Acapella prison blues. Old vinyl rip. It's got some pops and scratches but the music is worth it.

J.B. Smith

Apparently you guys are too pussy to download this on rapidshare so here it is on mediafire. It's the best techno this year and one of the best things period. This is a bootleg live performance by the duo Kettankarussel. Their laptops got stolen at a gig a few weeks ago and they didn't have any backups so you're never going to hear any of these tracks ever again.

Live

Easily one of the best hardcore albums I've ever heard. I didn't realize this until I was looking for the cover but apparently you can buy this for $5 from http://www.magicbulletrecords.com/mailorder.html

Chapters I & II Plus Deleted Scene

South indian brass band plays classical ragas. Fluid, agile, and pretty pretty pretty.

Madras 74

Insane, over the top, brilliant combination of psychedelic guitar noise, rave music, gutter blues and high energy rock'n'roll.

Really truly fantastic. I can't praise this enough.

You can buy it (for cheap) right here.
Rag Red Reverie

One of the most interesting figures in American music during the 60's and 70's. In large part because of his non-musical activities. He was also a philosopher, and an anti-art activist, staging protests calling for the destruction of museums and galleries and calling for people to be freed of their slavery to aesthetic beauty. He did this while simultaneously making "New American Ethnic Music." To Quote from his essay "The Meaning of My Avant-Garde Hillbilly and Blues Music" Link

"But ethnic music has a unique significance in contemporary society. Again, let it be clear that I am not speaking about what the ignorant call “folk music,” but about Hindustani masters such as Ram Narayan, about Buddy Guy or Coltrane, even about African field recordings which were never ensconced in any canon. Simply, such music preserves heights of the spirit which cannot be rebuilt from the sterile plain of modernity. Commercial-mechanistic-impersonal civilization is progressively crushing people’s spirit. What emerged [in the late Sixties] is a culture devoted to fads and synthetic identities, a culture of smirking self-disgust and degradation. Mass culture is a facet of the horrible symbiosis which exists between the manipulators and the underlings.

Ethnic music has a vision of human possibility which has not been impaired by the demeaning forces of modernization. (Yet again, let it be clear that I am not speaking about what the ignorant call “folk music.”) These repertoires are the voice of the unsubjugated autochthon. In certain times and places, non-privileged autochthons did not have a separate language, or a visual art, or an architecture, and music was the only creative medium which they made their own. The best of the musical languages which embody the tradition of experience of autochthonous communities are uniquely valuable for their specificity of sentiment and passion, their holistic engagement, their expression of extra-ordinary and elevated human possibilities. They transmit something which I am not willing to ignore."

Henry Flynt and the Insurrections - I Don't Wanna
Back Porch Hillbilly Blues Volume 1
Back Porch Hillbilly Blues Volume 2
1971-1978 Hillbilly Tape Music
C Tune
You Are My Everlovin'/Celestial Power

"Harry Smith's 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music has long been considered the Holy Grail of Americana and was an enormous influence on an entire generation of folkies (including John Fahey and Bob Dylan). Art Rosenbaum's Art of Field Recording series also plunges deep into Greil Marcus's "Old, Weird America" but with some inspired and welcome differences. While the impact of Smith's archival work is impossible to repeat, Rosenbaum's work is similarly essential.

The most immediately striking thing about Art Of Field Recording is the sound quality. Smith's Anthology was compiled entirely (and somewhat illegally) of transfers from scratchy 78s using 1950s technology. While this obviously could not be avoided, it resulted in a great deal of hiss that made Anthology sound more like A Very Important Historical Document than a collection of absolutely great and listenable songs. Rosenbaum's field recordings, on the other hand, are crystal clear, which imbues the tracks with presence and immediacy. Also, the occasional intrusion of outside sounds (such as crickets) inarguably enhances the backwoods magic herein.

