DJ Chaos X - Live Mixxx (2006)

DJ Chaos X is one of the many aliases of Yamantaka Eye, better known as one of the founders of the noise rock group Boredoms. I posted an album "Planetary Natural Love Gas 19999", by DJ Pica Pica Pica, which was very well received here, so I thought that I would share yet another Yamantaka Eye release. In my opinion the album released under his DJ Pica Pica Pica alias is overall a much better album, although those who prefer rock may favor the DJ Chaos X release. You can find the DJ Pica Pica Pica album here: http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2010/02/dj-pica-pica-planetary-natural-love-gas.html

The DJ Pica Pica Pica release was an extremely eclectic album, featuring every genre under the sun. While "Live Mixxx" is also a well rounded release, it primarily leans toward a more rock oriented approach, featuring rock, punk rock, and experimental music. The Beatles, Suicidal Tendencies, Dow Jones and the Industrials, and Bad Brains are a few of the artists sampled on the album. The tracks on this album are very short in length. There are 45 tracks in just over a 50 minute time span. Each track averages a little over a minute in length, although there are several that are well under a minute.

To the best of my knowledge the tracks do not have names, so I will not be providing a track listing. Although if I am mistaken I would greatly appreciate it if someone could correct me and provide a proper track listing. I do know that very few CDs were issued for this release, but I don't have any figures for the exact amount that were released. The album is now out of print, and extremely difficult to find a physical copy.

Before I close this post, I would also like to ask everyone to please take the time to leave a comment. This isn't something that I normally ask people to do. Although it is always very encouraging and appreciated whenever you readers do post a comment, it doesn't upset me when a post doesn't receive comments, as it does with many other bloggers. If I'm not receiving many comments, I take it as a sign that I need to do a better job selecting material to share here. The reason I am asking everyone to take the time to comment is to let me know if there is a particular genre that they would like to see featured more on Digital Meltd0wn in the future, and if everyone enjoys the most recent material posted here, or if you prefer the material that I posted when I first started this blog (Punk, Psych, and Garage Rock). To those who will comment, I would like to go ahead and thank you in advance. I hope you all enjoy this rare gem.

Year of Release: 2006
Genres: Experimental, Punk Rock, Sound Collage
Bitrate: 192kbps

Download: DJ Chaos X - Live Mixxx
Download Size: 71MB

Dinah Washington - September in the Rain

Dinah Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones on August 29, 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Shortly thereafter her family moved to Chicago, the city she always called home. Although her first recording was “Evil Gal Blues” & although she will always be known as the”Queen of the Blues”, Dinah always objected to that sobriquet. She always felt her singing was more jazz-infused gospel.

She was never an obedient servant to the written structure of a song, always breaking through the mechanical quality of its contours, altering the melody & meter - melodically, rhythmically, & emotionally - to make it more than it began & truly her own. Quincy Jones vividly describes Washington's style, saying she "could take the melody in her hand, hold it like an egg, crack it open, fry it, let it sizzle, reconstruct it, put the egg back in the box, back in the refrigerator & you would've still understood every single syllable."

But the singer's musical gifts went hand in hand with her wild & extravagant personal life, fueled in part by her own deep-rooted insecurity. Married seven times, Washington battled with her weight for years, She heavily used numerous prescription medications, primarily for dieting & insomnia. Even though she sings “I don’t need clothes or furs," in “As Long as I’m in Your Arms", she burned through her recording profits buying shoes, furs & automobiles in an effort to lift her spirits.

On the morning of December 14, 1963, Dinah's eighth husband, Dick "Night Train" Lane, famed defensive back for the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Cardinals & Detroit Lions found Dinah non-responsive. She was later pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy showed a lethal combination of secobarbital & amobarbital had contributed to her untimely death at the age of 39. Her death was ruled an accidental overdose.

Tracks 1, 10, 11, & 12 were recorded in late 1960 in New York City with an unidentified orchestra. Fred Norman conducted track 10 on Oct. 5-7 & was replaced on tracks 1, 11, & 12 by Nat Goodman on Nov. 12. The rest of the tracks were recorded in Hollywood, CA in January 1961 with Belford Hendricks (who arranged all the songs) conducting & featured: Dinah on vocals; Rone Hall & Barney Kessel on guitars; Red Callender & Jimmy Rowser on bass; Ernie Freeman & Joe Zawinul on piano; & Earl Palmer on drums.

Year of Release: 1961
Label: Mercury Records MG 20638
Genre: Vocals

Tracklist:
Side 1 -
September in the Rain
Without a Song
This Heart of Mine
As Long as I’m in Your Arms
With a Song in My Heart
Softly
Side 2 -
I Can’t Believe that You’re in Love with Me
I Was Telling Him about You
I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
I’ll Never Kiss You Goodbye
I’ll Come Back for More
Tell Love Hello

Download: Dinah Washington - September in the Rain
Download Size: 71.2MB (ripped from nearly 50 year old vinyl at 320Kbps)

X-Legged Sally - Slow-Up

X-Legged Sally was a Belgian avant-garde group that fused elements of funk, jazz, progressive rock and classical to create a truly remarkable and unique cacophony of sound. They played a pivotol role in helping to establish the indie scene in Belgium during the late early 90's. The first track that I had the pleasure of hearing from the group was "Hair", which I discovered on Youtube, and also happens to remain my favorite track by XLS. "Hair" was included on the album "The Land of the Giant Dwarfs". Even though you won't find it on this album, I included a youtube video for "Hair" to give you a preview of the group's sound before you download the album, although one should keep in mind that they have a very eclectic approach to their albums, and no one song can accurately represent the group's sound as a whole. Upon searching for more information about the band, I was shocked to discover that the majority of their discography is currently out of print. Only Eggs & Ashes and Killed by Charity appear to still be available from Sub Rosa.

X-Legged Sally consisted of members Peter Vermeersch, Paul Belgrado, Pierre Vervloesem, Danny Van Hoeck, Peter Vandenberghe, Bart Maris, and Michel Mast. In 1990 the band first appeared on the radar by contributing a track to the compilation "Live at the Knitting Factory Vol. 4", which helped the band members to establish a relationshiop with the New York downtown scene. The next year the group would go on to release their debut album, Slow-Up, which would solidify X-Legged Sally's reputation, and help to change the face of the independent Belgian music scene. Fortunately for us during the time the group was together they were active, releasing five studio albums and one live album within a 6 year span. In 1996 the band held a farewell concert, and officially disbanded the following year. Each of the members would eventually go on to work on their own respective projects. Peter Vermeersch founded A Group (together with Pierre Vervloesem), and later the Flat Earth Society, while Eric Sleichim started Bl!ndman, and Pierre Vervloesem featured in a lot of bands and has a productive solo career.

I have only found this album posted on one other blog, that being the legendary Mutant Sounds blog; however, it was only a low quality rip at 128kbps. It pleases me to be able to deliver a much higher quality rip at 320kbps. I was also recently greeted with a rather pleasant surprise when I stumbled across a comment that E-mile left on the Jazz Archives blog, where he posted links for the majority of their discography, so if any of you would like to see more of their albums posted here in the future, please leave a comment and let me know.

