Istanbul

Hello friends.
I am leaving for Turkey today to continue my studies.
Will update with sights and sounds and stories of Istanbul.

The Apples in Stereo - Fun Trick Noisemaker (1995)

http://www.mediafire.com/?xudtkz2mttj

Main Source - Breaking Atoms (1991)

old school hiphop beats

1888 Detroit Wolverines

I am looking for a few cards.

Sun City Girls - Torch of the Mystics (1990)

Set my Torch on Fire

Nina Simone - Verve Jazz Essentials Vol. 2

Black Mother of Beauty

Jorge Ben - s/t (1969)

http://www.mediafire.com/?3znwnmmhnj5

Smith Westerns - s/t (2009)

Por mi hermano en el oeste. They sound like the Bleech Boys.

http://www.mediafire.com/?w0toujmvl3d

Kid Creole: Going Places: The August Darnell Years (1974-1983)

"a virtually unclassifiable mixture of vintage and modern sounds that melded disco, funk, soul, new wave, big band, early '60s girl groups, Tin Pan Alley, show tunes, and nearly the entire Latin music spectrum -- must have been conceived on another (much better) planet..." - AMG
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SVAFRPI0

Baba Zula - Duble Oryantal (2005)

Try it here and have a Belly Double. A brief description here. Produced with Mad Professor, a fusion of Turkish reggae, folk and dub.

http://www.myspace.com/babazula

V/A - Legends of Benin

Laid back funky grooving time for horns get down get down with the drums and shake your guitar.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zn2mzz5j5mt

or

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Y72DT5XU

Sunnymornin

I fell asleep listening to Dutch radio last night and discovered there is magical music coming from les Espoirs de Coronthie. They are taking over Guinea and soon they will take over the world. Hymns of rhythm, passion and voice, mixing balafon, kora, djembé, bolon and gongoma into groovy bliss.

http://www.myspace.com/espoirscoronthie

J Dilla - Jay Stay Paid (2009)

Unreleased Jay Dee, mixed by Pete Rock.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R7FHCT4B

Feuersturm

I'm going to post more music eventually but also try to write more here and there.

I am reading a phenomenal book called Fire and Fury which is about the largely untold Allied bombing of Germany during WW2. There are hundreds of entertaining moments: portraits of charismatic madmen (Harris, Göring), intriguing and horrifying details about political and strategic tactics, and the gruesome experiences of pilots and civilians. Essentially, a few powerful men (Portal and Harris) decided that night-bombing of residential and cultural sites with heavy explosives and incendiaries would win the war. The Americans preferred strategic day-time bombing of specific industrial targets, and figured the Nazis were so heavily indoctrinated that bombing civilians would only intensify their war production. While both contributed to Germany's defeat, the war could have ended sooner had the Allies coordinated their bombing campaigns to defeat the military-industrial complex. While German citizens were boiled alive in canals from the firestorms, they became united, just as the Brits were during the Blitz, by the indiscriminate nature of civilian bombing. One sentence in particular struck me: "In one of the war's ironies, British angels were prepared to go where German devils feared to tread."

For example, one incredible story is when both Britain and Germany were developing radar (and radar-jamming) at exactly the same time. The Brits knew that a technique called Window (dropping metal strips from the planes in a coordinated manner by planes flying in single file) would allow a surprise attack knowing it would cause havoc for German radar. However, they feared using this tactic, as the Germans would retaliate. Nevertheless, a reluctant Churchill approved this strategy. In an incredible twist of fate, the Germans had developed similar technology, but their air commander had all the research destroyed, fearing it would lead to mutually assured destruction. A few weeks later, the firebombing of Hamburg (codenamed Operation Gomorrah) was a stunning success.

Ragavan

I turned on the computer, sat down on my uncomfortable chair, and felt two sensations: crotch chafing and coffee gut. I looked around my surroundings. They did not have a desk or computer for me, so I am sitting in Ragavan’s cubicle, or, as I prefer, Raga’s cube, which sounds mystic and magical. It is clear that he treasures his two young children and their horrific artwork, which consists of a mixed race dinosaur (really more of a dino-bird-rat), other unidentifiable creatures, and some sort of depressed kite with a single coloured string stapled to its face. In truth, Ragavan is a dashing young man with an attractive wife. The picture above could be any Ragavan, any children. There is the man, and there is the legend.

There are other little trinkets and mysteries here. Miniature plastic Asian dolls, a large box of salt, a bag of instant honeyed ginger drink, and a note which states: Hope you like our muffins?? Ragamuffin = Peanut butter + jam. Sitting at Ragavan’s desk makes me squirm a little. There are ten pairs of shoes under the desk (fungus?) and a big tub of Vaseline – more fungus? I can’t reveal to you where I am employed; that information is classified. Let’s just say I work in the civil service.

Dead Can Dance - A Passage in Time (1991)

How to describe Dead Can Dance? It's like medieval folk music with haunting, hypnotic chants and ambient noises. On occasion you will hear the bass guitar and drums, but more often there are weird string instruments and trippy harmonies. Sometimes Gerrard's Gregorian-like vocals are a bit overwhelming but she is quite soothing once you get into it. The only negative is that when Perry sings he kinda freaks me out, and the songs are not sequenced well... but they are powerful. They could have used their gorgeous instruments and written pop songs, but they didn't. It is beautiful because I have nothing that sounds so elegant, foreign and ancient. 4AD really had it going on with DCD and the Cocteau Twins. A really bizarre but intriguing album from my collection.

Part1
Part2

Rokia Traoré - Bowmboï (2003)

Plays with the harmonies of the balafon (lute) and n'goni (crazy xylophone-like thingy), groovy kora and calabash percussion, powerful beautiful voice... this is compelling music.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zmmdzlgkymz

Oumou Sangaré - Seya (2009)

Hopefully when I go to the festival in the desert, Oumou will be there.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ztokemf3omi

Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance (1978)

http://www.mediafire.com/?wnhi1iylnmy

Pere Ubu - Terminal Tower (1975-1980)

http://www.mediafire.com/?qni2nwtjq3g