Sunday, December 30, 2007

51.Hüsker Dü - Pink Turns To Blue (Zen Arcade,1984)




Hüsker Dü and R.E.M. were the two American post-punk bands of the '80s that changed the direction of rock & roll. R.E.M. became a superstar band; Hüsker Dü never was more than a cult favorite. Nevertheless, their albums between 1981 and 1987 have proven remarkably influential; they provided the sonic blueprint for the roaring punk-pop hybrid that crossed over into the mainstream in the early '90s.In many ways, it's impossible to overestimate the impact of Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade on the American rock underground in the '80s. It's the record that exploded the limits of hardcore and what it could achieve. Hüsker Dü broke all of the rules with Zen Arcade. First and foremost, it's a sprawling concept album, even if the concept isn't immediately clear or comprehensible. More important are the individual songs. Both Bob Mould and Grant Hart abandoned the strict "fast, hard, loud" rules of hardcore punk with their songs for Zen Arcade. Without turning down the volume, Hüsker Dü try everything — pop songs, tape experiments, acoustic songs, pianos, noisy psychedelia. Hüsker Dü willed themselves to make such a sprawling record — as the liner notes state, the album was recorded and mixed within 85 hours and consists almost entirely of first takes. That reckless, ridiculously single-minded approach does result in some weak moments — the sound is thin and the instrumentals drag on a bit too long — but it's also the key to the success of Zen Arcade. Hüsker Dü sound phenomenally strong and possessed, as if they could do anything. The sonic experimentation is bolstered by Mould and Hart's increased sense of songcraft. Neither writer is afraid to let his pop influences show on Zen Arcade, which gives the songs — from the unrestrained rage of "Something I Learned Today" and the bitter, acoustic "Never Talking to You Again" to the eerie "Pink Turns to Blue" and anthemic "Turn On the News" — their weight. It's music that is informed by hardcore punk and indie rock ideals without being limited by them.Zen Arcade is a great album. it is basically a world of its own. when you listen you are transported to another world and it almost lasts 80 minutes concept album.Near perfect... one of the biggest indie releases out there.Best track is "Pink Turns to Blue".




Pink Turns To Blue


Going out each day to score
She was no whore
But for me
Celebrating every day
The way
She thought it should be

And I don't know what to do
Now that pink has turned to blue

She was always by my side
And never tried
To leave
Standing up for me
And like a tree
For what she believed

No more rope
And too much dope
She's lying on the bed
Angels pacing
Gently placing
Roses 'round her head



http://www.divshare.com/download/3166210-560

52.Hazel O`Connor - Will You? (Breaking Glass,1980)





Hazel O'Connor's rebellious punk-styled singer is a talented timebomb ready to explode angrily at a cruel world. One night on stage she sees an audience member stabbed ("Calls the Tune"). Unable to get their face out of her mind, she slowly dissolves into a mental breakdown. The movie and album are both one-of-a-kind classics. Since O'Connor was involved so deeply with the production, the success belongs largely to her. If her acting doesn't get to you, then the songs surely will. Each makes a statement of one kind or another--most with a political slant reflecting her on-screen counterpart's bottled-up frustration. "Big Brother" points an accusing finger at Society. "Eighth Day" worries that the machine will shortly rule us. "Blackman" derides stereotyping and Class. "Who Needs It" says no thank you to nuclear energy. The music is often energetic, yet it's still her touching ballad "Will You" that lives longest in the memory.The song starts slowly with only 2 guitars then grows crescendo till the magnificent ending played by a racking saxophone. This is a poignant and moving song with a haunting melody, one of the most beautiful in the 80's.
Unfortunately Hazel O'Connor will never concretise this excellent start.





Will You?

You drink your coffee and,
I sip my tea and we're,
sitting here, playing so cool thinking "what will be, will be"

It's getting kinda late now.
I wonder if you'llstay now, stay now, stay now, stay now or,
will you just politely say "goodnight".

I move a little closer to you,
not knowing quite what to do and I'm,
feeling all fingers and thumbs.
I spill my tea, oh silly me!

It's getting kinda late now.
I wonder if you'llstay now, stay now, stay now, stay now or,
will you just politely say "goodnight".

And then we touch; much too much
this moment has been waiting for a long, long time.
It makes me shiver, makesmakes me quiver,
This moment I am so unsure, this moment I have waited for
is it someting you've been waiting for?
Waiting for too?

Take of your eyes, bare your soul.
Gather me to you and make me whole.
Tell me your secrets, sing me the song.
Sing it to me in the silent tongue

It's getting kinda late now.
I wonder if you'llstay now, stay now, stay now, stay now or,
will you just politely say "goodnight"


http://www.divshare.com/download/3296017-1ec

53.David Wrench - Blow Winds Blow (Blow Winds Blow, 1997)




David Wrench,Welsh Nick Cave,had his first album released by a record label called „Ankst“.This is very rare album,and is very difficult to find but it’s fantastic.It is full of Sinatra-fascinations,dramatizations, dynamics and dislocations.His has a lowpitched voice and resembles to Cave,and the songs are sung passionately and furiously.The whole album boils with emotions.The piano is present everywhere with a lot of odd instruments in the background and we should also mention huge influence of traditional Welsh and folk music,with a lot of special effects that accompany it.Lyrics are dark,about existence with a lot of hopelessness,despair,blood,black roses and icy winds,with very introspective bittersweet questions like:„Who will wear your dress in the next world?”.The title track „Blow winds blow” is a hypnotic ballad sung immensely sincerely and emotionally,and while you listen to it will send shudders down your spine.




http://www.divshare.com/download/3295854-8d3

Thursday, December 27, 2007

54.23rd Turnoff - Michael Angelo The 23rd Turnoff... The Dream of Michaelangelo (The Legendary '66 / '67 Recordings)





The 23rd Turnoff's name was an in-joke, referring to the exit off the M6 that led to Liverpool, from whence they came. Their history was a bit like that of the Tremeloes or, closer to home, the Beatles, in that their musical lineage went back to the end of the 1950s. With guitarist/composer Jimmy Campbell as their leader, they went through a long (and musically credible) stint as the Kirkbys, before evolving into the 23rd Turnoff, embracing flower-power and psychedelia in the process.

Their magnum opus was 1967's 'Michael Angelo', a gorgeous if somewhat downbeat single that should've fit right in with pieces like "Nights in White Satin," among other melancholic hits.Michelangelo is one of those jems hidden in that treasure chamber which we call Psychedelia. An absolutely brilliant arrangement to a great song.
It didn't make the charts, and eventually the group split up and Campbell teamed up with Billy Kinsley to form Rockin' Horse.



http://www.divshare.com/download/3253407-3a8

Monday, December 24, 2007

55.Violent Femmes - See My Ships ( 3, 1988)





My favorite Violent Femmes album.Their sound is slightly different here too as it's more personal sounding, more like a folk sing-a-long with an acoustic guitar,
and the sound and lyrics happen to be the most spiritual, that I've heard from Gordon Gano.In a haunting, country, punk fashion subjects of fear, insecurity, religious zealotry, and despair are explored. "See My Ships" is one of the most chilling and relevant songs ever!





See My Ships


See my ships
they are sailing
in and out of the harbor
will they go together
or must they stay apart
yes I know it's in my heart
surely you see what's inside of me
Jesus is coming soon
I can hear Gabriel
blow his trumpet tune
this I know
this I know
our lord is coming soon
mercy mercy me
Marvin Gaye he was shot
by his father
o my Father
have mercy on me
cold kane o my cheap thrill
o my shame for Cain
and the devil
momma I need water
I'm thirsty
surely you see
what's inside of me



http://www.divshare.com/download/3043903-4b2

56.Golden Earring - The Song Is Over (Radar Love / The Song Is Over-single,1973)




Here are 2 of the best tracks ever recorded by a Dutch band. Golden Earring is probably one of the most underrated Rock bands; they can easily compete the best UK and US ones. "Radar Love" is one of the most dreadful track with a solid bass guitar led by a strong drums rhythm. "The Song Is Over" is a wonderful slow song with beautiful acoustic guitar playing, great bass and drums, fantastic, emotional singing and great lyrics with spoken word parts.




