Woima Collective - Tezeta (2010)

ARTIST`````Woima Collective

ALBUM`````Tezeta
GENRE`````Ethiopian Jazz, Funk,
YEAR````````2010

Words
Infectious album of Ethiopian and Afro-jazz inspired grooves from members of lauded German funk unit Poets Of Rhythm. 'Tezeta' came about after group leader and tenor sax player Johannes Schleiermacher was smitten with the sounds he soaked up on trips to Morocco and the feelings of celebration and healing in Gnawan trance performances. Further meetings with the legendary Ethio-jazz master, Mulatu Astatke, prompted him to set up a ten piece unit and after a three day rehearsal and a pair of two day recording session, this album was created. The result is brilliantly diverse album, ranging from fiery funk arrangements akin to the Heliocentrics, to super-cool and dubby workouts imbued with a skilled freedom and sublime groove which will surely impress any fans of the Ethiopiques series.

DOWNLOAD

Also you can get my compilation BLEEDING ETHIOPIA.
And get the magnificent classic ETHIO JAZZ AND MUSIQUE INSTRUMENTALE 1969-1974

The Famous Castle Jazz Band Plays The Five Pennies (1959)

ARTIST`````The Famous Castle Jazz Band

ALBUM`````The Five Pennies

GENRE`````Jazz

YEAR````````1959

Stomp your feet!

The film version of cornetist Red Nichols' life was a Hollywood success, and one of the very few movies to resist the stereotypical image of jazz musicians as drunken, drug-addled losers. Here, the Famous Castle Jazz Band (who didn't play on the original soundtrack) reinterpret songs from that film in a delightful session that brings fire to the cornier production numbers written by Sylvia Fine and authenticity to standards like "That's A Plenty," "After You've Gone" (with a jaunty vocal from Monte Ballou), "Ja-Da," "My Blue Heaven," and the inevitable "When the Saints Go Marching In," given a rousing closing treatment here. Not the soundtrack, but in many ways a whole lot better.

DOWNLOAD

Alain Goraguer - La Planete Sauvage Original Soundtrack (1973)

ARTIST`````Alain Goraguer
ALBUM`````La Planete Sauvage Original Soundtrack
GENRE`````Soundtrack, French Funk, Jazz, Psych

YEAR````````1973

Some info
In 2000, the European label DC Recordings reissued on CD the soundtrack from the cult sci-fi animated film La Planète Sauvage (released in English as The Fantastic Planet). The René Laloux film, which won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973, was supported by a soundtrack by Alain Goraguer, mostly known for his work as Serge Gainsbourg's arranger. Goraguer's music consists of 25 short vignettes. Each is a contextualized adaptation of one of three main musical themes. The main theme is very reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother Suite" (same half-time tempo, mellotron, harpsichord, and wah-wah guitar), and the other two are a ballad and a circus-like waltz. The music is very '70s-clichéd and will appeal to fans of French and Italian '70s soundtrack stylings. Although repetitive, the album itself creates an interesting marijuana-induced sci-fi floating mood, blending psychedelia, jazz, and funk (the album has been sampled by a few hip-hop artists). The 16-page booklet includes stills from the film, a description of the plot, and biographical notes on the composer, the director, and the illustrator, all in English -- but, alas, no musicians' credits. DC Recordings reissued the album on both CD and LP, the latter version also including a poster.


DOWNLOAD

Magma - Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (1973)

Extraterrestrial gospel

ARTIST`````Magma
ALBUM`````Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh
GENRE`````Art Rock, Jazz-rock, Fusion, Psychedelic,
YEAR````````1973

WHO:
Led by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, the Paris-based Magma have been, in their way, perhaps the ultimate progressive rock group; while other artists have achieved greater commercial success and critical acclaim, Magma have typified the many ambitions and excesses of the genre that won them as many detractors as fans, even going so far as to invent their own lyrical and musical language in order to bring their unique vision to life.

Review
(by Sean from www.progreviews.com)

This album is Magma's great opus. Whether one prefers one of their other studio or live releases to it, there is no doubt that Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh is the most original, definitive Magma album around (although this reviewer personally prefers the Mekanik Kommandoh version!).

Featuring a cast of thousands including a choir, brass section, flute and tuned percussion, Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh marries the stripped-down throbbing drive of Zeuhl with orchestral pomposity and operatic aspirations. To those who jokingly describe Magma as Klingon Opera, this is the album that would come closest. The power and command with which Magma drives their themes home with increasingly intense repetition is the key to understanding what the band is all about.

