Are You Psych’d…?

… If you’re not, prepare to be. I’ve got some crazy shit for you.

The first is an album that’s been making the rounds among sample-crazy beat makers and crate diggers in the past year or two. It is ’70s Turkish psych funk hero Ersen’s (pictured on the right) reissue on Finders Keepers Records (read their press release for more info). Unfortunately, I was unable to find even the slightest trace of a CD rip anywhere on the net, and my vinyl copy still hasn’t arrived after several months. But not to fear, I was able to work my way around an online store at which you can stream all 16 tracks in full. The only problem is the very low bitrate. The files are MP3s encoded at 40 kbps. At least they’re in mono, so it sounds like a stereo recording would at 80 kbps.

In spite of all that, the overall sound quality is still quite good. Believe me, I wouldn’t offer any songs on which you’d mostly hear static. But, if one of you out there has a decent CD or vinyl rip of this album, or comes across a working RS link or some such, I’d very much appreciate a comment. Otherwise I’ll get my own vinyl rip up here, once I get the damn thing. Even though the bitrate is rather lame, I didn’t want to hold out on this release for obvious reasons. It’s fucking pure hell fire.

Also, I have Ersen’s complete discography of original recordings in mp3 format (twenty 45s and ten LPs). But it’s all very unorganized at the moment. Maybe I’ll up the entire collection at a later point. We’ll see.

As a little example of the sampling I was talking about, here is Ersen’s original track “Zalim” and Oh No’s flipped version in the song “Heavy,” off of his latest full-length effort “Dr. No’s Oxperiment.” (The Gaslamp Killer also flipped this song. More about him in the future.) You can clearly make out the sample, and both tracks are dope as fuck. Oh No sampled even more Ersen for his “Oxperiment,” but this is the one that really stands out.

Ersen – Zalim from “Ersen” (2008)

Oh No – Heavy from “Dr. No’s Oxperiment” (2007)

But without further ado, here is the download…

Ersen – Ersen
Release year: 2008
Label: Finders Keepers Records
Catalog number: FKR016LP / FKR016CD
Bit rate: 40 kbps
Size: ca. 19 MB

Download

1. Ternek
2. Gunese Don Cicegim
3. Kozan Dagi
4. Beni Hor Gorme Kardesim
5. Guzele Bak Guzele
6. Yine Seni Tanirim
7. Garip Gonlum
8. Metelik
9. Sor Kendine
10. Dostlar Beni Hatirlasin
11. Dertli Kaval
12. Gazan Mubarek Olsun
13. Cakmagi Cak
14. Bir Ayrilik Bir Yoksulluk Bir Olum
15. Gafil Gezme Saskin
16. Zalim

**********

Next up is another reissue from Finders Keepers, but this one’s a sampler. A sampler of Hungarian Funk-Rock, to be precise. “Say what now?” was my reaction when I first came across this joint. But my doubts would fade away as early as the first seconds of the first track. Just like the Ersen album up top, this one is packed to the brim with heavy (Psych) Funk tunes that will leave nobody unharmed.

The collection is called “Well Hung: 20 Funk-Rock Eruptions From Beneath Communist Hungary Vol. 1″ (again, read press release for more info). The last part of the title leaves me with nothing but hope. If this is “Vol. 1,” then there should be a “Vol. 2″ in the future. Please, Andy, please!

Also, the subtle irony on the cover (see image below) is great: the title of the record (“Well Hung”) in combination with the fact that it’s Hungarian music and that there’s a donkey on the cover is just brilliant. Luckily, this time I didn’t have to go through the back channels of an online store only to end up with low-quality files. Quite the opposite, actually. You’ll be able to enjoy this baby at full blast: 320 kbps.

There’s really nothing left to say about this project other than “the music will speak for itself.” Pure hotness. Enjoy!

Various Artists – Well Hung: 20 Funk-Rock Eruptions From Beneath Communist Hungary Vol. 1
Release year: 2008
Label: Finders Keepers Records
Catalog number: FKR017LP / FKR017CD
Bit rate: 320 kbps
Size: ca. 180 MB

Part 1
Part 2
(Simultaneous download possible. You’ll need both files.)

