fionan Hanvey in 1959), who as a teen fell in with a group of like-minded individuals who dubbed themselves the Lypton Village. While some of the social club's members, including a pair of youths named Paul Hewson and David Evans -- later known as Bono and the Edge -- went on to form the superstar group U2, the remaining members founded the less-commercial Virgin Prunes, taking their name from the local slang for so-called _outsiders_ and _freaks,_ a recurring lyrical theme.

Originally comprised of Friday, vocalists Guggi (born Derek Rowen) and Dave-id (David Watson), bassist Strongman (Trevor Rowen), drummer Pod (Anthony Murphy) and guitarist Dik (Richard Evans, the Edge's brother), the Virgin Prunes baffled audiences at their outrageous first concerts, which borrowed more from the approach of performance art than the traditions of rock music. After gaining a cult audience, they issued their first single, the independently-produced _Twenty Tens,_ which earned them a deal with the Rough Trade label. After the departure of Pod (replaced by Haa Lacka Binttii), the Virgin Prunes released _A New Kind of Beauty_, a sprawling, ambitious project made up of four interlocking chapters, released separately on the seven-inch, ten-inch, 12-inch and cassette formats, all later compiled onto a double LP.

Mary D'Nellon took over the drumming chores in time to record 1982's ...If I Die, I Die, a difficult work produced by Wire's Colin Newman which was released simultaneously with the box set Heresie, a performance-art piece which mixed studio and live recordings. In 1984 both Guggi and Dik, disenchanted with the music business, left the Virgin Prunes, prompting D'Nellon to take up the guitar and allowing Pod to return to the fold. The band then set about recording the album Sons Find Devils, which went unreleased.

When the Virgin Prunes resurfaced with 1986's The Moon Looked Down and Laughed, their music had gone through another stylistic change into melodic, ballad-driven pop, signifying Friday's increased fascination with cabaret music. He ultimately left the group in November; the liner notes of the 1987 live release The Hidden Lie contained a short statement confirming the band's break-up. The band came back reformed, having lost their virginity, as _The Prunes_. Or did they just think Gavin had fucked them over??", "The article below is excerpted from a fan's tribute website, and I have to say, I agree with most of it. This is a captivating song, and, I think, influential in a variety of subtle ways. The phrase _just like heaven_ pretty much originates in this song, and it appears in many rock songs as recently as The Cure's 'Just Like Heaven'. And her vocal styling - I'm not sure if innocent is the word I'd use. It's kind of stylized in the sex-kittenish tones of the day, and her humid adenoidal slur is the foundation for many female rock vocalists from Deborah Harry to Alison Shaw of the Cranes to Stanton Miranda (of Arsenal with Kim Gordon and of Thick Pigeon). The article below explains a lot about the record - like how it escaped onto the market with such a terrible instrumental break, and why it sounds like it was recorded in a tin can - it WAS.

This is the quintessential 45, and no one's record collection is complete without it. And I mean no-one, from the rock-n-roll purist, to the 45 RPM historian, to the kitsch-culturist, to the hippest new wave vinyl junkie to the most post-modern noisehound. There were millions pressed, so there is no excuse NOT to own one. (I even have an extra copy for sale...)

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Rosie was born in Oregon, lived in Alaska and eventually settled in Southern California in 1956. She attended Granger Jr. High School in National City, California, and was active in the glee club. It seemed that there was always music or entertainment of some sort in the Hamlin household and Rosie was exposed to a variety of genres at an early age. Her Dad played guitar and her grandfather played banjo and harmonica. Her grandfather even had a _travelling medicine show_ complete with _Hamlin's Snakebit Oil!_ Sometimes, Rosie would hide behind the couch so she could stay up and listen to them play, falling asleep to the sounds. One of her earliest memories was at the age of 4 standing on a box in her back yard pretending it was a stage and putting on a show.

When she was just 13, Rosie's friend Alfred Barrett encouraged her to enter a talent show at their junior high school. While babysitting with a friend, Rosie spotted an ad in the paper for a group looking for a singer. She called them on the phone and they asked how old she was. Rosie told them she was 16 and she proceeded to sing Dark Moon over the phone. They liked what they heard and asked her to come to their rehearsal. She had to sneak out of the house under the guise of going to a babysitting job. When she got there, Rosie had the group thinking she was 16, partly because of some make-up she borrowed from her mother. She performed with the group and was a regular with them for a while at gigs in the San Diego area including the famous Bostonia Ballroom in El Cajon, California, which was her professional debut. _My legs were shaking,_ recalls Rosie.

