an isolated incident

one of, if not the best from that era of big label "chill out" compilations (actually more like "stress out" haha - in a good way). many essential pieces but a few on here are all time favorites and not available anywhere else -- that O'rang vocal less version of "Little Sister" for example... to this day defying categorization of any sort.

i remember being 19 and stealing this CD from Virgin megastore, eager to discover new sound worlds, not knowing many names on the sleeve (and not having enough funds). i was very much attracted to the packaging and concept... here was something out of the ordinary, a dark, cavernous, hallucinogenic visual and aural object, promising introspective realms of sensation. funny that it was sitting on the shelves with C&C Music Factory and REM -- in hindsight it was one of those few great isolated (no pun intended) incidences where something truly subversive and rewarding was able to be smuggled through the cracks of the machinery of commerical distribution, and find its way into the hands (and CD player) of a starving young mind. (it was probably the least successful in terms of sales in the ambient series; i seem to remember reading that it was a financial disaster)

bringing it home, at first it was impenetrable (my friends had zero patience for it), but as i listened more, the power of these tracks revealed itself, and lead the way to many exhilarating experiences in music later. in this sense it was one of the few occasions packaging worked, and more importantly delivered.



CD 1

1. KK Null & Jim Plotkin: "Lost (Held Under)"
2. Jim O'Rourke: "Flat Without A Back"
3. Ice: "The Dredger"
4. Raoul Björkenheim: "Strangers"
5. Zoviet France: "Daisy Gun"
6. Labradford: "Air Lubricated Free Axis Trainer"
7. Techno Animal: "Self Strangulation"
8. Paul Schütze: "Hallucinations (In Memory Of Reinaldo Arenas)"
9. Scorn: "Silver Rain Fell (Deep Water Mix)"
10. Disco Inferno: "Lost In Fog"
11. Total: "Six"
12. Nijiumu: "Once Again I Cast Myself Into The Flames Of Atonement"

CD 2

1. Aphex Twin: "Aphex Airlines"
2. AMM: "Vandoevre"
3. Seefeel: "Lief"
4. .O.rang: "Little Sister"
5. E.A.R.: "Hydroponic"
6. Sufi: "Desert Flower"
7. David Toop & Max Eastley: "Burial Rites (Phosphorescent Mix)"
8. Main: "Crater Scar (Adrenochrome)"
9. Final: "Hide"
10. Lull: "Thoughts"
11. Thomas Köner: "Kanon (Part One: Brohuk)"

found at friend sound. props.

SONG OF THE DAY/DECADE

turn up your speakers and click here. NOW.

i posted this song on some message boards and most people just do not get it... i too did not experience apartheid (first hand, from the sufferer's side), but the joy of liberation, all those cruel years coming to an end, expressed in this song... like first rays of the sun after winter... just so fucking beautiful.

in Morocco last month one night at this western style nightclub there was an african singer entertaining european tourists with Sade and Michael Jackson... at around 1 AM i requested this song -- the spark in her eyes and smile on her face at the mention of it was just amazing. so she switched the music off, and everyone quieted down as she closed her eyes and did it acappella... and gave it 110% -- her voice just soared and tears did fill my eyes. this photo is from right after:



to me the power and spirit of this song is perfect for this occasion, 20 some years after its recording. and i feel so sorry for all the dead-inside cynical people that can not feel the ecstatic glory of this monument to love, life, and freedom...

Ocora: Africa part 1

fact that i posted the first Ocora focus on Africa on THE HISTORIC DAY is pure coincidence. i swear it.



Musiques du Cameroon - Bakweri Bamileke Bamoun Beti

thanks to Op for ripping this very rare vinyl from the original Ocora catalog (never reissued on CD)

Marimba and non-melodic percussion pieces reveal intricate collideascopic latice works; chants and song whose purposes are lost to me (love? work? celebration? mourning?) tell their elegant (and to me, mysterious) tales. some selections are one or the other, some are voice with drumming combined; and flutes show up later on.

the clearly advanced yet intuitive mathematics demonstrated in some of this music is truly mind boggling. if any modern persons still (and I'm sure do) look down on this music, dismiss it as "primitive", and feel superior in relation to it, well this can only be demonstrative of his own ignorance, stupidity, and under-developed sense of beauty.

above is just my passing impression, the complete scans of the sleeves with detailed notes are included.

Mediafire: Part A, Part B
Rapidshare: Part A, Part B



Burundi - Musique Traditionelles

a whispered low-register male voice opens this collection accompanied by the dull and rich sounds of a plucked string instrument: in my imagination it is the dude on the cover, singing ghost stories to little ones or recounting the treacherous glories and loss of some past war. many vocal pieces follow, with or without back-up, varying greatly in tone, character, and style. 2 pieces whose title begins with "Akazehe" for young women stand out: so pretty and fragile. but many other highlights through out: gorgeous solo flute, epic chants with a large ensemble, the voice from track 1 comes back, perhaps even more sinister. and last but certainly not least: a child's voice beautifully weaving in and out of the ringing plings and plongs of some ancient guitar (surely with a great hollow body).

(a few of these i think will show up in FUSION PART 2 - underpinned by digital bass wobble :)

Mediafire: Part A, Part B
Rapidshare: Part A, Part B