The most important difference, however, is the focus. Harry Smith's intent was to preserve great recordings by roots music titans like Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and The Carter Family. Field Recording shifts the focus to the actual songs themselves: most of the artists represented here are unknown, semi-professional musicians (I believe Scapper Blackwell is the biggest name here). In fact, some of the performers were stumbled upon though what Rosenbaum calls "shotgun" collecting—showing up at a strange town and just asking around to see if there were any old-time musicians around. Furthermore, many of the performers were recorded near the end of their lives (many look downright cadaverous in the accompanying book's photographs). As such, missed notes, rusty and off-key singing, and confused monologues are not at all uncommon. Rather than detract from the songs, they add an endearing element of charm and intimacy to the proceedings. Many tracks evoke the sense of sitting on a porch listening to a drunk grandfather belting out songs he remembers from when he used to work in a train yard.

Rosenbaum's decision to include pre- and post-song banter borders on genius. Now-deceased catfisherman Jack Bean oozes gruff charisma and effortlessly steals the show with his salty proclamations, particularly when he laments that his voice sounds like a "busted bunghole" or expresses concern that women might be corrupted by his off-color lyrics. Other times, the performers provide amusing asides, useful contextualizations, or welcome insight into their character. I was particularly stuck by how some performers were somewhat incoherent and unintelligible when speaking, yet completely clear and focused when launching into a song they probably hadn't sung for thirty years.

The set is divided into four themed CDs : Survey, Religious, Accompanied Songs and Ballads, and Unaccompanied Songs and Ballads. All four are uniformly excellent and intelligently sequenced, but I most enjoyed the unaccompanied songs. The raw, naked acappella performances were often uniquely stirring and a welcome respite from homogenizing modern recording and artifice. The set comes with a 96-page book too, which is both comprehensive and intermittently fascinating (particularly the pictures).

Stylistically, Field Recording covers a lot of ground: country, acoustic blues, hillbilly folk, English ballads, cajun accordian dances, incendiary fiddle showcases, work songs, slave songs, gospel, and many others. The highlights are too numerous to recount- there are very, very few weak tracks in this collection (and even they usually have character). If pressed, however, I'd say my favorite track is Bobby McMillon's "The Devil Song", a rousing sing-along about a man whose wife gets taken to hell, only to be promptly returned (it contains the immortal couplet "I been the devil 'bout all my life, but I never been in hell til I met your wife").

Over the course of 107 songs, Field Recording evokes nearly every mood or emotion a song can elicit: some are spooky, some are joyous, some are sad and beautiful, and some are quite funny. Invariably, however, they all pointedly illustrate that a timeless and well-written song can sound good no matter who is singing it and highlight the sad fact that regional idiosyncracies and musical traditions have largely vanished from our culture. Thankfully, given that Rosenbaum has spent over fifty years tirelessly and lovingly preserving as much as possible, I am sure that we can look forward to future volumes. Dust-to-Digital has not let me down yet. "

- Anthony D'Amico, link

Disc 1
Disc 2
Disc 3
Disc 4

Unstoppable, titanic, overwhelming force. THE BLUUUUUUUEEEEESSSSSSS.

Just Stompin'

Edit Oct 11: My copy is in 192kbps go here for a flac version.

Loud, unsubtle, bluesy-but-not-bluesy rock'n'roll.

We Are All Making History

Glacial, energetically null, drone. Like the sound of a great void made corporeal.

No Mutant Enemy

Hyperborean Trenchtown

Hey everybody, as you can see here and here you can still buy Hyperborean Trenchtown on vinyl over a year after it's release. And since I got 98 downloads on that link I'm just gonna pull it and tell you to buy it. No Mutant Enemy however is sold out and just as wonderful so check that out.

"Ballads and banjo tunes from Virginia and North Carolina, collected by John Cohen in November of 1965"

High Atmosphere

i got a pocket full of money, cell phone full of hoes, garage full of cars and a closet full of clothes, rock game bright, yeah i'm brighter than the sun, Slim Thugga motherfucker i'm as fresh as they come

kid's good, fam's good, ain't nobody hold me, bills paid mommas straight, says she's proud of me, I'm proud of me too, all this shit I been through.