The Song Is Over


For you I say I'll praise the sun
Tell the colour of the sky

Find new roads in the universe
Sing a lullaby
More pure than fruit
Grown out of dirt
So close to me
You robbed me of my strangerhood
And flew away to be free

The song is over the song is over now
The singer { is gonna say goodbye} said goodbye
There is doomsday on my mind

Baby baby, sing me one more time
Close to my ear
Mellow tone vibrations come
Sadness disappear
Do it to me once again
Before you say goodbye
Embrace me softly with your smile
And smile a last goodbye

I close my eyes and sail away
The jukebox played your song today
Tomorrow holds me like you're yesterday
I can't forget what you used to say

Open your eyes and live my love
You see it's not me you're dreaming of
Although it seems so important now
Singing makes it all so good somehow


http://www.divshare.com/download/3166873-769

Thursday, December 20, 2007

57.Steeleye Span - Cam ye o'er frae France (Parcel of Rogues, 1973)





This is their best album from their "classic line up" era.All of the songs are traditional ballads and reels of ole England. There is some lovely harmony singing, and violin. For the most part, the strategic influx of power chords and electric guitars do compliment, rather than intrude.Parcel of Rogues is a good offering from Steeleye Span. Schizophrenic, maybe - they were trying to find the balance between the folk and the rock. That balance is found on their amazing "Come Ye O'er Frae France" - Maddy Prior possesses this song, it is powerful and lyrical, and connotes times of yore - yet those power chords at the half way mark will send you running for Freedom Fries.






Cam ye o'er frae France
[From Hogg's Jacobite Reliques, Trad. arr. Hart / Johnson / Kemp / Knight / Prior]


Cam ye o'er frae France? Cam ye down by Lunnon?
Saw ye Geordie Whelps and his bonny woman?
Were ye at the place ca'd the Kittle Housie?
Saw ye Geordie's grace riding on a goosie?

Geordie, he's a man there is little doubt o't;
He's done a' he can, wha can do without it?
Down there came a blade linkin' like my lordie;
He wad drive a trade at the loom o' Geordie.

Though the claith were bad, blythly may we niffer;
Gin we get a wab, it makes little differ.
We hae tint our plaid, bannet, belt and swordie,
Ha's and mailins braid -- but we hae a Geordie!

Jocky's gane to France and Montgomery's lady;
There they'll learn to dance: Madam, are ye ready?
They'll be back belyve belted, brisk and lordly;
Brawly may they thrive to dance a jig wi' Geordie!

Hey for Sandy Don! Hey for Cockolorum!
Hey for Bobbing John and his Highland Quorum!
Mony a sword and lance swings at Highland hurdie;
How they'll skip and dance o'er the bum o' Geordie!



George I, being a protestant German king, was viewed with ridicule and hatred by the Jacobite rebels. This is a scurrilous attack upon him and his court.When George I imported his seraglio of impoverished gentlewomen from Germany, he provided the Jacobite songwriters with material for some of their most ribald verses. Madame Kilmansegge, Countess of Platen, is referred to exclusively as “The Sow” in the songs, while the King's favourite mistress, the lean and haggard Madame Schulemburg (afterwards named Duchess of Kendall) was given the name of “The Goose”. She is the “goosie” referred to in this song. The “blade” is the Count Koningsmark. “Bobbing John” refers to John, Earl of Mar, who was at the time recruiting Highlanders for the Hanoverian cause. “Geordie Whelps” is, of course, George I himself.

(belyve=quickly;
blade=a person of weak, soft constitution from rapid overgrowth;
braid=broad;
brawly=wall;
claith=cloth;
gane=gone;
gin=if, whether;
ha's and mailins=houses and farmlands;
hurdie=buttock;
kittle housie=brothel;
linkin=tripping along;
Lunnon=London;
niffer=haggle or exchange;
tint=lost;
wab=web (or length) of cloth)
[from: Folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland]




http://www.divshare.com/download/3167010-fba

58.Captain Beefheart - This Is The Day (Unconditionally Guaranteed, 1974)





Not the best for the Beefheartmaniac! This is a different, more commercial Beefheart than on his earlier records.While it focuses mainly on standard blues-rock than the more eccentric work the Captain is known for, it nonetheless has some good rock songs on offer.People tend to give this a hard time, but it is actually a wonderful showcase for the more tender side of Beefheart. Some of the songs are just very beautiful and the band plays with delicacy and feeling. "This Is The Day"is highlight that show his more sensitive side.




http://www.divshare.com/download/3166536-60c

59.Widespread Panic - Mercy (Widespread Panic, 1991)





One of the many neo-hippie jam bands inheriting the road-warrior mantle left behind by the Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic established a devout grassroots following on the strength of constant touring and a loose, rootsy brand of Southern rock informed by jazz and blues textures.Widespread Panic are carving a niche for themelves in the rock arena that separates them from the crowd. Subtle, intelligent rock that blends numerous elements into a smooth, propulsive blend of structure and improvisation — rock with energy, talent and brains.On their self titled second album, they attempt to bring the magic of their amazing live shows into the studio.The gorgeous bluesy ballad “Mercy” is my favorite!





Mercy

My eyes won't pretend
I didn't know you were close
I can smell your breath
Through a freshly painted door
Stand here in your coat
While I pour three more glasses of burgundy
And you can lick the dust from the bottle
Wall's bricked with books
Pages bricked with words
Each mark has been stained in your honor
Ground shadow staggers restless
From the window cross the candle to the corner
My blood and water's warm as you near me
I'm not begging for mercy
I see no love of mercy in you
I'm not begging for mercy
I'm only waiting for the sound
Of the morning birds
To send you away
Wax is cooled, hard
Sights is going past the yard
In this house I make more shadows than you
Stand there in your hate
While I drink from the second burgundy
And you can rattle the glass cross your belly
I'm not begging for mercy
I see no love of mercy in you
I'm not begging for mercy
I'm only waiting for the sound
Of the morning birds
To send you away
I'm not begging for mercy
I'm not begging for mercy
I'm only waiting for the sound
Of the morning birds to swallow you...





http://www.divshare.com/download/3143423-e9f

Monday, December 17, 2007

60.The Coward Brothers - They'll Never Take Her Love From Me (The Peoples' Limousine - single,1985)





The Coward Brothers are Elvis Costello and T-Bone Burnett and they do a great duet on this cold war era single. I love this rare old Leon Payne cover.



They'll Never Take Her Love From Me


If today the sun should set on all my hopes and cares
There is one whose smiling face the gods would see
For she'll walk along beside me up the golden stairs
Oh, they'll never, never take her love from me


What a fool I was to go and break the trust she gave
And see her love turn into sympathy
It's the one regret I carry with me to my grave
Oh, they'll never, never take her love from me


I'm so thankful for each golden hour of happiness
That we shared together in the used to be
Someone else's arms may hold her now in fond caress
But, they'll never, never take her love from me


I thought I would make her happy if I stepped aside
But I knew her love would never set me free
And even on the morning she became another's bride
I said, "They'll never, never take her love from me"


http://www.divshare.com/download/3143093-ffc

61.Shari Elf - Happy World (I`m Forcing Goodness Upon You,2001)





