Sevilla Circa 1560 - La Trulla de Bozes (2002)

ARTIST`````Various

ALBUM`````Sevilla Circa 1560 - La Trulla de Bozes

GENRE`````Classical, Renaissance, Andalusian

YEAR````````2002

Secular oolyphony of the Andalusian school

Founded just a few years ago, La Trulla de Bozes has made a specialty of repertoire from Spain's Golden Age, and this CD is a result of the group's first-prize win at Antwerp's International Young Artist's Presentation Early Music in 2000. The recording is a testament to the players' technical skills and considerable interpretive gifts--and, equally importantly, it gives exposure to some gorgeous repertoire that isn't as widely known as it should be.

The best-known composer in this collection of secular music certainly is the illustrious Francisco Guerrero, who served as maestro de capilla at the Seville cathedral. Although he lived until 1599, it is his early work--compositions written before the year 1550 or so--that creates the program's basic structure. From the moving madrigal En tanto que de rosa y açuçena to the painterly portraiture of the springtime tune "Dezidme, fuenta clara", Guerrero's mastery even as a young man is already clear. But it is the works of contemporaries such as Rodgrigo Cevallos, Juan Navarro, Alonso Mudarra, Juan Vásquez, Francisco Fernandez Palero, and Ginés de Morata that are particularly illuminating in forming our deeper understanding of the era. And the Trulla singers bring this music to life: their rhythmic vivacity and brightly colored tone really make these compositions gleam. With Passacaille's vibrant (but not overly resonant) sound, recorded in a church in Navara, Spain, this disc is a real pleasure.

Credits:

- Raquel Andueza, soprano

- Carlos Sandúa, alto

- Karim Farhan, tenor

- Juan Díaz de Corcuera, tenor

- Xavier Pagès, barítono

- Raúl del Toro, órgano

- Manuel Vilas, arpa

DOWNLOAD

V.A. Chains and Black Exhaust (2002)

Rare Chicago Psych

ARTIST`````Various
ALBUM````` Chains & Black Exhaust
GENRE`````Funk, Psychedelic
YEAR````````2002

Review:

“Chains And Black Exhaust” is probably the best funk rock compilation in the world -- and it doesn’t even have a song with the word "butter" in the title, either. It is wild and untamed stuff (unlike the majority of “various artists” compilations of any genre) and every track hits the nail on the head of people with long-unrequited Hendrix/Hazel fixations. All tracks are mainly on the same organic level of physical deepness as "Free Your Mind And Your - as they usher your ass back into those days of blatantly uncomfortable intra-racial relations in the media and what seems like the top tier of the most forgotten yet memorable psychedelic funk, fuzztone soul and Jimi vamps taken to illogical extremes sifted out from a decade of flea market obscurities and distilled into one truly fine representation. The sleeve design sports exterior shots of what would appear to be biker gang social clubs that tie in neatly with the title (which initially threw many off the true trail of these tracks’ provenance -- as though this collection was comprised of amateur recordings by black sickle men who pumped out psychedelic sex grooves during their off-road hours in the confines of those subterranean HQs like some soul brother equivalent of Davie Allan & The Arrows) and although the album lists no titles or artists, this only increased the chatter of those in the know and inevitably forced to the surface 12 out of 16 titles (with the remaining four of dubious origin because where the hell else is a track called “Potted Shrimp” besides the classic “Trident Sessions” Stones bootleg, anyway?!) And out of this whole passel of gunked up funk only Curtis Knight, Hot Chocolate (don’t worry -- it’s early head days with no marshmallows at all) and Black Merda I had previously even heard, let alone heard of (Which I admit isn’t saying much, but all I mean is that the usual suspects are in no way present and accounted for in this remarkable compilation.)

DOWNLOAD

Pitchfork review:
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1911-chains-and-black-exhaust/

Headheritage review
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/962

TRACY CHAPMAN - LET IT RAIN (2002)

FOR ME - HER FINEST. FOR THE CRITICS - ONE OF HER WORST. FUCK 'EM.
ARTIST`````TRACY CHAPMAN
ALBUM`````LET IT RAIN
GENRE`````POP-ROCK, ADULT ALTERNATIVE
YEAR````````2002

WHY:
Fuck the critics - this album is magnificent. I acctualy like the fact that songs blend with each other making this album sound coherent. There are no Tracy's "save the children" moments, just intricate, emotional and beautiful observations about human relationships.

