The Electric Meme

Chester Burnett alias Howlin' Wolf (1910-1976) est l'une des figures les plus importantes du blues d'après-guerre. Surnommé ainsi en raison d'une voix profonde et puissante, l'imposant « shouter » (hurleur) commence à enregistrer, au moment même où le rock'n'roll prend forme, des morceaux de blues électrique qui vont influencer des dizaines de chanteurs et groupes des années soixante. Auteur de nombreux classiques parmi lesquels « (Sittin On) Top of the World », « Spoonful », « Little Red Rooster », « Smokestack Lightning », « Killing Floor » ou « Back Door Man », Howlin' Wolf fut l'un des rares bluesmen à connaître le succès de son vivant. Le rock, personnifié par The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Jim Morrison, Robert Plant ou Jack White, lui est fortement redevable.

Lotte Schöne is one of those singers whose personality shines through the shellac: joyful, expressive, and bubbly. She was loved by audiences in Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin, Paris, and London. Being Jewish, she left Berlin in 1933, but continued to sing in Vienna and Paris until 1938. At the outbreak of World War II, Schöne took refuge in a small village in the French Alps, where she stayed in hiding until 1945. After the war she gave occasional concerts and sang one performance in 1948 at the Berlin State Opera. She spent the remainder of her life living outside of Paris with her son and grandchildren. Lotte Schöne’s records are highly prized, especially her acoustic discs. This set contains all of her known recordings for Vox, Odeon, and the Gramophone Company, including six unpublished Odeon sides made just before the company’s conversion from the acoustic to the electric recording process, and four unpublished Gramophone Company sides of Hugo Wolf songs recorded in 1934. The set concludes with a delightful group of non-commercial discs made for her family, and a substantial offering of German and French songs recorded late in her career for French and German Radio in 1948 and 1950. This is the first time that Lotte Schöne’s complete extant recordings can be heard in one compilation. The booklet includes rare photos, an evaluation of Schöne’s recordings by Michael Aspinall, and a personal essay by the noted French author, André Tubeuf, written in English especially for this Marston Records release.

Lotte Schöne is one of those singers whose personality shines through the shellac: joyful, expressive, and bubbly. She was loved by audiences in Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin, Paris, and London. Being Jewish, she left Berlin in 1933, but continued to sing in Vienna and Paris until 1938. At the outbreak of World War II, Schöne took refuge in a small village in the French Alps, where she stayed in hiding until 1945. After the war she gave occasional concerts and sang one performance in 1948 at the Berlin State Opera. She spent the remainder of her life living outside of Paris with her son and grandchildren. Lotte Schöne’s records are highly prized, especially her acoustic discs. This set contains all of her known recordings for Vox, Odeon, and the Gramophone Company, including six unpublished Odeon sides made just before the company’s conversion from the acoustic to the electric recording process, and four unpublished Gramophone Company sides of Hugo Wolf songs recorded in 1934. The set concludes with a delightful group of non-commercial discs made for her family, and a substantial offering of German and French songs recorded late in her career for French and German Radio in 1948 and 1950. This is the first time that Lotte Schöne’s complete extant recordings can be heard in one compilation. The booklet includes rare photos, an evaluation of Schöne’s recordings by Michael Aspinall, and a personal essay by the noted French author, André Tubeuf, written in English especially for this Marston Records release.

Strut present a brand new compilation documenting the groundbreaking maloya scene on Réunion Island from the mid-‘70s, as Western instrumentation joined traditional Malagasy, African and Indian acoustic instruments to spark a whole era of new fusions and creativity. Compiled by Réunionese DJ duo La Basse Tropicale, ‘Oté Maloya’ follows up last year’s acclaimed ‘Soul Sok Séga’ release on Strut. Traditional maloya, originally called “séga”, described the songs, music and dances of slaves on the sugar plantations of Réunion Island in the 17th Century – maloya ceremonies paid tribute to ancestors and mediated between the living and the dead.

Although Mstislav Rostropovich died 10 years ago, on April 27th 2007, he remains a powerful presence on the world’s cultural scene through his legacy as the greatest cellist of his time, as a brave advocate of human rights, and as a man of proverbial generosity and charisma, often known simply by his nickname, Slava. He would have celebrated his 90th birthday in 2017.

Le nouvel album, intensément personnel, de la mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti, nouvelle signature du label naïve. Elle y rassemble huit songs envoûtants de Dowland, qui s’entremêlent à quelques chansons pop notoires, de Björk, U2, Neil Young et quelques autres. Le luthiste Vincent Flückiger et le multi-instrumentiste et producteur Fred Chappuis l’épaulent tout au long de ce voyage très lyrique, et joyeusement mélancolique.

De 1970 à 1975, the Allman Brothers Band est le plus groupe rock le plus influent d'Amérique, et redéfinit le rock et ses frontières. La puissance et la durée de leur improvisation sur scène bouleverse les normes en matière de concerts ; d'autres groupes étaient réputés pour leur improvisation sur scène mais lorsque les membres de the Allman Brothers prolongent une chanson à 30 ou 40 minutes dans leur meilleure forme, ils sont sensationnels, toujours généreux. Ils ont apporté un style nettement sudiste et par la même ouvert la voie à la vague des formations rock des années 1970 du sud de la ligne Mason-Dixon, dont Lynyrd Skynyrd.

After being imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Leo Handler just wants to get his life back on track, so he heads home to take a job in the New York City subway yards, where his highly connected Uncle Frank now runs the show. He meets up with his old childhood friend, Willie Guitierrez, his cousin, and his girlfriend, Erica, and for once he feels settled and safe…