Audiopleasures: 1st Aniversary , Let's Lounge , Gil Scott-Heron , Mark Kozelek , Nina Nastasia , Kim Gordon , Ian Curtis , Karen o , Ascii Disko , Corto Maltese

I can't really believe yet that i made this far , but yes with a big smile , one year of blogging.

To celebrate such endeavor I'm bringing a special post with a new semi-regular post called Let's Lounge .
Have loads and loads of good memories with the music that will be a parte of this post , during my active dj years i used mainly stuff like , Trip Hop , Broken Beats , Dub , Drum 'n' Bass , lots of Jazz and some soul , also had my House fase and later on the electro , this is a walk back to those years.

Next monday will be available mY Indie Soul # 25 , this time a special guest , Benjamin Page , Rothko's electronics man , be ready because its a killer mixtape.

I sincerely hope that everyone enjoys this post and thank you very much for all your visits.

GIL SCOTT-HERON

At 49, Gil Scott-Heron stands as a towering figure of black popular music. With a masters in creative writing from Johns Hopkins, the writer, poet, composer, pianist, and modern-day griot is a true artist in an industry lacking true artistry.

Scott-Heron emerged in the early 1970s with albums such as What’s Going On and There’s A Riot Goin’ On. By 1970, there was a profound shift in the struggle for equality as the fight for civil rights gave way to the demand for Black Power. The Civil Rights Movement had lost its focus, being ripped apart by differing interest groups and ignored by a wartime US government. The voices of its leaders were silenced by jail or bullets.

Black popular music reflected this change. The voices on the radio stopped preaching brotherhood and togetherness and started reporting the facts, and the music got more aggressive. Leading the new attack was a new voice: articulate, uncompromising, and enraged. The voice held the light up to the country’s missteps and shook up an apathetic audience. The voice was Gil Scott-Heron’s. Scott-Heron was born in Chicago in 1949. He grew up in Lincoln, Tennessee and later the Chelsea neighborhood of the Bronx.

As a student, he admired the poetry of Langston Hughes and followed his footsteps by enrolling in Lincoln University. By age 20, he completed the novel The Vulture and the book of poetry, Small Talk At 125th & Lenox. The Vulture was an auspicious beginning, heralded by Essence as "a strong start for a writer with important things to say." In the 1970’s, Scott-Heron hooked up with Flying Dutchman records to produce several important albums including Pieces of Man and Free Will.

During the 1980s, for Arista label, Scott-Heron released twelve albums. Then, after a twelve-year break, he signed with TVT Records and released Spirits in 1993. The first cut of this album, "Message To The Messenger," is a warning to today’s rappers, urging them to take responsibility in their art and in their communities. Since then, he has played to sell-out crowds all over the world, performing at major festivals in England and the United States, including New York’s Central Park. Global Darkness

Mp3 | Gil Scott-Heron - We Almost Lost Detroit
Mp3 | Gil Scott-Heron - H2O Gate Blues
Mp3 | Gil Scott-Heron - I Think I'll Call It Morning
Mp3 | Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

MARK KOZELEK

Red House Painters was primarily the vehicle of singer/songwriter Mark Kozelek, an evocative, compelling performer of rare emotional intensity. Like Mark Eitzel of American Music Club, to whose work the Painters were invariably compared and to whom their early success owed a tremendous debt, Kozelek laid his soul bare on record, conjuring harrowingly acute tales of pain, despair, and loss; unlike Eitzel, Nick Drake, and other poets of decay, Kozelek's autobiographical songs walked their tightrope without a net -- forsaking the safety offered by metaphor and allegory, he faced his demons in the first person, creating a singularly haunting body of work unparalleled in its vulnerability and honesty.