That year, two important things happened that would change Rosie's life forever. First, her mother bought her an old upright piano and her aunt began teaching her how to play it. She would play by-ear music she would hear on the radio. She learned old honky tonk, blues and boogie songs many of the _twelve-bar_ variety. Her uncle's girlfriend later invited some other musicians over to the house to _jam._ These guys were David Ponci (guitar), Noah Tafolla (guitar) and Tony Gomez (bass). They would eventually become the Originals with two other guys joining in and Tafolla would later become her husband.

The other important thing that happened when Rosie was 14 was her putting down to paper the classic Angel Baby. It started out as a poem about a boyfriend written in her school notebook. Later, Rosie would add the melody for it. Rosie says that the melody was not, as some have reported, based on the song Heart and Soul, although Rosie acknowledges that it was probably influenced by a number of songs that she learned to play on the piano of the _Heart and Soul_ variety. Anticipating that it could be a special song, Rosie recalls that she mailed herself a copy via certified mail to prove the date that she created it. This would turn out to be an important decision later on when she needed to prove authorship.

After a few months of jamming together and playing some shows for friends at school, the Originals decided it was time to record. But rather than drive all the way to Los Angeles, the group decided to try a local recording shop in the rural desert community of San Marcos, California - about an hour's drive away. They arrived at the place which turned out to be an abandoned airplane hanger! The owner was in the process of converting over from an airplane supply company and had airplane parts all over the place. In one corner, was his small, makeshift two-track studio. The group prepared to record. Only one problem - their sax player - Alfred Barrett hadn't arrived. After calling Barrett, they learned he wouldn't be joining them because he had to cut the grass at home! The group improvised. Noah taught the sax part to bass player Tony Gomez who had played some horn in school. The group then set off to record Angel Baby.

In all fairness, the setting wasn't the greatest - an abandoned airplane hanger, a simple two-track machine, an inexperienced sax player and probably a nervous rest of the group. It took _all day_ recalls Rosie to get what the group thought was a decent version of the song. To listen to it now, it certainly wouldn't win any awards for recording quality [he's totally being kind...the instrumental break completely sucks! LOL! Listen to it! Now I understand how it got cut that way! - Paul]. But the record is so simple and innocently-beautiful that it actually matches the lyrics and melody. It actually works as-is. Had it been taken into a studio, recorded with high quality equipment and a professional orchestra, it may not have been a hit. It probably would have been _over produced_ like many records of the time and may have been overlooked. Instead, the record is so simple and sweet, it has a unique appeal.", "This Los Angeles vocal group were the forerunners of the Coasters. They began as the Four Bluebirds in 1947, then became the Robins. Ty Terrell, Billy Richards, Roy Richards, and Bobby Nunn were the original members, with Carl Gardner and Grady Chapman adding in 1954. In 1957, Gardner and Nunn departed to form the Coasters. The Robins had two R&B Top Ten hits. _If It's So Baby_ was done with the Johnny Otis Band in 1950 for Savoy, while their best-known number, _Smokey Joe's Cafe,_ was recorded for the LA based SPARK label, as shown here in 1955. When demand outpaced the capacity of the independent Spark to meet, the mighty Atco records, the famous subsidiary of Atlantic, picked up the track. This was a prototype of the songs that became the Coasters' forte: humorous vehicles with just a dash of cultural insight. _Smokey Joe's Cafe_ was a flagship song for the astonishingly talented writing team Jerry Stoller and Mike Lieber, two Jewish boys who seemed to have their finger on the pulse of black culture enough to write songs that jelled with the community. Prominent black artists who recorded Leiber and Stoller songs included Charles Brown (_Hard Times_), Bull Moose Jackson (_Nosey Joe_), Amos Milburn (_Flying Home_), Jimmy Witherspoon (_Real Ugly Woman_), Joe Liggins (_Yeah, Yeah, Yeah_), Etta James (_Tears of Joy_), and Big Mama Thornton (_I Smell a Rat_). Lieber & Stoller were two of five partners in the LA Based Spark records, but many of their songs went on to become classics and were recorded by biggies as big as Elvis. Elvis recorded a cover version of _Love Me_ in 1956, originally released on Spark by Willie and Ruth. And yes, a sanitized version of _Hound Dog_ became the kings instantly recognizable anthem. ", "Best remembered for their instrumental guitar classic _Sleepwalk,_ brothers Santo and Johnny Farina were born and raised in Brooklyn. Inspired by the country music he heard on the radio, Santo adopted the steel guitar as a teen, and at age 14 he formed an instrumental trio, soon after writing his first original songs; in time he began teaching his younger sibling Johnny to play standard electric guitar, and they started performing as a duo. For the tiny Brooklyn label Trinity Records, Santo and Johnny debuted in 1959 with _Sleepwalk,_ a hauntingly atmospheric instrumental they'd composed with the aid of their mother. The single became a major local favorite and was then licensed to the Canadian-American imprint, where it topped the Billboard pop charts in August of that year.

