31 December 2022

Aaah Yes...Stav Sneaks in Some 1991 Autotune

One more from MK to round out the month & year. Hoping you'll all be back for '23.
Big Spaceship - Dream On (extended edition), Martin Kennedy self released, 2005

Chantal
The Dream    
R&B in Space    
Do Do    
Planet Dream On    
Find a Place to Land    
Where You are Now (featuring Glenn Richards)
Blip Blip    
Aaah Yes    
All Aborg    
Norwegian Holiday    
Taking Tea on the Sunny Side of Saturn    
One Step Behind    
Sometime    

previously unreleased
1991 (Stav mix)    
Dark Pop Song
1980
Rain
Retirement Home 2050

Enjoy & have a happy new,

30 December 2022

Connect the Dots

In the 1990s there was a mighty rock unit called Pray TV in that land down under. By 1997, however, Pray TV was starting to wane. Then the band's driving force & principal songwriter, guitarist Martin Kennedy declared he wanted to move on from Pray TV.

As we know, Martin Kennedy embarked on his All India Radio project.  Pray TV singer Aidan Halloran concedes music was never an obsession in his life, & after Pray TV broke he steered clear of any new musical projects.  

In 2014 a Pray TV reunion benefit gig was organised for a friend of the band to raise money for cardiac treatment.  Sadly, the friend passed away & the gig never happened. But the flame was rekindled. Pray TV reformed for a one-off gig at the Yarra Hotel in January 2015.  Kennedy then surprised Halloran by saying he had some songs that would fit on a new Pray TV album.

And so Pray TV recorded Horizontal Life, the band's first album in nearly 20 years. 

 

Pray TV - Horizontal Life, Pray TV self released PRAYTV001, 2016.

Couch Surfing
Shifting Sands
Great Plans
Punchdrunk
Breathing Lessons
River Sold
Night After Night
Fade Out
Promises Promises
Connect the Dots
Where Do We Sleep

Enjoy,

28 December 2022

All India Church

As if AIR's catalogue is not deep enough, there's 20+ releases from Martin Kennedy teamed up with  fellow Aussie singer-songwriter & bassist Steve Kilbey (The Church). Here's one of their earliest. 

 

Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy - White Magic, Second Motion Records SMR-033, 2011.

The Demo
Close
Intense
Inner Country
Unfocused
Mountain
Hope
Dreamstate
Sumer
Messiah Around
The Broken Sea

Ejoy,

27 December 2022

The Expanding Universe???

The New Kennedy Space Project. 
After announcing the end of All India Radio.


The Expanding Universe - One, Martin Kennedy self released CD35543, 2022.

The Long Silence
Ancient Obelisk
Infinite Machine
Percipience
Underground Cities
Dune

Enjoy,

25 December 2022

All Ha’ a Festive Yule

Lest we too quickly forget the chaos of the pandemic. Lest we forget the polarization of society caused by fear. How from some came an outpouring of empathy for the entire world. How from some came the selfish hatred of anyone different. How compassion shared the stage with racism & bigotry. Martin wrote these two tracks from the miasma of Covid fever. How we act in times of crisis spotlights our true souls.

Burn another X-ule log for Mother Earth & love thy neighbor. 

 


Covidium I
Covidium II

Enjoy,

24 December 2022

On the Twelfth Day


But it appears this space flight may have come to its end. With the release of On Pink Floyd, Kennedy announced that this would be the final AIR release except for "the occasional reissue or collection"
 
Say it isn't so.
 
For the 12 Days of Yule, NØ brought to you:
 
The Beating of the Final Drum 
Time to Pay the Piper
Oh, Lordy
Folies Bergère
Milk Made
SibilanceS & Alliterations
Your Goose is Cooked
V Indole Rings
Deaf Dodo Birds
Trois Poules Françaises
Twin Doves of Peace
& a Cuckoo Singing in the Tree of Life

Enjoy,

13 December 2022

On the First Day

 Coming Up for AIR
 

The release of All India Radio - On Pink Floyd EP prompted the twelve upcoming posts. 
 


