Ennio Morricone - Duck You Sucker! [A Fistful of Dynamite] (1971)

Again, this picture isn't mine - I plan to be getting a real camera when I get back to the States over Christmas. They're a bit cheaper there. But to get to Ennio Morricone, he was born in Rome in 1928, and is apparently the most famous movie composer EVER, having scored over 500 films in a whole bunch of different styles. He is most famous for the western movies that he did, Duck You Sucker (Giu' La Testa in Italian) is one of those films, amongst others like The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Duck You Sucker was also directed by Sergio Leone, who he worked with quite a bit and did some of his most successful work for. In fact, it marks the beginning of Morricone's relationship with Leone. I enjoy the soundtrack quite a bit, too, though I haven't actually seen the movie. There are some clips on youtube that make it look especially awesome, though. For example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49z2lDvelQQ, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVS6NQr0YP8&NR=1. It looks like there's some comedic and nonsensical elements to the soundtrack as well as some more atmospheric prettyness, and the two go together to provide a nice hybrid.

I just downloaded the movie. Hopefully that will put it in context.

UPDATE: I just saw the movie, and oh my goodness. The hilarity content of the soundtrack will have to be revised and increased. It's pretty funny, especially at the beginning of the movie where Juan meets Sean, and Ennio Morricone's song bursts in with "Shon Shon". I'm not sure if that was intentional, IMDB said it was pure coincidence, but I'm not sure if I trust that, or if I want to. It was so beautiful. Especially because of the scene that was playing when it appeared. But man oh man, the movie was so good. I highly recommend it. The ending was so much more satisfying than Nick Cave's "The Proposition"*, which I saw just a couple of nights ago and still garners the status of western even though it takes place in Australia. The epic ending of "Duck, You Sucker!" didn't detract from the film at all, whereas Nick Cave's silent and open ended "WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN!!?" ending has become typical and, it seems, something of a cop-out from a more imaginative ending. What I guess I'm saying is: fuck post-modern film. It's all about cheesy westerns and doing away with certain main characters. And it's also all about this soundtrack, which you should download.

*Disclaimer: I still love Nick Cave.

Side One

1. Duck, You Sucker (Main Theme)

2. Love

3. Green Table

4. March of the Beggars

5. The Dead Sons

6. Addio

7. Jokes on the Side

Side Two

8. Duck, You Sucker (Main Title)

9. Inventions for John

10. Counter Revolution

11. After the Explosion

Ennio Morricone - Duck You Sucker! [A Fistful of Dynamite] (1971) 320kbps

DB #72 - Squares Blot Out The Sun (1990)

This is a compilation from DB Records that, according to allmusic, was scheduled for release in 1984, but didn't make it out until 1990. It features a bunch of bands from the Athens and Atlanta Georgia scene of the late 70's and all of the 80's. Some of the bands sound uncomfortably close to the B-52's. Or it's uncomfortable for me, at least. But it makes sense, because the B-52's were originally released on DB Records (or if not DB, a company by the same owner). I'm not sure if the record company is still active.

The stuff that doesn't sound like the B-52's is mostly really good - The Fans, The Brains, Pylon. It's pretty much just some solid new wave and 80's punk from the hometown of REM and, I don't know...The Allman Brothers? Definitely worth listening to. I particularly liked The Fans, Tim Lee, the Brains, and the Swimming Pool Q's.

Side One:

1. Pylon - Cool (1980)

2. The Fans - True (1979)

3. Jack Heard - Sex Machine

4. The Reivers - Bidin' Time

5. Tim Lee - Talked About It (1988)

6. The Side Effects - Neat In The Street (1988)

7. Pylon - Party Zone (Live - early 80's)

Side Two:

8. The Swimming Pool Q's - Home In (1980)

9. Jack Heard - Burnin' Love (1981)

10. The Skeeters - High Noon

11. OhOk - Random (1982)

12. The Coolies - Richard Cory (1987)

13. The Brains - Quick With Your Lip

14. Alfredo Villar, Rick and Tom Price - Y.O.U. Mistake (1978)

DB #72 - Squares Blot Out The Sun (1990) - 320kbps

- I hope that link works. The upload was acting kind of funny.

