Mark McGuire

mark mcguire - "let us be the way we were"
from insane epic haunting ghost guitar to streams of pure crystalized infinity music. to be alone in the dark and guided by moonlight, searching until sunrise and forever. stunning music.

The Litter

The Litter's debut album was disappointing in the sense that there are only a couple of songs that were not covers. However, they were one of the few garage bands to invest enough energy and imagination into their interpretations to make a cover-heavy LP worth hearing. "Action Woman" is here, and they go about tackling, and sometimes dismantling, numbers like the Small Faces' "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" and the Who's "A Legal Matter" (both of which were barely known in the U.S. at this point, incidentally). "I'm a Man," though based on the Yardbirds' version, gets into some pretty incredible feedback/distortion swirls in the closing rave-up section. Distortions has been reissued a few times, but the 1999 CD on Arf! Arf! is the one to get, as it includes two outtakes ("Hey Joe" and the 25-second, hardly worth noting "Harpsichord Sonata #1") and seven songs, mostly previously unreleased, recorded live at Chicago's Electric Theatre in August 1968. This was the music that the band played while filming a scene in Haskell Wexler's film Medium Cool (although none of the music was used in the movie), and it's in a heavier, bluesier hard-rock direction than their 1967 recordings, but still retains some of the punky spirit of the Distortions era.

Roland Appel

ROLAND APPEL gained recognition from his peers and from a growing audience of soulful deep-house of lovers thanks to the 3 EPs Dark Soldier / Changes (SK158), Unforgiven (SK168), Innersoul/New Love (SK178) that recently came out on Sonar Kollektiv. He is nevertheless no newcomer in the world of music production. He started spinning records and producing music in the early nineties. As a member of FAUNA FLASH with his long-time partner and friend CHRISTIAN PROMMER, he pushed his fame with 3 full-length albums, many 12“s, remixes and appareances on very famous labels such as Compost Records, G-Stone Recordings and !K7. Both of them also teamed up with PETER KRUDER and produced as VOOM:VOOM sublime pieces of electronica on the labels Compost and K7!. ROLAND’s career peeked up with the band he formed with RAINER TRÜBY and CHRISTIAN PROMMER – TRÜBY TRIO –, whose album Elevator music has been a great success that crossed over the german broken beats and dance music scene. With those music projects he made a name for himself, toured all around the world and played in the best clubs such as Fabric in London, Cielo in New York or Yellow in Tokyo. He also had the opportunity to be on stage at the biggest music festivals such as Roskilde festival, Sonne Mond und Sterne, Sunflower, Big Chill Festival, 10 days off and Montreux Jazz Festival. ROLAND gained a lot from all those team-projects but he also felt the need to work on his own.

Talk To Your Angel (SK188CD/Elektrish) is ROLAND APPEL’s most intimate moment to date. As he says : „It’s all very pure, from my heart and that feels sometimes strange, especially when you are used to work in teams.“ The title Talk To Your Angel also has a very personal meaning for him : „For me it’s a picture of self-reflection. When you are working alone, you sometimes wish to talk to someone, but on the other hand you don’t want to talk to a person, because you really enjoy to be alone. At this moment when you come clear with yourself, you can talk to your angel.“ The concept behind his debut album is to find a new way to combine the rules of the dance floor and the feeling of a song. ROLAND delved deep into very diverse influences from Detroit Techno, to Folk over to Soul, Disco and House and tried to bring song structures to his music. For him there are no DJ tools and floor fillers on the album. All the tracks are proper songs carrying a strong personal meaning but with a very subtle house groove that will make your heart and your body move. ROLAND produced them all in the studio of JAN KRAUSE. JAN is a member of BEANFIELD of Compost Records fame and has a long experience in sound-engineering and an impeccable musical ear. He worked for 20 years in the studio with JUERGEN KOPPERS, the legendary engineer of GIORGIO MORODER and DONNA SUMMER. Working in a place that holds so much disco-history was very inspiring for ROLAND and it helped him to focus on his aim of making timeless musical compositions. Moreover ROLAND worked on remixes for ROBYTEK (Rebirth Records), FREDO VIOLA (Because), SIAN (Simple), YELLOW SOX (Freerange), AUDISION (Mule Musiq) and 2 BANKS OF FOUR (Sonar Kollektiv) while progressing on his own solo project. It was also very inspiring for him to try and give another dancefloor perspective to the work of other artists and it really helped him to find the missing link between the vibe that people feel on the dancefloor and their inner feelings when they listen to intimate compositions of singer-songwriters.