I always felt that Martin Kennedy, the Australian sound-artist of All India Radio, wore his appreciation of Pink Floyd on his sleeve. AIR's earliest efforts served up elecrtroambient sounds with a decidedly American tilt which started on 2001s Inevitable with tracks like : "Losing Houston" & "Wake in
Waco". 
 
2006s Echo Other cemented the downtempo Americana from first glance at the lonely desert Southwest Drive-In cover artwork through songs like "Mexicola" & "Endless Highway". 
 
 


With the release of 2009s Fall, things had become much Spacier.  Kennedy's enjoyment of Pink Floyd had set the controls for the heart of the sun. The Floyd sound was always in AIR's music, but by 2017 it had come to the forefront.

2017s album, Space used the actual rejected artwork for Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon for its own cover. Settle into your seat. We're about to blast off.

12 December 2022

The Night's Blessing is "Vives Annos"

Starting tomorrow & for the twelve days leading up to Yule (Liah Natas), I will be taking us on a journey through SPACE.

Drop by every day because I'm not sure how long these twelve phases will last. I have set a download ceiling for each file out there in the cloud. When the number is reached, that's all folks for that day's offering. Don't complain that I didn't warn ya.

(& I dropped enough hints). 

I swear it will be well worth your while.

10 December 2022

Satori in Dub

This may not be what juanjuanjuan was looking for, but while I was searching for Satori releases, of course I came across this Dub session first. 

 



Steven Jess Borth II created Satori in 2005, as a side project from Rx Bandits. Satori debut LP, Savor Every Moment, was released on Asian Man Records. It is a great showcase for what Borth had in his musickal mind.

Borth hooked up with Justin DeHart, a.k.a. Dr. Echo, as a live sound engineer to help create the growing dub direction of Satori. This would eventually evolve into the more experimental project, CHLLNGR, which is a collaborative effort between Borth & DeHart. The previous post showcased their union.

However, in the time between shifting focus from Satori to CHLLNGR, Borth, DeHart, along with a cast of very talented musicians recorded a batch of songs that were lost in time. These tracks were salvaged for the album Dub Defender Sessions

 

Satori vs. Dr. Echo - Dub Defender Sessions, Anicca Records 2020.
decryption code in comments

Little Do They Know Dub
Mountain Meditation Dub
Change is Great
Nowhere
Decision
It Dubbed Me
Intimate Dubolution
I Dub to Follow Through   
Dub is Change
Dub to Nowhere   
Dub Decision

Enjoy,

09 December 2022

Satori in Denmark

New follower juanjuanjuan left a couple comments recently (about his quest for 17 Pygmies). On the Drowning Pool post he queried:
     "What about Satori?"

I'm searching through my mess now, but came across this EP from Satori head man Steve Borth. Always glad for new prompts. 

 

CHLLNGR - Datter EP, Time No Place TNP002, 2012.

Datter
Desire (featuring Cherry B.)
Well, Good
Change (reprise)

Enjoy,

06 December 2022

Gone But Not Forgotten - Hamish Kilgour

R.I.P. Mr. Clean.



On this one:
     "Written and recorded in collaboration with Gary Olson, who captured the album at his Marlborough Farms studio and accompanies Kilgour on some songs" 

 

Hamish Kilgour - All of it & Nothing, Ba Da Bing! BING102, 2014.
decryption code in comments

Here it Comes
Going Out
Strength of an Eye
Crazy Radiance
H.K. Eleven Eight
Smile
Turn Around
Hullabaloo
Rave Up (for the Yellow Dogs)
Get on Up
Last Song

Never forget Syd’s pink wiring syatem,

05 December 2022

Even Though They Say Ziggy Played Guitar...it was Ronno

   

Michael 'Mick' Ronson was born in Kingston on Hull.


A new 8-foot (2.4 m) guitar sculpture memorial to Ronson, designed by student Janis Skodins, was unveiled on 2 June 2017 in Hull's East Park, where Ronson used to work as a gardener, now known as the Michael Ronson Garden of Reflection.