More To Come!

Alright, so I haven't really done much posting this summer, but that is soon to change. Well, soon as in after a couple of weeks. I'm in Detroit right now and have just picked up some interesting looking comps from Car City Records and Stormy Records and will be posting those after I get back to Montreal. I don't really know anything about them yet, but here is the list:

- From Twisted Minds Come Twisted Products - Noiseville #18 - 1990 - Apparently a noise-punk/garage compilation with only about 2000 copies. The internet has almost nothing about this album, but some of the individual artists have write-ups.
Featured Artists: Action Swingers, Unholy Swill, Bench, Bootbeast, Surgery, Bullets For Pussy, Pocket Fishrmen, ST 37, Coz The Shroom, and Jarmed Enecy

- Squares Blot Out The Sun - DB #72 - Originally scheduled for release in 1984, but delayed until 1990 - features material going back as far as the late 70's up until 1989. Allmusic calls the earlier stuff "particularly fascinating". The music here is all pretty southern and it looks kind of like a punk compilation with some southern/country influences.
Featured Artists: Pylon, Fans, Jack Heard, Reivers, Tim Lee, Side Effects, Swimming Pool Q's, Skeeters, Oh OK, Coolies, Brains, and Tom Gray with Alfredo Villar

- Live At CBGB's - Atlantic SD 2-508 - 1976 - Features the most happening artists that played at CBGB's back in the early days of New York punk. Interestingly, they didn't include Patti Smith, which I thought was intentional, but which allmusic called a serious oversight.
The artists featured here are: Tuff Darts, The Shirts, Mink DeVille, The Laughing Dogs, Manster, Sun, Stuart's Hammer, The Miamis.

- I also found a Sister Rosetta Tharpe album - Spirituals in Rhythm - OSL 31 - Not sure of the year.

Bloodstains Across Belgium Vol. II (1998)

I lost my camera, so I couldn't get any pictures of the album cover, and there was nothing good on the internet. But hopefully, one day soon, I will be able to add them to this post.

The past few months I had been eyeing one of the Belgium punk comps over at Pick-Up Records, but never picked up (eh?) because they were kind of pricey. Why have I been eyeing a Belgian record for so long? Because I too enjoy fries with mayo. But the other day I walked into the record store feeling confident and finally bought the compilation. And it's a pretty cool album, definitely worth the money, though the sound quality can be a little poor. I guess that was to be expected, as a lot of these are live takes.

The album, released in 1998, features a bunch of punk bands from the late 70's and early 80's. Some of them are well known, while others just disappeared. One of the well known bands is Elton Motello, who you may not know immediately, but he wrote the original version of "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" that Plastic Bertrand covered. Later The Damned also covered it, but I think that Elton Motello (the stage name for Alan Ward) is in The Damned or is somehow tied with them. The Kids are apparently also pretty famous, being the first punk band in Belgium, but I had never heard of them. Everyone else is pretty obscure aside from maybe Raxola, but I've never heard of them either. Aside from the Elton Motello track, my favourites were probably The Kids' "Do You Wanna Know" (1979), Raxola's "Wildcat" (1978), and De Brassers with "Kontrole" (1980). Apparently, De Brassers helped to start the cold-wave movement, which if the rest of the genre is like this song, is kind of droning and reminds me a bit of Joy Division (or someone...).

