Harmonia

Live 1974 (2007) ...

Michael Rother with Dieter Moebius and Hans Joachim Roedelius of Cluster, formed Harmonia, who recorded two essential albums... This concert was recorded on 23rd March, 1974 by Roedelius, and published in 2007 by  Grönland Records ... The three reunited to promote it... allmusic.com review ...

Veteranissimo ... 

There's no question that Live 1974 is not only a noteworthy addition to Harmonia's slim discography, but also a pretty essential addition to the overall canon of ’70s German rock. It's rare to find live albums that are just as worthy as a band's best studio work, but this is one of them. The fact that it's from such a seminal band, over 30 years since the performance, is icing on the cake. A welcome, wonderful release not to be missed... dustedmagazine.com ...

Moral

And Life Is ... (1984) ...

Moody Danish electro-pop... recorded during August & September 1983 at ARP Studio Aarhus Denmark.  Hints of Cocteau Twins, The Associates and early Stereolab in places, over a background of early Tangerine Dreamish keyboards ... 
 
Lady Happiness ...

singer... Hanne Winterberg

guitarist... Marco DeAndreis
keyboardplayer... Ingolf Brown

Trees In November ... 

 

Dopplereffekt

Linear Accelerator (2003) ...

Icy atmospheric ambience from Detroit Techno group (or are they?) ...

 Dopplereffekt are a Detroit Techno group which is thought to be composed of Gerald Donald, Kim Karli, Rudolf Ellis Klorzeiger and William Scott. However, they have never given an interview and very rarely perform live, with the members hiding behind German pseudonyms. They have released albums on the Dataphysix, International DeeJay Gigolo Records and Rephlex labels. Their sound is very personal to them, the only influence being Kraftwerk, being very eclectic with song titles and lyrics that draw upon science, sex and politics. Together with Drexciya (which shares Gerald Donald) they were highly influential in the electro scene. The members of Dopplereffekt are thought to be the same as Der Zyklus, each different pseudonym allowing a slightly different style of techno to be released. The alias Japanese Telecom emerged in late 1999 to release the Rising Sun mini-LP through the once Ann Arbor-based Intuit-Solar Records... rho-xs.blogspot.co.uk ...

Z Boson ... 

 
Graviton ...
                 Myon-Neutrino ...

 
1 - Photo Injector (21:08)
2 - Niobium Resonators (14:25)
3 - Graviton (13:56)
4 - Myon-Neutrino (5:14)
5 - Z-Boson (8:28)
6 - Higgs-Mechanism (7:57)


Extra Dimensions ...

Pierre Henry

Les Petits Métiers (1995) ...

Pierre Henry made several works for German radio at WDR studios in Cologne (home of Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglinge)... Les petits métiers was a 'remix' of Henry's works for small films ... 

ircam.fr ...

1. Les petits métiers 5'22
2. Léonard de Vinci 9'14
3. Le musée d'or de Bogota 5'14
4. Maléfices 9'42
5. Chant du Monde 7'40
6. Visages 6.54
7. Mobiles 5'27 

deutschlandradiokultur.de ...

Orpheus Music ... 

Virginia Astley

Hope In A Darkened Heart (1986) ...

Virginia Astley's third album, produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto and featuring David Sylvian... This is one of those great 'lost' albums which really should be available to everyone ...

Some Small Hope ... Duet with David Sylvian

Charm ...

Darkness Has Reached Its End ...

First six tracks arranged by Ryuichi Sakamoto, and the rest by Virginia's brother Jon Astley ...From a musical family, their father was Edwin Astley (TV composer of the 1960s) ...

Tree Top Club ... 

virginiaastley.com ...

A.K. Klosowski & Pyrolator

Home Taping Is Killing Music (1984) ...

Early sampler based NDW (German New Wave) ...Pyrolator, Karl Dahlke was a member of Der Plan but had already recorded two acclaimed solo LPs, before joining with tape looper Klosowski for this groundbreaking experimental album ...

ZV9 ...

What Made You So No Good ...

""Home-Taping is Killing Music" is the first and only LP by Pyrolator (Ata Tak label operative and member of Der Plan) and tape loop tinkerer Arnd Kai Klosowski. The result: whimsical, raw sound experiments from the early days of sampling technology. True, the Emulator 1 already existed and was used extensively, but the tape machine which Klosowski designed and constructed could play considerably longer loops and samples than the E-MU Systems product. And so it was that Salsa trumpets and Gregorian chants were heard side by side, railway noises aligned with Cambodian music and Gospel met Bavarian yodelling. At no time did technology become an end in itself: it always served the melody, the beat, the element of surprise. In short, it was in the service of listening pleasure!" (label info) originally released on Ata Tak in 1985... a-musik.com

                                             HiFidelity ... 

Österreich ... 