 

Another great axe victim that I've shared before over at Play, Don't Worry.  This is a posthumous disc from Beside Bowie bestie & Hull native Mick Ronson. I usually don’t bore you with all the bloody details as to who does what & when with whom for each song, but here the cast is an impressive lot, props to M. Ronson

 

Mick Ronson - Heaven & Hull, Epic 474742 2, 1994.
decryption code in comments

Don't Look Down
     Bass – Peter Noone
     Drums – Martin Chambers
     Vocals – Joe Elliott
Like a Rolling Stone
     Bass – Rene Wurst
     Drums – Mick Curry*
     Guitar – Keith Scott
     Keyboards – John Webster
     Vocals – David Bowie
When the World Falls Down
     Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Sham Morris
     Bass – Peter Noone
     Drums – Martin Chambers
Trouble with Me
     Keyboards, Bass, Drum Machine – Sham Morris
     Vocals – Chrissie Hynde
Life's a River
     Acoustic Guitar – Sham Morris
     Backing Vocals – Joe Elliott
     Bass – Mick Ronson
     Drums – Martin Chambers
     Vocals – John Mellencamp, Sham Morris
You  & Me
     Instruments [All] – Mick Ronson
Colour Me
     Backing Vocals – David Bowie, Joe Elliott
     Bass – Mick Ronson
     Drums – Martin Barker
     Keyboards – Sham Morris
Take a Long Line
     Bass – Peter Kinski
     Drums – Martin Barker
     Vocals – Ian Hunter, Joe Elliott
Midnight Love
     Instruments [All] – Mick Ronson
All The Young Dudes
     Alto Saxophone [Dog] – David Bowie
     Bass – John Deacon
     Drums – Roger Taylor
     Guitar – Brian May
     Lead Guitar – Mick Ronson
     Lead Vocals – Ian Hunter
     Vocals – David Bowie, Joe Elliott, Phil Collen

bonus track
Don’t Look Down (edit)

Enjoy,

03 December 2022

TEECEEBEE II - Chasing the Blues Away

This all began with a comment on a December 2015 posting of Fad Gadget & Frank Tovey

 



On November 26 this year, D commented:
     "Hi, I have all the Fad Gadget albums, trying to find the 6 studios as Frank Tovey.
Any chance you have them? Thanks. D.".

To which I replied:
     "As far as Frank Tovey, I have Civilian & Tyranny & the Hired Hand as well as Frank Tovey & the Pyros - Worried Men in Second-hand Suits (& Grand Union which I found while digging things out of my garbage file dump). If you're interested in any of those, let me know."

D responded:
     "Yes anything by Tovey I would appreciate. Wiki shows he had 6 studios, I'll find them all eventually. I have a large collection so if you have been looking for anything let me know. Would love to return the favor. Thanks, D."

Well, as they say, that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. I sent D a list of Bill Nelson titles I was searching for & he came up with 15!!!  Twelve from my want list & three that I wasn't even familiar with.

I reciprocated by sennding him a few things he was wishing for & I forsee a bright future in our tune trading. Swapping music through the cloud is fantastic. But full circle, here are the Frank Tovey items I promised, for D & everyone else here. Brumalia is fast upon us. 

 

Frank Tovey - Civilian, Mute CD STUMM 56, 1988.
all decryption codes in comments


New Jerusalem    
Ultramarine    
From the City to the Isle of Dogs    
Limelight / Curtains    
Bridge St. Shuffle    
The Brotherhood    
Diana    
Unknown Civilian    
Desperate Dan 

 

 

 


'31 Depression Blues
Hard Times in the Cotton Mill
John Henry / Let Your Hammer Ring
The Blantyre Explosion
Money Cravin' Folks
All I Got's Gone
Midwife Song
Sam Hall
Dark as a Dungeon
Men of Good Fortune
Sixteen Tons
North Country Blues
Buffalo Skinners
Black Lung Song
Pastures of Plenty
Joe Hill
 
 
 
 

Bad Day In Bow Creek
When the Victim Takes the Tyrants Place    
Passing Through
Bethnal Green Tube Disaster    
Cities of the Plains    
Fallen Angel    
IKB (RIP)
The Liberty Tree    
One November Morning    
The Great Attractor
 
 
 
 

Chasing the Blues Away
All That is Mine    
Just like Other Men
Only Doing Your Job    
Hey Bailiff
Crow's Nest Blues
Opportunity's Knocking
The Hermit of Hermes Point
You Won't Get That from Me
Doing Time    
Worried Man

Enjoy,

01 December 2022

TeeCeeBee

Thought I'd take care of some personal business to start off December. Take care of a couple requests.

