Lyves of the Ripe & Fragrant

Francesca Bergami is a singer-songwriter born in Aylesbury, UK to an Australian mother & Italian father. Her first exposure to music began at around four years old when she began listening to her parents record collection. Her first musical memory is Dire Straits. There was also plenty of Michael Jackson, Sade, & Sinead O’Connor.

She now records under the name of  Lyves. Her emotive lyrical themes & alternative musical  path has earned her critical acclaim. 

 

Francesca started writing songs at the age of eleven. Her early teens were mostly filled with the likes of Tupac, Seal, & Sade, but as she matured, her taste moved towards the electronic end of the spectrum: Moby, Air, Boards of Canada, & Enya being some of her go-tos. 

Francesca sez: "My mother used to play Enya a lot. I thought it was corny as a teenager, but I think it really influenced the way I produce.  I love Enya's music now."

Francesca believed a career in music was just a childish dream, so she went to Goldsmith's to study psychology before embarking on a career as a support worker for young people in care. She later became a mental health advocate where she worked at a psychiatric hospitals. But Francesca felt that there was something missing in her life. Her musical musings needed to become a full-blown creative endeavour. So she got her hands on a keyboard & taught herself to play. She then advertised for like-minded musicians on Gumtree & started to perform live..

Francesca, however, decided she needed a change from her life in London. She moved to Senigallia, a small town in Italy where her father & grandmother live. She took up residence in her father's attic where she both wrote & recorded her music, Her stepping back from the limelight allowed her to grow as a songwriter. Her ability to turn times of isolation into music that radiates hope, strength, & optimism gave her a depth she had been craving. Using only a keyboard, her computer, & a set of speakers to create her music, she completed her first EP.

She released her debut EP Like Water in January 2017. The first track, "Darkest Hour", represents this whole transformative period in Francesca's life, symbolic of resistance & persistence, of never backing down, & never giving up.

This, my first compilation for 2024, begins with the four songs from her first EP & then adds a variety of other tracks by this amazing artist that I have acquired.

 

Lyves - Well Lived, NØ Comp., 2024

Darkest Hour
No Love
The Weather
Free
Certain Things
Shelter
Holding Back
Visions
Cover Me
Dreams
Rest Your Head
Shame
Tell Me that You Feel it Too

Enjoy,
NØ

Revolution Number 19

So starts the last month of the year, a busy month that culminates with holidays for numerous cultures.

No. 19 is a Toronto based record label created by DJs/producers Jonny White (Art Department) & Nitin Kalyan. The name came from ideas expressed in article No.19 of the Declaration of Human Rights: "Freedom of Expression".

I shared Crystalized by Martina Topley-Bird & Mark Lanegan last month that was an Art Department / No. 19 release.

Here's a sampling of some of their sounds & the last NØ compilation for 2023. 

It's on the House...

 

Various - Revolution No. 19, NØ Comp., 2023.

Your Love (Kerri Chandler / Bob Beaman vocal mix) - Kate Simko
Fog & Haze - Tone of Arc
Hypnodance (Jonny Whites Space Echo edit) - Who's Who
Was in Love - Lauren Lane featuring JAW
The Other - Eric Volta fearturing Leeu
The Sun Comes Up - Art Department
Love Heart - Jade featuring Venus
Autophobia - Louie Fresco featuring Luna
A Heart that Beats You - Maher Daniel featuring Jade
Whisper Fallow - System of Survival featuring Bianca & Brandy Eve

Looking forward to many more compilations in the coming year...
Enjoy,
NØ

Dread Again

October last, I made a compilation of Dreadzone - Tunes from Singles & EPs .

Here’s Part II... 

 

Dreadzone - Tunes from Singles & EPs Pt. II, NØ Comp., 2023.

Gangster (Trolley Snatcha remix)
Fight the Power (Drum Club remix)
Little Britain (vocal version)
Zion Youth (Underworld mix)
King Dub Rock (Tom Real vs the Rogue Element mix)
Gangster (Pyramid Remix)
Captain Dread (epilogue)

Enjoy,
NØ

A Rage of Angels

I threatened jonder with a different opening here, but it was just shock talking. I'll be much gentler now that I've had time to let my rage out through the raging sounds of Mark Stewart. 

 

The Pop Group's guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager said in tribute: "Mark was the most amazing mind of my generation. RIP." 

& On-U Sound's Adrian Sherwood added: "Thank you my brother. You were the biggest musical influence in my life and our extended family will miss you so much. Love forever."

I can say no more. Let the music speak.

First up is a selection of some of my favorite tracks, for one reason or another, to start things off.

Mark Stewart & - Anger is Holy, NØ Comp., 2023.

