ELLI & JACNO, Boomerang (pop, 1982)

Yes, again.
There are reasons for re-posting this great album :
> some tracks were missing on my previous post, so here they are;
> it's an LP-rip again, but with a advanced sound card, and ripped at 320 kbps.
> and, most of all - all the french guys here know that - JACNO has passed away last week, at 52 years old. Sad sad news...

Et d'ailleurs on se demande bien comment il n'y a pas eu d'hommage plus appuyé sur cette disparition d'une figure rare de la scène française, dont la présence parfois fantomatique manque déjà. Alors on ré-écoute en boucle "Je t'aime tant", "Pour toi" ou "Roulette russe", les classiques de ce 2è album, dont la tonalité, appuyée par la photo intérieure, avait ce côté "hymne à la jeunesse" mi triste propre au début 80s. Et en attendant, toujours, une ré-édition propre en CD.
Enfin, comment faut-il comprendre le titre de son (bon) dernier album, celui de 2006 : "Tant de temps"?

Find "Boomerang" here.

RUDI ARAPAHOE, Echoes from one to another (2008 - ambient))

Not quite 'in the woods" this time. But not far. Beautiful ambient tracks, based on piano, harp and some eletronics. A bit too "new age" probably, but it's obviously the ideal music for cold nights.
Try it here and buy it if you can.

LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM, Snovidenie (2006)

"In the woods" again. This time, with a music that goes far beyond what my english could describe. Just be warned that you should not expect any melody nor recognise precisely the instruments, it's a floating ensemble that typically seems to come "from the woods". Everything seems to appear randomly though, obviously, the music is not really improvised. Maybe it could be compared to some of the best NURSE WITH WOUND album, with more sensuality and sweetness. The ideal album for day dreaming. And here it is (192kbps).

PLANKTON WAT, Dawn of the Golden Eternity (2009, psych folk)

To be back or not to be back?
Well, there are so many things posted on music blogs - a small part of them are listed on TOTALLY FUZZY - that I really wonder if keeping on posting some albums here is not totally useless... particularly if you consider that from this point I may (or I would) post my favourite discoveries on other blogs, rarelly specific material of my own collection...

Well, thanks to "Microphone in the trees" blog and, initially, thanks to SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE - the best psychedelic folk "band" I know - and, always, thanks to some krautrock ancestors (particularly in the DOM / AMON DUUL I vein), I'm in a "in the woods" mood. The music you find is sometimes referred as "american primitivism", though I don't know what it means exactly. Understand : more or less psychedelic folk, often recorded with a very basic production, sometimes more ambient, sometimes more electric, often with a tribal feel.

Here si a good example, with this album by PLANKTON WAT . If you like SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE, this is for you.

PS : and of course you buy it if you find it - and of course again, you've bought the beautiful last album released by SIX ORGANS, a return to form after two albums that were not as good as I hoped when they were released.

ALAN LAMB, Primal Image + Night Passage (1995, drone))

So I'm back, probably not with the funniest music. First : with some drones I like.

Honestly, I'm not sure how ALAN LAMB have recorded those dark electric drones, it seems he has captured the sound of electric wires...
But it doesn't matter : the results consist in 2 great drone recordings, that one could compare to NURSE WITH WOUND's "Soliloquy for Lilith" with more tension.

Here is Primal Image, and here is Night Passage (at 192kbps).

MAHOOD, Granular Sintesis (drone / electronic soundscapes, 1997)

I was proud to discover that some of you guys have asked for a repost of my "Granular Sintesis" work, recorded 12 years ago (how can it be so far..?).
More or less 4 tracks (20 minutes), with the exclusive use of a basic software on my Performa 6200, called "SoundEffects". The only source of the sound is sine waves, transformed / cut with the effects of the software (particularly with the most complex, called... "granular synthesis") - except the sampled percussions on track 1 (the only track I really don't like, it's of no use).
I'm particularly proud of the 3rd and 4th tracks (and the transition between), the 4th track was one of my favourite at the time - very hypnotic if you're not irritated by the repetition.
Be concious that it's a really lo-fi recording : 11.000khz, 8bit, recorded on a basic 4 tracks tape recorded, transfered on MiniDisc etc... So if you try play it loud!
Here it is.