Shari Elf, a Kansas City artist who now lives in Southern California, is, in her own words, "a twirling attractor of goodness." No person who has ever heard this disc could disagree. With a voice that drips with sentimentality and amazement accompanied by omnichord, piano, guitar, banjo, sewing machine, and a "$7 thrift store electric chord organ," Elf paints a picture of an ugly world that can be transformed into a bliss-filled wonderland with a simple attitude adjustment.Her lyrics are smart, undyingly optimistic and daffy as a screwball comedy.Shari is a master at simplicity, there are no complications, the lyrics are everyday surface stuff, no deep psychological underpinnings, you need not be a rocket scientist to get it. The arrangement reminds you of 50's simplicity and innocence, nothing fancy, simple guitar licks, a pleasant melody, a cohesive flow. I can't emphasize the simplicity enough, it totally amazes me how little it really takes to make music work. However, I believe it takes a genius to understand the simplicity and make it work. Shari Elf has done that; it works and works really good. It's all in the eyes.By the way, Shari's art work made from recycled materials is in the collections of Elayne Boosler, Jack Nicholson, Courtney Love and a bunch of other celebs.Her songs are folk-artful, too -- melodic, lo-fi odes, lullabyes and musical dramatizations that gaily dance back and forth over the fine lines between whimsy and despair ("Happy World"), trivia and substance and satire and cruel irony.
Shari's cd really does force goodness upon you. You can't help but feel happy when listening to it. She writes with such intellectual humor and wit, it's inspiring! Sometimes her lyrics remind me of Leonard Cohen, but usually they only remind me of her because they are so original.A must for any collector of the obscure.This is One of the best albums I have ever listened!



http://www.divshare.com/download/3133035-c22

62.Ian McNabb - Fire Inside My Soul (Head Like A Rock, 1994)




Timelessly constructed, powerfully performed and speckled with moments of rare intensity, this is an album that reminds you why you loved Those Three Chords in the first place. Having already established himself as a wordsmith to be recognised, Ian McNabb is lifted into the ranks of major songwriter and performer thanks to the assistance of Crazy Horse's rhythm section, Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot.File under "forgotten genius", safe in the knowledge that, twenty years later, people will talk about this album with wistful reverence.The record's lead-off song, "Fire Inside My Soul" is a perfect song. One of thoses songs that demand your attention from the first chord to its dying seconds as it's a tune imbued with such startling passion and power it makes you forget everything that's wrong around and about you. When Ian sings in his warm mystic voice "My father died when I was twenty, I didn't cry but it tore me up inside" you just know those aren't mere lyrics and when he gets to the chorus "I've got a head like a rock, and a fire inside my soul" it becomes the kind of song that in a concert could and should be prolonged for hours into the night, it's a driving rock song to match or surpass Neil Young's, Steve Wynn's or whoever's finest moments.A minor masterpiece!




http://www.divshare.com/download/3133855-2f8

63.Ataraxia - Oduarpa (Lost Atlantis, 1999)





Ataraxia is a band from Italy, very much enamored with Atlantis and the idea of a magical, mythical, lost land. Light keyboard melodies and programmed drums frame the salient feature of this group. That is, the voice of Francesca Nicolli. Multi-tracked and soaring, she brings to mind arias and plainchants. Classical, acoustic guitars complete a medieval feel are ready for nostalgic narration. The cities of Atlantis, its fauna, and neighbors also figure in to this concept album. The group refers to the work as a "pagan symphony."
I still haven't heard anything like Ataraxia as they're closer to classical than rock, but at the same time they use a lot of synths and sometimes even electric guitars. And Francesca Nicoli's voice is unique, and really defines Ataraxia.



Oduarpa

Give me a nest of morbid existence
ancient, green nest of morbid existence
emerald velvet nest
ancient green nest of morbid existence
berry fern nest

...no more blazes in colours
and lashes of indigo blue...
ancient green nest of morbid existence
emerald velvet nest...



http://www.divshare.com/download/3133256-eb8

64.Peter Bardens - Don't Goof With a Spook (The Answer, 1970)





Peter Bardens, keyboards master,singer,composer and producer was a member of Them, early Fleetwood Mac, Shotgun Express in 1967, fronted by Rod Stewart, 1971 join the freshly founded Camel, 1994 he founded the band Mirage together with Caravan members .
His solo debut "The Answer" is a very fine album with rock music of the ending 60s. It's the sound of an era (orig. Bardens). Lots of organ, a fantastic guitar by Peter Green, flutes and tons of percussion.Some quite talented musicians were among the supporting cast, including Love Affair singer Steve Ellis, session vocalist Linda Lewis, Bruce Thomas (later to back Elvis Costello in the Attractions).
"All done in two long sessions. Vast ammounts of booze and other goodies consumed..." says Peter in the liner notes. Believe it! "Although this is something of a museum piece I think it still has its moments, so I hope y'all enjoy it for what it is, Vintage 69'."
"Don't Goof With a Spook " is one of the best blues songs ever (for me) !!!



http://www.divshare.com/download/3134384-93c

Sunday, December 16, 2007

65.Wah! : Nah=Poo - Seven Minutes to Midnight (The Art of Bluff,1981)






Wah! is the name common to bands formed by the Liverpool musician Pete Wylie. There have been several variations on the name but it is as simply Wah! that he has probably found most success. Wylie began by using the name Wah! Heat after his first band The Crucial Three - a legendary (some would say mythical) Liverpudlian supergroup (which included Julian Cope and Ian McCulloch) disbanded after just one month and one rehearsal. Legend has it that Mick Jones of The Clash gave Pete his first guitar after a gig and told him to form a band.Wylie first came to public attention (by which I mean the attention of half a dozen NME readers) with the single "Seven Minutes to Midnight". In those days - and, indeed, ever since - he appeared under a myriad of names, all involving the word Wah. There was The Mighty Wah!, Wah Heat, The Mighty Wah Heat, Sambeko Say Wah and, of course, Crosby, Stills and Wah. Wah was chosen, so the legend goes, because it worked in every language.
The music - a furious blend of shimmering melody, glorious Spectoresque production and complete and unfettered amateurism.The unbelievably perfect "Seven Minutes to Midnight"remains the best-known.


http://www.divshare.com/download/3052312-959

Friday, December 14, 2007

66.Daniel Johnston - Rock 'n' Roll/Ega (Fun,1994)





As with other talented but troubled artists such as Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, and Roky Erickson, Daniel Johnston fights a daily battle with the chronic mental illness that has plagued him nearly his entire life. However, despite recurrent bouts of delusional behavior wherein he has physically endangered himself and others, Johnston has carved out a respectable, influential career as a singer/songwriter of extraordinary talent who has grown since his first crudely recorded cassette was released in 1980. He became the singer/songwriter of choice of the alternative/underground rock scene.Daniel Johnston's major-label debut "Fun"(1994) is, arguably, his finest moment. With considerable help from Butthole Surfer Paul Leary, Johnston has never sounded so self-assured or confident before. Some of the songs are more polished, but they're never slicked up to such a degree that this sounds like a user-friendly approximation of Johnston's style; in fact, there are plenty of tracks that return Johnston to the keyboards for his freewheeling, primitive workouts. Exhibiting some of his strongest songwriting to date, Fun is a rewarding record that never loses its initial, visceral appeal.Rock`n`Roll/Ega is one of saddest and most beautiful songs I ever heard.