Track Listing:
Side One
1. Raxola - Kill Your Son (1978)
2. Chainsaw - What Goes On (1977)
3. Kids - Do You Wanna Know (1979)
4. Stagebeast - Working Man (1978)
5. Underdogs - Third World Image (1981)
6. Spermicide - Belgique (1979)
7. Contingent - Violence (1980)
8. Stress - My Father Is A Fascist (1978)
Side Two
9. Elton Motello - Jet Boy, Jet Girl (1977)
10. Raxola - Wildcat (1978)
11. Pinchers - Rape Her (1981)
12. Jeugd van Tegenwoordig - AOD (1984)
13. Chainsaw - Z'Heroes Guts (1977)
14. Cell 609 - Re-Pulsion (1978)
15. Contingent - Nuit Blanche (1980)
16. De Brassers - Kontrole (1980)

Bloodstains Across Belgium Vol. II (1998) - 320kbps

The Meatmen - We're The Meatmen...And You Suck! (1983)

If you thought that this blog had any self-respect, then you'll probably change your mind with this post. Rather than posting some Michael Jackson or The Seeds after the death of Sky Saxon, I'm choosing to post We're The Meatmen...And You Suck!

The Meatmen are a punk/hardcore band hailing from Lansing and Detroit, MI and have a reputation for having a really crude and offensive sense of humour. For example, the title of their second LP and a song on this album, is Crippled Children Suck. There is also Pope On A Rope. This is their first full LP, and it was released in 1983. The Meatmen also spend a fair amount of time making fun of homosexuals, as one might notice on the first track. I can't decide how serious all of this is, as they make fun of themselves quite a bit, too, like when Tesco Vee (the headman of the everchanging band) recites the lyrics to "I Sin For A Living" as if they are poetry, or on "Crippled Children Suck" where he is just screaming incoherently. Ironically, Tesco Vee was a fourth grade teacher. The lead guitarist in Rock and Roll Juggernaut was also my 11th grade history teacher. And the guitarists in War of the Superbikes are some ex-Minor Threat characters.

I don't really recommend any of the tracks. As a whole, it's a fun listen every now and again, but most of the charm of The Meatmen lies in their offensive jokes, horrible lyrics, and self-deprecation. The first side of the record is the Blood Sausage EP, while the second side is filled with "the jammin' live tunes recorded at The Mudd Club and other various holes". My favourite parts of these live tunes are the reluctant applause and the occasional lone scream from a man in the crowd. This is a really long write-up.

Lineup: Vocals - Tesco Vee; Guitar - Greg Ramsey, Rich Ramsey; Bass - Rich Ramsey, Mike Achtenburg; Drums - Mr. X, Berl Johnson;

Track Listing:

Side One

1. The Rap

2. Tooling For Anus

3. 1 Down 3 to Go

4. Snuff 'Em

5. Becoming A Man/Freud Was Wrong

6. Ive Got A Problem

7. I'm Glad I'm Not A Girl

8. Dumping Ground

Side Two

9. Meatmen Stomp

10. Mr. Tapeworm

11. Orgy of One

12. I Sin for A Living

13. Crippled Children Suck

14. Buttocks

15. Middle Aged Youth

16. Meat Crimes

The Meatmen - We're The Meatmen...And You Suck! (1983) - 320kbps

The Purple Toads - Love Songs for the Hard of Hearing (1988)

Finally! Some more Can-Con! The Purple Toads hail from the beautiful, the desirable, Oshawa, Ontario. They formed after their old band, Durango 95, fell apart in 1985 and then they recorded a self-titled album in 1986. Their only other album is this one, Love Songs for the Hard of Hearing from '88. They didn't get very good reviews, grouped in with the rest of Oshawa's drunken garage-rock scene, maybe because of lines like "Well you got the kind of body that makes me come alive, but I'd rather have my hand wrapped 'round a bottle of Colt 45", but I find them to be some good rock and roll. "Troubled Mind" is a particularly good track. Other than that, there are a couple of covers - one of John D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road", which isn't stellar, and a cover of "What A Way to Die" by The Pleasure Seekers, a 1960's female garage-rock band from Detroit. The singer also has a funny sounding lisp that comes out sometimes.

