Thursday, January 24, 2008

HARRY NILSSON
Aerial Ballet
{Monophonic LP}
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RCA 1968 LPM-3956
Monophonic release of Harry Nilsson's second album for RCA.

This is the first release of Aerial Ballet. This version includes "Daddy's Song". RCA quickly deleted this first release and issued a second pressing without "Daddy's Song". RCA feared that Harry's version would compete with The Monkees's cover of the song.

Aerial Ballet is named for a vaudeville act performed by Nilsson's grandparents. The album's name was the inspriation for the name of the rock group Aerosmith.

The album is widely available in the stereo version but the monomixes are rare.

1 "Daddy's Song / 2 "Good Old Desk / 3 "Don't Leave Me / 4 "Mr. Richland's Favorite Song / 5 "Little Cowboy / 6 "Together / 7 "Everybody's Talkin' / 8 "I Said Goodbye To Me / 9 "Little Cowboy / 10 "Mr. Tinker / 11 "One / 12 "The Wailing Of The Willow / 13 "Bath"

HARRY NILSSON
Pandemonium Shadow Show
{Monophonic LP}
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LPM-3874 1967 Monophonic version.

Originally released in 1967, including inspired coverversions of 'You Can't Do That' and 'River Deep, Mountain High' but also some great Nilsson originals like the autobiographical "1941" and his version of the 10 commandments "Ten Little Indians".

The album is widely available in the stereo version but the monomixes are rare.

1 "Ten Little Indians"/2 "1941"/3 "Cuddly Toy"/4 "She Sang Hymns Out of Tune"/5 "You Can't Do That"/6 "Sleep Late My Lady Friend"/7 "She's Leaving Home"/8 "There Will Never Be"/9 "Without Her"/10 "Freckles"/11 "It's Been So Long"/12 "River Deep-Mountain High"


Monday, January 21, 2008

BEATLES
Hate
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released 2006.

The general opinion on the Beatles recent LOVE album is that it's a pretty nifty piece of work. Very much a labour of love for producer George Martin and his technoboffin son Giles. A patchwork of outtakes and edits, it recasts the Beatles legacy as one of sonic adventurers in the 21st Century. In other words, it sounds fantastic.

And then this album came. Sir George Master Five and Pete Best Zarustica spent 7 entire days planning this record. The Beatles HATE album is the dark side of the LOVE album, taking samples from bootlegs and welding them to a much darker worldview. It lacks the gloss of the Martins' effort but makes up for it in many other ways.

The tracks names on The Beatles' HATE were changed and adapted to match the belical concept of the record.

01 - Intro / Revolution 23 (This track is built on samples of various Beatles tracks, like Julia, Baby It's You/ The opening chord from I Feel Fine /  Rooster from Good Morning /  Lyrics from Julia /  Lyrics from Revolution Number 9 /  Lyrics from Baby It's You / Lennon's ending from Helter Skelter / 'Everybody is Happy' and the ooooohs choir from Sun King / The backwards crescendo chord from 'What's the New Mary Jane' / The bass line from Lady Madonna , re-arranged. (see how they run....) / Drums and Harmonica from The Clash, The Guns Of Brixton) * 02 - Drive My War (Drive My Car remixed). * 03 - Tomorrow Never Blows (Tomorrow Never Blows remixed). * 04 - Day Reaper (Day Tripper remixed). * 05 - From Me To Whom? (From me to you remixed. Contains a Gary Glitter drum sample). * 06 - Bomb Together (Come together remixed. Contains samples of Primal Scream's Come Together). * 07 - What's The New Sarah Jane (Another track with loads of samples, especially from BBC series Doctor Who. You can hear the sound of the TARDIS and a sample from the episode The Empty Child - "I'm scared, please let me in mommy I'm scared of the bombs... mommy, are you my mommmy". Sarah Jane Smith is also a reference, as she was the companion of The Doctor, seasons 11 to 14). * 08 - I'm Nuking Through You (I'm Looking Through You mashed-up with Renegade Soundwave's track Holgertron). * 09 - Lovely Retard (Lovely Rita mashed-up with Renegade Soundwave's track Traitor. * 10 - You've Got To Hide Your Hate Away (You've Got To Hide Your Love Away remixed). * 11 - Horny Pie (Honey Pie pitched down and filled with effects). * 12 - Why? (A trip hop remix of Because). * 13 - Buddy Girl (Girl remixed).  14 - Sadness Is A War Gun (Happiness is a Warm Gun remixed).  15 - War Fields Forever (Strawberry Fields Forever remixed).