Rock 'n' Roll/Ega


There was a day when I was so lonely
Time passed me by
I was more dead than alive
Every minute was like an hour
Every day was an eternity
I looked for hope but all around me
People didn't seem to care

CHORUS
Oh that rock 'n' roll it saved my soul
That rock 'n' roll

If I ever thought that I could be happy
Dreams like that always faded away
And all the girls already had boyfriends
I was alone as lonely could be
I laid asleep and turned on the radio
The music to me was like a dream

CHORUS

You walk around but you gotta have a reason
Something worth getting up in the morning for
My heart looked to art and I found the Beatles
Oh God I was and am a true disciple
Look for the fun you'll start a happy cycle
The music will make you come alive

CHORUS

She was crying just like a baby
Didn't wanna fight or more like maybe
You ought to get on home at night
Keep the battle to the right
Seeing the love and adultry
And wonderin' who was in the outfield
Swear I know the truth
And I ain't wearin' nobody's shoes
I got some dollar on high look out now
It's shining, with a bottle of knuckleheads
She's like a drunken rat cat, oh
I guess you're coming out the backdoor
She did all right it's a battle or fight
So I feel all empty now
You try to hold a figure eight
She said what's the Anti-Christ
He said oh what did you do to her
It's probably she's been talking to Lucifer
Is that really the night
Oh, my, uh, uh
Alright
Hey




http://www.divshare.com/download/3056133-319

Thursday, December 13, 2007

67.The Feelies - Paint It Black (Crazy Rhythms,1980)





The Feelies were a rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992. They frequently played at Maxwell’s, a live music venue and bar restaurant in Hoboken in the 1980s. Their first album, Crazy Rhythms (Stiff Records, 1980) was cited by R.E.M. as a major influence. The Feelies rarely worked with outside producers and created shimmering soundscapes with multiple guitar layers that sounded unique compared to the punk/new wave atmosphere of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their name is taken from Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, in which “the feelies” are a medium of entertainment in theaters where all of one’s senses are involved, not merely vision."Paint It, Black" is a song recorded by The Rolling Stones in 1966. It reached number one in both the U.S. and the UK charts. It was released as a single and included on the U.S. version of the album Aftermath.the Feelies' treatment of the Stones classic is amazing,furious guitar jangle and atonal vocals tag-teaming against a rhythm section in championship form.



http://www.divshare.com/download/3053845-38f

68.Lee Hazlewood - Dirtnap Stories (For Every Solution There's A Problem,2002)





Lee Hazlewood is America's Serge Gainsbourg: the prime exponent of sexual licentiousness, brutal emotional honesty and defeated, but heroic, masculinity.After more than 40 years in the business that he sounds great and that this CD stands tall among his best.
I like a little macabre Dirtnap Stories, especially the line: "And I said 'how does it feel' like all god's promises are broken it's like dying on christmas day before all the gifts are open..."




http://www.divshare.com/download/3068308-0d8

69.Clark Hutchinson - In Another Way (Retribution,1970)





Clark Hutchinson made just three albums in their all-too brief career, the first of which, 'A=MH2', remains a classic of its genre. Recorded in two ten-hour sessions by the two musicians - Mick Hutchinson on guitars and Andy Clark on keyboards, vocals and drums - the record boils over with long, bluesy Eastern-tinged guitar romps which to my mind have never been equalled to this day. The follow-up, 'Retribution', was more straightforward blues-based rock but maintaining the lengthier excursions into druggy freakout territory on one or two numbers and the final album, 'Gestalt' (today, the rarest of the bunch).'Retribution', was an interesting mix 5-track album of softer lounge type jazz, harder guitar workouts, and more melodic tracks like great ballad "In Another Way".


http://www.divshare.com/download/3067548-5ec

70.Edgar Broughton Band - Evening Over Rooftops (Edgar Broughton Band,1971 (aka The ‘meat’ album)





The anthemic 'Evening Over Rooftops' by the legendary Edgar Broughton Band, who have in their time been described as 'proto-punk', 'heavy rock', 'underground' and more recently (and most accurately!) as 'a bloody good rock band! In 1971, the band decided that existence as a power trio was limiting, and asked Victor Unitt, who had been playing meanwhile in The Pretty Things, to rejoin the band. In May, with the new lineup, they released possibly their finest work: their eponymous third album, which contained the classic "Evening Over Rooftops" (again with strings by David Bedford which Edgar Broughton called "stunning"). Edgar Broughton Band contained heavy blues and even country influences. Mike Oldfield also featured, on "Thinking Of You". This album has been said to mark the highest point in the Broughtons' career because of its sense of wholeness and completeness (while not straying into concept album territory).This is one of the truly great records of the period - beautiful, melodic, versatile, intelligent music. In retrospect, Edgar was one of the best and certainly one of the most underrated. The standout song is "Evening Over Rooftops" with what must be an awesome evocation of storming starlings - a bird now massively reduced in numbers. The imagery is as powerful as any created in rock lyrics.




EVENING OVER ROOFTOPS
(R.E Broughton/V.B. Unitt)



The air was thick like honey
Looking from the room
The room had open windows
To let the springtime through
Evening stood by watching
At the side of summer's promise
The flowers in her garden
Were the envy of her friends
How far are we from dying
Is it nearly at an end(x2)

The smoke hung on the skyline
The city fell in silence
The sunset ripe and mellow
Was the light to write some thoughts by
Her children watched for father
From their window in the wall
Said a prayer for Grandpapa
And maybe many more
Somewhere in the distance
On a road so far away
I heard the sound of life
Though the people left for home

Three birds flew off a building
Standing proud against the sky
Many more flew with them
Spiraled upward like laughter
Faster harder
They rose up in a column
Hundreds upon hundreds
And twice that many wingspeed
Four miles across
Stretched a million miles high
The living pulsing column
In the lady of the sky
Feathers thrashed together
Locked in that huge one
I knew no-one could see it
And now that it was gone
I rubbed my eyes and tried to find
A reason for the flight
Exodus escape or was it just for me to see

Like the mating of the earth and air
Like water is to flowers
The envy of her friends

How far are we from dying
Is it nearly at an end



http://www.divshare.com/download/3065187-ef5

Monday, December 10, 2007

71.Love Hunters - Love Is Hell (Donau,1996)





Love Hunters is a rock band from Novi Sad, Serbia, was founded in 1987 by Mumin (vocals) and Medan (solo guitar).Before Medan and Mumin formed "The Love Hunters". Medan had a band "Kamiondzije" and at the time Mumin was with the band " Ma, comerciala". Before that Mumin had also played in bands such as "Abyss" and "Ayatollah". The first line up consisted of four members: Singer Lucic who played the drums, the bass was played by Lale Malesevic, whith Medan and Mumin played the guitars.The first demo tapes and the first album (so called "zero album") was the "There no centuries". The Love Hunters made a large number of recordings between 1987 - 1991. These were finally released on our unofficial album "Total rickverzo" 1995. 1991 was a year when the band reunited in a slightly different line-up. Vladan Jovanov with the nickname Protector joined the band and many live gigs and recordings followed. First official album was titled "Everclassic" (music yuser), recorded in 1993 and because of economic crisis in the country it was in fact released in 1994. The album was only available on tape. "Oh, evolution" the second official album released by the same recording house in 1995, was again only available on tape. Finally, both of these albums were then re-released on CD "Donau" in 1996. During that same year of 1997 they have recorded in Netherlands the album "Azimuth". In November of 1998 in Studio "M", Novi Sad, Love Hunters finished filming live- unplugged album, which had been released one year later. In January of 2001 was released, a new album titled "Harley Krishna". They sing in English. They are the authors for soundtrack of the Želimir Žilnik movie "Marble Ass". Milan Mumin wrote soundtracks for 2 theatre performances- A. Strindberg's "Miss Julia" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by W. Shakespeare. Mumin also participated in a project called "Waver" with multi-medial artist Balint Szombaty. He also wrote a book which is a collection of songs and poems "The not no songs". Nowadays, Mumin works as a foreman for "Flat Rate" moving company in New York City.




Love Is Hell

I love you that`s my sin, nowhere you can hide,
I`m sorry they told you, everything I`m not.
And nothing you can do just let me to
Find a way out far from people.
No way out, another time, another place, love is hell!!!

And nothing you can do to let me in,
And we both die under this heaven,
Cause haven is in your room,
Black and wild, black and free, you and me!

And none of my prayers never can be realised.
My Indian profile somwere you could lost.
And even if you want to save me out,
I am lost deep in my self yet!
Cause near that bar you lost all yours,
I want go back when I was young!