I had initially intended to post a track by track review, but it started to become increasingly obvious that I wasn't going to be able to finish before I have to go to work. Since I promised a friend that I would have this posted today, I'm just going to share a more professionally written review from Allmusic:

"It's easy to see why Bill Laswell was impressed when Peter Vermeersch sent him the demo from Belgium. This band was hot, hotter in fact than pretty much anyone the big, bad N.Y.C. producer/bassist was working with at the time. So X-Legged Sally was invited to record at Laswell's Greenpoint Studio in Brooklyn, and Slow-Up is the result. The band's debut full-length nearly overflows with energy, a sax-driven riff feast with full-tilt forward momentum from the rhythm section and no-holds-barred solos from reeds, guitar, and keys -- all packaged in 15 concise tunes (mainly instrumental and mainly penned by bandleader/clarinetist/saxophonist Vermeersch) that reveal how hooks, melodies, and straightforward harmonic and rhythmic foundations can be an asset even in the world of avant-prog music. The band's avant tendencies are balanced expertly with the plain satisfaction of nimbly executed unison and harmony lines, memorable themes, and the oft-displayed ability to accelerate from a standstill to light speed (and vice versa) in the blink of an eye. And while Vermeersch and company bring a certain Euro-style artfulness and serious avant jazz chops to the proceedings, the down and dirty influences of funk, blues, and even screamin' rock & roll (check out manic shredder guitarist Pierre Vervloesem's lung-tearing vocals on "Bacon & Eggs") crop up all over the place. Envision the members of Parliament/Funkadelic suddenly finding themselves on-stage with King Crimson running through those crazy stop-and-start unison passages in "21st Century Schizoid Man." That's what a lot of Slow-Up is like. But if the CD were merely fast, faster, and fastest music 100 percent of the time, it would ultimately be a bit of a bore -- like a Hollywood big-budget action movie with five or six too many chase scenes. Slow-Up isn't that; Vermeersch expertly modulated the program and he knew when to slow down, as in "Down at the Dinghy," a lovely little tango performed by the band's three reedmen with everyone else sitting out. And "Blackhead Blue Blues" is as moody and low in its slow groove as the blues can be, that is until Vervloesem unleashes a torrent of notes from mysterious depths right out into the stratosphere. Still, hard chargers like "34th Street," "Turkish Bath," and "Memphis" are the biggest stunners, with high-spirited energy, compact structures, and grooves that won't let go. If there's any fault whatsoever to be found, it's actually with Laswell's production, which is a bit bottom-heavy. The reeds could've been punched up when the entire band is cranked and cooking; perhaps Laswell forgot to tweak the knobs from one of his atmospheric ambient/world/dub productions. Or maybe the band frightened him and he ran out before he could tweak anything (naw, he was back producing Killed by Charity during the band's next U.S. visit). At any rate, it's a minor quibble. Slow-Up is a masterpiece of avant prog and should be in the CD collection of anyone who appreciates, say, New York's Doctor Nerve or Montréal's Les Projectionnistes. - Dave Lynch, All Music Guide"

Year of Release: 1991
Label: Sub Rosa
Genres: Avant-Garde, Avant-Prog, Jazz-Rock, Funk
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
1. Ffwd
2. Zippo Raid
3. Xls
4. Down at the Dinghy
5. Bacon & Eggs
6. 34th Street
7. Blackhead Blue Blues
8. Lacto B.
9. Fuck & Coffee
10. Turkish Bath
11. Little Hearts
12. Liquid
13. Pinocchio
14. Memphis
15. Ongennaam

Download: X-Legged Sally - Slow-Up
Download Size: 151MB

Digital Meltd0wn Now On Facebook

I finally decided to break down and create a Facebook page for Digital Meltd0wn @ http://facebook.com/digitalmeltd0wn. I created a personal account a few years ago, and I just didn't feel as if Facebook had been developed enough at that point to warrant further use. I decided to give it another chance after hearing many people rave about its usefulness. After exploring it for several hours yesterday, I realized that they have made vast improvements to the service. I created an account for Digital Meltd0wn, as well as a personal account, a few days ago.

Since last.fm has been a continuous disappointment lately, and there seems to be a mass exodus from Myspace, I plan to focus the majority of my social networking activity on Facebook, and here are a few ideas you can expect to see implemented soon. Updates from both this blog, as well as the Digital Meltd0wn Music Aggregator/Blogroll, there. I also plan to publish a mirror of the Digital Meltd0wn Blogroll in it's own tab, display the most recent posts from our music blog aggregator RSS feed in a separate tab, and upload some interesting music videos and pictures. I hope you all enjoy these features, and please recommend me any ideas you may have to make the page better.

Since I'm behind on the Facebook learning curve, I was hoping that some of you who are more familiar with the service could offer me some advice and recommendations. I'll be doing my own research, but I hope that some of you can help to quicken the learning process for me. I've put together a wishlist of sorts for Facebook. If some of you could spare the time to provide me with some recommendations I would greatly appreciate your willingness to help. Here is my Facebook wishlist:

• Useful music/blogging related applications
• Applications/tutorials for customizing my page
• Interesting Facebook music groups
• Independent artist/labels on Facebook
• Music bloggers on Facebook
• Interesting people who enjoy sharing music recommendations

Again, I would be extremely greatful if any of could could help me with any of the things listed above. I look forward to seeing some of you on there, and hopefully exchanging music with you in the discussion group.

Digital Meltd0wn @ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Digital-Meltd0wn/7777757521
My Personal Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=785217519

Survive-All Fallout Shelters - Radio Ads from the 1950's

This album consists of 9 short radio advertisements from the 1950's for a brand of nuclear fallout shelters called Survive-All. I picked this up from the Dinosaur Gardens blog years ago, and thought it would be very fitting to share here. Looking back in hindsight these advertisements are morbidly hilarious, yet they also provide a bit of disturbing historical insight into the fears that hung over the heads of the average American family during the 1950's Cold War era, and corporations which hoped to capatalise on their fear. The download size is very small at only 6.4MB, with each track averaging roughly 30 to 50 seconds in length.

"Nothing lends itself better to a fear-based advertising campaign than your family’s radioactive death. So when the Mort Kridel Advertising Agency was asked to create a radio ad campaign for Survive-All Fallout Shelters, they did their best to scare the Wonder Bread crap out of nuclear families everywhere. Tense horn stabs and canned explosions bracket sales pitches like:

"Radioactive fallout, that deadly by-product of a nuclear attack, will kill literally millions of unprotected families in the event of an atomic attack. Is YOUR family protected? Do YOU have a fallout shelter?

Each Civil defense approved, basement-type, Do-It-Yourself fallout shelter includes: A complete fully-stocked first aid kit! Extra strength saran and rayon bunks! A radiation meter and individual dosimeters! Civil defense approved, FHA approved, no money down, five years to pay! Economical… but Priceless!"

These are ripped from the original LP that would have gone to radio stations from the ad agency. There are 6 long versions and 3 shortened versions, each fairly different. Since it was promotional there was no record cover, but a scan of the record’s label is included. No year is evident, but since the zip code is two digits, it’s presumably pre-1963, and I would guess late 1950’s. - ECC of Dinosaur Gardens"

Year of Release: Unknown | Most Likely Late 50's
Label: Mort Kridel Advertising Agency
Genre: Commercials, Radio Ad
Bitrate: 192VBR

Track List:
1. Maximum Protection (General)
2. Comparison
3. Value
4. Equipment
5. DYS
6. Maximum Protection (Steel and Concrete)
7. DYS (short)
8. Maximum Protection (Steel and Concrete) (Short)
9. Maximum Protection (General) (Short)

Download: Survive-All Shelters - Radio Ads
Download Size: 6.4MB

Plan 9 From Outer Space Soundtrack (Retrosonic Records)

This out of print release of the Plan 9 From Outer Space soundtrack was the sole release by the now defunct Retrosonic Records label. There are several versions of the soundtrack available from other labels, which include dialogue and sound effects, but what makes this release unique is that it contains only the library/production music from the movie itself. I will refrain from discussing the movie itself at length since their is a considerable amount of information about it available on the internet. For the uninitiated, it is a 1959 science-fiction/horror movie directed by Ed Wood, which eventually became a cult classic based on it's reputation for often being cited as "the worst film ever made".



I had intended to post this once I was able to discover the artists responsible for each track; however, my search efforts ended in vain for the most part. My quest for information about the Retrosonic label also hit a dead end. Apparently this is the only album Retrosonic Records released before going under, and I couldn't find any information about them on the internet. Unfortunately, for decades there was very little information available about the musical cues featured in the film, and the mystery behind them was only recently solved. In fact, a great deal of the information that was available beforehand was actually misinformation that was intentionally circulated. These individuals aimed to make a profit by claiming to possess this knowledge, and published fake liner notes attributed to Ed Wood. The fact that a cue sheet for the music was never filed only confounded the problem even further. Fortunately, I was able to find this rather lengthy article, which provided some valuable info about the music featured in the soundtrack It makes mention of a few of the composers behind the music, although it falls short of identifying the individuals responsible for each track.

According to the Paul Mandell, the author of the article, Ed Wood hired Gordon Zahler to compile the music for the film. The tracks featured on the soundtrack consist of production music Zahler selected from both the Impress and Video Moods music libraries. The soundtrack is a great example of one that exceeds the quality of the film it was created for. The musicianship is top-notch, and is the only eerie or suspenseful aspect of an otherwise unintentionally comical movie. The Retrosonic release contains nearly all of the cues used for the movie, although there are a few that are conspicuously absent. It also contains a few cues that were excluded from the film due to the minuscule budget Ed Wood was working with. The sound quality is excellent, especially when one takes into account the age of the recordings, and the download provided is ripped from CD at a 320kbps bitrate. I hope that you all enjoy this obscure gem as much as I do.