The result is a beautiful and all-rounder album of 9 tracks unifying perfectly the feelings of a song with the energy of the dance floor. With its soothing atmospheres, dreamy layers of pads, strings and voices and its irresistible house grooves, Talk To Your Angel (SK188CD/elektrish) will satisfy the most demanding deep-house lovers. Moreover ROLAND’s debut solo album will equally please all the listeners interested in soulful music that tells you a story and that carries strong emotions through the lyrics of singer ARABA WALTON and the beautiful arrangements that he created. Talk To Your Angel (SK188CD/elektrish) includes his masterpiece Dark Soldier and his other great numbers such as Changes, Unforgiven, Inner Soul and New Love that has been charted and chosen by DENNIS FERRER for his Mixmag mix CD in UK. ROLAND new tracks like Secret, Angel and Lost Valley also cross that invisible barrier between a house track and real song through elegant strings orchestrations, intense harmonies and tight drum parts in a very nice Chicago-Detroit style.
With Talk To Your Angel (SK188CD/elektrish) you can be certain that ROLAND APPEL has been blessed by the Gods of music. Just listen to it and like JAZZANOVA and the Sonar Kollektiv crew, you will instantly fall for it and you will give ROLAND your benediction without a doubt.

The Alps

Although ‚III’ might be the third album from San Francisco trio The Alps it marks their first studio-based record and a fresh direction for the psychedelic supergroup. Made up of Tarentel mainman Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, ex-Tussle member Alexis Georgopoulos (better known as ARP) and Troll member Scott Hewicker there is a deft amount of skill on display as the three rip through eight tracks of sizzling spiritual bliss. Comparisons here are easy to bring up – Popol Vuh, Ennio Morricone and Serge Gainsbourg spring to mind for starters as the band toss and tangle through thick drum breaks and reverberating sun-drenched guitar lines.
‚III’ feels like a lost soundtrack to some crumbling Italian surrealist classic with its pounding basslines and swirling synthesizers. This is visual music, inspired by the likes of Werner Herzog, Alejandro Jordorowsky and Michaelangelo Antonioni, but what results is far more than a pastiche. Rather the trio have concocted a record which while being aware of its sprawling influences is far more than the sum of its parts. The finest excesses of progressive rock and the leanest intricacies of the psychedelic folk scene have been splashed together with a distinct dusty funk overlook to produce something which is totally out of time. Free from some half baked scene or other this is the result of three musicians doing exactly what they want.
‚III’ has taken a plethora of sounds and crumbled them into something altogether beguiling. From the distant supernaturalism of ‚Trem Fantasma’ to the Terry Riley influenced bliss of ‚Pink Light’ The Alps show us that there’s more to pyschedelia than meets the eye.

Steve Hauschildt

Steve hauschildt - "rapt for liquid minister"

Still-moving loops repeat and build themselves in deep washes of aural hallucination. steve is known for his work in ohio synth-drone unit emeralds. like the other output from the emeralds crew, it is hard to believe that today’s best synth music is being made by twenty year old dudes from the cleveland suburbs, but they seriously just have it figured out. steve’s smooth and densely layered drones, heavy in kraut influence, are as huge as any of his contemporaries and as rich as his predecessors. vocal incantations reminiscent of “way their crept” era grouper place steve’s compositions on another level. deeply thoughtful and knowledgeable zones floating in and out of reality.

