Ernst Busch – Aurora-Schallplatten Rote Reihe 7 – Hanns Eisler zum 75. Geburtstag (vinyl rip)

This year saw the 110th birthday of Ernst Busch, the great German antifascist singer and actor.

Busch first rose to prominence as an interpreter of political songs, particularly those of Kurt Tucholsky, in the Berlin cabaret scene of the 1920s. He starred in the original 1928 production of Bertolt Brecht’s “Threepenny Opera”, as well as the subsequent 1931 film by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. He also appeared in the movie “Kuhle Wampe”.

A lifelong Communist, Busch fled Nazi Germany in 1933 with the Gestapo on his heels, eventually settling in the Soviet Union. In 1937 he joined the International Brigades to fight against Fascism in Spain. His wartime songs were then recorded and broadcasted by Radio Barcelona and Radio Madrid. After the Spanish Republic fell to General Franco, Busch migrated to Belgium where he was interned during the German occupation and later imprisoned in Camp Gurs, France and Berlin. Freed by the Soviet Army in 1945, he settled in East Berlin where he worked with Bertold Brecht and Erwin Piscator at the “Berliner Ensemble”. A beloved figure in the German Democratic Republic, he is best remembered for his performance in the title role of Brecht’s “Galileo” and his stirring recordings of workers songs, including many written by Hanns Eisler. He also made a memorable and haunting recording of Peat Bog Soldiers.

We celebrate his birthday with a vinyl rip of an original “Aurora-Schallplatte” honouring Hanns Eislers 75th birthday in the year 1973. This EP is a part of Ernst Busch´s recordings on the “Aurora” label between 1964 and 1974. It is a part of Busch´s great “Chronicle of the first half of the 20st century in songs and ballads”.

Ernst Busch – Aurora Schallplatte Rote Reihe 7 – Hanns Eisler
(vinyl rip, 256 kbps, front cover included)

Ernst Busch – Aurora-Schallplatten Rote Reihe 7 – Hanns Eisler zum 75. Geburtstag (vinyl rip)

This year saw the 110th birthday of Ernst Busch, the great German antifascist singer and actor.

Busch first rose to prominence as an interpreter of political songs, particularly those of Kurt Tucholsky, in the Berlin cabaret scene of the 1920s. He starred in the original 1928 production of Bertolt Brecht’s “Threepenny Opera”, as well as the subsequent 1931 film by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. He also appeared in the movie “Kuhle Wampe”.

A lifelong Communist, Busch fled Nazi Germany in 1933 with the Gestapo on his heels, eventually settling in the Soviet Union. In 1937 he joined the International Brigades to fight against Fascism in Spain. His wartime songs were then recorded and broadcasted by Radio Barcelona and Radio Madrid. After the Spanish Republic fell to General Franco, Busch migrated to Belgium where he was interned during the German occupation and later imprisoned in Camp Gurs, France and Berlin. Freed by the Soviet Army in 1945, he settled in East Berlin where he worked with Bertold Brecht and Erwin Piscator at the “Berliner Ensemble”. A beloved figure in the German Democratic Republic, he is best remembered for his performance in the title role of Brecht’s “Galileo” and his stirring recordings of workers songs, including many written by Hanns Eisler. He also made a memorable and haunting recording of Peat Bog Soldiers.

We celebrate his birthday with a vinyl rip of an original “Aurora-Schallplatte” honouring Hanns Eislers 75th birthday in the year 1973. This EP is a part of Ernst Busch´s recordings on the “Aurora” label between 1964 and 1974. It is a part of Busch´s great “Chronicle of the first half of the 20st century in songs and ballads”.

Ernst Busch – Aurora Schallplatte Rote Reihe 7 – Hanns Eisler
(vinyl rip, 256 kbps, front cover included)

Buffy Sainte-Marie – Little Wheel Spin and Spin (1966)

Buffy Sainte-Marie took some tentative steps toward a more contemporary sound here, with contributions from supporting musicians such as Bruce Langhorne, Patrick Sky, Eric Weissberg, and Felix Pappalardi, all of whom were noted New York folk and folk-rock players.

It’s an interesting collection of songs, not among either her best or worst work, including some covers of traditional ballads amidst a mostly original program. It was one of those originals, “My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying,” that caught the most attention and remains her most protest-oriented composition.

No link.

Buffy Sainte-Marie – Little Wheel Spin and Spin (1966)

Buffy Sainte-Marie took some tentative steps toward a more contemporary sound here, with contributions from supporting musicians such as Bruce Langhorne, Patrick Sky, Eric Weissberg, and Felix Pappalardi, all of whom were noted New York folk and folk-rock players.

It’s an interesting collection of songs, not among either her best or worst work, including some covers of traditional ballads amidst a mostly original program. It was one of those originals, “My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying,” that caught the most attention and remains her most protest-oriented composition.