Rage of Angels
Instant Halo
Crawl Space
Dream Kitchen (unreleased 12“ version)
The Paranoia of Power
Survival
Zombie [Land]
Passivecation Program
Colour Blind
Fatal Attraction
Hysteria
Stranger
Don’t Ever Lay Down Your Arms
There are no Spectators
Rise Again

 

 

 

Mark Stewart - The Politics of Envy 2xCD, Future Noise FNMDX002, 2012.
decryption codes in comments

CD1 -
Vanity Kills
Autonomia
Gang War
Codex
Want
Gustav Says
Baby Bourgeois
Method to the Madness
Apocalypse Hotel
Letter to Hermione
Stereotype

Experiments EP -
Autonomia (Electro edit)
Robo Want Part 1
Robo Want Part 2
Letter Dub (The Dispossessed)

 

 

 

 

Mark Stewart - Exorcism of Envy, Future Noise FNMCD004, 2012.

Babycino - Mark Stewart
Sexorcist - Mark Stewart featuring Factory Floor & Keith Levene
Gustav Says Dub
Method to the Madness Dub
Codex Dub - Mark Stewart
Want Version - Mark Stewart featuring Factory Floor
Mirror Wars - Mark Stewart featuring Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Xacute
Letter (Full of Tears) - Mark Stewart featuring Keith Levene
Apocalypse Dub - Mark Stewart featuring Daddy G
Attack Dogs - Mark Stewart with Primal Scream
Killswitch - Mark Stewart featuring Kenneth Anger & Richard Hell

This is my letter, full of tears,
NØ

S-EXY Listener’s Digest 3

The first go-round of this series was a two disc set of HIGH / NRG that I posted up as The Kernels of Goodness on the Exystence: Prompted by Other Blogs, Part 6 post November last. That was before this actual project had hatched.

At that time, long-time NSS regular rev.b suggested a  'listener's digests' that I could make a habit of posting these every few months. I posted up two volumes I called S-EXY Listener’s Digest New Faces & Old Friends at the end of January before I embarked on February's Top of the Pops extravaganza.

As I said then, I'm always one for picking up another new bad habit. Guess it's about time for another installment.

The Ethereal set is weighted slightly in the Tor Lundvall direction. Lundvall is a painter whose haunting landscapes appear on the covers of his many albums. As a musician, Lundvall has become known for a highly personal ambient sound. I have been enjoying his output for several decades. His 1997 debut Passing Through Alone caght my ear at the time. The material here is newly released but from a period prior to & coinciding with Passing (the title A Strangeness in Motion: Early Pop Recordings 1989 -1999 anchors it in time).

The rest is made up of those Kernels of Goodness (Nina Hagen, Lee Perry remixes, soul, goth...) that I have been able to glean. 

Various - S-EXY Listener’s Digest 3, NØ. Comp., 2023.

Corporeal -
Man of the House - dEUS
Bunny is a Rider - Caroline Polachek
Tales from Beyond - Italia 90
Believe - Say She She
Unity - Nina Hagen
The Heat - Mark William Lewis
Hide - Secret Shame
Persephone - Secret Shame
Does He Dream? - Italia 90
Dream is a Giver - dEUS
Saccharine Dream - Secret Shame
New Factory - Italia 90
Crude Drawing of an Angel - Caroline Pilachek
Open My Heart (Dinner Time) - Nina Hagen
The Power - Mark William Lewis
Funny Bones - Italia 90
Must Have Been New - dEUS
A House Full of Garbage - 10 000 Russos 

 

 

Ethereal -
Original One - Tor Lindvall
Step in Space (BLKJKSSNDSYSTM) - New Age Doom
Fortune Teller - Say She She
Sideway - numün
Shantiman (Basoa Dub) featuring Haradhan Das Baul - Noodreem
Dangerous Snakes - Tor Lindvall
Walking to a Home 0 Okonski
Heaven is Real - Crosslegged
Apocalypse Daydream - Mike Dillon & Punkadelic
The Melting Hour - Tor Lundvall
Beyond - numün
Old Friend - Okonski
Only in the... - Crosslegged
Lessons That Kill - Tor Lundvall
Ouroboros featuring Holosonos - Noodreem
Steps - numün
Conquer the Sin (Raising of Lazarus edit) - New Age Doom
Forget It! - Tor Lundvall

Enjoy,
NØ

Suggested by Rev.B...This One's for You, Brother

 

Before I get too lost in the upcoming February insanity, I need to present the first (second!!!) installment of S-EXY (Selected from EXY) Listener's Digest. The first go-round was a two disc set of HIGH / NRG that I posted up as The Kernels of Goodness on the Prompted by Other Blogs, Part 6 post November last. That was before this actual project had hatched.