ITHACA, A Game for All Who Know (psych pop, 1973)

Excellent album discovered thanks to another blog, and I've finally found the CD (the original LP seems to be one of the rarest...).
I put it in the same category as english psychedelic pop masterpieces like MONTAGE or FUCHSIA - but ITHACA are probably darker, more mysterious, like a Brothers Quay's movie (or even a Burton). Very well composed, with a rich instrumentation, the only thing that can disturb is the girl's voice, bery weird (and very goth!).
Don't miss it! It's here.

The band has recorded one album 3 years before under the name AGINCOURT : same elements, but with a folk sound and not such a success in the result. I may post it if anyone is intersted.

LA DUSSELDORF, 3 albums (1976 / 1981, krautrock / new-wave)

Upon request #2
What can I say? I have no explanation for the reputation of these albums except that they follow the NEU albums.
In my opinion, whereas NEU4 had probably some qualities, the official albums released by Klaus Dingerunder the name LA DUSSELDORF after Michael Rother had left certainly didn't contain the same charisma and mystery as the NEU material. Instead, you hear some kind of pre-new wave music, very basically produced (in comparison NEU sounded almost deep), with voices that I often find ridiculous.
But these days I don't have time to find more interesting things to share, so ok for answering the request. Nevertheless, honestly I prefer by far the albums released by ROTHER under his own name - maybe for a later post.

3 albums :
"La Dusseldorf" is here.
"Viva" and "Individuellos" are there.

NEU!, Neu 4 (19.., krautrock)

Upon request #1
About when the album has been recorded, I'm not sure. Maybe between 1982 and 1986, after the LA DUSSELDORF episode.
Though far less interesting than the previous official recordings NEU, DIE2 and NEU75, NEU4 has its moments. But it's mainly for its historical interest that you'll download it.
here it is.

STEREOLAB, Margerine Eclipse Separate Mono versions (2004, pop)

Probably only for STEREOLAB freaks.
But it shoudn't.

As I told in my previous post, this pop masterpiece recorded in 2004 was mixed in "DUAL MONO", not in stereo, which means that each instrument is recorded on one channel only (left or right). In the end, it's definitly one whole new album on each channel.
I've made the job for you to make it easier to listen on you 2 speakers the 2 versions : there's the "left album" and the "right album", 2 mono albums that are radically different, although it depends on the tracks (am I clear enough?). Of course, the more obvious effect is that some parts are 100% instrumental now, one other is the absence of the classic Stereolab organ on one version - on the contrary it's almost too present on the other - etc... Some moments become absolutely beautiful now, with a kind of minimalism that is new in some way in their music. It allows to hear how talented they are too.

Take this experience as a re-discover of the album.

The 2 versions are here.

STEREOLAB live (2000 / 2006)

4 live shows that I may have already posted last year.
Listening again to their albums "Sound Dust" and "Margerine Eclipse" this afternoon made me want to share something about them, but I don't really want to share the original albums - everyone should buy them! Unlike many STEREOLAB fans, I really consider this pair as their best work to date, and as some of the best pop albums of the 2000 years.
And there's another thing : I've read that "Margerine Eclipse" was recorded in "dual mono" : one mono mix on each L/R channel. That means that there's virtually a different album on each channel - try if you can, that's absolutely true! Maybe I'll separate the channels and share each one later, as "2 alternative versions" of the official album - for the fans of course!

In the meanwhile, find 4 live performances here : the first two recordings were found on the web, their quality is good (they may be radio broadcast). The Paris live shows have been recorded by myself, the 2004 one being much better recorded (smaller theatre, new battery in my mic?) and very interesting, the best one in this selection in my opinion.
Click on the link to download.
Denver, Spring 2000
Munich, Muffathalle, 18.8.2001
Paris, Trabendo, 17.3.2004
Paris, La Cigale, 13.5.2006

DUMP, A Plea For Tenderness (1997, indie pop)

Same comment as for the other DUMP album posted here.
This one is even better though probably too long and not as various in the instruments and production as "That skinny...". In my opinion, it contains major pop hits that everyone who is in BEACH BOYS / BEATLES / BELLE & SEBASTIAN etc... will love.
here it is.