Year of Release: 1996
Label: Retrosonic
Genre: Soundtrack
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
01. Prelude
02. Main Title
03. The Shadows of Grief
04. Gravediggers
05. Lost Roses of Her Cheeks
06. Tragic!
07. Police Squad
08. I'm a Big Boy Now, Johnny
09. Patio Talk: Jeff & Paula
10. Clay Stalked and Killed
11. Plan 9 Interlude
12. The Bell Has Rung
13. Saucers Over Hollywood
14. Col. Edward's Big Decision
15. Saucer Fire
16. Your Pillow Beside Me
17. The Old Ghoul Walks
18. Mac Calls Paula
19. Cemetery Chase / Clay Rises
20. The Old Ghoul Retreats
21. Graveyard Marionettes
22. Kelton Lights a Match
23. Drop Your Electrode Gun!
24. There's Something Out There
25. Clay Abducts Paula
26. Eros, do We have to Kill Them?
27. Someday it'll All be Gone
28. Kelton & Larry Enter Ship
29. Fight / Fire / Finale
30. God Help Us in the Future

Download: Plan 9 From Outer Space Soundtrack
Download Size: 84MB

Idiot Flesh - Tales Of Instant Knowledge And Sure Death

Idiot Flesh was a band formed in Oakland, CA in 1985 under the name Acid Rain. They made their debut with the demo album "We Were All Very Worried" which was released on tape only in 1987. They changed their name to Idiot Flesh prior to the release of their first album.

Their first album entitled "Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death" came out in 1990, three years after their impressive demo cassette which didn't featured that really elfish atmosphere which was present in their 1990 release. The lyrical and musical world of Idiot Flesh is truly an absurd and playful panorama of the theatres and circuses. These jugglers really knew how to entertain the abstract senses of the abstract public. During concerts they were giving puppet and pantomime shows beside acrobatic attractions as well. They also played on various strange instruments (castanets, marimba,..) including household items like trash cans, saws, etc. The album is a catchy avant-garde rock masterpiece with morphing bass vibrancies, funky guitar rhythms and the harmony of classical instruments. The atmosphere of the album is full of musical gags and playful melodies often resulting in comical pictures.

After the group disbanded in 1998, the members of Idiot Flesh would go on to work on solo projects or join other bands, most notably Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.

Year of Release: 1990
Label: Vaccination Records
Genre: Experimental/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Bitrate: 192kbps

Download: Idiot Flesh - Tales Of Instant Knowledge And Sure Death
Download Size: 68MB

Back From Vacation

Ijust returned from my trip back home to visit family and friends in Tennessee. I had a fantastic time while I was home, and can honestly say that it's the most fun I've had in years. I was able to spend a lot of quality time with my son, family, closest friends, and even a few old friends that I thought I might never see again. The flight home was the first time in my life that I've ever ridden in an airplane, and I was every bit as fascinating as I thought it would be. I celebrated my 30th birthday on the 9th, which didn't turn out to be as depressing as I anticipated :). I also had some time to rest my mind, which I have desperately needed to do. I've been averaging at least 13 hours a day between work and school every day since October of 2009, and it was beginning to overwhelm me a little.

I look forward to getting back on track here where I left off with my plans for this blog, and updating the DM blogroll. I've made mention of an official announcment regarding a huge project that we are in the process of organizing. I had hoped to make an announcement regarding it before I went on vacation. My partners, Sab and NØ, have been focusing on taking care of some important personal responsibilities, and I wanted to wait till we are all doing well before I make such a huge announcement.

Over the next couple of weeks I will probably post no more than a couple of albums a week, as I will be busy preparing for the upcoming project and updating the DM blogroll. My posts in the near future will consist of re-ups, so if you notice a dead download link for an album you would like to have, please don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Vacation Time

I will be flying home back home to Tennessee very shortly to visit my family and friends for the next 10 days. I had planned to leave you all with a surprise, but I have to leave a day earlier than I originally anticipated so I don't have time to post the surprise now. I plan to take my portable harddrive, which has a ton of music on it, but I don't know if I will be making any posts or not. NØ has been going through some hard times lately, so I'm not sure how much he will be able to post during my absence. Sab should be back from her own vacation shortly, so perhaps she may treat you all to some music from her collection. When I return I will be making a long overdue announcement involving an upcoming project for this blog. It will be the most significant project that has ever been posted on DM, and I'm not sure if anyone has ever attempted anything like this within the music blog world. I know you all will love it, and I can't wait to share it with you. In the meantime, if my companions are not able to update this blog, I would like to remind you all that I run the Digital Meltd0wn Music Aggregator/Blogroll @ http://music-bloggers.blogspot.com where you can find thousands of great music blogs of every type. I'll see you all shortly. Take care.

Gene Vincent - Dressed in Black

Well V is for Victory & here it is also for Vincent...Sweet Gene Vincent. Here’s one that I don’t think you’ll find elsewhere on the Interweb. Gene Vincent - Dressed in Black from Magnum Force in Shepperton, Middlesex. This one’s from 1982, ten years before Magnum Force launched their great Rebel Heart series.

Round 1 is studio tracks recorded between 1965 - 1970, some Vincent usual suspects like “Be-Bop-A-Lula” & some rarer material like “The Last Word in Lonesome” or “Pretty Girls”. Round 2 is a private ‘live’ recording from 2 May 1971 with Gene & the Houseshakers. The Houseshakers were a British rock 'n’ roll band that formed at the end of 1969, active in the early 1970s, who backed Gene Vincent on two of his European visits.

This might just be an album for completists in some folks opinion, but in my opinion...more Gene...MORE GENE! As Steve Aynsley remarks on the album notes, “We are privileged to re-live some of the excitement of a sadly bygone era, & if the recording quality (live tracks are less than studio quality - NØ) is not quite as we have become used to, excuse us because these items are precious & unique.”

Year of Release: 1982
Label: Magnum Force MFLP-016
Genre: Rockabilly

"Gene Vincent & The Houseshakers in the recording studio in 1971.
From left to right: rear - Graham Fenton (vocals), Jimmy Walls (bass),
John Earl (saxophone), Terry Clemson (guitar - ex-Downliner Sect);
front - Les Warren (drums), Gene Vincent (lead vocals)."

Tracklist:
Round 1 -
Rocky Road Blues
Say Mama
Pistol Packin' Mama
Be-Bop-A-Lula
The Last Word in Lonesome
Pretty Girls
Bluejean Bop
Round 2 -
Say Mama (live)
Baby Blue (live)
Rocky Road Blues (live)
Good Golly Miss Molly (live)
Whole Lotta Shakin' (live)
I'm Movin' On (live)
Be-Bop-A-Lula (live)

Download: Gene Vincent - Dressed in Black
Download Size: 87.5MB (ripped from much-loved vinyl at 320Kbps)

VA - A Heavy Dose Of Lyte Psych

Update: Here is re-up three of four of the "A BLANK Dose of BLANK Psych" series, which was originally posted almost four years ago on Digital Meltd0wn. For those interested in having the complete series, I will be posting the last installment of the series, "An Overdose of Hard Psych" tomorrow. Apparently I never got around to posting a track list for this around the time I originally posted it. Things obviously haven't changed much, because I have precious little time on my hands now. I have my college finals to study for, but I'm going to go ahead and put a track list together for you all since I love you people.

I apologize for taking so long to finally deliver on this. For those interested, I posted the companions to this several months back, actually it may have been more than a year ago. They can be found here - An Overdose of Heavy Psych, A Deadly Dose Of Wylde Psych, and A Lethal Dose Of Hard Psych.

I'm short on time right now, but I'll add the track list as soon as I return from work. Enjoy!