At the time, NSS regular rev.b commented:
     “There's so much new-to-me stuff on Exy, it's hard to know what to try. The reviews don't help much because I don't know how much I can trust them. None of these artists are familiar, so I really appreciate these two 'listener's digests'. They're bound to be very useful and I imagine I'll go back and grab anything that sounds interesting. If you wanted to make a habit of posting these every few months, that'd be great. Either way, thanks for these.”

Well, I'm always one for picking up another new bad habit. This is what I've gleaned since November. 

 

Various - S-EXY Listener's Digest Vol. 2 (really 1), NØ Comp., 2023. 

S-EXY: NEW FACES -
I Got the Moves - Habibi
Leak at the Disco - Baxter Dury
Runaway - Starcrawler
Vanishing Shadows - Liela Moss
Low Profile - Shapeshifter
Sweetest Talk - Habibi
Tunnel - Lotus Eater (Lucy & Rrose)
Rhodes - Monaural
Welcome to It - Liela Moss
Tomboy - Habibi
Jetblack - Starcrawler
Cocaine Man - Baxter Dury
Let Me In - Habibi

S-EXY: OLD FRIENDS -
Massa - Tiken Jah Fakoly
Curious Guy - The Legendary Pink Dots
Charming Every Cupid - Essential Logic
Alpha (Adrian Sherwood mix) - Mark Stweart
Leftfield - This is What We Do
Rider Roots - Boris Gardner
Braquage de Pouvoir - Tiken Jah Fokoly
Apocalypse Then - The Legendary Pin Dots
Serious - Essential Logic
Cast No Shadow (Leather Strip mix) - Mark Stewart
Alien Boys - Essential Logic
Come on - Leftfield
Où est-ce que tu vas - Tiken Jah Fakoly
Love Dub - Boris Gardner

'Til next time,
NØ

Hamish Revisited

I had a busy December so I feel I kinda gave slight to the passing of Hamish Kilgour. 

I posted up one of his solo outings so all could remember a fine musickian.

I just feel I need to touch on some (not even all) of the projects Hamish was involved in during his incredible career: The Clean; Bailter Space; The Moles; Coloring Book; The Great Unwashed; The Mad Scene; Tall Dwarfs; Yo La Tengo; Dean Wareham & many more. 

 

Hamish Kilgour - Trout, NØ Comp., 2023.

Fish - The Clean
The "W" Song - Bailter Space
Little Did I Know - Tiny Ruins & Hamish Kilgour
Thin Air - The Sundae Painters
Bobzilla - The Jessels
Sister Silver - Samara Lubelski
Born in the Wrong Time - The Great Unwashed
The Crasher - The Moles
Allergic Reaction - Roya
Walking Distance - Coloring Book
Quickstep - The Clean
Choose - The Mad Scene
Nutshell of Love - Bill Direen & Friends
One More Reason - Bailter Space
Anesthesia - Dean Wareham
Aversion - The Sundae Painters
End Times - Roya
At the Bottom- The Clean
20th Century Boy - Yo La Tengo
The Runout Groove - Tall Dwarfs

Enjoy,
NØ

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,
NØ

NOVv Back to NOVember NOVelties

Another trip-hop band from Bristol that I have not favored here yet. 

 

 

Formed in 1998, the band consisted of: Sian Evans - vocals; Darren 'Decoder' Beale & Mark 'Markee Ledge' Morrison - guitars, keyboards, & drums. Most of their back catologue was re-issued by Moksha Recordings in 2021. 

This compilation is assorted rare tracks from various source from throughout the bands career. 

 

Kosheen - Rare Tastes, NØ Comp., 2022.

Harder (Ashley Beedle Soultek vocal remix)
All in My Head (Tech Itch rmx)
High & Dry
Violence
Analogue Street Dub
Professional Friend
India
Get it Right
Live 4 Today
(Slip & Slide) Suicide [Kosheen Head mix]
Dangerous Waters (Decoder & Substance mix)
Pleasure
Always the Same
Yes Men
Timpani
Hide U (Dubspeeks remix)
Freaks of Nature
Too Late
Hold Me Down

Track 1,18 - Harder
Track 2 - "All in My Head" single sided 12"
Tracks 3,8,11,13,19 -  Resist (Disc 2)
Track 4 - internet only bonus track
Tracks 5,6, - Damage (UK edition)
Track 7 - Overkill CDS
Track 9 - Hungry CDS
Track 10 - "(Slip & Slide) Suicide" AAC single
Track 12 - Wasting My Time CDM
Track 14,15 - Yes Men CDM
Track 16 - Hide U remixes
Track 17 - Damage (Special Edition bonus track)

Enjoy,
NØ

Prompted by Other Blogs, Part 5

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.

This part of this series was actually prompted by two different blogs that combined to send me on this journey. 

 

Sal Nunziato runs Burning Wood blog. His life is music, so he knows it from the inside. He is most into 20th Century artists & their continuing output this centuty. Alway somehing there that we mere mortals probably missed.