Acid Mothers Temple

La Novia (2000) ...

La Novia is a folk song in the Occitan language, which was taken by psychedelic japanese musicians Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso UFO, and turned into an epic LP length workout ...

echoesanddust.com ...

and the original on Boha (bagpipes) ...

La nòvia a nau brilhants suu cap
La nòvia a nau brilhants suu cap
Nau brilhants suu cap
L'anèth au dit
Nau brilhants suu cap
L'anèth au dit...

mudcat.org ... 

Tabu Ley & M'bilia Bel

La Beaute d'une Femme (1985) ...

Tabu Ley Rochereau, Congolese band leader and composer, discovered M'bilia Bel and they formed an instant hit partnership through the mid 1980s ... Classic soukous sounds ...

Tabu Ley - Ma Fille  ...

Zaire Tv 1985 ...

Sterns compilation (contains first 3 tracks of La Beaute) ...

Meat Puppets

Up On The Sun (1985) ...

 Sunburned psychedelia from ex-punks, Meat Puppets' third album...

Up on the Sun revealed the Puppets had learned one very valuable lesson from punk, and that was to get to the point. The album has an air of carefree drift, but it doesn't meander, and the performances are remarkably tight, full of energy and purpose even when the songs are redolent of goofing off. The title cut churns as Curt Kirkwood's precise but languid guitar figures dance with his brother Cris' insistent basslines and the percussive color of Derrick Bostrom's drumming. "Maiden's Milk" is playful as the abstract jangle of the opening section gives way to a tie-dyed jig, complete with whistling. The swirly phase-shifting and circular melody on "Swimming Ground" sounds as comfortable as a cool dip on a hot day. And the speedy attack of "Buckethead" and "Enchanted Forest" testifies to how strikingly well this band had learned to work as a unit... allmusic.com ...

Maiden's Milk (with whistling) ...

Swimming Ground ...

The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The group's classic lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar), and Derrick Bostrom (drums). One of the more notable groups on the roster of SST Records (who released most of their early albums), the Meat Puppets could be broadly classified as punk rock, but like most of their SST peers, the Meat Puppets established their own unique style, blending punk with country and psychedelic rock, and featuring Curt's warbling vocals... discogs.com

Away ...
                          Two Rivers ...
                                                           Too Real ... 

Up On The Sun 2011 ... 

In The Nursery

Koda (1988) ...

In The Nursery produce instrumental filmic themed albums... Koda was their third album on Sweatbox, which followed on from Stormhorse...  They used the new art of orchestral samples to create neo-classical electronica (the samples were of their time and now sound a bit dated, but the overall effect is the same).  Formed by twin brothers Klive and Nigel Humberstone in Sheffield, 1981, they grew out of the industrial music style, and at times here sound like a cinematic Young Gods, or a more upbeat Laibach  ...

Compulsion ...

Scherzo ...

 

 

inthenursery.com ...

Orbital

The Middle of Nowhere (1999) ...

Orbital are brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll ...cool melodic electronica, always uplifting, sometimes dark edged, but usually musically very inventive...  This is probably their most successful album overall ...
Spare Parts Express ...samples John Baker's New Worlds...

Way Out ...

Nothing Left (vocals by Alison Goldfrapp) ...

iamnotamusicjournalist.blogspot.co.uk review ...

The Middle of Nowhere ... 

Touch33

The Islands In-between (1983) ...

Touch label release on cassette, now reissued digitally... Original cassette included pieces by Jon Keliehor and Orlando Kimber... Touch33 is Jon Wozencroft, founder of Touch...

Indonesians often use the name 'Nusantara', meaning 'the islands in-between', when referring to the archipelago that forms their Republic. This cassette covers only some of the cultural activity on Java and Bali, the best known islands out of the 13,700 counted by statisticians, so it is not intended to be in any way definitive. The selections are more like musical postcards of two cultures balanced between tradition and tourism.

The Islands-in-between ...part 1...

 Islands in between 2 ...

Eberhard Schoener

Bali Agung (1975) ...

Eberhard Schoener, German composer and producer... vey mixed genres.   Influenced greatly by world musics, here by gamelan, but with electronic backing and classical guitar which takes it someplace else ...

Nadi ...

Bali Agung ...

Eberhard Schoener - Moog, Mellotron
with guests
Pete York - percussions
Siegfried Schwab - klassische Gitarre
and
The Gamelan Orchestra of Saba and Pinda

Sona Diabate & M'mah Sylla

Sahel (1988) ...

Guinean singers Sona Diabate and M'mah Sylla of policewomen's band Les Amazones de Guinée ...