Magma can't really be compared to other progressive rock performers (although many can be compared to them). The dark majesty recalls the classical music of Wagner and Orff, particularly parts of Carmina Burana, but that's about as close as it gets. To understand Magma, one must experience Magma. This album is their masterpiece, and while it might be daunting for the sympho-head or neo-head, (try their live material as an intro instead) it is essential for anyone wanting to find out what Zeuhl was and is all about.

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

Orchestre T.P. Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - 0+0=Zero (Zero + Zero = Zero)

AFRICA'S BEST KEPT SECRET
ARTIST`````Orchestre T.P. Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
ALBUM`````0+0+Zero (Zero + Zero = Zero)
GENRE`````Funk, African, Voodoo
YEAR````````???

SHORT BIO:

Unfortunately political realities in Benin had left the Tout Puissant Orchestre Poly Rythmo bereft of international recognition, while big bands like Super Rail Band or Orchestra Baobab enjoyed a rebirth… But Poly Rythmo has always been recognised as one of the best orchestras in Africa, so much that the former leader of Super Rail Band in Bamako, Tidiani Kone, left his job in Mali to join the fabulous Poly Rythmo in the seventies.

Their repertoire draws inspiration from the regional poly-rhythmic blend called Sato or Sakpata, original Voodoo beats, which are married with the funk left behind by James Brown’s African tours. Their voices, brass section, guitar and percussion weaved together to crystallise a golden age in this musically-fertile nation. Most of their 500 songs were recorded live with a couple of microphones and a Swiss-made Nagra reel-to-reel tape machine. The studio was a living room in the noisy neighbourhood near Cotonou’s airport.

DOWNLOAD

Chaino - Jungle Echoes (1959)

MINIMALIST EXOTICA
ARTIST`````Chaino
ALBUM`````Jungle Echoes
GENRE`````Exotica, Tribal, Afrobeat, Kitsch
YEAR````````1959

SHORT BIO:

The self-styled "percussion genius of Africa," exotica-era enigma Chaino was actually born Leon Johnson in Philadelphia in 1927; raised primarily in Chicago, the details of his early life are largely a mystery, although at some point he learned to play the bongos and began touring the so-called "chitlin" circuit of black nightclubs. During the mid-1950s he surfaced in Los Angeles, and with producer Kirby Allan entered the famed Gold Star studio to record a series of otherworldly jungle exotica LPs; the first, the 1958 Verve label release Jungle Mating Rhythms, featured not only a lurid fusion of African rhythms, primal chants and lusty moaning-and-groaning but also liner notes claiming "Chaino is the only survivor of a lost race of people from the wilds of the jungle in a remote part of central Africa where few white men have ever been...(he) could play seven or more drums at the same time, with such a blur of speed that you can hardly see his hands." In the months which followed, Chaino issued three more albums -- Jungle Echoes, Night of the Spectre and Africana -- each for a different label; on occasion, he also worked as a session musician, and even appeared in pair of feature films, Nighttide and The Devil's Hand. A notoriously difficult and eccentric figure, however, in time he and Allan parted ways, and Chaino's activities over the decades to follow remain unknown; with the resurgence of interest in exotica during the mid-1990s, his brother George Johnson discovered the percussionist's whereabouts and briefly brought him back home to Chicago. Chaino nevertheless resumed his nomadic ways soon after; following surgery to remove a brain tumor, he suffered a fatal heart attack on July 8, 1999.

DOWNLOAD

Mediafire is givin me a headache with it's upload problems so if there is something wrong with the .zip file please let me know and I'll re-upload it somewhere else.

Herbie Hancock - Gershwin's World (1998)

CLASSY
ARTIST`````Herbie Hancock
ALBUM`````From Bleep To Bleep
GENRE`````Jazz, Post Bop
YEAR````````1998