Starting the week off with "Rolling Stone: Please Just Call it a Day".

About this, Sal sez:
     "I should know better. But I guess that is why it's called click bait. Rolling Stone has released their list of '50 Greatest Concept Albums' and if you can get beyond 49 without reaching for a heavy object to throw at your computer screen or crush your phone to bits, more power to you."

I haven't read fucking RS for decades. Last place I'd want to find out what's really going on in music. They're kinda just a glorified advertisement. But I read the article & all the interesting reader comment. I even checked out their list. What a load of shite. 

 

A couple days later I was visiting A History of Dubious Taste blog to catch up on things I might have missed. I have to say I don't check in with AHoDT as often as I should, but I always check out whatever is there for some suprisingly great finds.

There was a posting from October 12 that caught my attention, "The 100 Greatest UK Number 1 Singles".

After having read the Rolling Stone shitlist, I decided I should check out The Guardian's list. I figured that they had nothing to particularly gain by hyping any acts, so at least I figured their criteria would be different. Jez had been doing a series featuring these #1 songs starting with Bill Haley & the Comets - "Rock Around the Clock", #100, November 18, 2020. The Ocober 12, 2022 post was #89. It was the Sugarbabes - "Freak Like Me".

I decided to peruse The Guardian list for myself just to see how bad it was. It was worse than I had imagined. Got to #78 before I found a song I'd ever listen to, so I  decided to make a compilation of any of the songs I deemed listenable IMO. After compiling the set, I was incredulous to realize that only one song was from the 21st Century. I went back over the original Guardian list. Only twenty-five of the 100 songs were even from this century. Those were from the likes of Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue, Lil Nas X, Carly Rae Jepsen, & their ilk.

The set I compiled follows the Law of Fives & the Sacred 23, The KLF - "3am Eternal. Jimmy Cauty & Bill Drummond had already written a book on how to have a No. 1 record, The Manual. Guess they took a page from their own playbook. After that the list is in descending order from #78, a song I've posted here before. "Something in the Air" - Thunderclap Newman. Then the last track is one of my all time favorite songs from the first band I ever saw live, The Four Tops. Great place to end this crazy side-trip. Flash back much? 

 

Various - The Guardian List, NØ Comp., 2022.

3am Eternal - The KLF, 1991, #23
Something in the Air - Thunderclap Newman, 1969, #78
A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum, 1967, #75
Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine, 2009, #72
Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners, 1982, #68
Tainted Love - Soft Cell, 1981, #52
Can the Can - Suzi Quatro, 1973, #47
Going Underground - The Jam, 1980, #39
You Really Got Me - The Kinks, 1964, #28
Bang a Gong (Get it On) - T Rex, 1971, #21
Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Drury & the Blockheads, 1979, #18
Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis, 1957, #15
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson, 1983, #6
Ghost Town - The Specials, 1981, #2
Reach Out (I'll Be There) - The Four Tops, 1966, #40

Enjoy,
NØ

Prompted by Other Blogs, Part 4

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. 

 

Every few days I check out Things & Time Will Tell blog. 

 

A few days ago I noticed a post titled "Sade at the Movies (for Beginners)". Being a career-long Sade fan, I was drawn in.

MM starts off:
     "Sade fans aren't impatient...their last studio release was 2010...I've never heard news, leaks, or promises of a new record coming despite the twelve year gap."

Well, there's this. Stuart Matthewman, multi-instumentalist, songwriter, & original member of Sade's band, told Rated R&B that the singer is back in the studio.
     "We're working on a new album with a bunch of songs fans will love."

MM went on:
     "There's been the occasional 'best of' compilation or vinyl reissue, but we haven't even seen 'deluxe edition' cash-ins packed with demo tracks & no compilations collecting the 12" edits, official remixes, or non-album B sides that are out there."

That set me on this path...

Presenting: a mix of B-sides & non-album tracks; a set of 'super deluxe' remixes; & a compilation of Sade in the House.

Let's start of with one taken from MMs post, "Killer Blow". 

 

Sade - B-sides & Non-album tracks, NØ Comp., 2022.

Killer Blow
Should I Love You
Room 55
Spirit
Red Eye
Mum
Wired
Haunt Me
Love Affair with Life
Make Some Room
The Big Unknown
Flower of the Universe 

 

 

 

 

Sade - The Remixes Super Deluxe, NØ Comp., 2022.

Every Word (Paul Helsby remix)
Cherish the Day (Ronin remix)
Why Can't We Live Together (Don Cerati's Color Blind remix)
Your Love is King (Dj Prince bootleg remix)
Stronger than Pride (Eli's No Idea original mix)
Flower of the Universe (No ID remix)
No Ordinary Love (Millok private remake)
Paradise (Pete Le Freq refreq)
Kiss of Life (Sohl's classic mix)
King of Sorrow (Fun Lovin' Criminals remix)

 

 

 

 

 

Various - The House that Sade Built, NØ Comp., 2022.