Guru

Though it can reasonably be argued that rap grew almost directly out of funk and its particular beat, there are a lot of overlaps with jazz, particularly the bop and post-bop eras: the uninhibited expression, the depiction of urban life, just to name two. Jazz samples have also had a large role in hip-hop, but the idea of rapping over actual live jazz wasn't truly fully realized until Gang Starr MC Guru created and released the first in his Jazzmatazz series in 1993, with guest musicians who included saxophonist Branford Marsalis (who had previously collaborated with DJ Premier and Guru for the track "Jazz Thing" on the Mo' Better Blues soundtrack), trumpeter Donald Byrd, vibraphonist Roy Ayers, guitarist Ronny Jordan, and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith, as well as vocalist N'Dea Davenport (also of the acid jazz group the Brand New Heavies) and French rapper MC Solaar. While Guru's rhymes can occasionally be a little weak ("Think they won't harm you? Well they might/And that ain't right, but every day is like a fight" are the lines he chooses to describe kids on the subway in Brooklyn in "Transit Ride"), he delves into a variety of subject matter, from the problems of inner-city life to his own verbal prowess to self-improvement without ever sounding too repetitive, and his well-practiced flow fits well with the overall smooth, sultry, and intelligent feel of the album. From Jordan's solo on "No Time to Play" to Ayers' vibes expertise on "Take a Look (At Yourself)" to MC Solaar's quick and syllabic rhymes on "Le Bien, le Mal," Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 (and what turned out to be the best of the series) is a rap album for jazz fans and a jazz album for rap fans, skillful and smart, clean when it needs to be and gritty when that's more effective, helping to legitimize hip-hop to those who doubted it, and making for an altogether important release.

Zombie Zombie

A Land For Renegades

This is the debut full-length release from Paris' Zombie Zombie. This project is lead by two people, Etienne Jaumet and Cosmicneman (from Herman Dune) using sound and rhythm to explore the feeling of fear growing deep inside of you. Listening to their music, you will go through different emotional stages, especially when they play with the analog effects of instruments like the Theremin, keyboards, or space echo tape-delay pedal. Also, the provocative drumming and the screams will make your heart beat faster, like in a horror movie -- when your car won't start, and someone's trying to kill you. These are the types of feelings this duo try to reproduce in their music, also inspired by horror movie soundtracks from George Romero, John Carpenter, and music from bands like Goblin, Suicide, Raymond Scott, Silver Apples or Can. After their first 12" release on the Parisian record label Boombomtchak Records, this album was recorded and mixed by Antoine Gaillet in their research lab, in the Paris heat of August 2006. They also invited extra musicians such as guitar players from the bands Turzi, Herman Dune and Friction. Since then, they've been playing in small clubs in Europe, and also music festivals with big names like Jean Jacques Perrey, The Chap, ESG, James Chance and Sonic Boom.

Dadamah

This Is Not a Dream is a collection of every song ever released by the Dunedin, New Zealand quartet Dadamah. kranky compiled tracks from two seven inch singles, a compilation single and one LP, placed them on compact disc and released the finished product as our second ever release in 1994. Like every group in New Zealand, the members of Dadamah had links to a number of other bands; drummer Peter Stapleton played in The Terminals, Vacuum and The Victor Dimisich Band guitarist Roy Montgomery played in The Pin Group (whose single was the first ever release on the Flying Nun label). Singer Kim Pieters and organ/synth player Janine Stagg were, apparently, the only two people in New Zealand who had never been in a band.

Dadamah only played out three times, devoting the majority of their efforts to recording on four track. At the time the group was active, the underground experimentation of the Xpressway label garnered a number of fans outside the two islands and a Dadamah track ended up on a compilation seven inch Drag City released in 1991 called I Hear The Devil Calling Me.

Snowman

One listen to The Horse, The Rat And The Swan makes itmore than evident that this is a far from ordinary album.There is a ferocious urgency here, a dark energy at play,almost to the point of obsession or mania. This is a workevidently expunged from the band's collective psyche...extracted whole, writhing and coated in a primordial slime.It's the sound of the band desperately capturing their ideasas if they fear they may escape them, as if they fear theywill never have this opportunity to seize and encapsulatethis moment again.
This is a record that expects you to engage, make an effortand stop being a passive recipient. Yes it's a busy world andfinding time to pay attention, unravel, unfold, reveal andcomprehend is difficult for all of us, but not everythingshould be pre-processed and pre-masticated for ourconvenience, should it?
Snowman have travelled some distance since their self-titleddebut album two years back. Along the way there have beensweat stained, sold out gigs, $500 videos, inferences onPitchfork that they are Australia's greatest band, WAMIAwards and kind words but all of this is now flotsam,floating in the wake of The Horse, The Rat And The Swan.
This is a ground zero moment. There is a flow here, a longhidden path to be uncovered, running through the album'sdense, overgrown vegetation.
We Are The Plague sounds like a final message picked upon the scanners of a post-apocalyptic, galactic battleship...Daniel Was A Timebomb careens on a fucked up rockabillyriff that reminds us that this is now an ancient music of adesperate, disenfranchised underclass... A Rebirth andShe Is Turning In To You are exactly what they say,transfigurations, the sound of a band mutating, breakingout of its chrysalis and taking on a new form... The Horse(Parts 1 and 2) is pure ritual; possessed and frenzied,(say hello to Mr Conrad again, deep in the heart of hisdarkness and wondering if the apocalypse is now or laterin the week)... Diamond Wounds sees Snowman finallyemerge, dwarfed by their own imposing (and dare we sayprogressive) sonic architecture, into a cavernous underworldof their own creation.