Lineup:
Guitar - Paul MacNeil and Rob Sweeney; Bass - Roger Branton; Drums - Mark Keigan; Vocals - Rob Sweeney

Track Listing:
Side One
1. Wildtime
2. All I Want
3. What A Way to Die
4. Troubled Mind
5. You Gotta Believe Me
6. Love's All Gone
Side Two
7. Don't Understand Your Love
8. Ain't No Friend of Mine
9. Love On Your Back
10. Too Much of You
11. Tobacco Road
12. Everybody

The Purple Toads - Love Songs for the Hard of Hearing (1988) - 320kbps

Alex Chilton - No Sex EP (1986)

Alex Chilton is a badass. Look at him, he's on his car. He's against a wall. I'm actually starting to think that this entire blog is an excuse to post Alex Chilton. He is the singer in The Box Tops and Big Star. He is a man.

"No Sex" is a pretty funny look at AIDS, far before AIDS was funny (1986). "No sex, not anymore" being the constant refrain. Chilton also maintains that "Pretty soon, we're all gonna get it". Very bleak. Very Serious.

You should also listen to "Under Class" and "Wild Kingdom". But I guess if you download this, you don't have much choice.

Track Listing

Side One

1. No Sex

2. Under Class

Side Two

3. Wild Kingdom

Alex Chilton - No Sex EP - 1986 - 320kbps

Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes (1972)

Some of you might think that you've never heard these guys before, but when the title track comes on, you'll realize that you've listened to them at least 20 times in a row whilst trying to destroy "All the Young Dudes" on expert in Guitar Hero. You may hate them for it. Or at least I did. Anyways, aside from all that, this album was produced by David Bowie in 1972. Actually, David Bowie is most of the reason that Mott the Hoople became successful at all. He is the one that wrote "All the Young Dudes", and he is also the one that transformed the bands image into that of glam rockstars, or so allmusic leads us to believe. On kind of a crazy note, though, David Bowie had originally given Mott the Hoople "Sufragette City", but they rejected it, and then Bowie had to go and make it a hit.

But "All the Young Dudes" shouldn't be the entire focus of the album. The rest of the songs are also pretty good. For example, there is a sweet cover of Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane". And "Momma's Little Jewel" and "Jerkin' Crocus" are rockin'.

Oh yeah, Bowie plays sax on this album, too.

Track Listing:

Side One

1. Sweet Jane

2. Momma's Little Jewel

3. All the Young Dudes

4. Sucker

5. Jerkin' Crocus

Side Two

6. One of the Boys

7. Soft Ground

8. Ready for Love/After Lights

9. Sea Diver

Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes - 320kbps

John Coltrane and Don Cherry - The Avant-Garde (1966)

This is probably my last jazz post for a bit, but regardless of that, John Coltrane and Don Cherry's The Avant-Garde was recorded in 1960, but wasn't released until 1966. The album also features John Coltrane's first recorded use of the Soprano sax on "The Blessing". Interestingly, The Avant-Garde just seems to replace Ornette Coleman with John Coltrane, as the other musicians are all from the Ornette Coleman Quartet and most of the compositions were written by Coleman. "Focus On Sanity" is my favourite track on the album, featuring a pretty cool bass solo at the end with some very faint cymbals in the background.

Lineup: On "Focus on Sanity", "The Invisible" and "Bemsha Swing" - John Coltrane, soprano sax or tenor sax; Don Cherry, trumpet; Percy Heath, bass; Ed Blackwell, drums.
On "Cherryco" and "The Blessing", the personnel is the same, except that Charlie Haden, bass, replaces Percy Heath.
John Coltrane plays soprano sax on "The Blessing", both soprano sax and tenor sax on "The Invisible", and tenor sax on all other tunes.