No Ordinary Love - Hazmat
I Never Thought I'd See the Day (house cafe mix) - OtherSoul
Hang On to Your Love (remake) -Sample Gee
Couldn't Love You More (special edit) - Spiritchasers
I Never Thought - Musk Men
Love is Stronger than Pride (edit) - Kaytra
Like a Tattoo (motel edit) - Conan Liquid Crates
Wae (refreak) - Dj Spinna
Pearls (rework) - ReelSoul
Nothing Can Come Bewteen Us (remix) - Alysha Kid

Enjoy,
NØ

A Day Such as This

Let the drums roll. 

 

Anton Fier & - Crazy Rhythms: The Art of the Beat, NØ. Comp., 2022.

Clean Plate - The Golden Palominos
Incident on South Street - The Lounge Lizards
A Day Such as This - Pere Ubu
Sharkey’s Day
Sharkey’s Night - Laurie Anderson
Forces at Work - The Feelies
Dear Richard - Friction
Stand Gaurd - Bob Mould
The Nostalic Ache - Blind Light
Future 40s (String of Pearls) - Syd Straw
Power & Sacrifice - Swans
Rockit - Herbie Hancock
Jaguar Ride - Styrene Money
Fatty Walks - The Lounge Lizards
The Long Walk Home - Pere Ubu
Black Sheets of Rain - Bob Mould
Calvary Cross - Friction
Wid Dog Moon Pt. 2 - Kevin Kinney & the Golden Palominos
Drano in Your Veins - The Styrenes
Crazy Rhythms - The Feelies

A band is as solid as its drummer,
R.I.P Anton
NØ

Prompted by Other Blogs, Part 1

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, a new musical journey.

I frequent Holland Tunnel Dive multiple times a week. It is a treasure trove of rare or hard to find oddities, just what I'm always looking for in my music searches. 

 

This past Tuesday Jillem posted a compilation of Bristol, England bands issued by Emotinal Rescue who teammed up with Bristol Archive Records to showcase some Dub / Funk/ Afro sounds that had originally been released on Recreatinal Records label in 1981-82. Check it out.

Three of the four songs ever released by Scream & Dance are on the compilation. They were a band similar to one of my other favorites of that time, style, & region...Glaxo Babies. A great find. On the same comp were two songs from the band Talisman that I used to enjoy that had completely fallen off of my radar. 

 

Talisman is a great roots rock band that are still active today. Me being a Dub fan, I have compiled a number of their Dub tracks for your enjoyment. Thanks Holland Tunnel Dive for sparking my memory. 

 

Talisman - Takin’ the I-surrection Fyah, NØ Comp., 2022.

Greetings & Dubutations
Hey Yout’ (Oldwah Dub)
Dub Yourself
Revolutionary Dub
Things ah Dub
Walk with the Rastaman (Dub)
You Can Cry if You Wanna (Dub)
Wheel & Dub Again
Season for Dub
Don’t Play with Dub
Racism Never Dub
Praise Dub

Enjoy,
NØ

A Rose in Hand for Roseland

One more post for the hot August nights...

A friend of mine & I were discussing the relative virtues of Portishead's Roseland NYC Live album. After several listens, we both agreed that these are some of the best versions of their songs. Not all live recordings live up to the studio versions. We wondered if the venue had its own part to play in the overall superiority of these tunes. 

After listening to this mix of live recordings, I believe that the artists have more to do with the outcome than the venue. The AC/DC live set is particularly weak. It's a bootleg with the vocals almost lost in the mix. "Whole Lotta Rosie" was the best sounding track with the least audience chatter. There is a December 2009 live version from River Place floating around on UChewb if you want a better taste. But as for the subject of this post, Portishead were just fantastic live that night at Roseland because of their supreme talent.

The original Roseland Ballroom was opened in Philadelphia in 1917 by Louis Brecker with financing coming from Frank Yuengling of the famed D. G. Yuengling & Son brewing dynasty. Philadelphia had some of the toughest Blue Laws prohibiting beer sales & nightclubs from operating on Sundays. In 1919, to escape these Blue Laws, Brecker & Yuengling moved the venue to 1658 Broadway at 51st Street in Manhattan, NYC on the second floor of that five-story building, opening on December 31, 1919. Originally it was a "whites only" dance club.