Santo and Johnny soon issued their self-titled debut LP, also notching a hit with their follow-up single _Teardrops_; however, the duo's popularity quickly slid, although they issued five more albums for Canadian-American -- among them 1960's Encore and 1963's Offshore -- before the company dissolved in 1965. Two years later the siblings signed to Imperial to release The Brilliant Guitar Sounds of Santo and Johnny; three other efforts followed before Imperial, too, closed in 1968. More popular internationally than at home, Santo and Johnny continued to record well into the following decade, typically landing on little-known Italian labels; the duo finally disbanded in 1976, with Santo continuing on as a solo act. ", "Vocalist and jazz singer, Sylvia Syms was known as the 'world's greatest saloon singer' by Frank Sinatra. She sang everything from cabaret music to light jazz. Her claim to fame is her versatility in singing, making every song original in its style and sound.

Sylvia Syms was born in New York City. Her interest in music developed at an early age, her first performance being in front of family and friends. She began her professional singing career in nightclubs where she met such singing legends as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Her career quickly took off and she released albums on the DRG label, the Bainbridge label and several other independent labels. She brought a new sound to jazz with such hits as 'Wild Is the Wind' and 'Cuando Te Fuiste De Mi.'

Aside from her jazz performances she has released several pre-rock songs and albums. On the Prestige label she released the albums Sylvia Is! and For Once In My Life. She was accompanied by Milt Hinton, Osie Johnson, Bucky Pizzarelli, Willie Rodriguez, Sam Bruno and Johnny 'Hammond' Smith. On these albums she recorded popular favorites as well as fresh releases. The favorites included 'If You Could See Me Now,' 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me,' 'Vaya Con Dios,' 'Yesterday' and 'For Once In My Life.' Sylvia Syms had a talented gift in that she took early rock songs and made them brand new as if they were being sung for the first time. This ability made her well-known in the music industry.

Along with upbeat rock songs, Sylvia Syms also recorded a CD full of love songs. The album, titled Sylvia Syms Sings/Songs of Love, includes such popular sentimentals as 'Isn't It Romantic', 'What's the Use of Won'drin,' 'We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye' and 'Let Me Love You.'

Sylvia Syms, the nightclub singer should not be confused with the British film and television actress, Sylvia Syms. Although the two both died in 1992, British actress Sylvia Syms was only 58 when she died, whereas Sylvia Syms the singer died at the age of 79 in New York City.

During her long career, Sylvia Syms recorded more than 15 albums in several different genres. Her musical contribution is that of singing several different styles of music with one voice. Confused throughout her life as also being a British actress, Sylvia Syms died with the recognition of being a talented jazz singer on May 10, 1992. ", "The British experimental ambient unit O Yuki Conjugate was formed in Nottingham in 1982 by multi-instrumentalists Andrew Hulme and Roger Horberry; inspired by the atmospheric guitar instrumentals of the Durutti Column, they began experimenting with keyboards and tape loops, adding percussion to the mix before debuting with the soundscapes of 1984's Scene in Mirage. A three-year gap preceded the release of the follow-up, Into the Dark Water, the first of many extended absences from the contemporary music scene; only in 1991 did O Yuki Conjugate again resurface, issuing Peyote on the Projekt label. Undercurrents (In Dark Water), which compiled the impossible to find LP along with a half dozen or so extra tracks, appeared a year later. After 1994's superb Equator, the group released Sunchemical, a collection of remixes. Hulme and Horberry additionally collaborated on dance music under the name Symetrics, with the former also heading the groups A Small Good Thing and Sons of Silence as well as recording Fell with Paul Schütze. ", "thefatrooster", "hungryhippo1970", "Small Cruel Party was formed in Japan in 1985 as a project for undertaking experimental work in organized sound. Initial projects focused mainly on work with synthesized sound sources and other uses of conventional instrumentation.