ALBUM REVIEW:
On Let It Rain, Chapman turns in another introspective album that flows quietly from track to track and will remind listeners of New Beginning (1995) and Telling Stories (2000).

The only grievance one might find with Let It Rain is that many of the songs have a similar feel and lack distinctive melodies to keep them from blending together. Fans who have enjoyed Chapman's recent albums, however, will enjoy Let It Rain's evocative lyrics and lovely vocals.

DOWNLOAD

MAX TUNDRA - MASTERED BY THE GUY AT THE EXCHANGE (2002)

A COMPLETE SURPRISE FOR ME. ONE OF THE MOST TALENTED LESS KNOWN MUSICIANS TODAY. A MUST HAVE.
ARTIST`````````````MAX TUNDRA
ALBUM`````````````M. BY THE GUY AT THE XCHNG
GENRE`````````````EVERYTHING???
YEAR```````````````2002
























MY VIEW:
Here it goes: naive pop, parody post-rock, bubblegum pop, funk, trash, acoustic, Commodore 64, children's music, moog synthesizers, superfast -supercute beats with spacey effects, drill n' bass breaks, heavy electronics THAT ALL FIT INTO ONE 4 MIN SONG. And it sounds complete. It doesnt sounds like an experiment. Its like he was born with this ultra-music in his head.
This is a complete surprise to me. Enjoy this super-talented madman.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:
Ben Jacobs is notable for his musical schizophrenia, his back catalog for Warp and Domino a jumpy collision of found sounds, Squarepusher-type beat thrashes, and jaunty wrestling with "real" instrumentation. His second album for Domino sees Jacobs find his voice, no doubt back-flipping around the sound booth as he laid down lyrics to his funk-fueled spliced tape excursions. "MBGATE" is typical of the album -- a magically messed-up fusion of horn pushes, distorted songs, and general subverted pop craziness that does nothing but encourage the belief that if Prince hadn't burnt out in the early '90s, he'd have taken the name Max Tundra and hung out with a certain Guy Davie at a mastering house on North London's Randolph Street.

DOWNLOAD

FLASHBACKS : DRUG SONGS - HIGH AND LOW 1917 - 1944

RARE HISTORICAL CELEBRATIONS OF ILLEGAL SUPSTANCES!

ALBUM`````````````DRUG SONGS - HIGH AND LOW
GENRE`````````````JAZZ/BLUES
YEAR```````````````2002 (RECORDED 1917-1944)

ALBUM INFO:
Listeners under the impression that drug music began with "White Rabbit" and ended with "White Lines" would be wise to pick up the first and best volume in the German Trikont label's excellent Flashbacks series -- compiling 25 jazz, blues, and vocal cuts from the first-half of the 20th century, the set documents World War II-era vice and sin at its finest, deftly mixing radio hits with utter obscurities. The songs range from the benign (Gene Krupa's "Feeling High and Happy") to the explicit (the Memphis Jug Band's "Cocaine Habit Blues"), and while some of the selections are clearly reaching to justify their thematic inclusion -- Bukka White's immortal "Fixin' to Die Blues" almost certainly has nothing to do with "fixing" in the junkie lexicon sense of the term -- the pacing and sequencing are dead-on, and even novelty throwaways like Harry "The Hipster" Gibson's "Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine?" stand up to repeated listening in this context. Excellent remastering and liner notes (in both English and German) round out the package