Sahel [Triple Earth, 1988]
Two singers from the storied policewomen's band Les Amazones de Guinée join a guitarist-marimbist and a flutist-saxophonist in Paris, where everybody plays folk music once removed. Falsetto intensifies the high-end voices and the flute is very prominent, so that the intrusions of saxophone and sometimes even guitar have the effect of male voices demanding confidently to be heard. Secure in their realm, the women continue to muse or chatter or make a joyful noise ... Robert Christgau...

Haifa ...in praise of a football team ... 

• Acoustic Guitar, Marimba – Demba Camara
• Artwork By – Paulyn de Fresnes
• Engineer – Jean-Louis Labro
• Flute, Saxophone – Maitre Mamadou Aliou Barry
• Lead Vocals, Harmony Vocals – Condette Kouyate, M'Mah Sylla, Sona Diabate*
• Producer – Diapy Diawara, Justin Morel Junior 

The younger sister of Sekou Diabate - legendary guitarist from 'Bembeya Jazz', Sona was born into a musical family and had learnt to play guitar and bala (xylophone) before she started singing.
She spent two years playing with Miriam Makeba, whilst serving as a member of the Guinea police force ('Gendermerie').
In 1961 she became a founding member of Les Amazones De Guinée, an all female group, which had numbers varying from 15 to 20 members at times.
She has toured extensively throughout the world with 'Les Amazones'.
In her music Diabate draws on the rich heritage of Guinean folk music using acoustic instruments and vocals, adapted into a modern but sympathetic setting... Discogs ...

Etoile de Dakar featuring Youssou N'Dour

Once upon a time in Senegal - The birth of Mbalax 1979-81 (2010) ...

Released by Sterns, this is a compilation from several cassette albums recorded by Etoile de Dakar of Senegal in their two year history ...featuring Youssou N'Dour as one of three singers in the band ...

M'Baye Gueye ...

Jalo ...
                              BBC review ...

Play whole album at Sterns ... 

The Katydids

The Katydids (1989) ...

Meanwhile, back in planet pop... The Katydids never made much impact anywhere, but are pretty good at what they do nonetheless.   How does that happen ...?  After two albums, broke up and guitarist Adam Seymour joined The Pretenders ... 'College rock' doesn't really do justice... Produced by Nick Lowe ...

Girl in a Jigsaw Puzzle ... 

Heavy Weather Traffic ...

Susie Hug interview ...

Angel Wing Katydid ...

Kosmonautentraum

Juri Gagarin (1982) ...

NDW band from Hannover, their first album ...rhythmically choppy with synthy background and shouty vocals ... Released on seminal ZickZack label, ZZ100 ...
 
Juri Gagarin ...

• Bass, Synthesizer, Piano, Trumpet, Melodica, Xylophone, Percussion, Pedalboard [Bass] – Süsskind
• Cover – Kai May
• Drums, Synthesizer, Mellotron, Guitar, Voice [Effects], Percussion – E. K. T.
• Guitar, Harp, Electric Piano, Percussion, Effects [Wasserspiele] – Kai May
• Producer – Kosmonautentraum, Reinhard Stroetmann
• Vocals, Synthesizer, Melodica, Lyrics By – Ziggy XY

•  A1 Kosmonaut 3:40
• A2 Stolze Menschen 3:51
• A3 Schattenboxen 3:14
• A4 Gierig 1:19
• A5 Juri Gagarin 2:32
• A6 Epilog 0:05
• A7 Hoffnung 3:22
• B1 Du Bist Nicht Gut 3:19
• B2 1971-1976-1981 3:34
• B3 Deutsche Nacht 2:38
• B4 Süßes Leben 2:16
• B5 Neugier 7:51

Kosmonaut ...

                 deankorrl.wordpress.com ...

Juri Gagarin First Man In Space ...          

Rachels

Selenography (1999) ...

Chamber rock group from Kentucky, Selenography was their fourth album ...Influenced by English composer Michael Nyman's band and music, acoustically based with guitar and bass (and occasionally drumkit) ...

Selenography on Grooveshark ...

Honeysuckle Suite ...

A French Galleasse ...


pitchfork.com review ...

Selenography is the study of the Moon's surface ... sunshinegasoline.wordpress.com ...

Klaus Schulze

Das große Identifikationsspiel (1973) ...

Hörspiel, or 'radio-play', for German radio by Alfred Behrens, musical soundtrack by Klaus Schulze ...

The 7 Crystal Balls ... 

 

00:00 - Geburt Der Moderne [6.00]
06:00 - Devil May Care [7.21]
13:21 - Les 7 Boules de Cristal [3.17]
16:38 - On a Marché Sur la Lune [7.00]
23:38 - Der Schrecken Vom Amazonas [16.40]
40:18 - Schier Unendlich [1.37]

identifikationsspiel ... 

                              EMS Synthi noodling on Grooveshark ...

Daedelus

Invention (2002) ...

Los Angeles producer and composer of sample based music, mostly jazz-based ... real name Alfred Darlington/Weisberg-Roberts his obsessions include greek myths and Welsh mountains ...