ALBUM REVIEW by Jim Newsom: Gershwin's World is a tour de force for Herbie Hancock, transcending genre and label, and ranking among the finest recordings of his lengthy career. Released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin's birth, this disc features jazzman Hancock with a classy collection of special guests. The most surprising of Hancock's guest stars is Joni Mitchell, who delivers a gorgeously sensual vocal on "The Man I Love," then provides an airy, worldly take on "Summertime." On these two tracks, she shows she has come a long way from her folksinger beginnings to become a first-class jazz singer in her own right. Stevie Wonder's unmistakable harmonica complements Mitchell's singing on "Summertime" and shares lead instrument space with his own voice on the W.C. Handy classic "St. Louis Blues." Jazzman extraordinaire Wayne Shorter smokes a solo spot on Duke Ellington's "Cotton Tail" and carves out some space for his soprano saxophone in the midst of "Summertime." A number of the young lions of jazz are featured on various cuts, and Herbie's old pal Chick Corea joins the leader for a piano duet of James P. Johnson's "Blueberry Rhyme." Gershwin's wonderful, extended "Lullaby" finds Hancock teamed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as does an attractive arrangement of a "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra" by Maurice Ravel, whose jazz influence can be heard on the piece. In addition, one of the most beautiful tracks on the album places star soprano Kathleen Battle's voice at the forefront of Gershwin's own "Prelude in C# Minor." Yet with all the fine performances by his guests, Gershwin's World remains Hancock's show, and he plays magnificently throughout. From beautiful to funky, percussive to melodic, improvisational to tightly arranged, Hancock and cohorts take a wondrous journey through the music and world of Gershwin.

DOWNLOAD

HENRI TEXIER - AMIR (1996)

FRENCH MASTER OF BASS
ARTIST`````HENRI TEXIER
ALBUM`````AMIR
GENRE`````POST-JAZZ SOMETHING, EXPERIMENTAL, FUSION
YEAR````````1996

ABOUT:
Henri Texier is an outstanding French bassist who has concentrated most of his activity in his native land. This intricate, gentle album is definitely one of his greatest works.

I can't find a decent amount of information anywhere on this album but I can surely recommend it.

Enjoy.

Henri Texier has a strongly physical approach to the bass, although his tone is often described as "bell-like." American auditors may feel that Texier simply walks a crooked line between hard bop and free, but in France Texier has gained recognition for his work in developing a type of jazz that is uniquely French and not beholden to American models. In June 2001, Texier was made a Chevalier of the l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur, the highest honor the French government accords to its artists.

DOWNLOAD

V.A. SOUNDTRACK FOR NAKED RUNNERS (2009)

ENJOY YOUR BODY
ARTIST`````VARIOUS
ALBUM`````SOUNDTRACK FOR NAKED RUNNERS
GENRE`````FUNK, JAZZ, NERDY, INSTRUMENTAL, RETRO, TRIPPY
YEAR````````2009
BLEEDING PANDA COMPILATION!

WHAT?
Some anonymous user here posed a challenge with a theme of naked running (he or she wanted it to be with some water sprinkles or something) but this name seemed a bit shorter and simpler. Also, someone criticized him/her for that, but I thought it was a ridiculous idea that should be definitely done. As it turned out, this is one of my catchiest compilations, but feel free to criticize it.

Now, it's filled with french perverse 70's LSD funk, some monstrous jazz + samba flipouts, several cult and very influental songs mixed with ridicule of The Beatles and the non-existent hippie-parody Dewey Cox himself.

This small collection went through some big changes over time. At first, I made it the most obvious way - indie experiments with japanese and NY noise bands (OOIOO, Optimo, Pullsallama etc.) but that was simply to simple, raw and it was'nt "romantic" and humorous enough. So I basically shifted entirely from that direction into sex, retro, french, jazz, kinky, ridiculous direction and tried to make a sort of a "soundtrack" that is not that tough at rhythm but more into the freedom loving atmosphere of the swinging sex organs .

Standout tracks, and maybe tracks that make this comp a must have (for those who never heard them before) are definitely: the gorgeous and life-fulfiling, jamming Andrew Bird's Coney Island Shuffle, Janko Nilovic's by far the best composition Xenos Cosmos from 1972 (the last 1 minute of the song is golden and the rest of his work is mostly crap), magickal Senor Coconut's - Rydeen, of course Serge Gainsbourg's cult classic Bonnie and Clyde, Sohail Rana's Soul Sitar - a perverse take on bollywood humour (Guys from Ninja Tune label had lots of fun remixing this gem) and the infinite Piggies - spitting humour from The Beatles. Also, I should mention Marsha Hunt with her nipple shaking (Oh No! Not) The Beast Day, a strangely missed groovy 70's funk club hit.

Enjoy this comp, leave a comment and maybe some ideas, links, whatever. I am always looking for new material to fuse.