Only you can save me, no you can`t, I don`t want.
I wanna say: "Goodbye life" for so long.
love is hell! She didn`t exist!!!



http://www.divshare.com/download/3055699-3a2

72.Swing Out Sisters - Windmills Of Your Mind (Single, Japan-only release, 1989)






One of the best bands to emerge from the cocktail jazz / pop movement of the late 80's, Swing Out Sister continue to make appealing records to this day.This somewhat sophisticated and absolutely underrated group; how wonderful and warm is their music, poppy and melancholic at the same time, with influences from jazz, bossa nova, r&b and pop. And oh, what a wonderful charisma Corrine Drewery has with her Louise Brooks coiffure, but most of all her warm, jazzy voice.The Windmills of Your Mind is a song with words and music by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman and Michel Legrand from the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair. Noel Harrison performed the song for the film score.The song illustrates a person's mental state after a romantic break-up, relating the way emotionally charged thoughts and memories can run in tortured circles.Dusty Springfield's version of the song is also well known, although it has been remade by singers such as Alison Moyet and Sting, but the most emotional version performed Swing Out Sisters.Their version of "Windmills" is very intimate in its sound and pensive in its mood, with only Andy's acoustic piano and Corinne's crystalline, yearning voice.




Windmills Of Your Mind


Like a circle in a spiral or
A wheel within a wheel never ending or
Beginning on an ever spinning reel
Like a snowball on ountain or a carnival balloon or a carousel that’s turning running rings around the moon

Like a clock whose hands are
Sweeping past the minutes on it’s face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind

Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel on it’s own
Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream

And the world whose hands are
Sweeping past the minutes on it’s face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind

Keys that jingle in your pocket
Words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly?
Was it somthing that you said?
Lovers walk along the shore line, leave their footprints in the sand
Was the sound of distant drumming just the fingers on your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragments of a song
Half remembered names and faces but to whom do they belong?

When you knew that it was over in the autumn of goodbyes
For a moment you could not recall the color of his eyes!

Like a circle in a spiral or
A wheel within a wheel never ending or
Beginning on an ever spinning reel
As the images unwind like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind



http://www.divshare.com/download/3051860-bdb

73.Swans - God Damn The Sun ( The Burning World,1989)






Children of God that album showed a gentle, melodic (yet still very dark and depressing) side to the band that had only been hinted at very rarely on previous records. This record only continues further in that direction.This is the only album Swans had ever recorded for a major label and Gira came away from the experience a very, very bitter man. The production duties were in the hands of a certain Bill Laswell, who many believe were responsible for this record's over-produced, major label feel. But everyone seems to be forgetting one thing here: the songs. These songs are absolutely wonderful. Extremely melodic, dark, emotional, beautiful and very, very, catchy. Gira's singing has improved significantly, and his voice has taken on a sultry Nick Cave quality to it. It's very, very hard to believe that this is the same man who provided the yells and screams on such brutal, punishing albums as Cop and Filth."God Damn The Sun" is one of the highlights not just of this album, but of the middle period in general, sad, dark and intensely poetic, with Giras' brooding deep-throat vocals, bleak and desolate imagery and showcase the beautiful, evocative lyrics.




God Damn The Sun


When, When We Were Young
We Had No History
So Nothing To Lose
Meant We Could Choose
Choose What We Wanted Then
Without Any Fear
Or Thought Of Revenge
But Then You Grew Old
And I Lost My Ambition
So I Gained An Addiction
To Drink And Depression
(They Are Mine
My Only True Friends
And I'll Keep Them With Me
Until The Very End)
I'd Choose Not To Remember
But I Miss Your Arrogance
And I Need Your Intelligence
And Your Hate For Authority
But Now You're Gone
I Read It Today
They Found You In Spain
Face Down In The Street
With A Bottle In Your Hand
And A Wild Smile On Your Face
And A Knife In Your Back
You Died In A Foreign Land
And They Found My Letter
Rolled Up In Your Pocket
Where I Said I'd Kill Myself
If She Left Me Again
So Now She's Gone
And You're Both In My Mind
I've Got One Thing To Say
Before I Am Drunk Again:
God Damn The Sun
God Damn The Sun
God Damn Anyone
That Says A Kind Word
God Damn The Sun
God Damn The Sun
God Damn The Light It Shines
And This World It Shows
God Damn The Sun




http://www.divshare.com/download/3051723-ea0

74.Sonic Youth - Superstar (If I Were A Carpenter,1994)




A mix of "alternative" artists each cover a Carpenters song. And, of course, some come out more successful than others.Sonic Youth's version of "Superstar" is the highlight. They turn the song into such slow, wistful ballad.Makes it more powerful than the original. Sonic Youth would hardly be ideal candidates you'd imagine but their version of 'Superstar' is a revelation. Without ever losing their offbeat tendencies they crafted a hallucinogenic piece that while initially standoffish has an eerie charm all of its own. The bass is rotund, Thurston Moore's vocals are stoneresque and the feedback recalls Hammer House style creaking doorways. As far from the Carpenters take on the Leon Russell/Bonnie Bramlett song that you're might expect to hear but just as enjoyable.This is a awseome cover and real classic.





Superstar


long ago
and oh so far away
I fell in love with you
before the second show
your guitar
it sounds so sweet and clear
but you're not really there
it's just the radio

don't you remember you told me you love me baby
you said you'd be coming back this way again baby
baby baby baby baby oh baby
I love you, I really do

loneliness, is such a sad affair
and I can hardly wait
to be with you again
what to say
to make you come again
come back to me again
and play your sad guitar

don't you remember you told me you love me baby
you said you'd be coming back this way again baby
baby baby baby baby oh baby
I love you, I really do

don't you remember you told me you love me baby
you said you'd be coming back this way again baby
baby baby baby baby oh baby
I love you, I really do


http://www.divshare.com/download/3043514-721

Sunday, December 9, 2007

75.Fairport Convention - Matty Groves (Live Convention,1974)




Fairport wisely recorded these shows: Sydney Opera House, Rainbow Theatre, London & Fairfield Hall, Croydon to capture the Sandy Denny / Dave Swarbrick / Trevor Lucas / Jerry Donahue led band.Perhaps the stand out track on the album is 'Matty Groves' all eight minutes of it, as it tells of love between the classes. At first Sandy Denny's beautiful voice leads us through the story, with its sad conclusion before the band break in rampaging towards the climax with a fine musical battle between fiddle and lead guitar.




Matty Groves


A holiday, a holiday, and the first one of the year
Lord Donald's wife came into the church, the gospel for to hear
And when the meeting it was done, she cast her eyes about
And there she saw little Matty Groves, walking in the crowd
"Come home with me, little Matty Groves, come home with me tonight
Come home with me, little Matty Groves, and sleep with me till light"
"Oh, I can't come home, I won't come home and sleep with you tonight
By the rings on your fingers I can tell you are my master's wife"
"But if I am Lord Donald's wife, Lord Donald's not at home
He is out in the far cornfields bringing the yearlings home"

And a servant who was standing by and hearing what was said
He swore Lord Donald he would know before the sun would set
And in his hurry to carry the news, he bent his breast and ran
And when he came to the broad millstream, he took off his shoes and he swam

Little Matty Groves, he lay down and took a little sleep
When he awoke, Lord Donald was standing at his feet
Saying "How do you like my feather bed and how do you like my sheets
How do you like my lady who lies in your arms asleep?"
"Oh, well I like your feather bed and well I like your sheets
But better I like your lady gay who lies in my arms asleep"
"Well, get up, get up," Lord Donald cried, "get up as quick as you can
It'll never be said in fair England that I slew a naked man"
"Oh, I can't get up, I won't get up, I can't get up for my life
For you have two long beaten swords and I not a pocket knife"
"Well it's true I have two beaten swords and they cost me deep in the purse
But you will have the better of them and I will have the worse
And you will strike the very first blow and strike it like a man
I will strike the very next blow and I'll kill you if I can"

So Matty struck the very first blow and he hurt Lord Donald sore
Lord Donald struck the very next blow and Matty struck no more
And then Lord Donald took his wife and he sat her on his knee
Saying "Who do you like the best of us, Matty Groves or me?"
And then up spoke his own dear wife, never heard to speak so free
"I'd rather a kiss from dead Matty's lips than you or your finery"

