Neon City Girl

Jaga Jazzist, the Norwegian multi-instrumental boundary-busters, may occupy a niche, but it feels like an enduringly spacious and fertile one, where sounds that recall everything from Weather Report to big-band jazz, krautrock, Radiohead or even the Pat Metheny Group intertwine. Last year’s 20th anniversary retrospective was fascinatingly diverse, but Starfire – conceived in composer Lars Horntveth’s new Los Angeles home, rather than in Oslo – is a more densely layered and studio-dominated deployment of this band’s awesome resources. The title track is classic Jazzist: a sound like the Shadows driven by a marching-band thump skids through power-chord guitar hooks and Zappaesque melodic zigzags; the atmospheric Big City Music is a masterly balance of quickfire rhythm-section ingenuity and the instrumental diversity of guitars, keys and brass. The tunes remain quirkily dramatic and the thematic scene-shifting spectacular, but a little thinning-out would have let Jaga Jazzist’s uniquely mercurial music breathe more.

As the post-punk dust began to settle, a particular strand of artist began applying a knowingly distant, colder aesthetic to their work. While much of the scene began to be dominated by bigger budget, commercially minded former punk and new wave acts, a darker undercurrent did survive, often more interesting, more dangerous and sexier than anything that could be heard on Top Of The Pops at the time. The first generation of the darkwave movement consisted of bands that were equally influenced by the fractured drama of Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure as they were by the art damaged experimentation of Cabaret Voltaire, Wire and Throbbing Gristle, always rich in Gothic spirt, societal displacement, urban isolation and sexual energy.

As the post-punk dust began to settle, a particular strand of artist began applying a knowingly distant, colder aesthetic to their work. While much of the scene began to be dominated by bigger budget, commercially minded former punk and new wave acts, a darker undercurrent did survive, often more interesting, more dangerous and sexier than anything that could be heard on Top Of The Pops at the time. The first generation of the darkwave movement consisted of bands that were equally influenced by the fractured drama of Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure as they were by the art damaged experimentation of Cabaret Voltaire, Wire and Throbbing Gristle, always rich in Gothic spirt, societal displacement, urban isolation and sexual energy.

Various Artists - Heavy Sugar Second Spoonful: More Pure Essence Of New Orleans R&B (1954-1960) {3CD Fantastic Voyage FVTD131 rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 527 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 362 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954-60, 2010 Fantastic Voyage | FVTD131
Rhythm & Blues / Rock ‘n’ Roll / Rockabilly

Following the critical acclaim and enthusiastic response to Heavy Sugar: The Pure Essence of New Orleans R&B, compiler Stuart Colman has dug deep into the city’s unique recording legacy to bring about a sumptuous second helping. In addition to the requisite sourcings, the net has been cast wider still in order to focus on material gleaned from such picayune outlets as Rustone, Pontchartrain, Athens, Winner and Spinett. There is a very good reason for this.

As the post-punk dust began to settle, a particular strand of artist began applying a knowingly distant, colder aesthetic to their work. While much of the scene began to be dominated by bigger budget, commercially minded former punk and new wave acts, a darker undercurrent did survive, often more interesting, more dangerous and sexier than anything that could be heard on Top Of The Pops at the time. The first generation of the darkwave movement consisted of bands that were equally influenced by the fractured drama of Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure as they were by the art damaged experimentation of Cabaret Voltaire, Wire and Throbbing Gristle, always rich in Gothic spirt, societal displacement, urban isolation and sexual energy.

This is a great collection of rare and hard to find tunes compiled by Jeffrey Glenn. Hundreds of odds & ends by little known groups, famous singers, and famous singers before they became famous.

Mike Patton - Adult Themes For Voice (1996) {Tzadik TZ 7015}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 208 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 105 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 34 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1996 Tzadik | TZ 7015 | Tzadik Composer Series
Avant-Garde / Experimental / Sound Collage / A Cappella / Noise / Free Improvisation

Famous as the vocalist of Faith No More, notorious as the singer of Mr. Bungle, Mike Patton goes one step further with a debut album of experimental sounds never imagined possible from just voice and microphone. Recorded and mixed in hotel rooms using 4-track cassette deck, Adult Themes is a classic which will both surprise and delight Patton fans and newcomers alike. Compositions such as "Catheter", and "Orgy In Reverb" live up to their titles. In addition to his successful day job, Mike Patton has moonlighted with various ensembles and composers including Kronos Quartet, Bob Ostertag, Rova Saxophone Quartet, David Shea, Arto Lindsay, Bill Laswell, Boo-Yaa Tribe, Sepultura, John Zorn and Naked City (filling in for Yamatsaka Eye).