the of mirror eye

* James Brown: Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag/I Got You (0.5 mb) | I Got The (1.5 mb) | Sex Machine (Reprise) (7.0 mb) | Band Intros (3.0 mb) | It’s A Man’s World (4.0 mb) | Please, Please, Please (2.5 mb) | Super Bad (6.5 mb) | Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved (12.0 mb)
From Get On Up : Oct 14th, 1969 : Cincinnati, Ohio

As promised, here’s the second part of this magnificent concert. Enjoy!

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* James Brown: Intro (1.0 mb) | Brother Rapp (4.0 mb) | Ain’t It Funky Now (6.5 mb) | Georgia On My Mind (7.5 mb) | Stomp On Your Feet (4.0 mb) | I Need Your Love So Bad (5.5 mb) | Sex Machine (10.0 mb) | Try Me (3.0 mb)
From Get On Up : Oct 14th, 1969 : Cincinnati, Ohio

Mr. James Brown, may you rest in peace (12/25/2006).

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This is part one of this amazing concert. Friday will be part two.

* Sufjan Stevens: Amazing Grace (5.5 mb) | Only At Christmas Time (3.0 mb) | Come On! Let’s Boogey To The Elf Dance! (6.0 mb) | Little Drummer Boy (5.0 mb) | Get Behind Me, Santa! (6.0 mb)
From Songs For Christmas : Asthmatic Kitty Records : AKR028

Well, it’s that time of the year again. Sometimes I feel like a total scrooge when it comes to the holidays, but c’mon, I feel like I’m totally justified here, with the lights, the fakey good cheer and that ubiquitous (and likewise horrible) muzak christmas music piped everywhere.

Well, Mr. Sufjan Stevens has given me a little something to look forward to this year, with honest-to-goodness, actual, good Christmas music. If you haven’t heard of this fellow by now, then I’m not really sure what to tell you. Sufjan Stevens who, a number of years ago embarked on an ambitious 50-state recording project, blew up with his second release, Illinois, and hasn’t looked back since. He somehow managed to pull everyone into his corner with his infectious blend of witty lyrics and intelligently done pop music. But even before that, he was exploring other thematic musics such as his series of Christmas EPs, starting in 2001.

Having an inherent aversion to the standard Christmas carol, Sufjan indulged in the project initially as an exercise to make himself “appreciate” Christmas more. It was a tough childhood, but you can’t be a Christmas Curmudgeon forever, can you? What he discovered, for better or for worse, was a fascinating canon of Yuletide hits, some emotionally rewarding, some painfully cliché. Jingle Bells. Silent Night. We Three Kings. The whole nine yards. The musical undertaking led Sufjan (and his coterie of friends) to reckon with a holiday that celebrates, above all things, the spirit of excess–Santa Claus, popcorn balls, mistletoe, and Kmart blue light specials, to name a few. What does it all add up to? A headache, a hangover, and sentimental ruminations of Baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and all those animals in the manger. Is there any other holiday that so seamlessly mixes the sacred and the profane? (Asthmatic Kitty site)

I was, when I first heard of the project, a little leary of the concept. I just couldn’t get my head around the idea of “good” Christmas music. But Mr. Stevens has definitely opened up my eyes. With a great mix of traditional and self-penned songs, Sufjan has really given us something to be happy about. This release is a collection of all the previous Christmas EPs along with a new one, 5 EPs in total.
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If you haven’t checked out The Eye on Brainwashed, then you’re really missing out. The staff at Brainwashed have managed to produce a slew of 30 minute interview/live sessions with some of my favorite bands. With everyone from Akron/Family, to Comets On Fire, to The New Year, they’ve got some fabulous bases covered.

* The Goslings: Croatan (9.5 mb) | Golden Stair (12.0 mb)
From Grandeur Of Hair : Archive Recordings : archive 23

One of my favorite labels of late has been Archive Recordings. Archive specializes in beautifully pakaged limited run psychedelic/doom metal/noise releases. With a roster including everyone from Keiji Haino, to Sunn0))), to Bardo Pond, Archive releases run the gamut of outsider music.

So, I decided to take a chance on this band, The Goslings, when Grandeur Of Hair popped up on the Archive site. And whoo-doggy am I impressed. Apparently, The Goslings are Max and Leslie Soren (I’m not sure if that’s brother/sister or husband/wife), along with a rotating cast, putting out some of the fiercest noise pop out there. The album is filled with super over-loaded, reverb/echo drenched instruments, with some nice vocals floating on top of it all.

This may be the new definition of splendid skronk heaviness. It doesn’t hurt that they went analog for the recording — the tracks were recorded in 2005 on 1/2″ tape, perfect for a band driven by large, reverberating avalanches of fuzzed-out drone and feedback — or that James Plotkin mastered it; this is one of the densest, heaviest, and loudest drone-rock albums I’ve ever heard. Max and Leslie Soren remain at the core of the band’s sound, with her droning, wispy voice buried under piles of slo-mo bass heaviness and shrieking guitar feedback, but this time around they have some guests (three different drummers and Does guitarist Neddal Ayad on two of the album’s heaviest tracks, “sanibel” and “haruspex”), which adds some interesting layers and textures (not to mention an actual beat, even though it’s frequently obscured) to the swirling sonic chaos. (The One True Dead Angel)

I haven’t had too much time to listen to this album yet, but I’ll tell ya, there’s something nice going on under all that sonic fuzz. And I’m excited to delve into the depths of these songs.

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* Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO: Pink Lady Lemonade (40.0 mb)
From Power House Of Holy : Acid Mothers Temple : AMTCD-019

Since I’m absolutely fried from taking my second to last final today (three down, one to go!), I decided to post the second part to this barn-burner of a disc (which I believe is limited edition, so hopefully I’m not too evil for posting the whole thing). Of the many, many Acid Mothers Temple releases that I own, this is definitely in the top 5. These two songs encapsulate almost everything that I love about this band.

Pink Lady Lemonade is a song that they’ve been working on for a long time, and they’ve played a version of this everytime I’ve seen them live. Since it’s been a live staple for so long, it’s gone through a bunch of different variations, encompassing everything from hour long noise versions to this relatively concise, more melodic, 24 minute version played live in Gloucester.

But seriously folks, if you can’t tell by now (this being my sixth or so post on this band), the Acid Mothers Temple and all their incarnations are absolutely amazing. This is the kind of music that gets me through life, and you should all support them by buying their releases or seeing them live.
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* Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO: Dark Star Of The Dazzling Sky (Aka Dark Star Blues) (26.0 mb)
From Power House Of Holy : Acid Mothers Temple : AMTCD-019

Whew! After what seems like forever, I finally coughed up the ridiculous start-up fees and got some internet hooked back up. This has also been the longest I’ve gone without posting since I first started this blog. While I’ll definitely admit that it was nice to have a little break, I’m pretty psyched to start posting again (you can look forward to some posts about cult/psych band Ya Ho Wha 13).

And as a start-back-up celebration, I’ve got this gem of a hard psych Acid Mothers Temple song. They introduced this song, and have been playing it live a number of years or so (I ‘m not sure how many years, though). This version, played live at Spaceland in Los Angeles, absolutely blows me out of the water. I’ve listened to this song countless times and never tire of hearing it.

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