1. Anna Adamis & Gabor Presser – Ringsad El Magad No. 2
2. Omega Redstar – Egy Lány Nem Ment Haza
3. Metro – A Pénz
4. Hungaria – Végállomas
5. Kati Kovacs – Add Már Uram Az Esöt!
6. Corvina – A Tüz
7. Neoton – Nóra
8. Tamas Somlo & Omega – Azt Mondta Az Anyukám
9. Meteor & Demjen Ferenc – Kivánji Te Is Nekem Szép, Jó Éjszakát
10. Illés – A Bolond Lány
11. Omega – Kérgeskezü Favágók
12. Sarolta Zalatnay – Hadd Mondjam El
13. Locomotiv GT – Megvárlak Ma Délben
14. Nemenyi Bela & Atlantis – Kínai Fal
15. Kati Kovacs & Gemini – Nem Biztos Semmi
16. Piramis – Mondj Egy Mesét
17. Skorpio – Szevasz Haver
18. Omega – Félbeszakadt Koncert
19. Illés – Nekem Oly Mindegy
20. Bergendy – Hétköznapi Balladák

**********

On another note, I’d like to guide your attention to a previous post of mine. A few months ago, I upped the series “The Boondocks” but didn’t include the download links in the post directly. Instead, I linked to a forum post I had made elsewhere. As it turns out, the posts on that forum can now only be viewed by registered members, which leaves you guys with nothing. So now the RS links are also included here. If you missed it the first time around, check it out now. It’s definitely worth it. Amazing show from [adult swim].

And to top things off, here’s a little preview of what you can expect from the next few posts (over an undefined period of time and not necessarily in that order):

• Hip-Hop-related documentaries for download (really awesome stuff, some of it very rare)
• [DONE] RBMA Radio request service (you’ll find out what this is soon enough)
• unabridged audiobooks of Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point,” “Blink,” and “Outliers”
• DVD rips of the complete(!) “Def Poetry” series from HBO (yes, all 44 episodes)
• [DONE] download for Karl Hector & The Malcouns’ brandnew live session for RBMA Radio
• high-quality MP3 rips of my small-but-growing vinyl collection (I’m gonna call this “EarWax;” how apt!)
• a ton of dope music I gathered over the past months: lots of Electronica, Instrumental, and Funk along the lines of Ersen and “Well Hung” (e.g. Flying Lotus, The Gaslamp Killer, Samiyam, and other Brainfeeders; more Heliocentrics stuff; a complete Jazz & Milk Recordings discography; some wicked ish from Stones Throw and Now-Again; African and Latin Funk; and many more)

So stay tuned, bitches!

Most humbly,
Your Aural Percussionist

Waits on Ghazza

In light of recent events in Gaza, I’d like to share a Tom Waits tune with you. The track is called “Road To Peace” and was first released on his 2006 triple-disc collection “Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards.” It’s a real masterpiece, both musically and lyrically, in which he doesn’t take sides or judges either of them. Instead, he points the finger at “bystanders” like the U.S. government. One line that struck me in particular is “They fill their children full of hate to fight an old man’s war and die upon the road to peace.”

Tom Waits – Road To Peace from “Orphans” (2006)

Lyrics

Young Abdel Madi Shabneh was only 18 years old
The youngest of 9 children, he’d never spent a nite away from home
And his mother held his photograph, up in the New York Times
You see the killing has intensified, along the road to peace

A tall thin boy with a whispy moustache, disguised as an Orthodox Jew
On a crowded bus in Jerusalem, some had survived World War II
And the thunderous explosion blew out windows 200 yards away
More retribution and 17 dead, along the road to peace

Now at King George Ave and Jaffa Road, passengers boarded bus 14A
In the aisle next to the driver Abdel Madi Shabneh
And the last thing that he said on earth was “God is great and god is good”
And he blew them all to kingdom come, upon the road to peace

Now in response to this, another kiss of death was visited upon
Yashir Tehah, Israel said is an Hamas Senior militant
Israel sent 4 choppers in, flames engulfed his white Opel
And it killed his wife and his 3-year-old child, leaving only blackened skeletons

They found a toddler’s bottle and a pair of small shoes,
and they waved them in front of the cameras
But Israel said they did not know that his wife and child were in the car
There are roadblocks everywhere and only suffering on TV
Neither side will ever give up their smallest right, along the road to peace

Israel launched its latest campaign against Hamas on Tuesday
And two days later Hamas shot back and killed five Israeli soldiers
Though thousands dead and wounded on both sides, most of them Middle Eastern civilians
They fill their children full of hate, to fight an old man’s war and die, upon the road to peace

“And this is our land we will fight with all our force”, say the Palastinians and the Jews
And each side will cut off the hand of anyone who tries to stop the Resistance
If the right eye offends thee, then you must pluck it out
And Machoud Abbas and Sharon had been lost, out along the road to peace

