Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 133

Give the Drummer Some's
Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere
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Keeping tabs on the daily tsunami of killer new blog posts is surely exhausting, but don't dare forget to scroll back through the archived pages of your favorite sites. Periodically, I force myself to go back and check for vital downloadables I may have missed. (Using a blog aggregator like Google's Reader can make this a cinch. More about Reader next week.)

To hammer home the point, all the recordings featured in today's Motherlode were originally posted more than a year ago. (The Mystic Minds LP dates back to January '08, which makes it like a hundred in dog years.) Despite their vintage status, the download links for these incredible finds are all still good to go. Just don't sleep on them because old links are constantly getting wiped. Lately, I've been methodically working my way through the archives at the ever-stunning Holy Warbles. This virtual crate diving has uncovered countless gems, including two on display below.

 

Beauty isn't skim deep...

 

Various  ~  "Musique Rituelle Tibetaine"
(Blog: Holy Warbles)

More Fun Than a Barrel of Monks
"How could I have lived 50+ years — at least 35 of them in an intense head-long dash to hear the greatest sounds made by humans — and not, until now, experienced this thrilling recording? My voracious blog discoverings here at Holy Warbles and throughout the Interwebs goes a bit like reverse triage. I am constantly scanning for unfamiliar offerings, grabbing first those musics that would do me injurious harm NOT to have. In quieter moments, I reach for selections that appear of interest but through myriad mystical calculations end up as lesser priorities. (Consequently, I sometimes get to posts in the archives a little later than I should.) One magical thing that happens so often at Holy Warbles (one of many) is that so many of these nice-but-not-essential looking recordings, when finally unwrapped and appreciated, reveal themselves to be utterly magnificent, heart-swelling epiphanies."  (Comment at Holy Warbles from "gilhodges")

 

Mystic Minds  ~  "Mind Over Matter"
(Blog: A Pyrex Scholar)

The Mind Is a Terrible thing to Waste
"These guys were a trio from California (apparently they Korean War veterans) and as far as I know this private press LP is their only release. This album had some pretty strange moments lyrically. These are only surpassed by their use of a home made instrument called a Brass Orchestra Cabinet. It’s like a homemade pipe organ made of trumpets and other horns."  (Source unknown)

 

 

Emmett W. Lundy  ~  Fiddle Tunes from Grayson County, Virginia"
(Blog: Times Ain't Like They Used to Be)

Lundy Hop
"Undoubtedly one of the finest fiddlers to come out of the musically rich Grayson County area of Virginia, Emmett Lundy is something of a musical legend among older residents there. This record makes his music available once again, bot for his family and friends in Virginia and for students of American traditional fiddling throughout the world. As a document this LP is immensely important because Lundy's music represents perhaps the earliest possible recording, on disc, of fiddling in Grayson County and lends considerable assistance to our understanding of the complex musical tradition of the region."  (From the liner notes)

 

Frederic Rzewski  ~  "Coming Together"
(Blog: The Incessant Noise)

Remember Attica
"Rzewski's "Coming Together" is unquestionably one of the great Minimalist masterpieces, and this first recording of it is absolutely incredibly amazing. It's ridiculous that it's never been re-released. "Coming Together" is an extremely simple piece. It's really nothing more than a short text read over a repetitive, fast sequence, much of which is played in unison. But the overall effect it creates is of a very slow build up of tension to an incredible climax after 19 minutes. The text comes from a letter written by Sam Melville, who was an inmate at Attica prison, and was one of the leaders of the 1971 Attica riots, where Melville was killed. The music starts with the piano playing fast rhythmic notes while most of the other instruments playing longer tones over this foundation. Gradually the other instruments start to play faster until they're all playing in a fast, tense unison."  (By Aaron, in his premiere post at The Incessant Noise)

 

Lili Labassi  ~  Le Génie du Chââbi (1932-1939)
(Blog: Holy Warbles)

Lili of the Valley
"The day an unbiased musicologist worthy of his title and without any prejudice of race, religion or origin studies Algerian musique [Chààbi & Andaluz] the obvious will appear; that its paramount lord is undoubtedly Lili Labassi."  (By Robert Castel [Labassi's son], in the liner notes )

 

 

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Comments

[øשlqæda]

pearlesque picks of a consummate connoisseur. thank you fer this triumphant tribute, brother dug. if ya happen to notice any sniped links, kindly lemme know

r.i.p. big lemeowski. you are missed

[Doug S.]

Digging Holy Warbles = mining a mountain of awesome.

[icastico]

There are hidden secrets in the Holy Warbles comments as well. It's deeper than you think.

http://holywarbles.blogspot.com/2011/04/morena-y-clara-morena-y-clara-lp-1976.html