Mom

Meet mom, a duo from Texas, consisting of a guy playing an acoustic guitar and a cello and a guy that enjoys playing the violin. Both of these gentlemen also make use of some small-time gadgets and electronica. Their ep Little Brite is a pleasant surprise coming out of the DFW!

Fabulous Diamonds

Adorably known to friends and family in Australia as Jarrod and Nisa, The Fabulous Diamonds' beguiling truck is a mesmerizing mix of synth, dub, and percussion, woven around honey-ache vocal stylings recalling (in spirit) past Aussie noisemakers Scattered Order or Makers Of The Dead Travel Fast, as well as those of Augustus Pablo, Young Marble Giants, and Suicide. . Their one previous release was a 7-inch co-released by Nervous Jerk and Misteltone, and it garnered praise from the Blogosphere and a smattering of airplay on discerning freeform radio stations around the US. This LP on Siltbreeze has been in the works for the better part of a year; its release coincides their first American tour (along with Siltbreeze labelmates, Psychedelic Horseshit).

Yura Yura Teikoku

A uniquely Japanese hybrid of Jimi Hendrix, Les Rallizes DesNudes, the Velvet Underground, 60's Japanese pop and the 13th Floor Elevators.
Yura Yura Teikoku started as a four piece in 1989. They were fixtures in Tokyo's underground psychedelic scene - they played at the legendary hole-in-the-wall UFO CLUB in Koenji and appeared on premier Japanese psych label PSF's "Tokyo Flashback" compilations. They released a demo cassette and two CDs on their own Jigoku (Hell) label and eventually signed to Captain Trip records, for which they recorded a proper album and a live CD. Their early material was proggy, heavy-psych with lots of dueling guitar solos and bombastic drumwork. Friends who attended shows of this era recall being frightened by singer Sakamoto Shintaro, who at the time shaved off his eyebrows and wore his waist-long hair parted down the middle, traditional Japanese ghost-style. Their fan's devotion was a sign of things to come -- many audience members mimicked Sakamoto and shaved off their own eyebrows. Yura Yura Teikoku were good - Kamekawa Chiyo's hypnotic basslines and Sakamoto's piercing voice distinguished the band from their peers - but material from the early years pales in comparison to their later masterpieces.
In 1992 their second guitar player left and the band went through a succession of drummers. In 1997 current drummer Shibata Ichiro joined the group and the ecstatic psych-pop sound for which Yura Yura Teikoku would become famous was born. In 1998 Tokyo's MIDI Records released the three-piece's first major album, 333. Every music magazine in the country lavished the record with praise and their fan base exploded overnight. Yura Yura Teikoku songs popped up in karaoke booths and their shows were swamped with worshipping fans. Since 1999, getting tickets to one of their performances has been near impossible - shows sell out in a matter of minutes. What happened?
Yura Yura Teikoku are the first and only Japanese underground psychedelic rock group to have achieved "overground" success. Yura Yura Teikoku look and sound like no other band in Japan, and their widespread popularity strikes most followers of underground psychedelic music as just plain...weird. For me, what's really weird is that they've followed their masterpiece 333 with four albums of equal brilliance, inspiration and growth. They've become more experimental with each album yet continue to attract more fans.
Well if they're so good, you might be wondering, why haven't I heard about them? I've got a million Fushitsusha records, I've got my Boredoms and my Cornelius records, I even scored some Tomokawa Kazuki CDs off the Forced Exposure website, but why haven't I ever seen a Yura Yura Teikoku record in America? My response -- I HAVE NO IDEA! Yura Yura Teikoku has been criminally overlooked outside Japan.