Lord Donald he jumped up and loudly he did bawl
He struck his wife right through the heart and pinned her against the wall
"A grave, a grave," Lord Donald cried, "to put these lovers in
But bury my lady at the top for she was of noble kin





http://www.divshare.com/download/3043340-778

76.The Cramps - Faster Pussycat ( Smell of Female,1983)




Originally release in 1983, this completely remastered Vengence reissue was recorded at New York's Peppermint Lounge with Powers on guitar, the quartet slams out a then mostly entirely new set of songs with, as expected, appropriate covers as needed.A majority of the tracks are brand new and have never been played before. In addition, with primal drums and Poison Ivy's raw, tense guitar strings, the Cramps' rockabilly rhythms sound just as groovy and n'sync as would be on future studio recordings. Unlike most other live CDs, "Smell of Female" actually does capture the excitement and energy within the Peppermint Lounge. Underneath the twisting disco lights, frontman Lux Interior struts on the stage with a take-no-prisoners attitute; like he had on the Cramps' previous efforts, he growls, croons and belts out his vocals with off-the-wall passion.The perfectly appropriate 'Faster Pussycat,' taken from the legendary Russ Meyer film of the same name, also give the band more than a little something wonderfully and highly emotional.





Faster Pussycat


If you want wild living fast
and if you want her and you're giving
Your all,
That's because,
Pussycat,
She's living break fast
Pussycat
She's riding high
If you think that you can take her
Well just you try
It's that she doesn't see what's wrong from right,
She's living fast and free
Child of the night
In her life there'll be no time for love
You'll never take her
Make up your mind
You will find
Pussycat
she's living break fast
Pussycat,
She's riding high
If you think that you can take her
Well just you try

It's that she doesn't see
What's wrong from right
She's running fast and free
Child of the night
In her life there'll be no time for love
You'll never take her
Make up your mind
You will find
Pussycat
She's living break fast
Pussycat
She's riding high
If you think that you can take her
Well just you try
Well just you try


http://www.divshare.com/download/3044114-686

77.Joseph Arthur - Leave Us Alone (Our Shadows Will Remain, 2004)




A better than average album. Most numbers are multi-textured with Arthur often singing several harmony parts. Although the songs are kind of dark and organic in places, it's not just texture and overlay. Unlike many other indie pop artists he knows the value of a good hook. All twelve tracks on this album are either beautiful reflective songs.Arthur has a real gift for infectious choruses and killer hooks. The songs are deceptively simple and catchy but can hold plenty of water. It looks like a genuine talent.A swooping sweep of synth lifts us up and pulls us down. That would be "Leave Us Alone". This is the moment when words cease to give meaning and the vocals are simply grazing the listener's ear for non other reason than to soothe and please as best friends do.




Leave Us Alone

He was cut and then there was no fear
The dogs of hell within unborn
And like a ghost without an atmosphere
His voice sang without a song

Singing to the ships as the foghorns blow
Shipping light where darkness hides
The night was blind but it did see him go
For in this dark his light survives

Go away
Leave us alone
We don't know ya
Who you are
So far
From home

He stands before them as they judge his life
His shadow reaching underneath
He will fight he will reveal his knife
They will question his belief

They will shatter all his teeth
Blood from his mouth in darkness he can see
His suicide his love reborn
And hangin from a noose in secrecy
His mind and spirit will divorce

Go away
Leave us alone
We don't know ya
Who you are
So far
From home



http://www.divshare.com/download/3042340-06e

Saturday, December 8, 2007

78.Pulp - Countdown (Separations,1992)





Filled with dark tales of death, abandonment, regret and distained worth this is by far the best and darkest Pulp album available, and is essential for any fan of the group's darker sides.As the title might suggest Separations largely concerns itself with dissecting the uncomfortable subject of romantic break-ups. However, unlike the awkward dirge of Freaks, Separations marks a significant step forward in Pulp’s career. The arrangements are far more daring and impressive than before, while Cocker’s lyrics show the first real signs of a master craftsman at work. Probably the best example of the huge improvement is the track “Countdown”.The uncertainty and obsessive nature of teenage love is accurately put across through the uncomfortable method of hopeful searching – “so I looked for you in every street of every town, I wanted to see your face, I wanna, I wanna see you now”.





Countdown


Oh I was seventeen,
when I heard the countdown start, it started slowly,
and I thought it was my heart but then I realised,
that this time it was for real there was no place to hide,
I had to go out and feel,
but there was time to kill,
and so I, I walked my way around town,
I tried to love the world,
oh but the world just got me down,
and so I looked for you,
in every street of every town I wanted to see your face,
I wanna, I wanna see you now.
I wanna see you now.
Oh and so it went,
Oh so it went for several years I couldn't stand it
No, oh it must be getting near now that,
you just don't know,
oh no you, you just don't understand how many people have seen you,
in the arms of, of of some other man,
I've got to meet you, and find you,
and take you by the hand, oh my God,
my God, you've got to understand,
that I was seventeen.
I didn't, I didn't know a thing at all.
I've got no reason,
I've got no reason at all, Oh no.
The time, of my life,
oh I think you came too soon,
Yeah you came too soon then,
Oh and it could, it could be tonight,
if I ever leave this room,
(I never leave this room no)
Oh I wasted all my time on all those stupid things that only get me down,
Get down, oh.
Oh and the sky,
is crying out tonight,
for me to leave this town,
so I'm gonna leave this town.
Goodbye.
O.K.
Yeah you can leave me,
oh you, you can go some other place,
you can't forget it.
Yeah, you know, you know that's O.K.
cos, cos I own this town,
Yeah, I brought it to its knees,
Can you hear it crying?
Can you?
Can you hear it begging to me "Please?"
I know it's coming,
so soon now
oh, oh it's on it's way.
Oh no, oh no, oh I can hear them say,
they say I can't survive,
They say I, I'll never leave the ground,
They say it's all a lie,
and now, and now it's coming down,
Oh baby now,
Time, of my life, oh I think you came too soon.
Yeah you came too soon now,
Oh and it could, oh it could be tonight,
if I ever leave this room,
(I never leave this room now)
Oh oh oh
I wasted all my time on all those stupid things that only get me down.
Get down, oh
Oh and the sky, is crying out tonight,
for me to leave this town,
So I'm gonna go, gonna be there,
I'm gonna go.
Bub-bye.
It's O.K,
You don't have to care.
Really.
Oh, oh really, I swear,
No, no you owe me nothing,
You owe nothing to me,
And if I messed it up baby,
Then, that's all up to me.
And if you go, then, then I won't follow, no, no
cos so many times I've been,
I've been thinking maybe, oh maybe I should
No, I, I'm gonna stay
I, I'm gonna make my way
Oh, I'm gonna get on through babe
I'm gonna make it all some day
Oh, time, of my life,
no I think you came too soon,
You came too soon then.
Oh and it could, it could be tonight,
if I ever leave this room,
(I never, I never leave this room, no)
Oh oh oh
I wasted all my time on all those stupid things that only get me down
Get down, oh
And the sky, is crying out tonight,
for me to leave this town.
So I'll leave this town.
The sky, is crying out tonight,
for me to leave this town,
yeah I'm gonna leave this town
Time
is crying out tonight
for me to leave this town
So I'm gonna go yeah
I'm gonna go
Yeah
Bub-bye
I'm gonna leave this town
You're not gonna have me around
Oh
The sky and stars and God will never ever laugh
Me and stars and moon are falling down.



http://www.divshare.com/download/3034411-c73

79.Alpha Band - Mighty Man (The Arista Albums CD,2005)





All Three Alpha Band LP's in their entirety on two CD's: The Alpha Band (1976), Spark In The Dark (1977) & The Statue Makers of Hollywood (1978). The Alpha Band first came to prominence as part of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review and features T-Bone Burnett, now famous not only as a performing artist but as a top producer (Elvis Costello, Sam Phillips, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Counting Crows and the Wallflowers). Ringo Starr guests on two cuts!