Kozelek was born and raised in the Midwest, and was addicted to drugs by the age of ten before entering rehab a few years later. Throughout his travails, he clung to music and formed his first band, God Forbid, while in his teens. After relocating to Atlanta, GA, he struck up a friendship with drummer Anthony Koutsos, and formed the first incarnation of Red House Painters. A move to San Francisco followed, where guitarist Gorden Mack and bassist Jerry Vessel rounded out the group's roster. While performing on the Bay Area club circuit, the quartet came to the attention of American Music Club's Eitzel, who often named Red House Painters his favorite band.

Through Eitzel, a demo tape of recordings cut in 1989 and 1990 made their way to the London offices of 4AD Records, which signed the group and in 1992 issued the unvarnished demos -- a superb collection of spartan, atmospheric melodies lurking behind Kozelek's ghostly vocals -- as the LP Down Colorful Hill. In 1993, Red House Painters emerged from the studio with over two-dozen new recordings, which they issued on back-to-back eponymously titled albums. Taken in tandem, the LPs established Kozelek as a unique songwriter capable of conveying stunning emotional depths; compositions like "Grace Cathedral Park," "Katy Song," "Strawberry Hill," "Evil," and "Uncle Joe" expanded greatly upon the emotional palette evidenced on the first record, unflinchingly detailing Kozelek's erratic, abusive nature and troubled background. A two-year lay-off followed, during which time only an EP, Shock Me -- a brief set built around a dramatic reading of an old Kiss song -- appeared in 1994. Finally, the luminous Ocean Beach, a collection of pastoral, almost sunny performances, appeared in 1995, although not without controversy; initially, 4AD did not want to release the record, further straining already tenuous relations between the band and the label.

When Kozelek began work on a long-discussed solo album, 4AD threw in the towel; the album, a more rock-oriented work dubbed Songs for a Blue Guitar, appeared in 1996 on the Island imprint Supreme. Although Kozelek was the only bandmember to appear on the record, it was nonetheless issued under the Red House Painters name in order to give the group a push as it headed into the second phase of its career. However, the major-label mergers of the late '90s left Red House Painters without a record deal, and their album, Old Ramon, in limbo. During that time, 4AD released the simply titled Retrospective, a best-of collection, and Kozelek kept busy, appearing in Cameron Crowe's critically acclaimed rock & roll love story Almost Famous, and releasing several projects on the Badman label, including a John Denver tribute album, a benefit album for a San Francisco AIDS charity, and Rock 'n' Roll Singer, a mini-album of classic rock covers and new material. Eventually, Kozelek bought back the rights to Old Ramon and Sub Pop released it in spring 2001, nearly four years after it was recorded. Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Mp3 | Red House Painters - Medicine Bottle
Mp3 | Red House Painters - Mistress
Mp3 | Red House Painters - Shock Me
Mp3 | Red House Painters - Drop

NINA NASTASIA

Nina Nastasia's rare gift of a voice is an intimate, winged presence that is able to either freeze or melt your heart, that can powerfully soar and twist, or brush ultra-gently against you, suddenly summoning goose bumps. Mojo commented on its ability to "suck the air out of the room". Picking over themes of love, longing and loss, childhood, dreams and human dramas, her beautifully concise, hook-laden songwriting and the spare arrangements of her band have a certain gritty, rustic charm and intensity. Simultaneously tough and fragile, her songs crackle and smoulder with an intimate emotional honesty and a dark undertow.

Now resident in New York City, Nina Nastasia was born and raised in Hollywood, CA. Having moved to New York on a whim, Nina has gradually carved out a career as a singer-songwriter there since the early 'nineties. In October 1999, Nina recorded the album 'Dogs', which would finally document this well-seeded life in music. That debut album came to exemplify her style - the delicate string arrangements; the restrained, understated beauty of her live band; the deceptive simplicity of her voice and poignant, life-wise lyrics. The recording necessitated that Nina and partner Kennan Gudjonsson establish their own vehicle for its advance, and the following year, 'Dogs' was released on micro-indie label Socialist Records.