Label: Arf! Arf!
Genre: Psychedelic
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:
1. Unknown - Intro
2. Misty Wizards - It's Love
3. Capes of Good Hopes - Lady Margaret
4. Freeborne - Land of Diana
5. The Id - The Rake
6. Flowers - Tea Company
7. Truth - P.S. (Prognosis Stegnoisis)
8. Ballroom - Baby Please Don't Go
9. Teddy and His Patches - Haight Ashbury
10. Picture - Evolution
11. Gurus - It Just Won't Be That Way
12. Mongrels - Good Good Man
13. Wildflowers - More Than Me
14. Chris Carpenter - This World (Is Closing In On Me)
15. Childe Harold - Brink of Death
16. Jk & Co. - Fly
17. Masada - A Hundred Days And Nights
18. Crescent Six - And Then
19. Attic Sound - Look Straight Through You
20. White Room - Thoughts of Yesterday
21. Chimps - Fifth Class Mail
22. Chris Carpenter - Waterfalls
23. Fourth Way - The Far Side Of Your Mind
24. Unknown - Mystery Track
25. Rock Revival - Venus 2038

Download: VA - A Heavy Dose of Lyte Psych
Download Size: 104MB

VA - A Deadly Dose of Wylde Psych

This is a reup that was originally posted on DM back in 2006. I will be posting "A Heavy Dose of Lyte Psych" tomorrow.

Here's the 4th installment in a series of obscure psychedelic rock compilations released by Arf Arf. I have 3 out of the 4 installments, one of which I have already posted (A Lethal Dose of Hard Psych). I also have "An Overdose of Heavy Psych", which I will be posting next. I'll try to find out the name of the remaining album, and post it if I'm able to find it. Here are the notes that were included:

Trip on out to 26 excessive tracks (over 78 minutes) of sparkling ’60s psychedelic acid reign. Presented here is elusive American psychedelic rock at it’s best—from the savage to the sublime, massive to the mesmirizing, and futuristic to flashbacks.

Deadly Dose of Wylde Psych is another wild compilation from Arf Arf that digs up 26 tracks of long lost American psychedelic acid rock from the mid-'60s. These tracks were recorded during an era when garage bands switched from "Louie Louie" and "Gloria" to a darker, yet no less inept, age of acid-influenced sludge. During the 78 minutes of Deadly Dose, listeners are introduced to beyond obscure bands with names like Chocolate Moose, Peacepipe, Lime Frost, Nite Watchmen, and Sweet Cherry. Most of these tracks sound like a combination of the Music Machine or Count Five with Barry Melton or Jorma Kaukonen on electric guitar at their most hallucinogenic.

Label: Arf! Arf!
Genres: Psychedelic, Garage Rock
Bitrate: 256kbps

Track List:
01.Sound Apparatus - Travel Agent Man
02.Finch - Nothing In The Sun
03.Nite Watchmen - Mimic Jester
04.Sweet Cherry - Funny Things Floating
05.Peacepipe - The Sun Won’t Shine Forever
06.Moon Dawgs - Keep On Pushing
07.Blue Creed - Need A Friend
08.Chocolate Moose - Take A Ride
09.Pawnbrokers - Realize
10.Christian Brothers - Feeling Bad
11.Oscar And The Majestics - House Of The Rising Sun
12.Liberation News Service - Mid-Winter’s Afternoon
13.Wet Paint - Glass Road
14.Waters - Mother Samwell
15.Chaparral Trio - Roxanne
16.Lime Frost - Post Bellum Blues
17.Leather Pages - Accept Me For Who I Am
18.The Blues Inc. - And Is
19.Wildwood - Plastic People
20.Portraits - It Had To Be You
21.(Mikes) Mijal & White - I’ve Been You
22.Tea Company - Come And Have Some Tea With Me
23.Angel Angel Down We Go, Attack - School Daze
24.Attack - School Daze
25.Mass Temper - Gravedigger
26.Johnny Thompson Quintet - Color Me Columbuth

Download: VA - A Deadly Dose of Wylde Psych
Download Size: 146.6MB

VA - A Lethal Dose of Hard Psych

As requested, here is a repost of one of the earliest psychedelic comps to be posted on Meltd0wn. I will be uploading the companion albums "A Hard Dose of Lyte Psych" and "A Deadly Dose of Wylde Psych" next.

This is another great compilation I found on DC++. Let me know if you all like this type of stuff. If so I have a few more like this that I could upload. Here are the notes that were included with the album:

"With twenty-three very rare singles, originating from all over North America, from 1966-70 (dates are not given for a couple but they certainly fit the time frame), this is very much in the Pebbles garage compilation mentality. The key difference is that the focus is on a later era -- only two to three years later on the average, mind you, but a significant difference when we're talking about the sixties, when styles and sounds changed very quickly. It logically begats another difference between this and your average garage compilation: there is much more weight given to hard, even heavy, guitar rock and psychedelic lyrics.

Featured on this 70+ minute collection is the more bombastic and harder slice of '60s American Psych. You'll find a glorious deluge of overdriven fuzz guitar, swirling surreal sounds, hallucinogenic lyrical content and superb songwriting. As with our previous two installments, fans of Vernon Joynson's Fuzz Acid & Flowers book will discover plenty of massively cool testaments from this by-gone era. Changin' Tymes: Blue Music Box, Catfish Knight And The Blue Express Deathwise, Bondsmen: Our Time To Try, Flower Power: I Can Feel It, Adam: Eve, Aardvarks: Subconscious Train Of Thought, Factree: Kaleidoscope, Light: Back Up, Dutch Masters: The Expectation, Sidells: Watch Out Mother, Zoser: Dark Of The Morning, Tom Dae Turned On: I Shall Walk, Cardboard Box: Come On Baby Legend: Enjoy Yourself, Crystal Rain: Hey Ma Ma, Sound System: Take A Look At Yourself, Lovechain: Step out Of Your Window You Can Fly, Inner Light: Temptation, Mammoth: Mammoth, Lazy Nickels: 35 Design, Enoch Smoky: It's Cruel, Haymarket Riot: Leaving, Mind Garage: Asphalt Mother.I believe this is the third in Arf Arf's psych comp series, adding Hard to the previous Heavy and Light discs.

As with those collections, there are plenty of songs here that will make you cringe and thank your maker that the performers are now safely away from the public ear somewhere in the working sector. Then there are bands like Bondsmen ("Our Time To Try"), Mind Garage ("Asphalt Mother"), Legend ("Enjoy Yourself") and Enoch Smoky ("It's Cruel") that had exactly what it took to open for Iron Butterfly back in the day, and these songs are what makes being a garage psych fan a pleasure. Taken as a whole, Lethal Dose is, at the very least, interesting, a hodgepodge of everything from spirited fuzzfests from groups with dubious vocal skills to absolute mind-expansion from groups from which a contact high can somehow still be obtained just by listening. For those of you who collect garage gems from obscure bands of the 60s, this is all moot. You'll snag it regardless. For the casual fans, I recommend this as an entertaining artifact and a 70 minute mind trip. - D.J. Johnson"

Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock
Bitrate: 256kbps

Track List:
1. Blue Music Box - Changin' Tymes
2. Deathwise - Catfish Knight And The Blue Express
3. Our Time To Try - Bondsmen
4. I Can Feel It - Flower Power
5. Eve - Adam
6. Subconcious Train Of Though - Aardvarks
7. Kaleidoscope - Factree
8. Back Up - Light
9. The Expectation - Dutch Masters
10. Watch Out Mother - Sidells
11. Dark Of The Morning - Zoser
12. I Shall Walk - Tom Dae Turned On
13. Come On Baby - Cardboard Box
14. Enjoy Yourself - Legend
15. Hey Ma Ma - Crystal Rain
16. Take A Look At Yourself - Sound System
17. Step Out Of Your Window You Can Fly - Lovechain
18. Temptation - Inner Light
19. Mammoth - Mammoth
20. 35 Design - Lazy Nickels
21. It's Cruel - Enoch Smoky
22. Leaving - Haymarket Riot
23. Asphalt Mother - Mind Garage

Download: VA - A Lethal Dose of Psych
Download Size: 165MB

Major Updates to the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll/Aggregator

Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll/Aggregator
http://music-bloggers.blogspot.com

Hopefully most of you are already aware that in addition to this blog, I also run the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll/Aggregator. I wanted to inform you that I have just completed the first couple of phases of a major update. Over the last week I have made a number of updates to increase the quality of the blogroll, improve the RSS feed, and enhance the functions of the site as a whole. Here is a list of some of the recent changes:

Changelist:

Removed 250+ spam comments

Removed all dead blogs from the list

Updated urls for all of the blogs that have relocated

Added several dozen blogs

Added RSS feeds for blogs to the master RSS feed, which delivers updates from all of the blogs on the blogroll

Added "Followers" and "Latest Blog Updates" to the sidebar section

So far I have only completed two phases of what will be a six phase update, so there are still several more updates to come. Right now I am going through the comments section and adding the blogs that qualify to the list. This will take some time as there are several hundred comments. I have written a couple of more detailed posts concerning the changes to the site on the site.