Track Listing:
Side One
1. Cherryco (Cherry)
2. Focus On Sanity (Coleman)
Side Two
3. The Blessing (Coleman)
4. The Invisible (Coleman)
5. Bemsha Swing (Monk)

John Coltrane and Don Cherry - The Avant-Garde - 320kbps

Thelonious Monk - Solo Monk (1964)

Solo Monk, recorded mostly in 1964, features only Thelonious Monk playing piano compositions that are only about half his. I don't know a whole lot about jazz, nor am I a piano player, so I can't try to talk about the intricacies and genious of Thelonious Monk, but it's kind of cool to hear him just playing around on the piano by himself.

Track Listing:

Side One

1. Dinah (Akst, Lewis, Young)

2. I Surrender, Dear (Barris, Clifford)

3. Sweet and Lovely (Arnheim, LeMare, Tobias)

4. North of the Sunset (Monk)

5. Ruby, My Dear (Monk)

6. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) (Daugherty, Neiburg, Reynolds)

Side Two

7. I Hadn't Anyone Till You (Noble)

8. Everything Happens To Me (Adair, Dennis)

9. Monk's Point (Monk)

10. I Should Care (Cahn, Stordahl, Weston)

11. Ask Me Now (Monk)

12. These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) (Link, Marvell, Strachey)

Monk (1964) - 320kbps

Leonard Cohen - Live Songs (1973)

I've been in a bit of a Leonard Cohen kick lately, and with the onset of summer in Montreal, I figured I'd post this - especially because it isn't so easy to find in North America. Here, the album was only released on LP in 2009, but for some reason, it's been floating around Europe since 1973. This version is the original European shit (to allow myself some snobbery). Anyways, Leonard Cohen's Live Songs was recorded from live shows in London, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, and the Isle of Wight in 1970 and 1972 (and also from a "Room in Tennessee" in 1972). The album took me a couple of listens before I began to like it, as the songs are all pretty slow and soft with more sparse instrumentation than on his studio albums. "You Know Who I Am" is really good here, a lot better than the version on Songs From A Room, I think, and towards the end, there is a soft, fluttery kind of collaboration between Leonard, the bassist, and the other guitarist that sounds really pretty. Actually, the album as a whole is really pretty if you like Leonard Cohen.

Track Listing:

Side One

1. Minute Prologue (London 1972)

2. Passing Thru (London 1972)

3. You Know Who I Am (Brussels 1972)

4. Bird on the Wire (Paris 1972)

5. Nancy (London 1972)

6. Improvisation (Paris 1972)

Side Two

7. Story of Isaac (Berlin 1972)

8. Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace) (London 1970)

9. Tonight Will Be Fine (Isle of Wight 1970)

10. Queen Victoria (Room in Tennessee 1972)

Live Songs (1973)

Ella Fitzgerald - Ella In Berlin

Apparently a classic LP, this is the album where Ella sings "Mack The Knife" for the first time, forgets the lyrics, and substitutes them for her own. She even includes a sweet Louis impression, her own rendition of "Summertime", a pretty kickin' version of "The Lady Is A Tramp", and you get to hear a little bit of her while she isn't singing. The record was a pretty cool find - moreso because I had heard a singer at the Detroit Jazz Fest in 2007 covering a bunch of Ella Fitzgerald songs, but I found that she was pretty much just singing this album.

Recorded in 1960 at show in Berlin.

Lineup: Ella Fitzgerald, vocals; Paul Smith, piano; Jim Hall, guitar; Wilfred Middlebrooks, bass; Gus Johnson, drums

Track Listing:

Side One

1. Gone With The Wind

2. Misty

3. The Lady Is A Tramp

4. The Man I Love

5. Summertime

Side Two

6. Too Darn Hot

7. Lorelei

8. Mack The Knife

9. How High The Moon

Ella Fitzgerald - Ella In Berlin (1960) - 320kbps

Pharoah Sanders - Elevation

I thought it fitting to post Pharoah Sanders after Prince Lasha - two jazz royalty members in a row, both prescribing to the free jazz aesthetic - though I was disappointed just now when I found out that Pharoah Sanders wasn't the self proclaimed pharoah, but just named that by Sun Ra. Oh well. That's cool, I guess. Other than that, I don't know much else to say about this album other than that I liked it, despite "Elevation" sounding a lot like Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" - in both length and in melody. Either way, it's still pretty raucous. The other songs break away a lot - featuring a more 'western' style piano amidst more 'african' sounding chants - coming together in some pretty cool ways, but "Elevation" is still the best, and not just because of length.

The album was recorded in 1973 from performances at Ash Grove, Los Angeles on September 7 and September 9, except for "Greeting to Saud", which is a studio recording. Pharoah Sanders has played with John Coltrane (Om and others), and with Sun Ra, Sonny Simmons (remember!!?), and Don Cherry, amongst others.

Lineup: Pharoah Sanders, tenor sax, soprano sax, percussion, vocals; Michael White, violin; Sedatrius Brown, vocals; Joe Bonner, piano, cow horn, wood flute, vocals, percussion, harmonium; Calvin Hill, bass, tamboura, vocals; Michael Carvin, drums, percussion; Lawrence Killian, congas and bell tree, percussion; John Blue, percussion, vocals; Jimmy Hopps, percussion

Track Listing:

Side One

1. Elevation

2. Greeting To Saud (Brother McCoy Turner)

Side Two

3. Ore-Se-Rere (Nigerian Juju HiLife)

4. The Gathering

5. Spiritual Blessing

Pharoah Sanders - Elevation - 320kbps

Prince Lasha Quintet featuring Sonny Simmons - The Cry!

The Cry was kind of a blind buy, but I'm pretty happy with it. Recorded in 1962 and released in 1963, the record has some good tunes, though there are parts in the album where I just think "Man, this is so 60's" - particularly where Prince Lasha is playing his flute.

Fun Fact #1: Prince Lasha grew up in Fort Worth, TX with Ornette Coleman and they played together for about 9 years. This should also tell you a little about the jazz that Lasha and Simmons are making on this album - described as "free-flowing" and spontaneous by Simmons on the back of the record - focused less on chord changes than other jazz is.

"Lost Generation", is probably my favourite track. It's pretty much just one long sax solo by Sonny Simmons, and eventually the bassists pluck a couple of notes and then the drums come in about halfway through the song. I also liked "Congo Call" and "Bojangles" and "Juanita" a lot. "Congo Call" has some pretty sweet sax going on over the other instruments, and the sax-flute duets aren't bad either, even though I don't really like the flute. Related to this is Fun Fact #2: Sonny Simmons says that he pictured Bojangles dancing as he played "Bojangles". Erotic? Fun Fact #3 would have to be that the two bassists are each playing separately in each of your ears - Peacock on the left and Proctor on the right. Fact #4: A.Y. = Affectionately Yours

RIP Prince Lasha (Dec. 11, 2008 - Age 79) - a nice memoir

Lineup: Prince Lasha, Flute; Sonny Simmons, Alto Sax; Gary Peackock & Mark Proctor, Basses; Gene Stone, Drums

Track Listing:
Side One
1. Congo Call
2. Bojangles
3. Green and Gold
4. Ghost of the Past
Side Two
5. Red's Mood
6. Juanita
7. Lost Generation
8. A.Y.