Springing in July of 1976 from Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, the Alpha Band appeared on the music scene with high expectations. The band signed with Clive Davis and Arista Records for a reported $6 million after being together for only a few weeks and were touted by Davis as one of the most important acts to come along in years. The Alpha Band's sound, which drew from a grab-bag of American roots styles, as well as pop and rock, was centered around singer-songwriters J. Henry "T-Bone" Burnett and Steven Soles, and multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield.

The group's 1976 self-titled debut, which featured an extended lineup of drummer Matt Betton and bassist David Jackson, contained an eclectic collection of material highlighted by Burnett's impressionistic lyrics, Soles' folk-pop tunes and Mansfield's guitar, mandolin and brilliant violin. The trio of Burnett, Soles and Mansfield continued on for two more records, Spark in the Dark (1977) and the overtly Christian The Statue Makers of Hollywood (1978), before disbanding in 1979."Mighty Man" is the most magical, and beautiful song on this compilation!



http://www.divshare.com/download/3042767-9c5

80.Mungo Jerry - Tramp (In the Summertime,1970)




Mungo Jerry is one of rock's great one-hit successes. Outside of England, they're known for exactly one song, but that song, "In the Summertime," is a seasonal anthem known by listeners who weren't even born when it was released. Mungo Jerry was a solid blues outfit as well — in fact, one suspects they were the kind of blues band that purists Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies would have loved, had they ever intersected — and knew how to get the most out of their jug band sound, which has helped them survive for three decades. The quartet had a pleasing, low-key jug band sound, folk-like but also bluesy, which was unusual in 1969, a time when most British bands that were into blues were shooting for high-wattage virtuosity. They sounded less like Cream or Blind Faith and a lot more like Jesse Fuller or Tampa Red, or even Piano Red (aka Dr. Feelgood). A self-titled debut album was rush-released that summer 1970 to capitalize on the hit "In the Summertime".Special Remastered Reissue include bonus track "Tramp," with its fiddle accompaniment and a decidedly mournful tone.Fantastic ballad!





Tramp


The sun was low, and the shadow was cold,
On the pale drawn face, that was wrinkled and old,
A newspaper coat, hanging loose 'round his throat,
And the shoes on his feet, strips of leather tied up with rope,
His uncombed hair, and eyes that would stare,
At the people passing by, who didn't know or didn't care

Chorus:
This poor old man he's all alone,
He's got no money or no home of his own,
The back street's his kitchen,
The footpath's his hall,
And the chalk on the brick work,
Are the pictures on his wall,
He lays down his head,
On the pavement that's his bed,
And when he sleeps, his dreams fade away

He walks down the street, with his hands in his coat,
Looking down at his feet, for a dog-end he could smoke,
He thinks about food, good drinking and good fun,
As he searches through the dustbins, his life almost done

Chorus:
This poor old man he's all alone,
He's got no money or no home of his own,
The back street's his kitchen,
The footpath's his hall,
And the chalk on the brick work,
Are the pictures on his wall,
He lays down his head,
On the pavement that's his bed,
And when he sleeps, his dreams fade away



http://www.divshare.com/download/3034989-8de

81.Peter Murphy - Marlene Dietrich's Favourite Poem (Deep,1990)




The Godfather of Goth has released with Deep his best work, full of poetic ideas, nostalgic feelings, in love with love, the deepest of the sadness you can experiment, plenty of beauty in all sorroundings, love emotions that goes beyond conventional love emotions not just the love to women but love to a friend to life, love as a whole concept, Murphys lyrics require deep understanding, meanings are not that obvious you have to read between lines and adopt the general idea to you, only this way you can grow and mature at this genious level.Lovely, acoustic ballad "Marlene Dietrich's Favourite Poem" with wonderful, touching lyrics - maybe Peter's best ballad and a majestic tribute to the legendary cabaret singer.



Marlene Dietrich's Favourite Poem

My mother loved it so she said
Sad eyed pearl and drop lips
Glancing pierce through writer man
Spoke hushed and frailing hips
Her old eyes skim in creasing lids
A tear falls as she describes
Approaching death with a yearning heart
With pride and no despise

Hot tears flow as she recounts
Her favourite worded token
Forgive me please for hurting so
Don't go away heartbroken no
Don't go away heartbroken no

Just wise owl tones no velvet lies
Crush her velvet call
Oh Marlene suffer all the fools
Who write you on the wall
And hold your tongue about your life
Or dead hands will change the plot
Will make your loving sound like snakes
Like you were never hot

Hot tears flow as she recounts
Her favourite worded token
Forgive me please for hurting so

My mother loved it so she said
Sad eyed pearl and drop lips yeah
Glancing pierce through writer man
Spoke hushed and frailing lips yeah
Old eyes skim in creasing lids
A tear falls as she describes
Approaching death with a yearning heart
With pride and no despise

Hot tears flow as she recounts
Her favourite worded token
Forgive me please for hurting so


http://www.divshare.com/download/3034011-f1c

82.Loudon Wainwright III - You Mother and I (More Love Songs, 1986)




Wainwright writes with more precision and imagination than any other singer-songwriter of the current boom, and his melodies stick with you. He sings and plays with such authority that even though this record features only voice and acoustic guitar it's powerful musically.More Love Songs is the best album in his career: this has the greatest sequence of songs he's ever managed to put on record. Enjoyable from the start to the end.'Your Mother & I' is possibly one of the most beautiful songs ever written.



http://www.divshare.com/download/3034490-689

83.Simon Finn - Jerusalem (Pass The Distance, 1970)




Simon Finn's Pass the Distance is a legendary acid folk recording from the psychedelic era. Originally issued on the Mushroom label in 1970, the LP was embroiled in legal hassles and withdrawn from circulation. David Tibet of Current 93 became obsessed with it upon hearing a bootleg copy in 1995, and along with Simon and the Canadian Jnana imprint, has reissued it on Durtro as a CD. Finn, a Canadian native, made the record in 1969 in Vic Keary's Chalk Farm Studios with some new jamming mates including David Toop and Paul Burwell!Pass the Distance is not a drippy peace and love record. It is a nocturnal, nightmarish album full of extremes as well as aesthetically beautiful textures and subtleties. Finn was obsessed with Christian themes (both redemptive and apocalyptic), history, the environment, and strange, oblique love songs. The centerpiece is the epic Jerusalem. With maniacally strummed acoustic guitars, a swirling church organ, hand drums, and a muddy bassline, Finn iterates the vision of Christ as he walked through the city and was crucified by the very people who praised his name, and he equates Christ with the 1960s counterculture ideals. The crux of the song is the terror and rage that Christ would feel were he to return and be crucified in the current millennium by those who profess his name. Finn begins softly, sadly, and soon begins ranting and screaming as the music gathers in intensity and menace until it becomes utterly frightening.



Jerusalem


The smell of newly-cut corn
came sifting through the palm trees
My eyes they were blinded
by the sun reflecting on the seas
One hundred dozen mermaids smiled
as I passed through the haze
The sound of familiar voices
of yonder days

Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem oh no

Jerusalem was made by a guy
Oh I forget his name
And Jesus was a drop-out
A king who bore no crown
Only his long hair
flowing and blowing in the wind

And Jesus was a fisherman
That's all he had to say
Oh yeah, said "Now follow me disciples.
Lead your lives a different way."

And he rode into Jerusalem
on a donkey both bedraggled and lame
And his Pharisees cursed
his every word but did not laugh
That made a change

And Jesus was a good guy
who lived on figs and wine
A political revolutionary
out to let you have a good time

Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem oh no

The sun it was rising
just to christen his cross of fame
Did he imagine at that moment
two hundred million hypocrites
would praise his name?