I am trying to make the blogroll/aggregator the most valuable resource for finding underground and out of print music that I can. I hope that you will approve of the changes being made, and that it will serve as a valuable tool in your ongoing quest to discover great music. Here is the url:

Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll/Aggregator
http://music-bloggers.blogspot.com

This one's for U

Unsane - Unsane

This alphabetical challenge is driving me unsane...New York City's Unsane, that is. If you’re not familiar with them, then where the fuck have you been? They play aggressive noise rock. In their earliest incarnation as a power trio, Unsane have a driving rhythm section, a screaming Telecaster howl, & distorted vocals. This line-up included: Chris Spencer (vocals, guitar); Pete Shore (bass); & Charles Ondras (drums). They began playing NYC low-life clubs in 1989. It was at clubs like CBGB's that the band developed their trademark sound.

This, their self-titled debut, was recorded 16 January 1991 at Fun City & released on Matador Records in 1991. The cover is a photo of a decapitated man lying across train tracks, which sets the tone for the seething aggression of this album. In 1992, Unsane's drummer Charles Ondras died of a drug overdose & thing would never be quite the same for the band. Before the band released their follow-up album, Matador compiled & issued a collection of Unsane's early singles/compilation tracks, called Singles: '89-'92. It is perhaps Unsane's defining moment.

Year of Release: 1991
Label: Matador OLE 009-1
Genre: Noise, Hardcore
Bitrate: 320kbps

Tracklist:

Side A -
Organ Donor
Bath
Maggot
Cracked Up
Slag
Exterminator

Side B -
Vandal-X
HLL
AZA-2000
Cut
Action Man
White Hand

Download: Unsane - Unsane
Download Size: 84.55MB (ripped at 320Kbps)

A Couple of Important Announcements

I have a couple of important announcements to make. First of all I would like to apologize for my recent inactivity here on the blog. I didn't even realize how long it had been since I made a post until a friend of mine pointed it out. I would also like to thank NØ and Sab for shouldering the load and continuously updating the blog since that time. From now till the end of July I will be working on re-uploading albums that no longer have working download links. I will upload these in the order they were reported to me by the visitors of this site. I was also make my best effort to post albums with a higher quality bitrate if they are available.

The reason for my recent inactivity is because I have been wrapped up in the planning phase of a very major project for Digital Meltd0wn, and I have been carefully making preparations to ensure that we are able to pull it off smoothly. I will be making an announcement regarding the project in roughly one weeks' time. We are very excited about this project, as it is something that hasn't been attempted by any other music blog, at least as far as we know. Check back in shortly for more details concerning the project, and in the meantime, if any of you run across any posts that have dead download links, please click on the "Report a Dead Link" option on the main menu and leave a comment.

Rev. Louis Overstreet - An Evening With Rev. Louis Overstreet

Allow me to apologize in advance for the short review. My time has been divided between working on the upcoming project for this blog, updating the DM blogroll, college, and work, so I haven't had much time to focus on writing a lengthy review for any new albums. I had been looking for this album for some time before "" was kind enough to fill my request last week. Thank you once again , for making it possible for me to listen to this gospel gem, and share it with the visitors here also.

What we have here is a gospel recording released in 1962, which captures a very upbeat set of performances by Rev. Louis Overstreet, his four songs, and the congregation of St. Luke Powerhouse Church of God In Christ. I should point out that this is a vinyl rip of the original recording released by Arhoolie, and not the reissue released by Mississippi Records. What makes this recording unique from other gospel recordings of the era is the electric guitar, played by the good Reverand, that is featured throughout. It helps to give the performances a more down and dirty rock 'n' roll feeling to it all. Those who follow this blog know that I despise most mainstream religions; however, music like this transcends the religion itself in my opinion, and I can't help but be captured by it's energetic soulfullness. I hope you all enjoy this album as much as I did, and if you do, please take the time to leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Year of Release: 1962
Label: Arhoolie
Genre: Gospel
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
1. Holiness Dance
2. Working on the Building
3. Yeah Lord, Jesus Is Able
4. I'm On My Way
5. I'm A Soldier In The Army Of The Lord
6. Get Ready, I'm Gonna Move
7. Is There Anybody Here
8. Getting Richer

Download: Rev. Louis Overstreet - An Evening With Rev. Louis Overstreet
Download Size: 62MB

The Chocolate Watch Band - No Way Out

Edit: This was actually one of the very first albums I uploaded for Digital Meltd0wn almost 4 years ago. I'm in the process of uploading several albums which no longer have working download links. If you happen across any albums that you would like to see reuploaded, now would be a good time to report the dead links. You can find the link to "report a dead link" in the main menu. For those who haven't heard it, I hope you all enjoy this little gem from the DM vaults.

The Chocolate Watchband's debut album, No Way Out was also their most heavily Rolling Stones-influenced album, but appreciating the album and what's on it (and what's not) requires some explanation -- especially as an original vinyl copy could set you back $100 or more. Released in September of 1967, No Way Out came at the end of the band's first 15 months of existence, a period that encompassed the recording and release of four singles of generally extraordinary quality, and as good as anything heard from any garage band anywhere during that period. Just two of those single tracks, "Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)" and "No Way Out," ended up on the original ten-track LP, but even they could (and should) have been the core of an immensely powerful LP. Instead, out of the remaining songs, only two -- the group's nicely cranked-up version of Chuck Berry's "Come On" (obviously influenced by the Rolling Stones' debut single, which was, itself, a good trick, since the latter had never seen a U.S. release in any form) and the psychedelic Bo Diddley-based "Gone and Passes By" -- were recorded by the entire group and released in the form intended. The other six tracks included Watchband recordings, such as "Let's Talk About Girls," "In the Midnight Hour," and "Hot Dusty Road," on which lead singer David Aguilar's vocals had been replaced by those of session singer Don Bennett (co-author of the band's single "Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)") and also embellished with extra instrumental overdubs; two instrumentals, "Expo 2000" and "Dark Side of the Mushroom," recorded by a group of studio musicians put together by engineer Richie Podolor; and, finally, the bizarre "Gossamer Wings," a psychedelic digression by Bennett and company that used the band's basic track from the 1966 single B-side "Loose Lip Sync Ship" as its jumping-off point. So what's here is not really representative of the Chocolate Watchband that was seen in the movie Riot on Sunset Strip, or heard on those four killer singles in 1966 and early 1967. All of that said, No Way Out is still an extremely impressive and enduring album that nicely straddles the garage punk and psychedelic genres; the Watchband's "Come On" still gets this reviewer's pulse bouncing to Chuck Berry's beat, and it and the other three finished band cuts are still highly potent, slashing, exciting, clever pieces of music. "Gone and Passes By" and "No Way Out" are sharp works of psychedelic punk music, the former mixing sitar music with a shimmering Bo Diddley beat to superbly seductive effect, while the latter is built on a twisting, jagged blues- and raga-based lead guitar line that recalls the late-1966 vintage Jefferson Airplane's work. And "Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)" is a stirring, even threatening anthem to youthful defiance. The record is still an essential '60s album in any collection.

Year of Release: 1967
Label: Tower
Genre: Psychedelic, Garage Rock
Bitrate: 256kbps

Track List:
1. Let's Talk About Girls
2. In the Midnight Hour
3. Come On
4. Dark Side of the Mushroom
5. Hot Dusty Road
6. Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)
7. Gone and Passes By
8. No Way Out
9. Expo 2000
10. Gossamer Wings
11. In the Midnight Hour
12. Milk Cow Blues
13. Psychedelic Trip

Download: Chocolate Watch Band - No Way Out
Download Size: 68.6 MB

Bram Tchaikovsky - Funland

All this bullshit about the Tea Party is making me thirsty. I guess it's T Time.

Bram Tchaikovsky is the stage name of one Peter Bramall from Lincolnshire, England as well as the name of the group he fronted in the late 70s & early 80s. Peter had joined the Motors in 1977, a group headed up by songwriters Andy McMaster & Nick Garvey. Bram wanted a larger role in the overall musickal creation, so while waiting on pre-production work for the second Motors album, Tchaikovsky took the opportunity to do some recording of his own. The resulting single, "Sarah Smiles" gave him the confidence to leave the Motors & form his own band.