The all-white, ballroom-dancing atmosphere of the club changed gradually with the ascendanc of jazz played primarily by African-American bands on the New York nightclub scene. In 1924 Piron's New Orleans Jazz Orchestra was the first "race music" group to play the ballroom. The Fletcher Henderson band played an extended run at Roseland in the 1920s & 1930s. Louis Armstrong, Count Basie ("Roseland Shuffle"), & Chick Webb followed with their orchestras. Many big-band performances were broadcast live from Roseland by radio networks; recordings survive of several NBC broadcasts of 1940, featuring the young Ella Fitzgerald fronting the Chick Webb band. That will be the starting point for  this compilation. 

 

The original New York Roseland was torn down in 1956. The venue then moved to its new home on West 52nd. Brecker attempted to maintain its ballroom dancing style, banning rock & roll or disco. Brecker sold the building in 1981 to Albert Ginsberg. Under Ginsberg's management Roseland began regularly scheduled "disco nights". As disco waned, the variety of music expanded greatly. 

 

On October 18, 2013, it was announced that Lady Gaga would headline seven shows on March 28, 30, 31, April 2, 4, 6, 2014, which would be the final performances at the venue. A seventh show was added, held on April 7, 2014, which officially closed the venue. "G.U.Y." was the final song performed at Roseland Ballroom. That song will round out this compilation.

Between Ella Fitzgerald & Lady Gaga will be much of Portishead's Roseland NYC Live along with other select tunes showcasing the variety that was the Roseland Ballroom. All recorded live at the famed Roseland Ballroom. Give it a listen. 

 

Various - Live from Roseland, NØ Comp., 2022.

 

Sugar Blues - Ella Fitzgerald March 4,1940
Only You - Portishead July 24, 1997
Mary Juana - Nelson Gonzalez March 10, 1978
Abrasions Mount the Timpani - The Mars Volta May 5-6, 2005
Not Fragile - Bachman-Turner November 16, 2010
Love on Top - Beyoncé August 14-18, 2011
Come as You Are - Nirvana July 23, 1993
Glory Box Portished
Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt (Gust of Mutts & And Ghosted Pouts) - The Mars Volta
American Woman - Bachman-Turner
Over - Portishead
Whole Lotta Rosie - AC/DC March 11, 2003
Strangers - Portishead
Kind of Bird - Gov’t Mule December 31, 1995
Earthquakey People (the Sequel) October 9, 2012
Humming - Portishead
G.U.Y. - Lady Gaga April 7, 2014...the last song ever Roseland Ballroom

Enjoy,
NØ

How Many Victims?

On June 28, 2019 I posted "Nobody was Ready" that paired four tracks from The Last Poets - Understand What Black Is with the Dub versions from Prince Fatty's Understand What Dub Is.

Here are the other three cuts by The Last Poets & their Dub versions. 

 

The Last Poets & Prince Fatty - How Many Victims?, NØ Comp., 2022.

Certain Images
Certain Images Dub
How Many Bullets
How Many Bullets Dub
We Must Be Sacred
We Must Be Sacred Dub

Hear the truth,
NØ

Man on Board

 

Recently I posted some selecta cuts from Nick Manasseh. He is one of my favorite Dub producers, right up there with Adrian Sherwood & Dougie Wardrop in my pantheon of UK Dub. Here is a mixed bag culled from the broad spectrum of Manasseh: Roots Garden; Conscious Sounds; Rockers Revolt; Merge; Reggae Roast; & many others. 

 

Various - Manasseh at the Controls, NØ Comps., 2022.

Set 1: In Control -
Meditation Life (Dub) - Manasseh
It’s All About Dub - Pama International meets Manasseh
Babylon Outside - Nick Manasseh
London Babylon - Manasseh
Natural Melody - Nick Manasseh
Nathan the Prophet - Manasseh meets Praise featuring Nathan “Flutebo” Lee
Souljah - Manasseh
Betterment Dub - Pama International meets Manasseh
Space Disco (Space Dance) - Manasseh & Ephraim
People Rhythm (instrumental) - Manasseh
Yes Mic - Manasseh meets Praise
Dub with a Difference - Manasseh meets Praise featuring Earl 16 & Vin Gordon
I Wah - Manasseh
One Step Dub - Pama International meets Manasseh
Levi Rhythm (Dub mix) - Manasseh
Foot Petal Dub - Centry meets Manasseh
Circus Clown - Manasseh meets Praise featuring Nathan “Flutebox” Lee
In Depth - Manasseh
Ice Man Talking - Manasseh meets Praise
Brexit Blues (extended mix) - Nick Manasseh
Neither High or Dub - Pama International meets Manasseh
Meditation Life (remix) - Manasseh