Sunday, January 13, 2008

Eric Woolfson
More Tales Of Mystery And Imagination
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released September 29, 2003.

Back in 1976 Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons created "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", in 2003 Eric Woolfson revisits the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe with his album "Poe". While some tracks are obviously about some of Poe's great works, other songs are more about the man himself.

Angel of the Odd (instrumental)/Wings of Eagles (lead vocal Steve Balsamo)/Train to Freedom (lead vocal Fred Johanson)/Somewhere in the Audience (lead vocal Steve Balsamo)/The Bells (choir)/The Pit and the Pendulum (lead vocal Steve Balsamo)/
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (lead vocal Eric Woolfson)/Tiny Star (lead vocal Steve Balsamo)/Goodbye to All That (choir)/Immortal (lead vocal Steve Balsamo)

The Mike Flowers Pops
A Groovy Place
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What surprises about this album is not that the covers are amusing but that the arrangements are so well written. Melodies that dig into you and are absolutely stuck after the first listening. Cover versions do not get better than this.
If you like Pat Boone's Metal Mood you're gonna like this one too.

1. Groovy Place
2. Wonderwall / 3. In Crowd / 4. Light My Fire / 5. Please Release Me / 6. Venus As A Boy / 7. Crusty Girl / 8. All Tomorrow's Parties/Venus In Furs/White Light White Heat / 9. Freebase / 10. 1999

ICARUS
The Marvel World Of Icarus

LP Pye NSPL 28161 (1972)

Each of the players on this rocking album with a strong progressive touch presents themselves as comic character. The lyrics likewise deal with the vicissitudes of these heroes. Each track is thematically about a different hero - "Spiderman", "Hulk", "Thor", "Captain America"...well you get the idea, lending the album a comparatively agreeable degree of fun. Although the band gigged quite a bit the album sank like a stone and has been an expensive rarity since then. As the instrumental and vocal abilities of the band are no less than good, the only flaw is the lack of outstanding compositions, although a few highlights are present nonetheless. These include the scary intro to 'Hulk', the propelling rhythms of 'Conan The Barbarian', almost all flute parts, almost all of the opening track on the B-side, 'Thor' and the slightly psychedelic 'Silver Surfer'. All in all fun to listen to.


Steve 'Hulk' Hart (vocals), John 'Spiderman' Etheridge (guitar), Jimmy 'Thing' Wiley (bass), Iain 'Thor' Hills (keyboards), Norrie Daredevil' Devine (Saxaphone), Peter 'Conan The Barbarian' Curtain (drums)



Tracks: 1. Prologue (0:35)/2. Spiderman (2:53)/3. Fantastic Four (3:21)/4. Hulk (3:04)/5. Madame Masque (3:48)/6. Conan The Barbarian (4:07)/7. Iron Man (2:55)/8. Thor (4:49)/9. Black Panther (3:24)/10. The Man Without Fear (3:57)/11. Silver Surfer (4:05)/12. Things Thing (2:01)/13. Captain America (2:32)


Thursday, January 03, 2008

Kayak - Discography 1973-2018




In 1972 Ton Scherpenzeel and Pim Koopman formed a band with Max Werner (vocals), Johan Slager (guitar) and Cees van Leeuwen (bass guitar). They call themselves Kayak. They play symphonic rock, inspired by Yes (although most people compare them with Genesis. In fact Kayak hadn't heard anything from Genesis till years later).

If you like Genesis, Phil Collins, Yes, Camel, Alan Parsons or Supertramp you'll probably like Kayak too.

Download:

1973 - See See The Sun
1974 - Kayak II
1975 - Royal Bed Bouncer
1976 - The Last Encore
1977 - Starlight Dancer
1979 - Phantom Of The Night
1980 - Periscope Life
1981 - Merlin
1994 - Eyewitness
2000 - Close To The Fire
2001 - Night Vision
2003 - Merlin - Bard Of The Unseen
2005 - Nostradamus - The Fate of Man (2CD)
2007 - Kayakoustic Live
2008 - Coming Up For Air
2009 - Letters From Utopia (2CD)
2011 - Anywhere But Here
2014 - Cleopatra, The Crown Of Isis
2018 - Seventeen

[ TRACKLIST ]