R.I.P Michael Jackson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sad news that the “king of pop” has died at the age of 50. In the 80’s I was a massive MJ fan, I still think Off The Wall and Thriller and maybe even Bad, are quality albums, sadly it all went rather wrong after that.
Anyway,  as a tribute I have selected some cover versions of MJ’s songs or ones he made famous. RIP Jacko!

Derrick Laro and Trinity – Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough     ysi    rapidshare
Esso Trinidad Steel Band – I Want You Back    ysi     rapidshare
Shinehead – Billie Jean    ysi    rapidshare
Videogame Orchestra – Thriller    ysi    rapidshare
Tom Jones – Ain’t No Sunshine    ysi     rapidshare
Ian Brown – Thriller    ysi    rapidshare

(ok ok, I know jacko didn’t originally do ain’t no sunshine, and bill withers original is possibly just as well known, but I was running out of cover versions!)

Edans Radio Show #2

Just a quick heads up that Edan has posted the second radio show, its more quality stuff. Lots of 60’s psych rock, hip hop, soul, funk and so on. Check it out

Edans Radio Show #2

Brian Wilson, like you’ve never heard him

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, so here is a track for all you Brian Wilson and Beach Boys fans. The track, “Smart Girls”, is taken from his 1990 unreleased album, “Sweet Insanity”. I won’t tell you too much about the song, I’ll leave you to check it out for yourselves, but lets just say I think the album title is rather fitting!

Smart Girls     ysi     rapidshare

Tea Sea Records

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recently discovered the excellent Tea Sea Records through myspace. The best known artist on their books is Brighton rapper Elemental, check out the video for “Cup Of Brown Joy” in a pervious post, but their roster is pretty damn strong. With releases by artists such as Tom Caruana, Teej, Bombadeal and so on. This is some interesting and entertaining British hip hop, all artists have their own style and their own flex, which is all very refreshing to these ears. The real bonus is that if you sign up to website you can download many of their releases all for free! You can’t beat that, can you.

Tea Sea Records

DJ Vadim & Prime Cuts – Architects of the Great

 

 

 

 

Architects of the Great was the first mixtape, and yes it was an actual tape not a CD, by DJ Vadim released on Jazz Fudge back in 1998. Put together with Scratch Pervert, Prime Cuts, around the same time as they were recording the Isolationist album with Antipop Consortium.
It’s a mix of dark and moody beats, many from the Jazz Fudge catalogue and of course it is a scratch heavy mix, with Prime Cuts really ripping it up in places. But it doesn’t get boring in the way some of Q-Berts mixes can do when it just sounds like him practicing for an hour.
This is a must for all Vadim fans and anyone who likes the darker side of hip hop.

Side 1     ysi     rapidshare
Side 2     ysi    rapdishare

*both files are labelled starting with 01, this is just the way the are labelled, they are different! and if they aren’t let me know and I’ll fix it*

The Forcefield Kids – Home EP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regular readers of this blog will know I am always interested in hearing something new and slightly left-field from UK hip hop artists, The Forcefield Kids do no disappoint.
Coming straight outta Newcastle, the Forcefild Kids are rapper Stain(ed) Art and dj/producer Sleepy. Their new ep, “Home” is released on their own DFNT label on July the 6th. 5 tracks deep, they remind me of a British Atmosphere or possibly Sage Francis, both musically and lyrically. Tracks such as “Little Miss Star” and “Since We Last Spoke” are very personal and honest songs, which right away sets them apart from most hip hop artists in this country.
There is a release party for the EP at The Head Of Steam in Newcastle on the 7th of July, go check them out if you are in the area!
In the mean time check out their myspace page and then buy the ep on July 6th.

Ramases – Space Hymns

 

 

 

 

 
I’ve been toying with the idea of posting something about Ramases for awhile now, but I recently read about him on wikipedia and discovered the rather bizarre story behind the man. So I thought it was time to share that story and an excellent track from his 1971 album, “Space Hymns” .  Read on -

“Ramases was the creation and alter-ego of Martin Raphael, born in Sheffield, UK. Formerly an army PT instructor, whilst involved in a central heating business in Scotland, was inspired to assume the mantle of the Egyptian Pharaoh of whom he believed himself a reincarnation, and take up a musical career. Early singles (recorded with his wife) failed to make any impact, Space Hymns was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport with soon-to-be members of 10cc.
Glass Top Coffin (his second album) was recorded following relocation to Felixstowe, and Ramases retired from the music business soon afterwards. He committed suicide during the early 1990s.”

Life Child    ysi     rapidshare

Cover Versions (yes more!)

Been meaning to do this for a while now, so here goes. I have got together all the covers I own of Donovans classic, “The Season of the Witch”.
I only have 4 to hand, I know there’s more and will endeavor to find them, but for now, here you go!

First up quite a well known version by Brian Auger & Julie Driscoll. Taken from their 1967 album “Open”.   
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Next up is Sam Gopals version from 1968. Taken from his album, “Escalator”, it features vocals from non-other than Lemmy, before he joined Hawkwind.
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This next one I can’t really say much about, simply because I can’t find much info on the band. They are The Aliens, not to be confused with the Beta Band spin off group, these guys were around in the 60’s. Sorry there not much to say, but enjoy.
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Finally we have a version by the prog/kraut rock band, Coupla Prog. Their version was recorded in 1970 and released on the 1972 album  “Death Is A Gambler”. This is a proper prog, freak out version, clocking in at over 13 minutes long.
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The Soundcarriers – Harmonium

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am often very skeptical about modern psychedelic music, usually the term is bounded about as a simple way of meaning old sounding, or just used to try and give an act a cool edge. However when I heard “Harmonium” , the new album by The Soundcarriers, there was no doubt in my mind that this was the real deal.
The music here is lush, I hate that word but it sums the sound up perfectly! It is real British countryside, summer time music. From just listening to it I can imagine being in the middle of a forest with the sun shining through the leaves, and maybe some tripped out hippies dancing around some kind of stone, but don’t let them put you off.
The Soundcarriers are reminiscent of the original psychedelic, folk groups of the late 60’s such as Pentagle and The Free Design. Chris Dedrick from the Free Design wrote the sleeve notes for the album!
Some of my favourite tracks are David Alexrod-esque “Volcano”, “Cannonball”, and “Without Sound Pt II”, part one is excellent but this instrumental version has killer drums on it and is just heavy.
If you are a fan of library music, acid folk, sun-drenched harmonies and jazz, I would highly recommend “Harmonium”, without a doubt one of the best albums I’ve heard this year. Released on 25th May, but here’s a sneaky track just to wet your appetite. Enjoy!

Caught By The Sun    ysi    rapidshare

More Original Versions

Yes I wanted to put up some more songs that the cover versions are better known than the originals, so here they are, enjoy!

First up we have Os Mutantes and their track  “A Minha Menina”, taken from their 1968 self titled debut album. This track is better known now for being covered by The Bees on their debut album.  
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Next up we have some more psychedelic rock,  this time byJohn Kongos. His track “He’s Gonna Step On Your Again” was released in 1971 and was a hit around Europe. However it became a massive hit in 1990 when The Happy Mondays did a cover, re-naming it simply “Step On”.
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Lastly we have an old soul classic by Gloria Jones. Originally released in 1965, “Tainted Love” was later covered by British synth poppers Soft Cell who had a world wide hit with the track back in 1981. However, I still don’t think you can beat the original.
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