Set 2 : Originals &Versions -
When Will it End - Ken Boothe & Soulove Band
When Will it End (Version) - Manasseh
Rally - Freddie McGregor
Rally (Version) - Manasseh
You Don’t Know - Danny Red
A Knowing Version - Manasseh
Dancehall Something - Bob Skeng
Dancehall Dub - Manasseh
Occupy the Session - Moodie & Manasseh
Occupy the Session (Version) - Moodie & Manasseh featuring Earl 16
Occupy the Dub - Manasseh
Last Call - Centry meets Manasseh
Last Call (Version) - Centry meets Manasseh
Praises Unto Jah - Adam Prescott featuring Rod Taylor
Praises Unto Dub - Manasseh
Too Long Victims - Blackout Ja
Too Long Version - Manasseh
No More Struggle - Manasseh meets Praise featuring Nathan “Flutebox” Lee
A Matter of Struggle - Manasseh meets Praise
A Matter of Version - Manasseh
Gold Dust - Earl 16
Herb Dust - Manasseh

Enjoy,
NØ

Where the Bumblebirds Fly

 

Thoughts are strange birds.

I guess I wasn't even aware that I had recently heard Télépopmusik - "Breathe" (with Angela McCluskey) but then this bird flew in my brain squawking: "I wonder what she's done since then."

Here's what's left of that bird...

I remember back in early 00s when the song "Breathe" was getting some heavy airplay. To me it was kinda...well...cringe-worthy. But I remember that I liked the vocalist & a few other songs from the CD that she sang on. That's about it.

Flashing forward twenty-some years to today, I'm thinking I wonder what ever happened to Angela McCluskey (didn't even think once as to whatever happened to Télépopmusik...don't really care).

Angela McCluskey is from Glasgow, Scotland, UK. I find her voice to be intriguing. What she's been doing since Breathing is quite obviously singing. Her name pops up on multiple bands & numerous visionary unions. First off, a smattering of Angela McCluskey (I included the other three tracks featuring Angela off the Genetic World release but thoughtfully skipped the culprit of this crime, "Breathe"). 

 

Angela McCluskey - A View, NØ Comps, 2022.

Télépopmusik featuring Angela McCluskey - Smile
Angela McCluskey with Shudder to Think - Day Ditty
Maor Levi with Angela McCluskey - Pick up the Pieces
Angela McCluskey - The Little Things (Kasbo remix)
Télépopmusik featuring Angela McCluskey - Yesterday was a Lie
Angela McCluskey - It’s Been Done
Paul Oakenfold with Angela McCluskey - You Could be Happy (Future House mix)
Angela McCluskey - Believing
BT featuring Angela McCluskey - In the Air (Mord Fustang remix)
Angela McCluskey - I Adore You
Télépopmusik fearturing Angela McCluskey - Love’s Almighty

 

 

 

Just before her work on Genetic World surfaced, Angela released an album of covers working with Triyptych that included Lili Haydn, Martin Tillman, Paul Cantelon (Angela's husband & The Citizen's Band / Wild Colonials band-mate) . Give it a listen, you'll know what I was hearing.

 

Angela McCluskey with Triptych - Curio, Random Records T-001, 2000.
all decryption codes in comments

Famous Blue Raincoat (written by Leonard Cohen)
Lady Grinning Soul (written by David Bowie)
My Funny Valentine (written by Richard Rogers/Lorenz Hart)
Nature Boy (written by Eden Ahbez
God Bless the Child (written by Arthur Herzog, Jr., Billie Holiday)
Soldier's Things (written by Tom Waits)
Solitude (written by Ellington, DeLange, Mills)
Don't Explain (written by Arthur Herzog, Jr., Billie Holiday)

 

 

 

Then I took to wing & flitted  around in the labyrinth of mind like the flight of the bumblebird, drifting from one high perch to another...which led me to this branch... 

 

Can somebody explain Wax Tailor?

Wax Tailor - Hope & Sorrow, Atmosphériques 9848124, 2007.

Once Upon a Past    
The Way We Lived featuring Sharon Jones
The Games You Play featuring Voice
The Tune    
The Man with no Soul featuring Charlotte Savary
Radio Broadcast
Positively Inclined  featuring Maina Quaisse & A.S.M
Sometimes    
House of Wax featuring The Others
Beyond Words    
To Dry Up featuring Charlotte Savary
We Be featuring Ursula Rucker
That Case
There is Danger
Alien in My Belly featuring Charlotte Savary

 

 

 

 

Let me know the scoop on Wax Tailor, anyone, please. 

I was digging the above tracks featuring Charlotte Savary so decided to try some of her other offerings.

In 2016 Charlotte released her debut solo album Seasons. Less electro/trip-hop than Wax Tailor, more French pop/folk. Great vocals.

 

 

 

 

Charlotte Savary - Seasons, Wing It WING002, 2016.