Prince Lasha Quintet featuring Sonny Simmons - The Cry! - 128kbps

Klaus Schulze - Moondawn

Klaus Schulze is often called the "Grandfather of Electronic Music", and once "Moondawn" begins, it is easy to see why - as it starts off with a kind of cheesy, 60's "this-is-a-computer-making-noise" sound. How primitive. It's a great album, though, and the primitiveness makes sense - the album was created in Germany in 1976 - a time in which the synthesizer was just making it big.
Once you get into "Moondawn" (this will probably happen late one night), you'll notice that the drums aren't synthesized, which may put you off a little, but is actually really cool once you get past that first bit of retro culture shock. Actually, now that I mention drums, I should also mention that Klaus Schulze played drums for Tangerine Dream's first album, "Electronic Meditation", and then went off to start Ash Ra Temple with his comrades. Somewhat surprisingly, though, Shulze isn't playing drums on "Moondawn", just everything else. Anyways, "Moondawn" is only two songs long, and each of the songs are over 25 minutes long, so you get a good amount of time to see what ole Klausey-poo is going for: epic build-ups.
I also have to admit that there is a skip around 8 minutes, which lasts for a few seconds (but could almost go with the song). I'll get a new version up sometime - with the needle going up and down cut out.

Lineup: Harald Grosskopf, Drums; Klaus Schulze, The Big Moog, ARP 2600, ARP Odyssey, EMS Synthi A, Farfisa Professional Organ, Farfisa Syntorchester, Crumar-keyboards, Sequenzer Synthanorma 3-12

Track Listing:
Side One
1.Floating
Side Two:
2. Mindphaser

Klaus Schulze - Moondawn - 192kbps

Big Star - Live (at Max's Kansas City, 1973)

Big Star, often cited as the group that created the "power pop" genre, and possibly my favourite band, recorded their Live album at a club in New York City (despite the name of Max's Kansas City) over two nights shortly before the release of their second album. Admittedly, I got this album off of Ebay, and it was advertised as being one of the originals given out by the Big Star Fan Club at some point (who has fan clubs anymore?). The first couple of the songs are mixed a bit poorly, but after that, the sound gets a lot clearer - the bass isn't as blaring, mostly. The version of "Don't Lie To Me" on Live is more rockin than the version on #1 Record, and is a lot more fun to listen to. There is also an interview with Alex Chilton towards the end of Side One, and some other commentary in between his other songs that are interesting to hear. For example, he talks about how miserable it was to be in The Box Tops, and he reveals that he wrote "Thirteen" when he was 13. Who knew? But, it's a pretty sweet album altogether.

Track Listing:
Side one
1. September Gurls
2. Way Out West
3. Mod Lang
4. Don't Lie To Me
5. O My Soul
6. Interview
7. Ballad of El Goodo
Side Two
8. Thirteen
9. I'm In Love With A Girl
10. In The Street
11. You Get What You Deserve
12. Daisy Glaze
13. Back Of A Car
14. She's A Mover

Big Star - Live - 128kbps

Boule Noire - Les Annees Passent

After first buying this album, I thought it was only some catchy francofunk that fell through the cracks. But happily, after some research (allmusic.com), I found out that Les Annees Passent is actually the second album of Quebec funk icon George Thurston aka "Boule Noire". Released in 1977, the album is sung mostly in French, interspersed with a lot of sexy, sexy "baby"s and other Englishisms in typical Quebec style. The best tracks are "(Shalala) Je T'aime" and "Entre Nous" - showing Thurston's tender, yet funky, side. Also interesting is that "1254 Rue Stanley" is an address in downtown Montreal. I haven't had the chance to go down there yet, but it would be kind of interesting to see what's there. Of course, looking at Google Maps, it says that's where "Club La Boom Montreal" is located. Interest wanes. Unfortunately, we lost our "Quebecois Stevie Wonder", as he was named by Quebec minister of culture, in 2007 to colorectal cancer. On a side note: I wonder how many times it is possible to drop a form of "Quebec" in one paragraph. We will see.

Track Listing:
Side One
1. Loin D'Ici
2. (Shalala) Je T'aime
3. Les Annees Passent
4. Entre Nous
Side Two
5. Rencontre
6. Bebe Lady
7. 1254 Rue Stanley
8. Sexy Mama

Boule Noire - Les Annees Passent - 192kbps