Recently received a comment on an old (August 8, 2014) post of all things Angel'in Heavy Syrup.

Anonymous commented quite lyrically:
     "More Space Machine, please!"

Anon sez please, so here goes...

I posted Space Machine – Cosmos from Diode Ladder Filter, which is Space Machine 1. I am posting 3 but somehow can't find 2, which I have somewhere.

 

Space Machine - 3, Important Records imprec026, 2004.

Solo recordings at Space Machine Systems Studio -
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled

Live at Bigcat, Osaka 12/19/2002 -
Untitled
 
 
 
 
 
Space Machine - The First Week, Poweracoustics.org/guest 1.
The First Week
 
 
 
 
 
 Dimension Degenerator
(live at Penguin House Tokyo 2/25/2004)

Enjoy,

28 November 2022

Prompted by Other Blogs, Part 6

I'm always cruising around the interweb, looking for interesting music. I'll see or hear something out there that sets me on a path.


Most of my blog visitations are prompted by a combination of: primarily the music shared & secondarily for the verbal content of the posts (really, mom, I go there for the articles, not the pictures) & the repartee of commentors. I very rarely visit blogs that just post music without content, unless I'm searching for something specific. One of the exceptions is Exystence.

Exystence has more postings than any other blog I know & they include content with every release, but the write-ups are music journal/ist reviews without much soul. They are a warehose of name-dropping (...they sound like...?...?...?...) but I barely skim the articles ( & the comments run to the "Thanks, EXY"..."Wow, man"  ..."This is shit" style).

The thing about Exystence is that most everything is days-old releases or this week's reissues of Classic albums, so it can be a treasure trove of music. For me, most of the new bands I have never heard, so I have to sift through a lot of chaff to fine a kernel of goodness. So I go there once a week when I have a few free (add time increment here)s & dowload everything that seems even slightly interesting. Then over the course of the following week I start sifting (by sifting I mean listening to a wide wide range of sounds) through all the downloads. I usually come up with one or two keepers a week.

So I have compiled this compilation from music I have deemed worthy. 

 

Various - The Kernels of Goodness, NØ Comp., 2022

HIGH -

The Worst is Done - Weyes Blood
El Bueno Y el Malo - Hermanos Gutierez
Stechmück - Pole
Tourmaline - The Mars Volta
Holy Mount Zion - Congo Natty
Scrolls of Doom - Dear Nora
No Hiding Place for Me - Jeb Loy Nichols
Socrates in Thin Air - Robyn Hitchcock
Imtaxaanka Dunida - The Iftin Band
Grauer Sand - Pole
Los Amantes - Hermanos Gutierez
Monsters on the Hill - Jeb Loy Nichols
Music 4 da Soul - Congo Natty
Flowers Fading - Dear Nora
It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody

NRG -

Starry Nights - Adrian Quesada
Strip Elettrico (from Lula la Sposa Erotica - Alessandro Alessandroni
Flash Burns from Flashbacks - The Mars Volta
Speed King - Röyksopp
The Shuffle Man - Robyn Hitchcock
Hobolada Hooyibo - The Iftin Band
If You Feel It - Patrick Cowley
Feel It - Röyksopp
Casanova Sintetico (from La Parte più Appetitosa del Maschio) - Alessandro Allessandroni
Deeper than This? - The Soft Pink Truth
Blank Condolences - The Mars Volta
Turk’s Cap - Adrian Quesada
Graveyard Love - The Mars Volta
La Joie Devant la Mort - The Soft Pink Truth
A Wicked Tool - Patrick Cowley

Enjoy,

25 November 2022

Running Through the Jungle

 

Been listening to Congo Natty's latest opus Ancestorz (Rootz of Jungle) for days now. 31 tracks of Congo at his best, then a 2 hour ten minute Ancestorz mixtape from the man himself. As I listened & enjoyed & luxuriated in the sounds, I realized I had slighted the great Rebel MC & creator of Jungle here at NSS. Filling that empty void right here & now.