TRACKLIST

01 The Cat Is High - The Ink Spots
02 Junker's Blues - Champion Jack Dupree
03 Who Put The Benzedrine In Mrs. Murphys Ovaltine - Harry 'The Hipster' Gibson
04 Don't You Make Me High - Blue Lu Barker
05 I'm Wild About My Stuff - Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie
06 You're A Viper - Stuff Smith & His Onyx Club Boys
07 Selling That Stuff - McKinney Cotton Pickers
09 Moonshine Man Blues - Peter Cleighton with Blind John Davis
10 Cigarettes, Cigars - Florence Desmond
11 Minnie The Moochers Wedding Day - Mills Blue Rhythm Band
12 The Ghost Of Smokey Joe - Cab Calloway
13 Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee - Waring's Pennsylvanians
14 Dope Head Blues - Victoria Spivey & Lonnie Johnson
15 Wacky Dust - Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb & His Orchestra
16 Fixin' To Die Blues - Bukka White
17 Cocaine Habit Blues - Memphis Jug Band
18 Reefer Man - Baron Lee & The Blue Rhythm Band
19 Cocaine - Dick Justice
20 Jake Walk Papa - Asa Martin
21 Kickin' The Gong Around - Louis Armstrong
22 The Candy Man - Rosetta Howard & The Harlem Hamfats
23 Repeal The Blues - Ray Noble & The New Mayfair Orchestra
24 Feeling High And Happy - Gene Krupa & His Orchestra
25 Knockin' Myself Out - Jean Brady & Big Bill Broonzy
26 Smoke Clouds - Herbert Payne

DOWNLOAD

MURCOF - MARTES (YESTERDAY) (2002)

FLESH AND BONES FROM A MICROSCOPIC WORLD
ARTIST`````````````MURCOF
ALBUM`````````````MARTES (YESTERDAY)
GENRE`````````````EXPERIMENTAL/GLITCH/MINIMAL
YEAR```````````````2002

MY VIEW:
All I can say is - This man uses real silence as an instrument and it sounds like a beautiful violin:)

SHORT ARTIST INFO:
Fernando Corona was born in 1970 in Tijuana, Mexico and was raised in the nearby port of Ensenada. In 2000 he returned to Tijuana where he has continued to live and work. He was for a time a member of the Tijuana-based Nortec Collective of electronic musicians under the Terrestre project name. Martes is his debut album under the name Murcof.

Short reviews:

"A very assured debut, creating a sound world that's undeniably 'now' yet conjouring an aura that is both active and peaceful, audaciously still... somewhere between Giya Kancheli and Apex Twin... a rare feeling of size and space"
John L. Walters, The Guardian

"Spooky and etherealmicro-dub from Mexico... Cologne-style crackles with an orchestral simplicity worthy of Arvo part or Henryk Gorecki... genuinely otherworldly and refreshingly bizzare"
dSide

"Strange, lucid, mysterious, heady and utterly compelling, it is without doubt the best thing ever to come out of Central America"
5 dancing men, 7 Magazine

ALBUM REVIEW:
taken from http://themilkfactory.co.uk

Martes mixes arid micro beats and electronic noises with beautiful atmospheric soundscapes to create a unique piece of highly emotional and textural music. Corona manipulates his delicate constructions with expertise, slowly introducing layer after layer of sounds to slowly build intense patterns where intricate melodies flourish freely. Despite Memoria being strangely reminiscent of Polygon Window's eponymous track, Corona establishes very little connections with the existing electronic scene, concentrating instead on developing his own rules. Strings, pianos and woods are fully integrated with the more electronic sounds, giving each track incredible consistency and evocative power. Again, when he introduces human voice, as on the stunning Mapa, Mir or the moving Muim, he works at creating symbiotic environments to the point where it becomes difficult to dissociate reality from synthesis. Muim, perhaps more than any other track on this album sums up the Murcof equation. Here, voice, cello, drones and static beats support and complement each other in the most exquisite way, creating a complex model of contemplative incandescence, not dissimilar to the composite minimalism of Pärt or Gorecki. Martes, by all means an elaborate Record, proves to be an extremely rewarding work. Far from being inaccessible and pretentious, the compositions are fluid and profoundly enjoyable. Corona seems to incorporate multiple levels of complexity all the way through, allowing the listener to appreciate this record from a different angle each time.

If the outer structure of Martes is electronic, the modern aspect of it is to be found in the more unusual components of Fernando Corona's music, and in the way they interact with each other. No other electronic record has ever offered such an extensive scope and sounded that coherent. This first Murcof album is intrinsically contemporary, and above all, a true masterpiece. Definetly, the 2002 Album of the Year.

DOWNLOAD