TRACKLIST:
01 Medeski Martin & Wood - Pat A Cake (2008)
02 RJD2 - 1976
03 The Pinker Tones - L'Heros (2006)
04 Serge Gainsbourg - Bonnie and Clyde
05 Georges Garvarentz - Nues Dans L'eau (1970)
06 Sohail Rana - Soul Sitar (1970)
07 Marsha Hunt - The Beast Day (1973)
08 Paul McCartney - Coming Up (Thumbs Aloft Edit 2007) M
09 The Mystic Moods - Honey Trippin' (1975)
10 The Delfonics - Funny Feeling (1971)
11 Os Mutantes - A Minha Menina M
12 Andrew Bird's Bowl Of Fire - Coney Island Shuffle (1999)
13 The Beatles - Piggies (1968)
14 Walk Hard The Dewey Cox Story - Black Sheep (2007)
15 Der Dritte Raum - Swing Bop B (2008)
16 Senor Coconut and His Orchestra - Rydeen (2008)
17 G. Bordonneau & DJ BNX - Ultra Bossa (2000)
18 Janko Nilovic - Xenos Cosmos (1972)
19 Funkadelic - Can You Get To That (1971)

DOWNLOAD Rapidshare

DOWNLOAD Mediafire

Christian Prommer's Drumlesson - Drum Lesson Vol. 1 (2009)

GOOD CLASSICS COVER WORK.
ARTIST`````CHRISTIAN PROMMER'S DRUMLESSON
ALBUM`````DRUM LESSON VOL.01
GENRE`````JAZZ, FUNK, COVER
YEAR````````2009

ALBUM REVIEW: (by soul seduction)
For part one of the the two DRUMLESSON albums, that CHRISTIAN PROMMER has planned to produce, he recorded 10 of his favourite dance classics as jazz interpretations. Taking his favorite dance tracks of the last two decades and transforming the energy and magic of the originals into a performance of a jazz quartet (piano, drums, perc. and bass) was quite an interesting journey for the composer/producer. All started with the idea to record an acoustic version of the DERRICK MAY classic Strings of Life to warm up for the production of his first solo album. He recorded the basic idea some time ago in his new studio on the country side near Munich. Upright piano played by ROBERTO DI GIOIA and drums by WOLFGANG HAFFNER. Thought of as a "one-off" track for the fun of it, it sat on the shelf for a long time until ALEX BARCK of the JAZZANOVA crew, came by and heard the track. Alex and the rest of the crew got so excited about this tune, playing it in their dj sets all over the world, that they soon decided to release a 12" with this track. Released in May 2007 it was a fast spreading phenomenon. Djs and music fans from all sides of the spectrum got into this track. DERRICK MAY also gave CHRISTIAN PROMMER his thumbs up. Nice. The idea of rerecording dance classics did not leave CHRISTIAN PROMMER’s head while he was preparing his debut album for Sonar Kollektiv. Feeling at home in the world between Jazz and Detroit Techno he decided to do an album project that had two parts. Vol. 1 reinterprets the dance classics in a jazzy fashion arranging and producing the record in an oldschool way. On Vol. 1 the track listing features tunes that CHRISTIAN PROMMER played in his dj-set at one point in his more than ten year long Dj journey.

DOWNLOAD

ANDREW BIRD'S - OH THE GRANDEUR (1999)

HOT FUSION.
ARTIST`````ANDREW BIRD'S BOWL OF FIRE
ALBUM`````OH! THE GRANDEUR
GENRE`````RETRO SWING, ADULT
YEAR````````1999

ALBUM INFO:
Andrew Bird's second album Oh! The Grandeur reunites him with his Bowl of Fire counterparts, as well as some special collaborators like the Squirrel Nut Zippers' James Mathus. Recorded in New Orleans, the album builds on the hot jazz/Brecht vibe that Bowl of Fire pioneered on their first album Thrills, but focuses more on Bird's witty lyrics and deadpan delivery, as tracks like "Tea & Thorazine" and "The Idiot's Genius" display. Musically, Oh! The Grandeur keeps the live, one-take feeling of its predecessor, and Bird's fiddle playing is as expressive as ever.

DOWNLOAD

ETHIOPIQUES - BLEEDING ETHIOPIA (2009)

MOST IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL MUSIC FROM ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING AFRICAN COUNTRIES
ARTIST`````VARIOUS
ALBUM`````ETHIOPIQUES - BLEEDING ETHIOPIA
GENRE`````JAZZ, FUNK, FUSION, R&B, TIGRIRNA MUSIC,
YEAR````````2009
COMPILATION BY BLEEDING PANDA

WHY?
This is one of my dearest compilations. It contains a personal selection from a 23 disc set of Ethiopian urban/funk/jazz/tigrirna music, mostly from the 60's and 70's.