Lost and Found Video Night #4

I stumbled upon these Lost & Found Videos and I feel i should share some of them with you.

Volume #4 is the All Music Edition and its got some hits and misses. My favorite part is the David Lee Roth scene. HaHa! I just imagine being at some of these incredible shows that are featured on this compilation of lost gems. Enjoy!

1. Bikini clad beach Go Go girls
2. Jordache commercial
3. Bridget Bardot sings Contact
4. the band Kiss in a Japanese TV commercial
5. Barbeque Killers perform
5. Dusty Springfield Live from the TV show Dusty
6. Hot Butters' Popcorn
7. The Tams perform What Kind of Fool Do You Think I am?
8. The Butthole Surfers perform on the Scott and Gary Show, 1984
9. Tom Jones performs Show Me, 1968
10. The Cramps perform at a Mental Institution
11. Marianne Faithful sings
12. The Yeti song
13. Night Flight featuring The Residents
14. A drunken David Lee Roth insults The Clash
15. The Cash Crew: early 80's rap video
16. Bill Hicks and the Rainbows
17. Throbbing Gristle, Live!
18. Scott Walker performs "Matilda"
19. Joy Division on British television
20. Hall and Oats perform "You've Lost That Loving Feeling"
21. Zacherley costume dance party
22. The Small Faces
23. The Dramatics perform on Darktown Strutters
24. Black Sabbath
25. The Kids of Whitney High
26. Jane Berkin and Serge Gainsbourg perform Melody Nelson
27. Popol Vuh, Krautrock
28. The Monks perform on German TV
29. Alice Cooper
30. Anna Karina from Anna
31. Tony Clifton performs with Dinah Shore
32. B-52's on Saturday Night Live
33. Liberache and Debbie Reynolds perform a song from Annie
34. Ornette Coleman on Saturday Night Live
35. Pink Floyd with Syd Barett, Live!

Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min.

Silence is Better

I made a mix again.

Silence is Better

· Voice of the Seven Woods – Solitary Breathing
· Mythical Beast – Maria Sabina
· Avey Tare – I’m your eagle kisser
· Svarte Greiner – Kobbergruve Endelig Jeg Fant
· Diamond Vampires – Forever
· Padded Cell – Are you anywhere?
· Ricardo Tobar – El Sunset
· Prince Paul – I Want You (I’m an 80’s Man)
· Harvey Milk – After all I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me
· Crystal Antlers – Parting Song for the Torn Sky
· The Child Ballads – Cheekbone Hollows
· White Denim –
· Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
· Eden Express – Ocean Samba (Tristeza)
· Tindersticks – The other side of the world
· Bersarin Quartett – St. Petersburg

Padded Cell

Richard Sen And Neil Higgins's Padded Cell has been the focus of growing speculation of late. After achieving individual notoriety as a Bronx Dog (Heavenly) and a Dirty Beatnik (Wall of Sound) respectively, their triptych of 12" releases for DC Recordings - 2005's "Signal Failure" (DCR64), 2006's "Are You Anywhere?" (DCR67), and 2007's "Moon Menace" (DCR76) - has left nocturnal creatures everywhere drooling with desire for a full length glimpse into the shadowy depths of the Padded Cell. Finally it is here! Drawing inspiration from bands as diverse as Goblin, The Velvet Underground, Arthur Russell, Material, Bush Tetras, and Carl Craig, this duo's analogue fetishism is tinged with creeping psychosis but makes for a sound that is as soulful and emotional as it is dark and narcotic. The making of "Night Must Fall" has involved a list of collaborators that hints at this rich diversity: Dennis Young (Liquid Liquid) plays percussion and marimba, Chloe Battant from London punk funk band Battant (Kill The Dj) delivers vocals; guitars and synths come from sonic necromancer Giallos Flame (Analogue Screams / DC Recordings), and Italian producers The Diaphanoids (Bearfunk) deliver strings, synths and vocals. With careers as prolific club deejays and live performers that have spanned almost two decades (not to mention remixing the likes of The Glimmer Twins, Mekon, Sly Mongoose and Big Two Hundred), it follows that these mind-bending elements have been forced through dance floor focused channels, creating the nefarious 'devils-disco' brew for which this pair have become notorious. From the 80's New York style electro funk of forthcoming single "Savage Skulls" to the John Carpenter-esque soundtrack of "City Of Lies" and the new-wave pop-noir of "Word Of Mouth", this is a journey into dance music's darkest depths that will possess listeners of all persuasions.

