Dec 26, 2007

Eight-X, (11)

Hello, after all that food and drink has found is way it's time to continue with Eight-X. This system still gives me some trouble recording vinyl so i reverted to CD. First in line are The Cult , who after some tentative starts recorded a classic with Love, it seems US fans largely missed that one and so get a chance to make amence. B.A.D. was Mick Jones ' answer to the Clash after leaving them, here's the first and as so often most fresh album, though B.A.D. would release some good work in years to follow. My last posting today is another former Clash member , Joe Strummer, who quite unexpectedly died shortly before X mas five years ago. The album here doesnt rank as his first official soloalbum, though to my mind it is, it maybe a soundtrack to a movie which takes pplace in 1850, way before electric guitars that is, but i think he did a great job with "Walker" , admittedly it helps if, like me, you enjoy some latin music.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

The Cult - Love ( 85 ^ 485mb)

The origins of the Cult lie in the Southern Death Cult, a goth rock outfit formed by vocalist Ian Astbury (born May 14, 1962) in 1981. In December 1982, the Southern Death Cult released their first single -- the double A-side "Moya"/"Fatman" -- and the following month, they supported Bauhaus on tour. Though the group's future was looking bright, Astbury pulled the plug. Following the disbandment of the Southern Death Cult, Astbury shortened the name of the group to Death Cult and recruited guitarist Billy Duffy -- who had previously played with Theatre of Hate -- and drummer Ray Mondo and bassist Jamie Stewart, who had previously played with Ritual. Death Cult released an eponymous EP in the summer of 1983.In early 1984, the band shed "Death" from the title, fearing that the word gave them the misleading appearance of being a goth band.

Where both Southern Death Cult and Death Cult had been overtly influenced by post-punk, the Cult was a heavy hard rock band with slight psychedelic flourishes. Dreamtime, the group's first album, was released in the fall of 1984. For the group's summer single, "She Sells Sanctuary," the band was joined by Big Country's drummer, Mark Brzezicki. "She Sells Sanctuary" became a major U.K. hit, peaking at number 15. During the recording of the group's second album, drummer Les Warner joined the group. Love, released in the fall of 1985, displayed a marked improvement over the Cult's early material, and though it remains underappreciated in America, this exceptional record has actually aged better than the band's more notorious releases: Electric and Sonic Temple. Equal parts psychedelic hard rock and new wave goth, the songs on Love emanate a bright guitar sheen, tight arrangements, crisp drumming, and a command performance from vocalist Ian Astbury. The album benefits from a wonderful sense of space, thanks in large part to guitarist Billy Duffy, who also provides compelling melodies , driving riffs , and even a U2-like intro to "Big Neon Glitter." On top of all that it contains two great singles "She Sells Sanctuary" and the smash "Rain". Considering the musical schizophrenia that would plague each subsequent Cult release, Love just may be the band's best moment.



01 - Nirvana (5:29)
02 - The Big Neon Glitter (4:53)
03 - Love (5:32)
04 - Little Face (4:57)
05 - Brother Wolf Sister Moon (6:49)
06 - Rain (3:58)
07 - The Phoenix (5:06)
08 - The Hollow Man (4:44)
09 - Revolution (5:25)
10 - She Sells Sanctuary (4:19)
11 - Judith (5:29)
12 - Black Angel (5:25)
---Xs
13 - She Sells Sanctuary (The Howling Mix) (8:19)


***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Big Audio Dynamite - This Is (85 ^ 292mb)

After Mick Jones was fired from the Clash in 1983, he formed Big Audio Dynamite (B.A.D.) one year later to continue the more experimental funk elements of the Clash's Combat Rock. The group's original incarnation included Jones, video artist and Clash associate Don Letts (effects and vocals), Greg Roberts (drums), Dan Donovan (keyboards), and Leo "E-Zee Kill" Williams (bass). Adding samplers, dance tracks, and found sounds to Jones' concise pop songwriting, B.A.D. debuted on record with the single "The Bottom Line" in September 1985 and the album This Is Big Audio Dynamite later that year.

When it arrived in late 1986, Big Audio Dynamite's second album, No. 10, Upping St., boasted co-production and co-writing from Joe Strummer, Jones' former bandmate in the Clash. It was a much better fusion of contemporary production techniques . After a two-year break, the band returned with a less free-form work, Tighten Up, Vol. 88, but righted the ship with 1989's Megatop Phoenix, their biggest performer in America (thanks to the singles "Contact" and "James Brown").

After Megatop Phoenix, the band split apart at the end of 1989. Jones quickly added Gary Stonadge (bass/vocals), Chris Kavanagh (drums/vocals), and Nick Hawkins (guitar/vocals) to form Big Audio Dynamite II, the first full-length album with the new lineup, in 1991, B.A.D. II experienced their greatest success yet with the American Top 40 hit "Rush." In 1994, Jones truncated the band's name to Big Audio and released Higher Power. Thereafter, Big Audio parted ways with Epic, signing with Radioactive in early 1995 and releasing F-Punk.That conglomeration also split shortly afterward, Jones is these days mostly appearing in the production chair .