A Movie (intro)
Bye Bye (Summer)
Under Your Skin
Coming Home
The Fall
A While
Oh Rose
Winter (What You See Below the Ice)
Your Love Means Nothing
Faster, Further
Spring Time (Is Here for Love Making)
What Do You Do ?
The Stereo

 

 

Recently Charlotte has been performing with Marine Thibault, doing French electro/poptrip-hop under the moniker SEYES. Charlotte wrote the lyrics & sings, Marine plays piano, flute, drum machine, provides the chorus, most everything else. Drum machine, then flute slides in, the piano picks up the melody, then...wait for it...the angelic vocals join the song. "Peace" has it in spades.

 

 

 

SEYES - Beauty Dies, Music Box Publishing, 2020.

Dream In Blue    
The Valley of Unrest    
Au Son Des Armes    
Beauty Dies    
Arrest Him    
Peace    
Dans l'Arène    
Alan in September    
Sans Titre

 

 

 

Then the birds were in flight again, feeling the pull of migratory conditioning...

SET US FREE, the birdsongs called.

I drifted back in time a few years to music that's been on stand-by more or less. I used to listen to, then lost track of Emancipator (Douglas Appling, NYC born musician). His downtempo / trip-hop style always went down well in my ears. I guess somewhere around the Dusk to Dawn / Dusk to Dawn remixes I forgot.

 

 

 

 

I remember why I forgot. I started this *%@&!!ing blog back in 2007. I started presenting music I wanted to share. I guess for a goodly while I just stopped listening to anything I didn’t already enjoy & wished to pass on to the ears of others. I guess about the time of I did Music Around the World (2013) that I really started listening to 'different music' (out of my comfort hole). That project forced the fact that there was a world of musick out there that I needed to hear. Since that time I have opened up completely to MUSIC. Only recently, after my move back to the East & my freedom at last from wage slavery have I stream-lined the way I post musick on this stinking mess. 

If the music lingers long enough in my mind, I do something with it, whatever that becomes.

 

 

Be Here Now!

 

Here are a pair of releases that belong together just for the fantastic juxtaposition between the studio & the live.

 

Emancipator - Baralku, Loci Records LOCI 021, 2017

Baralku    
Ghost Pong    
Mako    
Daffodil Pickels    
Tree Hunt    
Abracadabra    
Goodness    
Udon    
Bat Country    
Pancakes    
Rappahannock    
Winter Dub    
Time For Space    
Sands

 

 

Next is an Emancipator album recorded live on his 2018 tour. Baralku Tour Live embodies the progression from studio to live, fusing the bands organic electronic sound with the audience's energy & presence. Featuring the full Emancipator Ensemble - Doug Appling (Emancipator) backed by: Asher Fulero - keyboards; Ilya Goldberg - violin/viola); mub FRACTAL - bass; & Colby Buckler - drums.

 

Emancipator - Baralku Tour Live, Loci Records, 2019.

Baralku
Valhalla
Nevergreen
Dusk to Dawn
Diamonds
Bat Country
Water Temple
Lionheart (DnB remix)
Natural Cause
Ghost Pong
Eve
Greenland
1993
Wolfdrawn
Ares
Time for Space
Goodness
Kamakura
Anthem
Minor Cause

 

 

 

 

 

By now my fine feathered friends are seeking roost. They are worn of wing & frazzled of feather. What was supposed to be a scholarly treatise of a wise owl ends in a flight of fancy that is giving me goose bumps. I guess I’m crazy as a loon.

So Just Flunk Me.

I have been working on a Flunk post for a long time but I haven’t been happy with the results.

So just flunk me.

I decided for now I'll just post up a "Best of..." compilation (deluxe version, of course...I know you’re not chopped liver).

So just flunk me.

 

Or how about this... 

 

 

 

 

Flunk - The Songs We Sing: Best of 2002-2012 deluxe version, 

Beatservice Records BS136CD, 2012.

Disc 1 (the original mixes) -

Play    
On My Balcony    
Blue Monday (New Order cover)
Cigarette Burns
Six Seven Times    
Personal Stereo    
See Thru You    
Sit Down
Probably    
Morning Star    
Miss World    
Blind My Mind    
If We Kiss    
Spring to Kingdom Come    
Common Sense    
Diet of Water & Love

Disc 2 (the remixes) -

 

Blue Mondays (Blue States remix)
Morning Star (Parliavox remix)
Play (Slowpho Opp Av Godstolen remix)
Common Sense (Kohib remix)
Kebab Shop 3 AM (Rune Lindbæk Klubb Kebab Dub)
Personal Stereo (Sagevik remix)
If We Kiss (Astrojazz remix)
Magic Potion (Athome Project Nedi Garasjen remix)
All Day & All of the Night (Tronso & Nils Noa remix)
Diet of Water & Love (Manu remix)
See Thru You (Cinque Cento remix)
Personal Stereo (Wet Cookies remix)

Birds of a feather flock together.

Enjoy,
NØ