Father's Children

It's hard to believe that an album Wayne Henderson produced could be a total flop commercially. But then again, worthwhile albums fall through the cracks all the time. That's exactly what happened with this self-titled debut album by Father's Children, a little known L.A. band that Henderson produced in 1979. The music on this out of print LP is essentially soul and funk, but with jazz overtones -- and, occasionally, Father's Children incorporates elements of reggae and Afro-Caribbean music. Think of the jazzier funk of the 1970s, and you will know where the eight-man band is coming from on tracks like "You Can Get It," "Dance Do It," and "Shine On." Pleasure, the Blackbyrds, and Karma are valid comparisons, and one can also hear similarities between Father's Children and some of the more jazz-influenced offerings of the Ohio Players and the pre-J.T. Taylor Kool & the Gang. Father's Children also hints at Side Effect on some of the songs, which isn't surprising because Side Effect leader Augie Johnson serves as a co-producer and background vocalist. Some of the material is excellent, and some of it is merely decent -- this LP isn't perfect, although Father's Children deserves credit for taking chances. One hears a lot of potential on this record, but, regrettably, the band's first album also turned out to be its last. ~ Alex Henderson,

Berarin Quartett

With some albums, you realize within a few seconds that here you have come across something really special. It is music that touches you straight away. Music that is important, that has a story to tell – and that manages to do so without even a single line of lyrics.
The debut album by the Bersarin Quartett is one of these albums.
Wonderful orchestral pieces full of longing and melancholy. It is that certain kind of melancholy that seizes you when you are moved while following the final credits of an emotionally touching movie, remembering special moments that have faded in the course of many years and linger hazily in your memory, when you are somewhat wistfully contemplating old, worn photographs from days passed by…not a feeling of failure or hopelessness, but a bittersweet reflection.
Time and evanescence. This is the matching soundtrack.
Orchestral cinemascope sounds provide the emotionally moving fundament, wrap the tracks up in a warm coating. Graceful strings pile up, creating big moments and repeatedly ending in melodies that are simply heart-rending, cinematic and tragic. But the Bersarin Quartett does not merely rely on these ingredients. The songs are also repeatedly interspersed with suspenseful and surprising elements, be it frail electronica, hypnotic soundscapes, drums or reverbed guitars. Rarely has a melange sounded as convincing and natural as this, and rarely has it sounded so well produced.
Thomas himself calls his music “imaginary fictional filmscores“. And it is hardly possible to come up with a more apt term. 10 tracks for 10 movies that have yet to be shot. Music that radiates such an enormous and authentic passion in every single minute, that one can’t help but completely abandon oneself to it. And honestly: Can there be anything more wonderful that can be achieved through music?

Landslide!

Landslide! is something I am involved with and if your in Los Angeles next weekend you should attend. There will be lots of good music,food,art,films,and a view of L.A. that will blow you away.

White Denim

Exposion is the title of White Denim's first full length U.S. studio album.The debut record was first sold at live shows during their spring 2008 tour with Tapes 'n Tapes. The LP was distributed as an unlabeled CD-R in a paper wrapping, along with the title 11 Songs printed on the front. This "Tour LP" has finally been pressed onto 7" vinyls, and it is slated to be released before the summer of 2008 and before the release of their European debut LP, Workout Holiday. Exposion features many songs from previous releases, but most have been re-worked and re-recorded. The new album will be self-released much like the Let's Talk About EP (on vinyl and digital format only), with the band reporting that "CDs seem pretty worthless to us".

Droids

70s electro pop from The Droids -- a very cool combo who definitely live up to their name! Most of the tracks here are spare and electronic -- grooves definitely in the Kraftwerk side of the spectrum, but a bit more catchy and tuneful too -- although still never any sort of mainstream pop। Some cuts have very cool analogue electronic touches -- weird noises and sounds that bubble and bristle in between the more upbeat moments -- all making for a well-developed album with a surprising amount of depth!