DUMP, That Skinny Motherfucker With The High Voice (2000, indie pop)

It becomes hard for me to post things more often than I do and be sure I'm sorry for this. I don't have as much time as I'd like to for the blog, and as I've said before I'm not sure I've got so many new good and "rare" things to share...
Well, here is an excellent "low-fi pop" album recorded by DUMP. DUMP is the side project of James McNew of Yo La Tengo.
It really has its own sound, with strange synths and low-fi production. You'll find a good collection of easy melodies and interesting covers. I'll post another DUMP album very soon.
For this one, here it is.

BEN'S SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA, live Paris Pop'In, 17.12.2004 (french pop)

Re-up / extraordinary french pop band / pop side of AIR with more energy and without the synths.
Buy the albums somewhere here on Amazon.

à la demande de je ne sais plus qui, qui avait bien raison.
Le son est franchement pourri, le public (des potes?) couvre assez largement la musique, mais n'empêche des chefs d'oeuvre pop comme "From Hull to Hawai" (track 5) d'être aussi bouleversants que sur l'album ("Drifting", impératif dans toute CDthèque qui se repsecte).
On attend - on prie pour? - le troisième album.
ça se passe là (160kbps)

MASSTISHADDHU, Shekinah (1988, dark ambient)

I'm not sure I should have posted this : even it's a really good dark ambient (no electronics, only bowed instruments and percussions, or so it seems), it's certainly not very different from many other dark ambient albums of the area. The most known I think about is the exceptional CURRENT 93's "Nature's unveiled" (re-released this year on vynil and CD, buy it!!), and this "Shekinah" is obviously less intersting.
But... I don't know, I really like it - for dark moods.
Try it here.

MITTELWINTERNACHT, Mittelwinternacht '71 (1971, experimental krautrock)

"Krautrock" because it's german, it's certainly not the case in the music. Even if this only album made by the band (is it a band?) is probably more for the fans of early CLUSTER / KLUSTER and proto-industrial music made in the early 70s, it's not the hardest way to enter the genre. The world you enter is plenty of self-oscillating ring modulators, echoes and darkness, and it's quite beautiful if you accept it - very "good" trips if you're in it. TANGERINE DREAM made some tracks like this in their early years - those I love the most.
Perfect for my "drone area". Please try it here.

PI CORP, Lost in the cosmic void (dark psych, 1973-1976)

(Awful artwork)
Why haven't I posted this album sooner?? It's quite an essential album for those who love the darkest side of psychedelia. It's american, but I could largely compare it with some of the darkest krautrock albums posted here (SIDDHARTA, PATER NOSTER, AMON DÜÜL 2 in some aspects...). And it's very experimental in many ways, there are not so many "conventional" rock songs in it. It's also surprising to discover that it's a compilation made with demos assembled recently, because it really sounds as an full album (except some tracks maybe).
One would say that the recording suffers of basic and amateurish production. It's not false, but we've heard so worse elsewhere!
It's one of the 5 best albums I've discovered thanks to other bloggers, I hope you'll enjoy it.
And it's here.

MAHOOD, The Drone Album (part 2)

A small post of a 2nd drone I've recently made. Very basic recording, once more (sorry - I promise I buy a sound card for my Mac as soon as I can), so please if you try it PLAY IT LOUD.

For this occasion, the instruments were :
> Roland SH5 (synth)
> Roland CR78 (rythm box) plugged in Korg MS20 (synth)
> Korg MonoPoly (synth)

Played, recorded and mixed much faster than "part 1" in near live conditions. And it's shorter too (8'48).
You'll find it here.

Some of you seem to be interested, thanks!

Better Than Prince

FLAIRS, Better Than Prince

NO DOWNLOAD
Un peu de promo pour notre ami FLAIRS, dont l'album "Sweat Symphony" vient de sortir, et qui contient parmi les meilleurs titres electro-pop entendus depuis quelques temps. Le single Better Than Prince est correct, mais pas au niveau, par exemple, du hit absolu qui se trouve sur sa face B, "Truckers Delight".
Vivement recommandé donc.
Vous pouvez achetez l'album sur Amazon ici mais ferez encore mieux en visitant le disquaire du coin.
Enfin, l'animal est en concert le 31 mars à La Maroquinerie. Très bon en live!