320 kbps | 135 MB | LINKS
“God bless Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety”, sang The Kinks on the title track of their 1968 LP, The Village Green Preservation Society, reminiscing on the thatched cottages and custard pies of British life in the pre-war era.
Never one to be upstaged in his love for anthropomorphic waterfowl, former Real Estate guitarist Matt Mondanile represents ducks licensed by both Disney and Hanna-Barbera on the cover of his new demo collection, recycling unfinished versions of his usual depictions of late-70s Americana.
Taken as a whole, Daffy Duck in Hollywood is a blissed-out soundtrack to nothing in particular — lush and unobtrusive as ferns in the lobby; inviting as the muzak that plays within it. Mondanile’s rubbery jazz solos bounce off of soft-rock backing tracks like pinballs, lazily passing through lit gates and hitting their spring-loaded targets. On Rundgren-esque jam “The Patio”, synths bob bouyantly to the rhythm of a solar-powered plastic flower that dances side-to-side on the windowsill. Grass-stained Wiffleballs dot the lawn like the heads of pimples. Wood-paneled station wagons pass by, their respective rumbles trailing off towards the freeway.
320 kbps | 137 MB | LINKS
“My fifth record is in many ways inspired by the hugely ambitious progressive pop records that I loved in my youth (think Peter Gabriel’s So, Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love, Talk Talk’s Colour of Spring and Tears for Fears’ Seeds of Love).
Lyrically, the album’s eleven tracks veer from the paranoid chaos of the current era in which truth can apparently be a flexible notion, observations of the everyday lives of refugees, terrorists and religious fundamentalists, and a welcome shot of some of the most joyous wide-eyed escapism I’ve created in my career so far. Something for all the family!”– Steven Wilson
320 kbps | 151 MB | LINKS
Power of Peace is the fulfillment of a dream, a new musical studio collaboration connecting Santana and The Isleys on a mind-bending journey through some of the immortal soul, funk, blues, rock, jazz and pop songs that continue to inspire them. Led by the legendary Ronald Isley on lead vocals and the album’s main producer/arranger Carlos Santana on lead guitar, rhythm guitar, percussion and background vocals, Power of Peace covers songs first made familiar by the Chambers Brothers (“Are You Ready,” “Love, Peace, Happiness”), Swamp Dogg (“Total Destruction to Your Mind”), Stevie Wonder (“Higher Ground”), Billie Holiday (“God Bless the Child”), Eddie Kendricks (“Body Talk”), Curtis Mayfield (“Gypsy Woman”), Muddy Waters/Willie Dixon (“I Just Want to Make Love to You”), Dionne Warwick/Jackie DeShannon (“What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love”), Marvin Gaye (“Mercy Mercy Me – The Ecology”), Leon Thomas (“Let the Rain Fall on Me”) and Sy Miller and Jill Jackson “Let There Be Peace on Earth”).
160 kbps | 102 MB | LINKS
Dark Matter, Randy Newman’s first album of new material in nine years, is due August 4 on Nonesuch.
It is the follow-up to 2008’s acclaimed Harps and Angels, which the Guardian called “the work of a true master of popular song.”
Produced by long-time Newman collaborators Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker, and David Boucher, the album includes songs about Vladimir Putin, the Kennedy brothers, Sonny Boy Williamson, science vs. religion, love and loss, and more.