Bram Tchaikovsky, the band, consisted of: Bram, the man, on guitar & vocals; along with Mike Broadbent on bass & keyboards; & Keith Boyce on drums. They signed to the new Radar label in 1978 along with Stiff expatriates Nick Lowe & Elvis Costello. The band showed a great deal of promise with their first album, Strange Man Changed Man, fitting in nicely with the growing power pop movement. The unforgettable "Girl of My Dreams," a true high point of the time, became a minor hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Tchaikovsky continued on through rapid personnel changes for two more albums. Following the release of The Russians Are Coming (released in the U.S. as Pressure) in 1980, Broadbent left the band due to personal conflict with Bram. The band moved from Radar to sign with Arista. They recorded Funland in 1981.

Funland was produced by Nick Garvey & recorded at Rockfield studios in 1981 with a brand new line-up: Tchaikovsky; Denis Forbes; Lord Richard Itchingham; & Derek Ballard. These personnel changes had left the band without a suitable writing partner for Bramall or the vocal harmony that he desired. Although Funland may not be considered the bands best album, it is a very important piece in the journey of Bram Tchaikovsky. If you don't dig the vocals & guitar work on a song like "Egyptian Mummies", then you're deader than one. After Funland, the thrill was gone, & Tchaikovsky decided to dissolve the band & retire from the music business.

Funland:
Bram Tchaikovsky sings lead vocals, plays lead guitar on tracks 6 & 7; all guitars on tracks 3 & 8; bass & rhythm guitar on track 2, 6, & 8; & sings backing vocals on all tracks but track 5;
Denis Forbes plays lead guitar on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 11 & 12; acoustic guitar on tracks 7 & 9; & slide guitar on track 9; & sings backing vocals on tracks 4 & 5;
Lord Richard Itchington plays bass on all but tracks 2, 6, & 8;
Derek Ballard plays drums on all tracks;
Bernie Clarke plays keyboard on tracks 1, 2, 7, 9, & 12;
Lew Soloff plays trumpet solo on track 6;
Nick Garvey plays piano & acoustic guitar on track 8 & adds additional backing vocals on tracks 4, 5, & 8;
additional backing vocals by Andy McMaster on track 4:
& additional percussion by Jimmy Maelen

Year of Release: 1981
Label: Arista Records AB 4292
Genre: Power pop

Tracklist:
Side One -
Stand & Deliver
Shall We Dance
Heart of Stone
Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache
Model Girl
Side Two -
Why Does My Mother ‘phone Me
Used to Be My Used to Be
Soul Surrender
Together My Love
Miracle Cure
Egyptian Mummies

Download: Bram Tchaikovsky - Funland
Download Size: 84.6MB (ripped from vinyl at 320Kbps)

Soft Cell - Down in the Subway 12" 45 rpm

Since I mentioned some other things I had in mind to post for S, I can’t help but give a little taste of Marc Almond & Dave Ball. I was thinking of Soft Cell - The Singles 1981-1985 on Some Bizarre, but you can find that if you look hard enough. I decided I’d just add this great 12“ 45 rpm disc. That should satisfy any craving brought on by the mention of Soft Cell without resorting to “Tainted Love”ness.

Year of Release: 1984
Label: Some Bizzare BZS 2212
Genre: Synth-pop

Tracklist:
Side 1
Down In The Subway
Side 2
Disease & Desire
Born To Lose (Johnny Thunders cover)

Download: Soft Cell - Down in the Subway 12“ 45 rpm
Download Size: 24.8MB (ripped at 320 Kbps)

Anton Pann - Zaharicale (2006)

Since I am a great lover of medieval music, i thought it might be interesting posting a little something very rare. The Balkans had a very strange history and music is the dimension where this becomes most visible. Starting from the mongolian invasions and so many other cultures that passed through these territories and all the way to the russian "domination" (I'm not talking about communism here, but about the byzantine style that flourished centuries ago, especially in music and painting).
Since 2004, the Vocal-Instrumental Orchestra “Anton Pann” has been laboring to discover and reveal to the public around the world the long-forgotten, but unique musical tradition of the Balkans. The conductor Constantin Raileanu, along with a giant group of musicians, research old manuscripts, hidden in Romania’s libraries or monasteries. They transpose these findings into sounds of ancient medieval instruments and play them as close as possible to the musical ethos of the time.
The band developed its repertoire starting from one of the pioneers of Balkan and Byzantine music, Anton Pann.  However, it now includes musical pieces of Gheorghe Ucenescu and Dimitrie Cantemir –a representative of Renaissance in the Balkans – and other inspired by the Codexes: Moldavae, Valahae, Caioni and Anonymous.

Year of Release: 2006
Label: Culture and Tradition Association "Anton Pann"
Genres: Medieval, Byzantine
Bitrate: 192kbps

Tracklist:
 01. Lelita Saftita
02. Nu mai poci de ostenit 
03. Inima mi-e plina
04. Codex caioni
05. Mircea cel Batran
06. Pesrev adiem yegiani
07.  Intr-o verde gradinita
08. Bordeias, bordei, bordei
09. Bat-o sfantu de lupoaie
10.  Scoala, puiculita, scoala
11. Colaj de dansuri romanesti
12. Mugurel mugurel
13.  Urare

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?nkitammwzt2
Download Size: 80.1 MB

The Cramps - Bad Music For Bad People

Here is yet another fine album by the Cramps. I have posted a few more albums in the past, which you will find if you use the search bar above. This collection of B-sides and rarities was seen by many as an attempt to cash in on the band's departure by I.R.S. records. This one is far from being a long player also, with "Bad Music" clocking in at only 31 minutes long. Don't let that deter you though, as each song is packed with energy and a performance that only The Cramps can deliver. The most well known song on the album is "New Kind of Kick", a song which has plenty of attitude to burn, with Interior getting lyrically rude more than once and Ivy turning in some fierce, screeching guitar. Another winner is the sleazy "Drug Train," originally the B-side to "Garbageman," which celebrates debauchery with the expected gusto. Knox gets to show his command for steady but right drumming on this one, while Interior and Ivy go crazy with the usual enthusiasm.

The usual selection of covers of rockabilly and garage rarities also surfaces, most memorably with a ripping cover of Hasil Adkins' "She Said." More semi-hits like "Human Fly" and "Goo Goo Muck" surface as well, making the whole release a fine if overly short overview of the Cramps' vision. Production at points ventures into the totally primitive, which is all the more appropriate for the band in question, admittedly giving everything the necessarily rough-and-ready atmosphere for the group's own brand of scummy sleaze. The artwork is notable in its own right, with the fleshless big-haired ghoul on the cover having turned into an icon for the Cramps and psychobilly music worldwide.

Year of Release: 1984
Label: I.R.S. Records
Genres: Psychobilly, Punk
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List
1. Garbageman
2. New Kind Of Kick
3. Love Me
4. I Can't Hardly Stand It
5. She Said
6. Goo Goo Muck
7. Save It
8. Human Fly
9. Drug Train
10. TV Set
11. Uranium Rock

Download: The Cramps - Bad Music For Bad People
Download Size: 68MB

Edit: I re-uploaded this as requested. I also increased the bitrate to 320kbps. Enjoy!

Comment Approval Enabled

I have decided to enable comment moderation and word verification due to a large increase in spam comments on the blog. I realize that it is a bit of an incovenience, and the last thing I want to do is discourage people from commenting, but the amount of spam comments being left on the blog has almost tripled during recent months. I barely have enough time on my hands to even be able to read the legitimate comments and respond to them due to the majority of my time being taken up by work and school. It can be very frustrating to look forward to reading your comments only to discover that more than half of the comments are viagra spam. I plan to see how effective the word verification is against spammers, and if it makes no difference I will disable it so that I don't inconvenience any of you more than absolutely necessary. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I will try to make it up to you by delivering quality music, and perhaps even a major surprise in the future ;)

Igor Wakhévitch - Docteur Faust

I prefer to wait until I have enough time to write an adequate review of an album before I post it here on DM; however, I don't have much time on my hands due to work and school. There are a few amazing albums that I would really like to share with you all, despite the fact that I don't have time to write reviews for them. The first is an album by Igor Wakhévitch, an electronic avant-garde composer from France. I downloaded this from a now defunct blog a couple of years ago, and I've been meaning to share this one for a while. This is far and away my favorite album by Wakhévitch, mostly because there is a higher degree of fun experimentation, as well as an eclectic approach, which can't be matched by his other albums. Here is some more information about Wakhévitch courtesy of Wikipedia, along with a few reviews which will give you a better idea of what to expect from this marvelous album:

Wikipedia:
Igor Wakhévitch (born May 12, 1948, Provence, France), son of the art director Georges Wakhévitch, is an avant-garde French composer who released a series of studio albums in the 1970s and composed the music for the Salvador Dalí opera Être Dieu. He was a contemporary of similar avant-garde electronic composers, such as Pierre Henry, who was also born and based in Paris.