Veteran BBC DJ John Peel got hold of a copy of 'Dogs' and became similarly enamored with it. In an interview with Harper's and Queen, he called it "astonishing" and in Mojo said: "[Nina's] songs are very direct without being posy or too clever. There's an attractive air of melancholy without self-pity." He gave the then-unavailable record constant plays on his Radio 1 show, helping to garner an international demand for 'Dogs'. In April 2002, Nina released her well-received sophomore LP 'The Blackened Air' on Chicago indie label Touch and Go and began an extensive international touring career.

2007 saw the release of a second album for FatCat, arriving in the form of a collaborative album with Jim White, a perennial member of Nina’s backing band and the peerless drummer of beloved Australian instrumental trio, Dirty Three. Stripped back to just a two-piece (drums, guitar, vocal), 'You Follow Me' is a fantastically focused record - a taut, raw document of two incredible musicians in deep dialogue, exploring the boundaries of songform to find a rare and striking complement. fat-cat

Mp3 | Nina Nastasia - superstar
Mp3 | Nina Nastasia & Jim White - How Will You Love Me
Mp3 | Nina Nastasia & Jim White - The Day I Would Bury You
Mp3 | Nina Nastasia & Jim White - I've Been Out Walking

KIM GORDON

While some of the basic facts about Kim Gordon's life are a little fuzzy, there's nothing fuzzy about her influence on the music scene. Sources differ concerning the date and place of her birth, with some claiming she was born in 1953 in Rochester, NY, while others state that she entered the world in 1958 in Los Angeles, CA. None, however, deny her influence over rock, or the varied activities that have led some to describe her as a renaissance woman. Interestingly, she didn't start out as a musician and didn't even study music. Gordon, who plays bass for Sonic Youth, records as a solo artist, leads the band Free Kitten, and also is part of the band Harry Crews, earned a degree in fine arts from Los Angeles' Otis College of Art and Design during the early '70s. She headed to New York a decade later. There she established a group called CKM, contributed to Artforum magazine, and participated in the Anover Art Festival. There she met Thurston Moore, the man who would join her and Lee Ranaldo to form Sonic Youth. She and Moore wed in 1984, and a decade later had a child, Coco Hayley Moore. In 1991, Gordon helped produce the album Pretty on the Inside for Hole. She headed to Lollapalooza with her band Free Kitten two years later, and branched out into directing in 1994 with music videos for "Divine Hammer" and "Cannonball" by the Breeders. She expanded her talents again a year later in New York when she launched a line of clothing she dubbed X-Girl, which she sold in 1997. Rolling Stone acknowledged her influence that same year when the magazine included Gordon in a feature titled Women in Rock. By 1999, the renaissance woman of rock began crafting a solo album and modeling in advertisements for Calvin Klein. VH1 acknowledged her influence by including her in its list of 100 Greatest Women of Rock. Although in interviews she has seemed leery of giving herself wholeheartedly to the cause of feminism, her songs often have decidedly pro-feminist themes when she addresses such issues as sexual harassment, rape, and the casting couch. She also addressed anorexia in a number titled "Tunic (Song for Karen)," which refers to the ordeal endured by Karen Carpenter, a woman who was just as prominent in the music world in her day as Gordon is now. Linda Seida, All Music Guide

Mp3 | Sonic Youth - JC
Mp3 | Sonic Youth - On The Strip
Mp3 | Sonic Youth - Jams Run Free
Mp3 | Sonic Youth - French Tickler

IAN CURTIS

In 1976, Curtis met two young musicians, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, who told him they were trying to form a band; he immediately put himself forward as a vocalist and lyricist. The three of them recruited and sacked a succession of drummers before settling on Stephen Morris as their final member. Initially, the band was called Warsaw before changing its name to Joy Division in 1978, due to conflicts with the name of another band, Warsaw Pakt. The name "Joy Division" stemmed from the sexual slavery wing of a Nazi concentration camp in the 1955 novel The House of Dolls.