320 kbps | 87 MB | LINKS
Tracklist:
01. Simple Song 03:48
02. Sweet Louise 03:56
03. The Boy Who Cried Wolf 03:16
04. Walls 03:41
05. Setting Suns 04:17
06. And I Love Her 02:42
07. Someday 04:07
08. In the End 03:04
09. Thunder and Lightning 01:44
10. Lanterns 05:01
This spring, Afropop returned to Fes, Morocco, for the 23rd annual World Sacred Music Festival, a sumptuous spread of music from across the globe that blurs the boundaries of what is sacred. Interwoven with Morocco’s ornate history and fertile fabric of daily life is a mosaic of many musics: Gnawa, Arabic pop, Amazigh ahwach, classical Andalusian, Issaoua, raï, rap, chaabi, jazz, metal and so much more. At the World Sacred Music Festival, we heard many of these sounds, as well as those of international artists from China to Mali to Kuwait. Join us as we revisit these concerts—the late night music of Sufi brotherhoods, Moroccan fusion with Taziri and Inouraz, traditional Kuwaiti pearl diving music with Salman El Ammari, a stunning bit of Mali-Spain fusion with Toumani Diabate and Ketama, and more. Beyond the festival, we sit in with a respected Gnawa mâalem in Rabat and sample the array of tunes heard in cars, shops and CD stores around Fes.
| 0:00 | Taziri | Sahara | |
| 2:41 | Aymane Serhani | Krite L’Message | |
| 3:30 | Nizar Idil | — | |
| 5:36 | Fnaïre | Ngoul Mali | |
| 7:18 | Zina Daoudia | Waer Waer | |
| 9:11 | Fatiha Al-Arian | Andou Zine | |
| 9:35 | Asma Lmnawar | Andou Zine | |
| 10:36 | Unknown Artist (Sufi Music) | — | |
| 12:07 | Fatima Charii | Kol Lil Malihah | |
| 14:38 | Ensemble Slimani de Taza | — | |
| 17:19 | Mourad el Hachimi | — | |
| 19:15 | Izenzaren | Wa Zine | |
| 20:49 | Inouraz | Taddinga | |
| 22:35 | Ahmad Adaweya | Eilah Taihah | |
| 23:23 | Musicians of the Nile | — | |
| 24:59 | Songhai | Africa | |
| 27:07 | Songhai | Djamana Djana | |
| 28:16 | Songhai | Jarabi | |
| 32:39 | Mohamed Abdel Wahab | Ana Oual Azab | |
| 33:00 | Salman El Ammari | — | |
| 36:03 | Salman El Ammari | — | |
| 36:33 | Salman El Ammari | — | |
| 37:45 | Maalem Abdelkader Amlil | Boulila | |
| 41:04 | Maalem Abdelkader Amlil | Soudani Manayo | |
| 44:34 | Maalem Abdelkader Amlil | Hamdouchia | |
| 45:58 | Nass El Ghiwane | Mahmouna | |
| 49:08 | Taziri | La Femme Ideale | |
| 51:34 | Taziri | — | |
| 53:05 | Taziri | Rih Ljanoub | |
| 56:22 | Rahma el Berkaniya | Ellil Ellil O Hbibi Hdaya |
320 kbps | 311 MB | LINKS
Originally titled ‘The Best Seat In The House’, ‘In The Hot Seat’ is ELP’s ninth and final studio album. It was released in 1994 following their successful 1992 world tour comeback album ‘Black Moon’. The album comprises an interesting mixture of mainstream rock, classic ELP prog, melodic pop and finely crafted ballads. Among the well-produced ten tracks is the excellent ‘Hand of Truth’ and the deeply moving ‘Daddy’.
Expertly remastered for the first time by celebrated rock studio engineer Andy Pearce.