After moving to the Pacific Northwest in 1990 work has become more focused on the inherent mysterious and beautiful qualities of sound itself, with the emphasis on noninstrumental sound sources, the source itself not being readily apparent. Work generally involves manipulation of physical objects in acoustic space and a great deal of concentrated activity. Even in pieces involving dense sound at high volume the resultant effect is one of intense calm. More recent work has incorporated various influences related to studies in Buddhism (zen and Tibetan) but without including or perhaps suggesting any obvious references.

Recorded work and performances have been realized in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Europe, and installations have been presented at the Seattle Art Museum and at the AVE Festival for Experimental Art in Arnhem, Holland. Work also has included collaborations with other musicians (Gamelan Pacifica) as well as with other artists (Dappin´ Butoh; Stillwater Butoh). 'A Tangible Bridge,' for symphony orchestra and four vocalists, was recently premiered by the Seattle Creative Orchestra. ", "General Strike was a project of british multi-instrumentalists Steve Beresford and David Toop, with help from the producer David Cunningham and a few other friends (Lol Coxhill is one of them). Consequently, with the powerhouse of names tossed together to form this early 80's presceint supergroup, it's no surprise that the music contained on this cassette requires such deep listening.

Their music draws from the practice itself of listening intently - listening and acting on that listening. Most of it does sound like bits from other musics that have probably passed your way at some time or another, whether you were listening or not. Most of it is threads from rock or jazz, doowop and reggae, synthetically generated tone patterns and sounds as emotionally human as a baby's cry. It's music that could comfortably be heard. It could plink genially in the background.

The atmosphere which General Strike conjure together suits an old fashioned, cold war-ish scenario of technology. Their 'Interplanetary Music' is the space pop of George Pal and 'The Day The Earth Stood Still', of computers built to fill entire rooms merely in order to struggle through simple trigonometry, of 'The Jetsons' and The Outer Limits. They go no further than Expo 67, the world's last gasp of optimism. And although there are dark and disquieting moods set in this mosaic which their listeners have pieced together, it is made with a humour which is true to the spirit of adventure which those references apply. The sanitation merchants who make up most of the world's record-makers today would forbid our ears from hearing these strangely electric keyboards, earthworked textures, bizarre chatterings of percussion, and voices that seem like puzzled robots. Cataloguing the sound in that way makes it all seem a bit of a joke, but it isn't: laughter is encouraged, but it's serious music, made with a great deal more serious spirit than the great and disheartening mountain of music which today implores you to hear and not listen.

For that reason alone, this collection IS dangerous. The motive for its conception has something more behind it than the need to sustain a career or succour an easily-satisfied requirement. As opposed to the wasteful music that shouldn't exist - the music that pretends to do more than decorate schedules and winds up becoming a timetable itself - the sounds of General Strike did not HAVE to exist, and that is their danger, their force. Their collection is a synthesis by Beresford, Toop and Cunningham of forms they have listened to, absorbed and acted upon, so it sounds like a series of exercise games, played for fun, hard but fair, serious in its choice of amusements. Look at the titles: dogs, dolls and snowdrops, but guided missiles and hell too.

I will conclude without a resolution: this is music made up from diagrams which still becomes amorphous, made for provocation yet playable for ambience -the distinctions are yours to elicit. What you have to do first, of course, islisten.

This is the original cassette version, originally released in 1982. It was later repackaged, remixed and re-released with an adiitional track by Toop's own label, Piano, in 1996. The additional track is culled from the hyper-rare 'Parts of my Body' single. ", "I couldn't resist this LP at a flea market when I found it for 25 cents. Look at the cover. PUNCH CARDS. Excellent. The track here is written for string quartet, and was recorded in 1957. It is historically significant because it is the first substantial piece of music produced with a computer. Rules for composition were written for the university's ILLIAC I computer, with compositional techniques employing some of the randomness ideology pioneered by Cage and Stockhausen along with a more directed approach as well. The Illiac was eventually sold for scrap.", "OK. I cheated here a little. There's a 'musical' base to this, and the lecture is, by now, well known to be a hoax. But still...it's the Hafler Trio!", "The classic. ", "The duo known as Languis -- Marcos Chloca and Alejandro Cohen -- has been making music together since 1991, when they were both classmates in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1996, they sold their guitars and amps and moved to Los Angeles, where they occasionally perform with other artists who are associated with that city's somewhat experimental, underground lo-fi electronic movement, much of it centered around the Internet-based 'dublab' collective dublab.com. Musically, Languis' recordings may remind some listeners of Stereolab's less motorik/more downbeat recordings, or Teutonic post-ambient groups like To Rococo Rot and Tarwater. However, Languis doesn't really seem to align itself with any particular style or genre, falling somewhere in the 'chill-out' side of the post-rock electronic genre, just this side of laptop techno-noir. Languis utilizes both analog and digital synthesizers, as well as various organs, samplers, sequencer, signal processors, abstract electronic percussion, and guitars (mostly acoustic) -- even vocals, some heavily processed and vocoder-y, and others barely whispered into a telephone handset -- in a uniquely refreshing and organically futurist fashion.