Astroboy ...

"The album plays out a little like time travel; early on he pits familiar groove breaks against sources from '30s and '40s recordings full of exotica, romantic flourishes and big band rhythms. As things progress, more and more modern elements creep into the mix, mostly in the form to down-tempo and hip-hop rhythms. What allows Daedelus to unite the disparate sounds and time periods, and what makes the recording more compelling, is his foreground use of electronic elements, such as little glitches, static and subtle machinery sounds... exclaim.ca ...

Pursed Lips Reply ...

Taking his cues more from people like Nat King Cole, Henry Mancini or Esquivel rather than Fat Boy Slim or Jason Bentley, "Invention" takes big band, 50s sci-fi, downtempo jazz and space age bachelor pad music and mixes everything up in a way that makes you wonder if Arthur Greenslade or Juan Esqivel loved hip-hop and had access to samplers back in their prime - would this be the kind of music they would create? ...BBC review ...

                                          Experience ... 

Grooveshark Invention ...                                   

Daedelus interview ..

 

Busdriver

Fear of a Black Tangent (2005) ...

Freestyle hip hop ...Busdriver, whose birth name is Regan Farquhar, is an underground MC hailing from Los Angeles. He is known for his rapid-fire, jazzy, free-association style of hip-hop.

Reheated Pop ... 

Some listeners consider Busdriver to be an abstract rapper. His rhymes sometimes border on dadaist and even pure nonsense, but there is almost always a concrete message amongst his fast-paced, seemingly stream of conciousness rhymes. An interesting thing that sets Busdriver somewhat apart from other rappers is how he raps to the melody in addition to the beat on some songs.

Avantcore (Can sample) ...

Unemployed Black Astronaut ...

"Now, some of your friends will reboot and do a Google search and will be discouraged that the truth will hurt when they see that I'm not their zeitgeist, nor am I Christ-like, nor do I dislike whites. I just want a better chance as, most likely, I'll sell more records in France." Amen.

pitchfork.com review ... 

Sphinx's Coonery (Peaches in Regalia plus John Lennon) ...

Mehliana (Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana)

Taming the Dragon (2014) ...

Keyboard player Brad Mehldau with drummer Mark Guiliana ... Modern fusion ...


Hungry Ghost (seven is a very good time) ...

Sleeping Giant (live) ... 

allaboutjazz.com ... 


Album on Grooveshark ... 

Lena Platonos

Sabotage (Σαμποτάζ) (1981) ...

Greek new wave ... Lena Platonos introduced electronic instruments into Greek pop music.  This was her debut album, with Savina Giannatou and Giannis Palamidas... (Lyrics: Marianini Kriezi.)

Στον αστερισμό του πιγκουίνου (Ston asterismo tou pigkouinou) ...

"...her true debut was the album ‘Sabotage’ in 1981, created in collaboration with Marianina Kriezi and Savina Yannatou. The album marked and innovative change in Greek music by the strong use of synthesizers, with which Platonos had begun to experiment with. Simultaneously Platonos worked on a project featuring 13 poems by Kostas Karyotakis set to music. The work was actually completed before ‘Sabotage’ but released after on insistence of the director of Lyra records, Alekos Patsifa.

The experimenting with electronics continued with the three subsequent albums she made in the eighties. Her lyrics are often surreal poetry telling about daily life and personal relationships. In 1986 she released the album ‘Lepidoptera’ filled with nursery rhyme lyrics of Giani Rontari. Another project influenced by the world of children was the 1989 adaptation of the Hans Anderson fairytale ‘The nightingale and the emperor’" ... europopmusic.eu ...

Πτήση 201 (Ptisi 201)...

"DB: In the eighties we used to have a festival in Holland called contra-tones (Tegentonen) and Lena would have fitted right in. The festival featured artists that were seeking the borders of regular pop and rock and mixed them with avant-garde, poetry and experimentalism. In Greece Lena did just that picking up Greek tradition and doing something completely new with it. And adding electronics was just the start. Trying to link her another (European) artist is almost impossible 'cause Lena made a whole niche for herself. Just for perspective you could say she is on the experimental side of Anne Clark or Laurie Anderson"

Kinoumena Skitsa ...

Xίλιες και μια νύχτες σινεμά (Hilies kai mia nyhtes cinema)...

• Tha synantithoume sto saloon
• Galazia kithara
• Randez-vous stin Oasi
• O gyros tou kosmou se 1'
• Ptisi 201
• Ta magika bleu jean
• To koperti

• Hilies kai mia nyhtes cinema
• Sabotage
• Ta kinoumena skitsa
• Pame mia volta sto super market
• An m'agapas ela na kanoume erota
• Ston asterismo tou pigkouinou

myspace.com/lenaplatonos