Although Wakhévitch is a relatively unknown composer, he gained a small cult following in the late 1990s after praise circulated by Nurse with Wound (on the list of influences in their first album, from 1979), Michael Gira of Swans and a review of one of his studio albums by Dominique Leone for a feature entitled "It Was the Strangest Record I Had Ever Heard" on Pitchfork Media.

From the age of eight, Wakhévitch learned to play piano under the tutelage of Louise Clavius-Marius and Lucette Descaves. Between the ages of 12 to 17, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. During this time, he was auditioned by Herbert von Karajan for a concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and in 1965 he won the Jury's First Prize for Piano by a unanimous vote. In 1967, studying under Olivier Messiaen, Wakhévitch won the first prize in Musical Analysis. In 1968, he worked for the GRM in the Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, under the direction of Pierre Schaeffer.

Review by John Coulthart:
This is the most obscure album of the lot. I’d never hit it before this release. Aptly in tune with the title, it is also one of the strangest. Docteur Faust was created for a festival in Avignon, and was later choreographed. Though, the mind boggles as to how anyone could dance to this. “Full of fury and energy” to quote a reviewer at the Avignon festival, it certainly is!

On one hand this is a more balanced blending of classical and dramatic musics, yet also it is much more extreme. There’s a wealth of sonic collage, dense musique-concrète, and bizarre musics that collide and fragment against rock structures. There’s also moments of pure classical avant-garde moving into ensemble pieces feeling like Henze meets Ligeti or Xenakis. The use of electronics is really vivid too. There are no rules or boundaries in what makes up a Wakhévitch composition! The rock elements return throughout this album and, although not credited, I would guess that again Triangle members are featured. The guitar reminds of Alain Renaud, and percussion is quite distinctive, backed-up with weirdly treated organ. Although a short album, it is so engrossing and weird that it would be too-much if it were much longer.

Review from Astral Injections (Now Defunct Blog)
On Docteur Faust you will hear a very eclectic approach to music. Strange electronic effects, choir-like vocal arrangements, snippets of orchestral music, and rock music are combined with fragments of musique-concrete like the voice of (most likely) the pope, and on top the sound of a whip, a spoken voice reciting over weird electronic sounds, gun fire, a neighing horse, etc.

Year of Release: 1971
Country of Origin: France
Label: Pathé
Genre: Electronic, Avant-Garde, Experimental
Bitrate: 224kbps

Track List:
1. Aimantation
2. Materia Prima
3. Eau Ardente
4. Tenebres (Walpurgis)
5. Licornes
6. Sang Pourpe

Download: Igor Wakhévitch - Docteur Faust
Download Size: 49MB

Edit: I just realized how low the bitrate is on this album. I realize 128kbps isn't good enough for many of you, so I will try my best to replace this with a higher quality rip soon.

Edit 2: The album with the improved bitrate is now up. Thank you for your patience.

Digital Meltd0wn last.fm Group - February 2010 Recommendations

Some of you may or may not already know that I started a last.fm group for Digital Meltd0wn - http://last.fm/group/digital+meltd0wn a few years ago. Due to various personal issues, and my recent move, the group had been inactive for far too long. I have been making an effort to devote more time to the group, and fortunately activity has picked up once again. I have also made the group open, rather than requiring approval, so please join up if you haven't already. In the past we shared our monthly music recommendations with each other, then I would share them here on the blog; however, due to my absence, a recommendation thread hadn't been posted for several months. The idea was resurrected once again, and several people took part in sharing their recommendations with the group. There was a nice selection posted this month, ranging from Italian doom metal to French electropop. So without further ado, I present to you the Digital Meltd0wn last.fm group's recommendations for the month of February 2010:

Down - Sludge
DJ Chaos X - Turntablism, Punk Rock
DJ Pica Pica Pica - Turntablism, Sound Collage
Karp - Grunge
Fall of the Idols - Doom Metal
Sahg - Doom Metal
Kylsea - Doom Metal, Sludge
Ras G - Instrumental Hip-Hop
Bile - Industrial Metal
Terror Visions - SynthPunk
The Walruz - Doom Metal
Trippy Wicked & The Cosmic Children of the Knight - Stoner Rock
Venomin James - Doom Metal
Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons - Post-Punk, Deathrock
The Almighty Defenders - Gospel, Garage Rock
Antipop Consortium - Abstract Hip-Hop
The Meters - Funk
The Ex - Post-Punk
Electric Wizard - Doom Metal
16 Horsepower - Alt-Country, Gothic Country
Woven Hand - Alt-Country, Gothic Country
Haydamaky - Ukranian, Ska, Folk Rock
Metallic Falcons - Experimental, Freak Folk
Jelonek - Violin, Instrumental Metal
CocoRosie Freak Folk
Koenjihyakkei - Japan, Experimental, Progressive Rock
Achillea - New Age, Ambient
Jenson Rhodes - Accoustic, Psychedelic
The Coconut Monkeyrocket - Experimental, Electronic
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Soundtrack
Rheostatics - Indie Rock
Giraffe Incognito - Electronic, Experimental
Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots - Alt-Country, Gothic Country
The Yellow Dogs - Iran, Post-Punk
The Graham Bond Organisation - Blues Rock, Jazz Fusion
Chromeo - Electronica, Funk
Anoraak - France, Synthpop
Yelle - France, Synthpop
James Chance - No Wave, Jazz Punk
Puzique - France, House
The Abyssinian Baptist Gospel Choir - Gospel

I hope some of you discover a few artists that you like among the list.

The Abyssinian Baptist Gospel Choir - Shakin' The Rafters

Choosing which albums I would like to share with those of you who visit here can often be a difficult process. I've tried to offer a rather eclectic selection of music here, which makes it difficult at times to pin down exactly what type of music some of you would prefer to see posted here. Often times, albums that I think will receive a lot of attention fail to get a single comment, while albums that I think are risky choices are the ones that receive the most attention. When I first started the blog I had intended to primarily focus on sharing albums from my punk rock collection, but I eventually decided I would rather post whichever weird or obscure album I happened to be digging at the time, while trying to cover a wide variety of genres. I have yet to test the waters here with a gospel album, but hopefully this one will satisfy the uninitiated, as well as those who are familiar with it.

I am not a Christian, and I'll be the first to admit that I despise most aspects of organized religion; however, I'm a sucker for energetic and soulful music such as this, regardless of the religious message the music carries. I don't have much time on my hands to go into depth about the various songs on the album, but I will try to give a somewhat adequate overview of the album as a whole.

I picked this album up because it was on Tom Waits' list of favorite albums, and it has received a number of favorable reviews describing it as one of the greatest gospel albums to ever be recorded. I did expect the music to be much rawer than it turned out due to the hype of a few reviews, yet it still satisfies the need for energetic and exciting gospel music. This was recorded in 1960 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, and features a massive 120 member choir, led by Professor Alex Bradford, performing a number of energetic and soulful gospel songs. During the 1950's, the Abyssinian Baptist Gospel Choir started out as a small local church, but rapidly expanded into the largest Baptist gospel group in the area, largely due to Bradford's gifts for writing and arranging in the classic call-and-response gospel style.

One thing is certain, while this album might not be as wild and raw as some claim it to be, it remains a very energetic and soulful album throughout. At times the choir slows down the pace, but you can still feel the tension of numerous souls waiting to let loose at any moment. If you're a fan of gospel music then you should love this, and if you've never given it a chance, I can't think of too many albums that would serve as a better introduction.