Passage from "Haile's got a brand new bag" by Robin Denselow
Ethiopian music is very different from other African styles, perhaps because the country itself, with its long embrace of Christianity and no experience of western colonialism (though the Italians did invade the country in the second world war), has had such a different history. Musically, it has never been influenced by Cuban or other Latin styles, unlike west Africa. Instead, Ethiopian musicians looked to their own traditional music and to black America - a combination that came together in the extraordinary experiments of the 60s, when they created their gloriously distinctive fusion of local styles with American R&B, funk and free-form jazz.

INFO ABOUT THE SERIES:
Ethiopiques is a series of CD's featuring Ethiopian and Eritrean singers and musicians. Many of the Ethiopiques CDs compile various singles and albums that Amha Records, Kaifa Records, and Philips-Ethiopia released during the 1960s and 1970s in Ethiopia. Prominent singers and musicians from this era appearing on Ethiopiques releases include Alemayehu Eshete, Asnaketch Worku, Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulatu Astatke, and Tilahun Gessesse. However, some Ethiopiques releases are new recordings.

The Paris-based world music record label Buda Musique began the Ethiopiques series in 1997 and initially compiled Ethiopian popular music releases from the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the subsequent CDs focus on traditional music, while others highlight individual musicians or specific styles. As of September 2007, there have been 23 releases. None of the CDs feature today's synthesizer-based Ethiopian pop music. Francis Falceto is the editor of the series.

DOWNLOAD

V.A MONSTRUOSO INSTRUMENTALE! VOL. 01 (2009)

BULLSHITTO! FARTE! WHATEVERE! INSTRUMENTALLES!
ARTIST`````VARIOUS
ALBUM`````MONSTRUOSO INSTRUMENTALE!
GENRE`````INSTRUMENTAL
YEAR````````2008
BLEEDING PANDA COMPILATION! COVER DESIGN BY PANDA STUFFER.

WHAT?
This is a 16 track long collection of some of my favorite blasting instrumental songs. Generally, as the cover says, this collection has no meaning, has no intellectual value whatsoever and is pretty much a bunch of cult songs mixed with stupid cover versions (like Britney Spears Toxic cover) and interesting experiments along with kitsch trash Moog shitties that are fused together only by the fact that they all have balls and a clear tough attitude.
It spans decades - from 70's detective funk to new unexplainable experimental productions, and spans all continents and cultural influences.

All critiques and comments are very welcome. Also, I am preparing Vol. 02 so all your anarchical recommendations are very welcome.

And a Happy New Thingy to all of you:)

TRACKLIST:
01 Barry de Vorzon - Theme from The Warriors
02 Dennis Coffey - Scorpio (Alpha Omega)
03 Donald Byrd - One Gun Salute
04 Roger Davy - Crazy Flute Happy Guitar
05 Gert Wilden & Orchestra - Follow Me
06 Astro Can Caravan - Baia
07 Fuka Vicente -Tempura Soul
08 Mustafa Ozkent - Dolana Dolana
09 Ananda Shankar - Jungle King
10 Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Toxic
11 Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited - Korla Rides Again
12 Aavikko - Cipetown
13 The Treblemakers - Freakshow
14 Secret Chiefs 3 - Jabalqa
15 Alamaailman Vasarat - Käärme toi ruton kaupunkiin
16 A Hawk And A Hacksaw - Zozobra

DOWNLOAD MONSTRUOSO

ASTRO CAN CARAVAN - 21st CENTURY DRIFTING EPISODE (2005)

FINLAND'S BIG BAND SPACE ROCK
ARTIST`````ASTRO CAN CARAVAN
ALBUM`````21st CENTURY DRIFTING EPISODE
GENRE`````BIG BAND, PSY-JAZZ, INSTRUMENTAL, EXPERIMENTAL
YEAR````````2005

ABOUT (FROM AURAL):
Highly experimental, with one foot solidly in the RIO camp and the other in outer space, Astro Can Caravan is an unconventional mix of large ensemble post-Sun Ra cosmic jazz, Magma-influenced Euro-fusion and Herbie Hancock/Miles Davis-styled avant-jazz funk. The 20 members of ACC (most of whom are apparently Finnish) all display a consummate musicianship and a keen awareness of the intricacies of ensemble playing throughout the ten tracks on 21st Century Drifting Episode, and in the process virtually create a new sub-genre one might call "big band space rock."

Imagine if Sun Ra's Arkestra were composed of members of Amon Duul II and Can - 21st Century Drifting Episode is the kind of album he would've done.

DOWNLOAD ASTRO