A megapost of past tastes from Congo Natty or Ras Project or X Project or Tribe of Issachar or Conquering Lion or Blackstar or Lion of Judah or Rebel MC. Creating under any of these monikers, it all amounts to greatness. Dig in. 

 

Tenor Fly meets Congo Natty - 12 Years of Jungle 5x12", Congo Natty CONGOLP1, 2003.
all decryption codes in comments

Vynil 1 -
Comin on Strong 1990
Tribal Bass 1992

Vynil 2 -
Wickedest Sound 1991   
Jah Sunshine 1994

Vynil 3 -
Alaska Ride 1994
DJ School & DJ School (Dub) 1994

Vynil 4 -
'Ses' Jungle 2000
Trinity Way 2000

Vynil 5 -
H.I.M. War 2002
H.I.M. War Dub 2002 


 
 
While most Various releases have various artist, this is Congo in three of his various guises: Rebel MC; Tribe of Issachar; & X Project. 
 
Various - Most Wanted Volume 1, Congo Natty CNVCD 002, 2008.

Original Ses (Police in Helicopter) featuring Topcat
Yes Selectah
Champion DJ featuring Top Cat
Kunta Kinte featuring Topcat
Jah Sunshine featuring Tenor Fly
Code Red (original mix) featuring Super Cat
Jah Set It
Junglist (DJ Zinc remix) featuring Peter Bouncer
His Imperial Majesty featuring Topcat
Emperor Sellassie I
tracks 1, 3-6, 8-10 Rebel MC; track 2 Tribe of Issachar; track 7 X Project.
 
 
 
 
Various - Congo Natty Most Wanted Remixes 3x12" 45rpm, Congo Natty CNVLP003, 2009.

Disc 1 -
Wardance (Serial Killaz remix)
Police in Helicopter (Ray Keith 2004 remix)
Disc 2 -
Champion DJ (Shy FX remix)
Tribal Natty (Aphrodite remix)
Disc 3 -
Junglist (Zinc remix)
Champion DJ (DJ Ron London Someting mix)
 



Conquering Lion released numerous iterations of "Code Red" & remixes. This is the Serial Killaz 12" single. 
 
 
 
CONGONATTY REMIX 010, 2009.

Side A -
Code Red (Serial Killaz remix)

Side AA -
Code Red (Serial Killaz VIP mix)
 
 
 
 

This one is a follow-up to Congo's Jungle Revolution from 2013. Many of our favorites producers do their Dub versions here: Adrian Sherwood; Dubkasm; Dougie Wardrop's Conscious Sounds; Vibronics; Mungo's Hi-Fi; & more.
 
 
 
 
Congo Natty - Jungle Revolution in Dub, Big Dada Recordings BDCD243, 2015

Intro - Lee Perry
Dub Souljah (Dubkasm Dragon Slayer mix)
Get Ready VIP Dub (Sukh Knight remix)
Nu Beginningz (Jinx in Dub Steppa remix)
Revolution in Dub (DJ Madd remix)
UK Allstars in Dub (Adrian Sherwood remix)
Intro (Scientist)
London Dungeons Dub (Young Warrior remix [son of Ja Shaka])
Rebel Tuff like Tuff Gong Dub (Joe Ariwa remix [son of Mad Professor])
Jungle is I & I (Hylu & Jago Future Dub mix)
Intro (Maia)
Jah Warriors in Dub (DJ Madd remix)
Microchip in Dub (King Yoof remix)
Nu Beginningz Dubwise (Mungos Hi-Fi remix)
Get Ready Dubwise (Vibronics remix)
Micro Dub [Say No] (Conscious Sounds mix)


& as one final bonus, a track from the new Ancestorz (Rootz of Jungle) here.