Once Kissinger said: “We have no friends, America only has interests”
And now our president wants to be seen as a hero and he’s hungry for re-election
But Bush is reluctant to risk his future, with the fear of his political failures
So he plays chess at his desk and poses for the press, ten thousand miles from the road to peace

In a video that they found at the home of Abdel Madi Shabneh
He held a Kalashnikov rifle, and he spoke with the voice like a boy
He was an excellent student, he studied so hard, it was as if he had a future
He told his mother he had a test that day, out along the road to peace

The fundamentalist killing on both sides is standing in the path of peace
And tell me, why are we arming the Israeli army with guns and tanks and bullets?
And if god is great and god is good, why can’t he change the hearts of men?
Well, maybe god himself is lost and needs help
Maybe god himself he needs all of our help
Maybe god himself is lost and needs help
He’s out upon the road to peace

Maybe god himself is lost and needs help
Maybe god himself he needs all of our help
And he’s lost upon the road to peace
And he’s lost upon the road to peace
Out upon the road to peace.

(via Tom Waits Library. Check out the site for more info on the song’s genesis.)

For more Arab-related music, have a go at Joe Namy’s (aka El-Iqaa) two-hour radio show for New York University’s station WNYU, “Electric Kahraba.” You can download individual shows or even subscribe to the whole series as a podcast. Of special interest should be the Middle Eastern Hip-Hop Special and the Gaza Tribute Special.

Also, The Narcicyst put out a tribute song a couple weeks back, “Hamdulilah (Gaza Remix) feat. Shadia Mansour.” Stream, download, lyrics, and a nice write-up for that can be had from my mans 9@home. And don’t forget to check out Narcy’s blog for up-to-date, thought-provoking material about the ongoing crisis in Gaza. He digs up some brilliant stuff.

**********

And now for those whose appetite for Tom Waits was whetted by the song above, I give you the entire three-disc album with high-res cover. I don’t want to talk too much about the ins and outs of this full-length, but rather direct you to its Wikipedia page. There’s some interesting background info there.

A few of my favorite tracks are 1.5 “Bottom Of The World;” 1.6 “Lucinda;” 1.10 “Road To Peace;” 2.14 “Goodnight Irene;” 3.20 “Missing My Son,” among some others. The last one’s a nice little tall tale; very refreshing to hear.

Altogether, this is a fantastic album and, for those who are yet unfamiliar with Tom Waits, also a great gateway into his work. By the way, he’s the guy in the segment with Iggy Pop in Jim Jarmusch’s “Coffee And Cigarettes.”

Tom Waits – Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006; Label: ANTI-) @ 192 kbps (ca. 263 MB)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
(You’ll need all parts to extract the files. They can be downloaded simultaneously.)

Disc 1: “Brawlers”
1. Lie To Me
2. Lowdown
3. 2:19
4. Fish In The Jailhouse
5. Bottom Of The World
6. Lucinda
7. Ain’t Goin’ Down To The Well
8. Lord I’ve Been Changed
9. Puttin’ On The Dog
10. Road To Peace
11. All The Time
12. The Return Of Jackie And Judy
13. Walk Away
14. Sea Of Love
15. Buzz Fledderjohn
16. Rains On Me

Disc 2: “Bawlers”
1. Bend Down The Branches
2. You Can Never Hold Back Spring
3. Long Way Home
4. Widow’s Grove
5. Little Drop Of Poison
6. Shiny Things
7. World Keeps Turning
8. Tell It To Me
9. Never Let Go
10. Fannin Street
11. Little Man
12. It’s Over
13. If I Have To Go
14. Goodnight Irene
15. The Fall Of Troy
16. Take Care Of All My Children
17. Down There By The Train
18. Danny Says
19. Jayne’s Blue Wish
20. Young At Heart

Disc 3: “Bastards”
1. What Keeps Mankind Alive
2. Children’s Story
3. Heigh Ho
4. Army Ants
5. Books Of Moses
6. Bone Chain
7. Two Sisters
8. First Kiss
9. Dog Door
10. Redrum
11. Nirvana
12. Home I’ll Never Be
13. Poor Little Lamb
14. Altar Boy
15. The Pontiac
16. Spidey’s Wild Ride
17. King Kong
18. On The Road
19. Dog Treat

20. Missing My Son

Enjoy and As-Salāmu `Alaykum for real,
eardrummer

It’s Really Happening

As i alluded in previous posts, Mulatu and the Helios are actually working on a collab album, “Inspiration Information 3.” Strut Records, the label on which it will be released, just put out a 10-minute interview video today. Sort of a behind-the-scenes look while the masters work the magic. Enjoy…

Salaam,
eardrummer