Back by Blockular Demand: Serve & Collect Part II

Another pair of compilations of the ass-shakingest music around, this time from Africa in the 70's. The best party music you will ever hear.

African Scream Contest: Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds From Benin & Togo 70s

Nigeria Disco Funk Special

As a companion post to this Here are two wonderful compilations of old funky music from the southern continent.

The Roots of Chicha - Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru

The Golden Years Of Disco Fuentes - The Powerhouse of Colombian Music 1960-1976

If you aren't dancing right now then you do not have properly functioning legs.

Kettenkarusell are a duo from Germany. They make fluid, pumping techno of a high caliber. They've released one 12" which I would absolutely love to hear but which is proving surprisingly hard to find. This is a bootleg straight from the P.A. system a concert of theirs earlier this year. The sound quality is high, and musically this is one of the best things you are gonna hear all year.

live

Bluesy, folksy, rootsy, rock music from Tuva by way of Jimi Hendrix.

Yenisei Punk

Li-Jianhong and Huang Jin Take buzzsaws to their instruments and make the most awesome rock music ever. Insane and occasionally beautiful.

2pi Records
Ghost Temple

Made in the gutter, product of my environment
I'm in the box sellin', momma ain't been home
Niggers across the street shootin over half a zone
I'm pissed off, asking why I live like this
Sucked it up like a man, shook it like a piss

Starhipz and Rocketz

Instrumental hip hop from France. Guy went to Vietnam, picked up a whole bunch of old records, and then made a brilliant album using samples from old Vietnamese pop songs. Great melodies, tight beats, and a totally relaxing atmosphere.


http://www.mediafire.com/?3mdjcj2aze3

The first song on this album starts off with a wash of droning reverb. Lazily drifting along, letting the music flow where it may. Then a little more than halfway through everything clicks into place and the song switches gears into a catchy, tightly controlled rampage.

That's a pretty good description of the whole album. 百蚊(Hyacca) Let you think you know where the song is going to go and then they pull the rug out from underneath you in the most thrilling and exciting way possible.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zxs5xzmngf7

Is that enough punk music for everyone? I'm gonna post something different next.

I don't know what the word "Yolz" means. I think it's supposed to be a form of the word "yells". Anyway, Yolz in the Sky are pretty incredible. A wildly danceable combination of groovy, nonsensical disco/punk. There was a week or two last year where the only thing I listened to was this album.

http://www.mediafire.com/?jk1zenmdk19

Blurry, high-speed, hard to understand. Some sort of weird combination of funk, psychedelia, and hardcore. Really, really, good.

http://www.mediafire.com/?xl00jzn0jq4

Gaseneta only ever managed to release one album, but good lord what an album. Vicious high-energy rhythms and extreme lo-fi babble combine with a bizarre tracklisting (It's the same three songs performed over and over again for the whole album, each time faster and more out of control) to make some kind of incredible atmosphere of jittery violent psychosis and out of control lunacy. A truly brilliant album.


http://www.mediafire.com/?jytni1fd3jm

デラシネ (Deracine) are an awesome punk band from Tokyo. Their songs are incredibly catchy, intensely danceable, and surprisingly humorous. They don't have a guitarist and instead choose to play with bass, drums, and a wildly messed up keyboard/sampler machine.

http://www.mediafire.com/?d0ieqkumzzw

Abe Kaoru is one of the best saxophone player in the history of the world. Yes, I know what kind of competition he's facing. He can stand next to anyone you name. This is him playing the old Standard "Autumn Leaves"



Perfect music for long late winter nights. This album was recorded in the early '70's, probably his best period. He has a bunch of albums and though they're all good this is probably the best starting point.

http://www.mediafire.com/?wys3amwxj0x

I think it might be mistagged too. Though i can't remember offhand.