01 - Medicine Show (6:29)
02 - Sony (4:30)
03 - E=MC2 (5:54)
04 - The Bottom Line (4:35)
05 - A Party (6:40)
06 - Sudden Impact! (5:03)
07 - Stone Thames (4:05)
08 - BAD (5:54)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Joe Strummer - Walker (87 ^ 248mb)

As frontman and main songwriter of the Clash, Joe Strummer created some of the fieriest, most vital punk rock -- and, indeed, rock & roll -- of all time. Since the Clash disbanded in 1986, Strummer has sporadically pursued film acting and released the occasional solo album, though seemingly only when it suits him. Joe Strummer was born John Graham Mellor. During his time at London boarding schools, the teenage Strummer immersed himself in rock and reggae, and began busking on the streets under his newly adopted stage name. In 1974, he formed the pub rock group the 101'ers, and co-founded the Clash in 1976; the rest was history. Six albums, and one frequently brilliant body of work later, the Clash broke up amidst rancorous infighting and uncertainty of direction.

Joe Strummer had become friendly with filmmaker Alex Cox when Strummer contributed some songs to the soundtrack of Cox's movie Sid and Nancy, and Joe later tagged along for the drunken holiday in Spain that was Straight to Hell. In 1987, when Cox began filming his ambitious film about the life of American mercenary William Walker, he brought Strummer along to play a small role in the film and compose the score. Strummer's music turned out to be just as ambitious as the film itself; Walker bears almost no resemblance to Strummer's work with the Clash, instead aiming for a airy fusion of several Latin musical styles . Strummer only sings on three cuts ("The Unknown Immortal," "Tennessee Rain," and "Tropic of No Return," which sound more like Mexican folk tunes than anything else), and while more than a few fans will wonder what Joe was thinking when he recorded this stuff, Strummer obviously took his assignment seriously and rather than forcing a period piece set in 1850 to bend to the force of his music, he pulled back the reigns on his rock influences and fashioned a series of simple but evocative pieces that conjure up the mystery and beauty of Nicaragua with commendable sense of dynamics and grace. In short, Strummer could have become a first-rate film composer if he'd stuck with it, and while Walker is something of an anomaly in his discography, it's also a lovely and engaging set of music.

Strummer also wrote five songs for the soundtrack of 1988's Permanent Record. In 1989, he released his first solo album, Earthquake Weather, which blended straight-up rock & roll with touches of world music. However, following a temporary stint filling in for Shane MacGowan in the Pogues, Strummer largely fell silent after the very early '90s. In 1999, Strummer released his second solo album, Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, which largely forsook straight-ahead rock & roll in favor of eclectic, rhythmic, world music flavored compositions, plus elaborate singer/songwriter-ish lyrics. Strummer further refined this new direction with the follow-up, 2001's Global A-Go-Go. In December 2002, he was in the midst of recording his fourth solo album when he died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Somerset.



01 - Filibustero (3:57)
02 - Omotepe (3:46)
03 - Sandstorm (1:56)
04 - Machete (3:04)
05 - Viperland (2:40)
06 - Nica Libre (3:45)
07 - Latin Romance (3:52)
08 - The Unknown Immortal (3:45)
09 - Musket Waltz (2:38)
10 - The Brooding Side Of Madness (3:02)
11 - Tennessee Rain (2:54)
12 - Smash Everything (3:21)
13 - Tropic Of No Return (3:09)
14 - Tropic Of Pico (4:26)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho

please! shared

Renegade Soundwave Nr1 and Nr21

thanks

Aboriginal

Anonymous said...

I bought Love on cassette back in the day--still own it as a matter of fact--and have yet to replace it...until NOW! Thanks so much for the upgraded rip! Can't wait to blast this in my car tomorrow apres work! It's a toss up between this and Electric as their best, but both are quite different.

Rob
Atlanta, Georgia

Rho said...

Hello Aboriginal, if you'd checked the comments section for an alternative link for R SW 1 and 21 you'd seen this



http://massmirror.com/1e15d6c6a283ed3148d66134dff4a81b.html

Odd, some people have this problem with those tracks but certainly a minority.


Hi Rob, well if you're used to the sound of an eighties cassette tape , i guess you better watch the speedo now, when playing Love .

best of luck,

Rho

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho
thanks for the link
?? i have http 404 error ??
http://massmirror.com/1e15d6c6a283ed3148d66134dff4a81b
file not found

sorry

Aboriginal

Inertia from Oz said...

Hi Rho.

Just wondering if, by any chance you could upload 'This is Big Audio Dynamite' in Flac??
It's a great album but I only have a crappy cassette version.

Cheers in advance.

Inertia from Oz