After starting up Factory Records with Alan Erasmus, Tony Wilson "signed" the band to his label (although no contracts were ever signed, despite the story of Wilson signing a contract in his own blood. This rumor first emerged in 2002 from Wilson himself in the run up to the release of 24 Hour Party People, where the scene is also portrayed.)

While performing for Joy Division, Curtis became known for his quiet and awkward demeanor, as well as a unique dancing style[2] reminiscent of the epileptic seizures he experienced, sometimes even on stage. The resemblance was such that audience members were sometimes uncertain if Curtis was dancing or having a seizure; there were several incidents where he collapsed and had to be helped off stage.

Curtis's writing was filled with imagery of emotional isolation, death, alienation, and urban decay. He once commented in an interview that he wrote about "the different ways different people can cope with certain problems, how they might or might not adapt". He sang in a bass-baritone voice, in contrast to his speaking voice, which was higher pitched. Joy Division had its recording style developed by producer Martin Hannett, with some of their most innovative work being created in Strawberry Studios in Stockport (owned by Manchester act 10cc) and Cargo Recording Studios Rochdale in 1979, a studio which was developed from John Peel investing money into the music business in Rochdale.

Although predominantly a vocalist, Curtis also played guitar on a handful of tracks (usually when Sumner was playing synthesizer; "Incubation" was a rare case where both played guitar). At first Curtis played Sumner's Shergold Masquerader, but in September 1979 he acquired his own guitar, a Vox Phantom Special VI (often described incorrectly as a Teardrop or ordinary Phantom model) which had many built-in effects used both live and in studio. After Curtis' death, Sumner inherited the guitar, and it was used in several early New Order songs, such as "Everything's Gone Green".wikipedia

[ The Factory, Manchester Live 13 July 1979 ]
Mp3 | Joy Division - Candidate
Mp3 | Joy Division - Disorder
Mp3 | Joy Division - Transmission
Mp3 | Joy Division - Dead Souls

KAREN O

Karen Lee Orzolek, better known as Karen O, is the lead vocalist for the New York art punk band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She was born on November 22, 1978 in South Korea.

Karen's mother is Korean and father is Polish. Karen grew up in New Jersey, and attended Oberlin College, but transferred to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Karen O has been noted for her sense of fashion. All of her costumes are designed by fashion designer and friend Christian Joy.

She is also well known for her outrageous antics during live shows. She is known to often spit water or beer, or sometimes grapes into the crowd, humping the stage monitors, or suggestively playing with her microphone. Her on-stage antics have been compared to punk legends like Iggy Pop and Patti Smith.

During a tour for the 2003 Livid Festival in Australia, at a sideshow at The Metro in Sydney, she accidentally danced off the stage and reluctantly had to be taken to hospital. A few days later at the Sydney leg of the Livid Festival, she appeared in a wheelchair pushed by Angus Andrew.

She currently lives in Los Angeles, California, in the Silver Lake neighborhood.

For the movie Jackass 2, Karen O collaborated with electronic artist Peaches and Johnny Knoxville to record a track entitled "Backass".

She was recently asked by Playboy to pose on their cover. She said on the subject, "If I see footage from our shows, I'm shocked by what I'm doing. But Playboy asked me about being on the cover. That's pretty insane. I may do it in the future."

Mp3 | Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
Mp3 | Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Down Boy
Mp3 | Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Way Out
Mp3 | Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Art Star

ASCII DISKO

Ascii.Disko is the electronic Music project of Madrid-based musician
and DJ Daniel Holc.
Before becoming a dj and music producer, he played in rock-bands and toured around Europe. Perhaps it’s this background, what makes him engage with the live audience of clubs and rave; or maybe it’s because his purpose in life isn’t just spinning sounds behind the decks for his own autistic pleasure, but to whisk/whip people’s brains into a dance frenzy. And he does it by stretching the definition of dance music, with his mixture of Electronica, Electro, House, Techno and even Indie Rock… any rhythm, in short, that has the potential of setting the dancefloor on fire.