No link.

Art Bears – The World As It Is Today (1981)

Art Bears were a warm and wonderful avant-garde band consisting of Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, and vocalist extraordinaire Dagmar Krause. Frith and Cutler were longtime members of the seminal English radical political avant-garde art rock band Henry Cow, while Krause sang primarily with the fine German band Slapp Happy and in Henry Cow’s latter years. The Art Bears were intended as a short-term project, but, even so, their three-year existence resulted in three excellent albums that relied more on shorter, more traditional, almost pop-oriented song forms than huge, complex musical and lyrical extrapolations. The political tinge of the Henry Cow years never went away, and it was unsurprising that Marxist rhetoric and anti-capitalist diatribes formed much of band’s lyrical firmament.

If you thought Henry Cow was a pretty political band to start with, you may be even more taken aback by the Art Bears, which was put together following Henry Cow’s demise by former Cows Chris Cutler (percussion), Fred Frith (guitar, violin), and Dagmar Krause (voice).

On “The World As It Is Today” and its predecessor, “Winter Songs”, the Art Bears move away from the long-form art rock of Henry Cow and get much, much more politically explicit: song titles like “The Song of the Dignity of Labour Under Capital” and “The Song of Investment Capital Overseas” almost soundlike Monty Python gags today, but if any humor was intended it was clearly meant to be mordant.

Frankly, the lyrics are so overwrought and portentous that it’s hard to take them seriously. But the music is something else again. Cutler and Frith are natural collaborators; Cutler’s drumming always rides a very fine line between the scattershot and the funky, while Frith bounces his horror-show guitar noise and carnival piano off of Cutler’s grooves with manic abandon and fearsome inventiveness. And Krause’s singing is just as inventive; she whoops, croons and screams her way through the density of Cutler’s lyrics without a hesitation or misstep. Easy listening it isn’t, but it’s sure worth hearing. Frith fans, in particular, should consider this album a must-own.

No link.

Malaria! – Emotion (1982, vinyl rip)

Malaria was a great postwave band from berlin, founded by five German women, making music together from 1981-1983.

“In the depths of January 1981, BETTINA KOESTER and GUDRUN GUT stepped from the smoldering ashes of their previous band MANIA D shouldering the yoke of a feverish new project they called MALARIA!. And with the release of the maxi EP “Malaria!” in April that year, the fever spread. The band filled out to include MANON P. DUURSMA, NL (“O.U.T.” an early Nina Hagen project), CHRISTINE HAHN, USA (Static, Glen Branca) and SUSANNE KUHNKE, BRD (Die Haut) absorbing their diverse backgrounds and personalities and grew. A first European tour followed during which they appeared on a John Peel session for the BBC and later recorded the single “How do you like my new dog?” for the Belgium label Les Disques du Crepuscule. Malaria toured the US next appearing with The Birthday Party, John Cale, and one unforgettable gig together with Nina Hagen in New York’s infamous Studio 54 night club. This tour was the first that promoted New German Music in the United States. Meanwhile Malaria recorded the 12″ “New York Passage (Your turn to run)” for Cachalot records which went on to reach the independent top 10 in the U.S. as well as in Europe. During another tour of Europe the band gave birth to “White Water” a 12″ long player including “Kaltes Klares Wasser” which went on to become an Indi-classic. In 1982 Malaria released to critical acclaim their first album, “Emotion”. It was licensed to Nippon Columbia in Japan and the video “Geld/Money” (directed by B.Buehler and D.Hormel) won prizes for its innovative editing style. Tours of England, France, Benelux, Italy and Scandinavia followed.” (from: http://www.myspace.com/malariaberlin)

Tracklisting:

A1. Geld – Money (4:00)
A2. Leidenschaft – Passion (3:55)
A3. Eifersucht – Jealousy (3:09)
A4. Einsam – Lonesome (2:55)
A5. Macht – Power (3:30)

B1. Tod – Death (3:55)
B2. Mensch (2:40)
B3. Slave (3:33)
B4. Traum – Dream (3:55)
B5. Gewissen (3:10)

No link.

Malaria! – Emotion (1982, vinyl rip)

Malaria was a great postwave band from berlin, founded by five German women, making music together from 1981-1983.