And were he now to come down those
hypocrites would crucify him again
And through the sweating crowds
tears streaming down my face
till I'm going insane
I'm crying

Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem oh no

The smell of newly-cut corn
came sifting through the palm trees
My eyes they were blinded
by the sun reflecting on the seas
Well that same sun was rising
just to christen his cross of fame
Did he imagine at that moment
two hundred million hypocrites
would praise his name?

And were he now to come down those
hypocrites would crucify him again
And through the sweating crowds
tears streaming down my face
till I'm going insane
I'm crying

Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem oh no

They're gonna put him inside
And I'm yelling all I can
Can't you see he's the Christ? oh no no
And they don't understand
a single word I say
But I'm crying just the same

Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem oh no

Gonna put him inside
I'm yelling all I can
Can't you see he's the Christ

Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem oh no



http://www.divshare.com/download/3033566-0b4

84.Hefner - The Greedy Ugly People ( We Love the City,2000)




"The Greedy Ugly People" is a single by British indie rock band Hefner. Released in 2000 by Too Pure, it was the second single from their album We Love the City.Here they presented something resembling a charmingly awkward but almost disturbingly horny amalgam of Jonathan Richman, the Buzzcocks, Belle & Sebastian and the Violent Femmes.
The Greedy Ugly People might be my favourite Hefner song. Like most 'City' songs it's a love song. It just has such a simple lyric and sentiment but is done in an original way,A minimalist tune pores in and Darren Hayman begins to sing with a small plaintive voice so full of weeping intonations as if he's bewailing a fact that not all the women of this world have become his lovers yet or as if trying to break God's heart.




The Greedy Ugly People


I had her on the carpet twisting and squirming about,
Trying to guess what she needs,
Trying to guess what the fuss was about.

She had a conscience that surely did need pricking,
I was there for the picking as she would soon find out.

The Greedy Ugly People are not like us,
They don't feel the love that she and I would die without.

I had her on a chair in the middle of the living room,
And then we went to the bedroom, where we were making spoons.

When we went out she started clicking her heels,
She was sticking her chest out, cause she was starting to feel.

Love don't stop no wars, don't stop no cancer,
It stops my heart.



http://www.divshare.com/download/3034740-e6a

Friday, December 7, 2007

85.Richard Thompson - Cold Kisses (you? me? us?,1996)





The troubadour is as revered for his brilliant songwriting as for his masterful guitar work. Thompson, 52, got his start in the late 1960s with the innovative folk act Fairport Convention, and later won acclaim performing with his ex-wife Linda Thompson. He's been earning raves for years with superb solo works.
What makes Thompson want to go into the creepy crevices of the human condition?"I like to get just below the surface, just beneath what people talk about," says Thompson, "those slightly unexpressed things."A song such as Cold Kisses, which opens with a man rummaging through his absent lover's personal belongings, is a prime example.When you agree to attend a Richard Thompson performance you’re setting yourself up for a rollercoaster ride of raw talent, emotion and awe. You know it’s coming but no matter what you do you’re still surprised when the moment of clarity hits you like a ton of bricks: You don’t know how he does it but Mr. Thompson can capture your attention like no other, weaving his often heart-wrenching lyrics with a searing performance on guitar.
Almost no one can sing songs of angst and heartache like Richard Thompson, it’s as though he has a special pair of glasses that can see inside your soul. He somehow is able to put emotions into words and sing about things and you didn’t even realize you felt.
Don't let his dark lyrics deceive you; this ''late developer'' can be light-hearted and playful.



Cold Kisses


Here I am in your room going through your stuff
Said you'd be gone five minutes, that's time enough
Here in your drawer there's lacy things
Old credit cards and beads and bangles and rings
Well I think I've found what I'm looking for
Hidden away at the back of the drawer
Here's the life that you led before

Old photographs of the life you led
Arm in arm with Mr X Y and Z
Old boyfriends big and small
Got to see how I measure up to them all
There is a place we all must start, love
Who were you holding in that fond embrace
I've found a door into your heart, love
And do you still feel the warmth of cold kisses

Here I am behind enemy lines
Looking for secrets, looking for signs
Old boyfriends big and small
Got to see how I measure up to them all
This one's handsome, not too bright
This one's clever with his hands alright
Tougher than me if it came to a fight
And this one's a poet, a bit of a wet
Bit of a gypsy, a bit of a threat
I wonder if she's got over him yet

Old passions frozen in the second
Who were you holding in that fond embrace
Hearts have a past that must be reckoned
And do you still feel the warmth of cold kisses

Time to put the past away
That's your footstep in the street I'd say
Tie the ribbon back around it
Everything just the way I found it
And I can hear you turn the key
And my head's buried when you see me
In a Margaret Miller mystery
And do you still feel the warmth of cold kisses
Do you still feel the warmth of cold kisses


http://www.divshare.com/download/3018493-981

86.Counting Crows - Round Here (Across a Wire: Live in New York City,1998)




The beautiful rendition of "Round Here" on this album is totally raw ,but gentle,really mellow ,all acoustic and referred in particular to the penultimate lyric 'Would you catch me if I was falling/Would you kiss me if I was leaving/Will you hold me 'cos I'm lonely, without you' which, even though I am merely typing the words out on this cold grey keyboard, is sending juices shooting up my spine toward my eyeballs.


Round Here

Step out the front door like a ghost
Into the fog where no one notices
The contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
The angels get a better view
Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
I walk in the air between the rain
Through myself and back again
Where? I don't know
Maria says she's dying
Through the door I hear her crying
Why? I don't know
Round here we always stand up straight
Round here something radiates
Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
She said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
And she walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
Just like she's walking on a wire in the circus
She parks her car outside of my house
Takes her clothes off
Says she's close to understanding Jesus
She knows she's more than just a little misunderstood
She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous
Round here we're carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she's slipping through my hands
Sleeping children better run like the wind
out of the lightning dream
Mama's little baby better get herself in
out of the lightning
She says "it's only in my head"
She says "Shhhhh I know it's only in my head"
But the girl on the car in the parking lot
Says "Man you should try to take a shot
Can't you see my walls are crumbling?"
Then she looks up at the building
Says she's thinking of jumping
She says she's tired of life
She must be tired of something
Round here she's always on my mind
Round here hey man got lots of time
Round here we're never sent to bed early
and nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very, very, very, very late
I can't see nothing.. nothing round here
Will you catch if I'm falling
Will you catch me if I'm falling
Will you catch me cause I'm falling down on you
I said I'm under the gun around here
I'm innocent I'm under the gun around here
And I can't see nothing
Nothing round here


http://www.divshare.com/download/3018170-27f

87.Michael Chapman - Postcards from Scarborough (Fully Qualified Survivor,1970)





Probably Michael Chapman's most well known song. The original version was recorded on a cult classic in the Folk circuit album - "Fully Qualified Survivor" in 1970 with a lovely Paul Buckmaster string arrangement. I was captivated by the melancholic voice and the stunning guitar playing. The album was one of John Peels favourites of 1970 and has weathered far better than a lot of its contempories. Michaels intricate guitar, his anecdotal lyrics dealing with travel, loss and memories are easy to connect with.


Postcards from Scarborough

Two postcards of Scarborough just to keep in my mind
To hide away up there and help me remind
Myself of time past and time passing
I went down to the harbour just to catch a bite to eat
Boats along the quayside and seagulls round my feet
Remind me of when we were there together

The food was so tasteless
And the wine was so stale
I looked in the mirror
And my face was so pale
Not like when we were there together

I took a walk up to Paradise like we did before
But there's nothing there like Paradise to me anymore
Not since we've been there together

I sleep in the same room and the walls they are so white
But there's nothing there to warm me in the cool of the night
Not like when we were here together.

The food was so tasteless
And the wine was so stale
I looked in the mirror
And my face was so pale
Not like when we were there together

Two postcards of Scarborough just to keep in my mind

To hide away up there and help me remind
Myself of time past and time passing
Myself of time past and time passing
time past and time passing
time passing


http://www.divshare.com/download/3017966-61c