Year of Release: 1960
Genre: Gospel
Bitrate: 160kbps

Track List:
1. I Want To Ride That Glory Train
2. You've Got To Bear The Consequence
3. Heaven Belongs To You
4. Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody
5. He Stays In My Room
6. Sweet Jesus
7. You Can't Make Me Doubt Him
8. He Is Such An Understanding God
9. I Can Call Him
10. Restore Unto Me
11. The Lord's Prayer
12. The Lord Will Make A Way

Download: The Abyssnian Baptist Gospel Choir - Shakin' The Rafters
Download Size: 75MB

Learning the 3 Rs: The San Francisco way

RHYTHM

Rhythm Pigs - Rhythm Pigs

After they moved from El Paso, where they formed in 1983, to San Francisco, I used to see the Rhythm Pigs everywhere, they played out all the time. Being ‘the only punk band in El Paso’ & wanting more musickally, they garnered attention nationally by touring heavily & building their musickal chops live on-stage. Great straight-ahead punk rock & Ed Ivey was a really nice guy. This is their first, self-titled lp & then-fledgling Mordam Records second ever release.

Year of Release: 1986
Label: Mordam Records MDR 2
Genre: Punk

Tracklist:
Side 1 -
Conditional Love
Dr. Harley
Break New Ground
Human Drama
Six
Machines are In
Peanuts
Break or We’ll Break Your Face
Side 2 -
Taxi Cab
Searching for Myself
Conscience Song
Electric World
Road Machine

Download: Rhythm Pigs - Rhythm Pigs
Download Size: 84.2MB (ripped from pristine vinyl at 320Kbps)


RESIDENTS

Various Artists - Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents

I just saw The Residents in Santa Cruz (January 23rd at the Rio). As Resident shows always are (my 6th), it was a wonder-filled, entertaining, & thought-provoking event. I could think of nothing else for days. I was going to start this R thang out with these intentionally obscured musickians, even thought about posting up part of the Rio show, but then decided on this winner, but since it's not technically an R, more a V (for Various Artists), it is a Tribute to R(esidents), I posted the Rhythm Pigs first.

This cd features numerous bands doing covers of Residents tunes, a tribute to the Residents, if you can believe it...sounds like an ill-advised idea but actually it is a really excellent release. It gets a bit confusing in places, as some of the tracks are actually different songs running into each other. But it is a tribute the The Residents, so...

The final track, “Benny The Bouncing Bump” is a previously-unreleased live recording of the Residents themselves. & The Rez are on percussion for their cohort, Snakefinger’s take on “Smelly Tongues”.

This collection features reworks & covers by artists who faithfully follow the spirit of Residents' weird wackiness. It's a who's-who cast of underground, indie, & all-around under-appreciated eclectic artists, such as Only a Mother, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Snakefinger, Shakin Ray Levis, Splatter Trio, Idiot Flesh, & Amy Denio, as well as better known acts like Cracker & Primus. Fans of the Residents & their genre of irreverent musick should enjoy this entertaining & varied set of loving renditions.

Year of Release: 1996
Label: Vaccination Records VAC006
Genre: Cover songs, avantgarde

Tracklist:
Only a Mother - Mahogany Wood
Unknown Artist (*) - Untitled
Idiot Flesh - Bach is Dead
Heavy Vegetable - Time's Up
Frank Pahl - Everyone Comes to the Freak Show
Borgia Popes - Constantinople
UBZUB (*) - What Could the Matter Be?
Thinking Fellers Union Local #282 - Electrocutioner
Mooseheart Faith - Firefly / Vinegar
Splatter Trio - 6 Things to a Cycle, Pt 1 (Chew Chew Gum)
Amy Denio - Act of Being Polite
UBZUB (*) - N-ER-GEE (Crisis Blues)
Utotem (10a) - Sinister Exaggerator
Greg Roe (10b) - Hell No!
Giant Ant Farm - Eva's Warning
Charming Hostess - Won't You Keep Us Working?
Richie West & Bomb Factory - Voices in the Air
Silica Gel - Shut Up! Shut Up!
Mommyheads - Moisture
Supercollider - Walrus Hunt
UBZUB (*) - Lord it's Lonely
Snakefinger - Smelly Tongues
Fibulator - You Yes Yes Yes You
Dramagold - You Yes Yes Yes You (reprise)
Shakin Ray Levis - Red Rider
Poxy Boggards - Santa Dog
Splatter Trio - 6 Things to a Cycle, Pt 2 (Good Good Coffee)
Big Butter - Their Early Years
Cracker - Blue Rosebuds
Pink Floyd The Barber - Boo Who?
Non Credo - Nice Skinny Sinister Old Man
Lungpigs - Nobody Laughs When They Leave
Eskimo - Happy Home
Primus - Hello Skinny medley
Stan Ridgway & J.E.D. (30a) - Excuse / The Booker Tease
Greg Roe (30b) - Gingerbread Man
The Residents (*) - Benny the Bouncing Bump (live)
Unknown Artist (*) - Untitled

(*) There are several hidden tracks on this disc (at the beginning of 02, tacked on the end of tracks 05, 09, 16, & 30). I have left them as they are on the cd, unseparated (part 1 download) but have also included the split tracks (along with the cover artwork - part 2 download), so do with them as you like (the split tracks are marked A for alternate).

Tracks 10 & 30 actually have two songs indexed within the same track.

"Benny The Bouncing Bump" was recorded live on November 17th, 1991 as part of a one-off performance that is commonly referred to as 'Ty's Freak Show'.

Download: Various Artists - Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents pt 1
Download Size: 183MB (ripped at 320Kbps)

Download: Various Artists - Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents pt 2
Download Size: 38.7MB (ripped at 320Kbps)


ROMEO

Romeo Void - Nvr Say Nvr 12" ep

Romeo Void was a New Wave/post-punk band from San Francisco, California active from 1979 to 1985. They are best known for the song "Never Say Never". The best version of the song is from the four-song 12“ ep released on 415 (San Francisco’s telephone area code) Records. Their popularity was primarily in alternative & college radio. Because of extensive radio play, say ‘Romeo Void’ & the name almost always conjures up the phrase "I might like you better if we slept together" to most people...that unforgettable chorus of their best-known song, 1981's "Never Say Never". But the rest of the lyrics referencing incest, murder, homelessness, & other dark subjects, makes plain that singer/lyricist Debora Iyall has more on her mind than titillation.

The combination of Iyall's powerful vocals & graphic imagery along with the band's blend of Joy Division-style atmospherics & Gang of Four pacing, propelled by Benjamin Bossi's wall-of-sound free jazz saxophone skronking, elevated Romeo Void above their contemporary New Wave acts, proving them to be a strong American post-punk band.

Debora Iyall, a Native American of the Cowlitz tribe was born in rural Washington, was raised in Fresno, CA, then moved to San Francisco in the mid-'70s to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. While there she met fellow students Peter Woods & Jay Derrah, who had formed a pseudo-60s revival band called The Mummers & the Poppers. Iyall became the group's singer & also began incorporating music into her own poetry & performance art projects. Intrigued by the growing San Francisco punk scene, which included fellow Art Institute students like Avengers singer Penelope Houston & members of the Mutants as well as Pearl Harbor & the Explosions, Iyall, sculptor & visual artist Frank Zincavage, Woods, & Derrah formed Romeo Void on Valentine's Day 1979. The name was inspired by a headline on the cover of a local magazine’s Valentine’s issue that read "Romeo Void - Why single women can't get laid in San Francisco." Shortly after the group's formation, original saxophonist Bobby Martin & another local reedsman, Benjamin Bossi, swapped bands, with Martin joining art punk extremists the Offs while Bossi teamed up with Romeo Void.

The revised lineup recorded their debut single, "White Sweater," b/w a cover of Jorgen Ingmann's atmospheric 1961 twang-guitar instrumental hit "Apache," for the new local indie 415 Records in 1980. Before sessions commenced for their first album, 1981's It's a Condition, founding member Derrah left the group & was replaced by ex-Explosions drummer John "Stench" Haines. One of the masterpieces of American post-punk, It's a Condition received rave reviews upon its release. Perhaps even more importantly, Cars leader Ric Ocasek heard the album when a roadie played it on the Cars' tour bus. He invited the group to his Synchro Sound studio in Boston. The result was this Ocasek-produced record, the Never Say Never ep.

Year of Release: 1981
Label: 415 Records 415A-0007
Genre: New Wave, post-punk

Tracklist:
Side one -
Never Say Never
In the Dark
Side two -
Present Tense
Not Safe

Download: Romeo Void - Nvr Say Nvr 12“ ep
Download Size: 45.8MB (ripped from 415 heavy vinyl at 320Kbps)