Don’t expect him to stick religiously to a predictable diet of only one genre of dance music: that’s the opposite of what makes Ascii.Disko’s sessions so exciting. If he likes a track, he’ll make you dance to it. With this eclectic approach to dancing in clubs, he regularly whips clubbers to a frenzy at Clubs, Raves, Music Festivals, and even at Art Museums all around the globe. He chooses styles of electronic music but in a tight mix. Always different and surprising, always good...

So far Daniel released two sucsessful albums as Ascii.Disko ["Ascii.Disko" 2003 and "Alias" in 2006] he released 12" on labels like Moonboutique, Dance Electric, Television Records or Pale Music and did countless remixes for bands like The Presets and producers like Josh Wink.

Daniel will release his new e.p. '...until the lights takes us' on may 19th on Body Function Records taking the sound of Ascii.Disko into a new direction. He will also release the Album "From Airlines to Lifelines" under his Alias 'Black Orchid' on Pale Music in June.

Further Ascii.Disko is teaming up with Codec for a split 12" on Body Function Records and coming up in August is new e.p. on the US label "Biatch Industries". A brand new Ascii.Disko Album is planned for the end of the year. mfm-booking

Mp3 | Ascii Disko - Moi, Je Veux
Mp3 | Ascii Disko - Aldimarkt
Mp3 | The Presets - I Go Hard I Go Home [ Ascii Disko mix ]
Mp3 | Ascii Diskio Dj set Last Rave of the Summer

CORTO MALTESE

Corto Maltese (possibly derived from the Venetian Courtyard of the Maltese) is a laconic sea captain adventuring during the early 20th century (1900-1920s). A "rogue with a heart of gold," he is tolerant and sympathetic to the underdog. Born in Valletta on July 10, 1887, he is a son of a British sailor from Cornwall and a gypsy Andalusian prostitute known as "La Niña de Gibraltar". As a boy growing up in the Jewish quarter of Córdoba, Maltese realised he had no fate line on his palm and therefore carved his own with a razor, determining that his fate was his to choose. Although maintaining a neutral pose, Corto instinctively supports the disadvantaged and oppressed.

The character embodies the author's skepticism of national, ideological, and religious assertions. Corto befriends people from all walks of life, including the murderous Russian Rasputin (no relation with the historical figure, apart from physical resemblance and some characteristic attributes), British heir Tristan Bantam, Voodoo priestess Gold Mouth and Czech academic Jeremiah Steiner. He also knows and meets various historical figures, including Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, Herman Hesse, Butch Cassidy, White Russian general Roman Ungern von Sternberg and Enver Pasha of Turkey. His acquaintances treat him with great respect, as when a telephone call to Joseph Stalin frees him from arrest when he is threatened with execution on the border of Turkey and Armenia.

Corto's favourite reading is Utopia by Thomas More, but he never finished it. He also read books by London, Lugones, Stevenson, Melville and Conrad.

Corto Maltese stories range from straight historical adventure stories to occult dream sequences. He is present when Red Baron is shot down, helps the Jivaros in South America, and flees Fascists in Venice, but also unwittingly helps Merlin and Oberon to defend Britain and visits the lost continent of Mu.

Chronologically, the first Corto Maltese adventure, La giovinezza (The Early Years), happens during the Russo-Japanese War. In other albums he experiences the Great War in several locations, participates in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution, and appears during the early stages of Fascist Italy. In a separate series by Pratt, Gli Scorpioni del Deserto (The Desert Scorpions) he is described as disappearing in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.

Wednesday, 17 September 2008

1st Aniversary , Let's Lounge , Gil Scott-Heron , Mark Kozelek , Nina Nastasia , Kim Gordon , Ian Curtis , Karen o , Ascii Disko , Corto Maltese