The first proper Languis release, Simball Sounds, was recorded on a borrowed four-track recorder at the duo's home studio and released by L.A.-based Simball Sounds Recordings (hence the title) in August 1998. Their follow-up album, Last Frequency Presets, was released in the spring of 1999. A limited-edition 7-inch single, 'Soft Music,' issued in February 2000, contained three instrumentals that were closely related to sound collage material; full of atmospherics, loops, acoustic guitar, and static rhythms. In November 2000, Languis issued Unithematic, which explored a more melodic song-based side, utilizing more vocals, acoustic guitars, and pianos than previous releases. Languis' next release, the boldly experimental 'Parallel to the Atmospheric Sound of Silence,' a split 10-inch with Safety Scissors, was issued by the Plug Research label. This recording added various elements -- hiss, noise, peaks, distortion, static, clicks, and pops -- that sound somewhat audibly influenced by Stefan Betke's recordings as Pole, using a sound-processing device called the Waldorf 4 Pole-Filter. Blevin Blectum (of Blectum From Blechdom) also contributed vocals to this recording. In 2002, the hectic and lush Untied was released. In addition to their releases on the Simball imprint, Languis has also collaborated on projects and compilations with various other electronic labels, including Phthalo Records, Tigerbeat6, Ubiquity Records, and Zealrecords. ", "A long out of print LP on Organik, the Swiss imprint that introduced the world to The Young Gods, this shit kickin thing captures teh best of what was going on between New York and Zurich in the mid-80s. Features, the Swans, Copulation, Live Skull, Sonic Youth, Abt. 409, Wiseblood and even Christian Marclay. A lost classic. ", "Defunct band which featured Eddie Vedder's wife Sadie among others. Hovercraft was formed in 1993 out of the ashes of the band called Space Helmet, which also included members of Magnog. It is rumored that Eddie Vedder was a drummer for this band going first as full-time drummer under the name Jerome230 and then joining them on tour later on.", "Royal Trux's Jennifer Herrema was quoted in Wire as saying this was the first record she ever bought. More than enough said...", "Mark Lane is a prolific 'minimal electronic musician' active for over 25 years. His earliest works are prized collector's items, and as such, I saw fit to kick off a new catoegory, the Flexi Disc - with a track from his 'The Reflection' EP. Visit his site. ", "This is the world's first mini-disc only release by booth/brown/others? on Russel Haswell's label 'OR', the TOUCH subdidiary. Absolutely essential to anyone concerned with following the lines drawn by progressive electronics. This is far from what the masses expected from GESCOM and will not appeal to fans of Autechre looking for nostalgic sounds of 1993. It is comprised of 45 tracks sliced into 88 portions, designed to encourage the listener to loop and shuffle at will. Set the deck to random, and serve cold with friends.", "This downlod is a free track availabel via download only from Toytronic It is from a larger mp3 EP from Toytronic's Gimmik and is a collection of older and unreleased recordings all dating back from between the period of 1993 to 2000. News From The Past also ties in nicely with the recent reissue of Gimmik's debut and Toytronic's first ever release, the Load Error EP.

It was with the ultra scarce Load Error 12inch that electronica veteran Gimmik first shot into the limelight, seeing the artist gain huge admiration on the scene and helping Toytronic gain it's current respected and much collectable status along the way. With a handful of equally impressive follow-up releases, including the Rythmus Der Stadt 10-inch and the immense full length LP Back To Basics, Martin Haidinger has continued to produced consistently excellent and top grade electronica, with no hints of weakening.

Floating Clear the EP's opening tune, is trademark Gimmik, offering up massive kick drum beats, warm basslines and string-like synths stretching in the background. It's reminiscent of the high standards displayed on the Back To Basics album and sees Haidinger at his most fierce and direct. Live tracks Share Some Grammar and Radar Aviation date back to 1995 and 1994 repectively, with the first built around a refrained semi hip-hop loop and the latter mixing up ambience and electro at the same time.

Surprisingly, none of the music offered has appeared to have aged. As equally vibrant and effective as it was all those years back, Haidinger's music has stood the test of time and likes set to continue in that way. " )