Tracklist:
01. Hand of Truth (2017 – Remaster) 05:24
02. Daddy (2017 – Remaster) 04:43
03. One by One (2017 – Remaster) 05:07
04. Heart On Ice (2017 – Remaster) 04:20
05. Thin Line (2017 – Remaster) 04:47
06. Man in the Long Black Coat (2017 – Remaster) 04:14
07. Change (2017 – Remaster) 04:44
08. Give Me a Reason to Stay (2017 – Remaster) 04:15
09. Gone Too Soon (2017 – Remaster) 04:13
10. Street War (2017 – Remaster) 04:25
11. Pictures At an Exhibition (i. Promenade ii. The Gnome i 15:30
12. A Time and a Place (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 – R 04:04
13. Piano Concerto No. 1: Third Movement (Live – Now Tour ‘ 04:48
14. From the Beginning (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 – R 04:14
15. Karn Evil 9: First Impression, Pt. 2 (Live – Now Tour ‘ 05:25
16. Tiger in a Spotlight (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 – 03:35
17. Hoedown (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 – Remaster) 04:55
18. Touch and Go (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 – Remaste 04:12
19. Knife-Edge (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 – Remaster) 06:13
20. Bitches Crystal (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 – Rema 04:30
21. Honky Tonk Train Blues (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 03:42
22. Take a Pebble (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 – Remast 07:09
23. Lucky Man (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98) (2017 – Remaster) 05:04
24. Fanfare for the Common Man / Blue Rondo a la Turk (Live 22:09
25. 21st Century Schizoid Man / America (Live – Now Tour ‘9 04:50
320 kbps | 109 MB | LINKS
Recorded live at Levon Helm Studios AKA The Barn in Woodstock, NY on August 19, 2016 (except for “Trouble In Mind”, recorded at Stone Mountain Arts Center, Brownfield, Maine).
CHRIS WOOD / Bass, Vocals, Harmonica
OLIVER WOOD / Guitar, Vocals
JANO RIX / Drums, Vocals, Shuitar, Percussion, Keyboards, Vocals
Tracklist:
01. Mary Anna 04:39
02. I Got Loaded 04:06
03. Tried and Tempted 04:34
04. Trouble in Mind 03:11
05. Who the Devil 05:03
06. Wastin’ My Mind 05:21
07. Postcards from Hell 07:54
08. Honey Jar 05:09
09. Ophelia 03:39
320 kbps | 102 MB | LINKS
Amber Cross has quite the rolodex. For her forthcoming album Savage on the Downhill, the northern California (by way of Maine) roots songwriter called upon several Americana luminaries to lend their hands to an already impressive collection of folk songs that recall storytellers like Woody Guthrie and Lucinda Williams. Appropriately, frequent Williams collaborator Gurf Morlix lends his songwriting duties, while living bluegrass legend Tim O’Brien contributes fiddle.
Canadian musician Ray Bonneville, whom Cross first met through attending the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, produced the album, his blues sensibilities and friendship with Morlix making him the perfect collaborator for the project.
“Ray Bonneville has a gritty blues sound to his work and as a producer he chose songs from my catalog in which he could mine that same vein,” Cross says. “Most songs he selected have a heavier, darker subject matter, which made Gurf Morlix an obvious choice. Ray and Gurf have colaborated on numerous projects together through many years of friendship. Having previously met Gurf I had a feel for his sound and respected his work before we were in the studio. The fact that Tim O’Brien fiddles on this album means a lot to me. I’ve been a fan of Tim’s since I first started playing music. I must have listened to his fiddling on ‘Storms of Scarcity’ a hundred times when he sent it over. I couldn’t be happier with the flavor he added.”
320 kbps | 101 MB | LINKS
“Sometimes I feel like I’m just 21 and I’ve barely begun loving you,” sings country traditionalist Joe Nichols in the bridge of “Never Gets Old,” the title track from his forthcoming album. The heartfelt ballad was shipped to radio a few days ago, and the album Never Gets Old will be released July 28th.
The starry-eyed sentiment of his romantic lullaby is familiar – we never tire of true love – but Nichols’ soothing baritone vocals effectively drive the poignant message home. After ticking off items only a lover continues to see with fresh eyes (laugh, arms, kiss), he reminds us, “Like sunshine and amazing grace / No, it never gets old.”
Like some of Trace Adkins’s recent work, the power in “Never Gets Old” lies not in what it does, but in the subtlety of omission. “Sometimes it’s better to be reserved and show that you can sit back and not pull all the stops out. So I think what makes this song unique is that it breathes,” says Nichols in a promotional video for the new album.