“In the depths of January 1981, BETTINA KOESTER and GUDRUN GUT stepped from the smoldering ashes of their previous band MANIA D shouldering the yoke of a feverish new project they called MALARIA!. And with the release of the maxi EP “Malaria!” in April that year, the fever spread. The band filled out to include MANON P. DUURSMA, NL (“O.U.T.” an early Nina Hagen project), CHRISTINE HAHN, USA (Static, Glen Branca) and SUSANNE KUHNKE, BRD (Die Haut) absorbing their diverse backgrounds and personalities and grew. A first European tour followed during which they appeared on a John Peel session for the BBC and later recorded the single “How do you like my new dog?” for the Belgium label Les Disques du Crepuscule. Malaria toured the US next appearing with The Birthday Party, John Cale, and one unforgettable gig together with Nina Hagen in New York’s infamous Studio 54 night club. This tour was the first that promoted New German Music in the United States. Meanwhile Malaria recorded the 12″ “New York Passage (Your turn to run)” for Cachalot records which went on to reach the independent top 10 in the U.S. as well as in Europe. During another tour of Europe the band gave birth to “White Water” a 12″ long player including “Kaltes Klares Wasser” which went on to become an Indi-classic. In 1982 Malaria released to critical acclaim their first album, “Emotion”. It was licensed to Nippon Columbia in Japan and the video “Geld/Money” (directed by B.Buehler and D.Hormel) won prizes for its innovative editing style. Tours of England, France, Benelux, Italy and Scandinavia followed.” (from: http://www.myspace.com/malariaberlin)

Tracklisting:

A1. Geld – Money (4:00)
A2. Leidenschaft – Passion (3:55)
A3. Eifersucht – Jealousy (3:09)
A4. Einsam – Lonesome (2:55)
A5. Macht – Power (3:30)

B1. Tod – Death (3:55)
B2. Mensch (2:40)
B3. Slave (3:33)
B4. Traum – Dream (3:55)
B5. Gewissen (3:10)

No link.

Buffy Sainte-Marie – Many A Mile (1965)

Buffy Sainte-Marie has enjoyed a long career that has seen her rise to stardom on the folk circuit and try her hand at country, rock, soundtrack themes, acting, activism, and children’s television. For most listeners, she remains identified with the material she wrote and sang for Vanguard in the mid-’60s. Her songs that addressed the plight of the Native American, particularly “Now That the Buffalo’s Gone” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying,” were the ones that generated the most controversy. Yet she was also skilled at addressing broader themes of war and justice (“Universal Soldier”) and romance (“Until It’s Time for You to Go”). She was also a capable interpreter of outside material, although her idiosyncratic vibrato made large-scale commercial success out of the question.

Sainte-Marie’s second LP was most notable for the original version of her most famous composition, “Until It’s Time for You to Go,” which is her most melodic and memorable track. The rest of the album is more traditional and rough-hewn than some would expect, including a ballad with a “Greensleeves”-like melody (“Must I Go Round”), the Bukka White blues “Fixin’ to Die,” the oft-done ballad “Lazarus,” an Irish-American murder ballad, and a traditional tune accompanied only by mouthbow (“Groundhog”). Of more interest are Sainte-Marie’s own compositions, including “Los Pescadores” (which has some of her most uncompromising vibrato) and “Welcome Welcome Emigrante.”

No link.

Buffy Sainte-Marie – Many A Mile (1965)

Buffy Sainte-Marie has enjoyed a long career that has seen her rise to stardom on the folk circuit and try her hand at country, rock, soundtrack themes, acting, activism, and children’s television. For most listeners, she remains identified with the material she wrote and sang for Vanguard in the mid-’60s. Her songs that addressed the plight of the Native American, particularly “Now That the Buffalo’s Gone” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying,” were the ones that generated the most controversy. Yet she was also skilled at addressing broader themes of war and justice (“Universal Soldier”) and romance (“Until It’s Time for You to Go”). She was also a capable interpreter of outside material, although her idiosyncratic vibrato made large-scale commercial success out of the question.

Sainte-Marie’s second LP was most notable for the original version of her most famous composition, “Until It’s Time for You to Go,” which is her most melodic and memorable track. The rest of the album is more traditional and rough-hewn than some would expect, including a ballad with a “Greensleeves”-like melody (“Must I Go Round”), the Bukka White blues “Fixin’ to Die,” the oft-done ballad “Lazarus,” an Irish-American murder ballad, and a traditional tune accompanied only by mouthbow (“Groundhog”). Of more interest are Sainte-Marie’s own compositions, including “Los Pescadores” (which has some of her most uncompromising vibrato) and “Welcome Welcome Emigrante.”

No link.

B. B. Seaton – Revolutionary Dub (1976)

B. B. Seaton is also known as Harris B.B. Seaton, Harris Lloyd Seaton, Horace Seaton.
He´s a singer with a soulful voice, a qualified musician, producer and one of the most prolific song writers in the history of Jamaican music. He had his first big hit in Jamaica when teaming up with Delano Stewart and Maurice Roberts to form “The Gaylads”.

Tracklist:

Tribal Dub
Riot In Soweto
March Back To Africa
Havana (Fidel’s) Dub
Forward To The Battle Dub
Revolutionary Dub
Emporor’s Theme
Nationalist Dub
Dread In Johannesburg
Liberation Dub

B. B. Seaton – Revolutionary Dub (1976)
(192 kbps, cover art included)