Rumble in the Jungle,

22 November 2022

From Me (& On-U Sound) to You All for Thanksgiving

 

Sherwood at the Controls was a series of two (so far) releases showcasing Adrian's productions & remixes, well, at the controls, don't ya know. 


Here's the Japanese release on this first one with bonus Deadly Headley - "Liberty City Dub" with complete 32 page booklet. Every time I listen to this I think that never in a million years would I have picked these track for a compilation yet how spectacularly perfect a set it is in its depth & breadth of sound. Truly a masterpiece. 

 

Various - Sherwood at the Controls Volume 1: 1979-1984, On-U Sound BRC-450, 2015.
all decryption codes in comments

Hungry, So Angry - Medium Medium
Let it Take You There - Maximum Joy
Some Day My Caliph Will Come - Nadjma
Learning to Cope with Cowardice (flexi version) - Mark Stewart & Maffia
Middle Mass - The Fall
Strange Clues - Gardening by Moonlight
Mistah Linn He Dead - Shriekback
Running (Feeling Wild) - Voice of Authority featuring Congo Ashanti Roy
Man Next Door - The Slits
Third Gear (Kills) - Annie Anxiety aka Little Annie
Nuclear Weapon - Prince Far I
Reaching the Bad Man - Singers & Players
In a Trap - African Head Charge
Private Armies Dub - Vivien Goldman
bonus track    
Liberty City Dub - Deadly Headley 


 
This one, while featuring more obvious choices, is still a perfectly knit bundle of musical joy.
 
 

Hypnotized (12" mix) - Mark Stewart
Mind at the End of the Tether - Tackhead
Don't Forget that Beat (alternate Dub) - Doug Wimbish & Fats Comet
The Value of Nothing - Flux
Masimbabele 89 (Adrian Sherwood remix) - The Unknown Cases
These Sounds - Keith LeBlanc
Television (dance mix) - The Beatnigs
Girls & Boys - Pankow
All Day (Adrian Sherwood remix) - Ministry
Big Bondage (Kinky Sex wet mix) - Rinf
Don't Blow Your Top (Adrian Sherwood remix) - KMFDM
Snatch-a-Style - Dub Syndicate
Music & Science Madness - Lee 'Scratch' Perry
Haunting Ground Dub - Bim Sherman
Hold Some Version - African Head Charge
Early Mafia - Dub Syndicate

Everyone give of yourself to those you love ,

19 November 2022

The Act You've (not) Known for All These Years

 

The Desert are a 4-piece Art-Pop band from Bristol, England. The band takes its name from "the desert of the self", a concept that Carl Jung writes about in The Red Book.

Frontwoman Gina Leonard's soul-bearing narratives sit atop the symphonic acoustics of Tom Fryer & Ryan Rogers, held down by Jonny Parry's rhythms.

Their evolution since urban-folk debut EP Playing Dead has been transcendent, elevating them out from the shadows of the Bristol-sound, into a genre-breaking, sonic experience.

Their plans for world domination were put on hold during the Covid lock-down, as they are a captivating live outfit. Luckily though, the band had a chance to play some of the best independent venues in the country (such as Liverpool’s Sound City), enjoyed radio airplay by BBC Introducing as well as Tom Robinson on his BBC Radio 6 show, perform at several boutique UK festivals (including The Great Escape Festival in Brighton), & showcase their craft at Austin's SXSW.

I have collected all their output that I could find to date in this compilation. 

 


Half Hearted
Soulmates
Playing Dead
Just Get High - Playing Dead EP, Funnel Music TDFM004, 2017.
Gone
Winning You Back
Distract Me
Bitterness - Winning You Back EP, Funnel Music TDFM008, 2019.
Disappearing Act
Cut Out
All I Know - Cut Out EP, 2020.
Cloudbursting
Beauty Queen

Enjoy,