Friday, 13 January 2017

The Lovin' Spoonful - Hums Of The... (1966) Flac

Good morning Folks, friends and all you lovers of music, sweet music. For me no work today because i have a day off. Yieeepppieeeeeeeee!
Once again thank you for all your comments. I will try as fast as i can to publish all your comments. If i need a little more time please don't be angry about it. I really appreciate your comments very much! Also feel free if you have any suggestions how we can make this a better place for you and me. Okay, let's go to the music.

''Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful'' is the third album of the band and it's again a great one. Allmusic.com writes about it:
Having released two previous albums and a soundtrack, along with a stream of singles, over the previous 12 and a half months, the Lovin' Spoonful assembled their third regular studio LP, Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful, for release around Thanksgiving 1966. It contained the group's chart-topping single from the previous June, "Summer in the City," along with September's Top Ten hit "Rain on the Roof" (curiously titled "You and Me and Rain on the Roof" on the LP). Released simultaneously with the album and included on it were the two songs from the next single, "Nashville Cats," which became the band's seventh consecutive Top Ten entry, and "Full Measure," a B-side featuring drummer Joe Butler on lead vocals that scraped into the singles chart. Those were the money songs, although Bobby Darin discovered the leadoff track, "Lovin' You," and quickly covered it for a Top 40 hit, and the moody "Coconut Grove," a tribute to Fred Neil, would become a permanent part of Spoonful leader John Sebastian's repertoire in his solo career. An emphasis on the parts of the album is a way of describing it as more a loose collection of disparate tracks than a unified effort, despite Sebastian's hand in all the compositions and his lead vocals on most of them. This was by necessity, but also by design, since Sebastian and co. went into the studio trying to sound completely different each time. They often succeeded: Except for the vocal similarity, the rock band playing "Summer in the City" and the caustic, autobiographical "4 Eyes" doesn't sound much like the country unit picking its way through "Lovin' You" and "Nashville Cats." Sebastian may have been an obvious New Yorker (those "yellow Sun records" were from Memphis, not Nashville), but that didn't keep him from expressing his musical passions effectively. The 2003 Sundazed LP reissue added four demos, instrumental tracks, and alternate versions of songs from the album.

´The Spoonfuls were a extraordinary band then. Not much bands back then could bring three albums in the Billboard charts (with good positions) in only two years and besides a bunch of singles.. I have take a look back in billboard U.S. allbum history. Do You Believe In Magic peaked at 32 (35 weeks in the album charts). Daydream peaked at 10 (31 weeks in the album charts), Hums Of... peaked at 14 (26 weeks in the album charts). The most successful album in the sixties was the compilation ''The Best Of'' in 1967 which peaked at 3 (52 weeks in the charts). Alongside they had 7 Singles in the Top 10, 5 in the Top 40's and all in all 14 singles charted in the Top 100. The greatest single success was...naturally ''Summer in the city'' at Number 1. I know that's just facts and figures but it shows that the years from 1965 to 1967 were the most successful at the audience. Enough, here comes number three of the ''Original Album Series'' Box.
Enjoy it!
              Frank
Flac

Game Theory - Big Shot Chronicles Expande Edition 2016 (Flac)

Scott Miller broke in a new Game Theory lineup on their third album, 1986's The Big Shot Chronicles (a revolving-door cast of musicians was something he would get used to over the next decade or so). If the album lacks the narrative cohesion of the group's previous full-length effort, 1985's Real Nighttime, it's obvious from the album's first cut (the joyous and explosive "Here It Is Tomorrow") that the addition of Shelley LaFreniere on keyboards, Suzi Ziegler on bass, and Gil Ray on drums made Game Theory a stronger band in every respect. While Game Theory's attempts to rock out on Real Nighttime sometimes sounded a bit tentative, The Big Shot Chronicles reveals a band that's equally adept at flexing their muscles ("I've Tried Subtlety" and "Make Any Vows") or easing into a song's subtleties ("Regenisraen" and "Like a Girl Jesus"). Real Nighttime had a more ambitious concept in its tales of the perils of young adulthood, but The Big Shot Chronicles was meant to document a great band with a stack of top-notch tunes at the ready, and on that level it's even more exciting and engaging than Game Theory's breakthrough effort.
As a songwriter, Scott Miller continued to grow ("Erica's Word" and "Don't Look Too Closely" are both smart-pop Heaven on Earth), and though he was fond of referring to his voice as a "miserable whine," he sure knew how to make it communicate. Finally, Mitch Easter's production guides the record through moody neo-psychedelia and uptempo hard pop with an equally sure hand; the record sounds just as good as the band plays. A superb set from one of the best (and most underappreciated) bands of the '80s, The Big Shot Chronicle may not have been their best album -- that honor would go to the wildly ambitious double set Lolita Nation -- but as a set of songs and performances, it's practically unbeatable.(allmusic.com)

What can i say? Scott Miller you know... He was a real underrated musician at the public. I will ''Lolita Nation'' post tomorrow. I'm very tired from work today, so i wish all of you a good night and enjoy this wonderful record.
Cheers
           Frank

Flac

Thursday, 12 January 2017

Nick Gilder - City Nights 1978 @320


City Nights, of course, includes Gilder's chart-topping raison d'etre"Hot Child in the City"; the Canadian actually strove to release the pedestrian "All Because of Love" first, but Chrysalis wisely pushed for this street-walking tale to break Gilder in America. As for the rest of the record, the cognoscenti know the surrounding disco-metal set off a global tremor still felt in the "21st Century." From the crisp robot come-on of second single "Here Comes the Night" to the trench-coated social worker flirting in "Got to Get Out," Gilder calmly claims his crown as the king of an insular world of kinky hooks and killer rhythms where any ace pop fan should strive to reside. All of this jukebox Nabokov's '70s work is facile and frequently brilliant. Rock away your frustration and fly high into the City Nights. (Doug Stone allmusic.com)
Well said, Doug!

 I hope you will enjoy it as i do and fly high...
Frank
320

GLAM!!! Nick Gilder - You Know Who You Are 1977 @320

Nick Gilder began playing with Vancouver-based Sweeney Todd. The band split in 1977 after two albums (Sweeney Todd and If Wishes Were Horses) when he and bandmate Jimmy McCullouch moved to Los Angeles. That same year, Gilder began a solo career, signing to Chrysalis and releasing You Know Who You Are. His second album, City Nights, produced the platinum number one single "Hot Child in the City" in 1978. Though Gilder released several other albums (including 1979's Frequency and 1981's Body Talk Muzak), he never approached his earlier success.


Lookout for this high-energy, bubble-blast of true emotion, simulated swagger and Johnny Zip's flying V. The only bad thing about Nick Gilder's deep-blue debut pearl is that the shining You Know Who You Are signals the beginning of the end. No one knew at the time, but the late '70s would compress pop to the point of celestial explosion. Sure, there have been some great variations on the theme since, but listening to the luminous You Know Who You Are nowadays is most sentimental, as it's a fleeting close encounter of the kind that must come to a close. If you need to hear how amazing these takes on Gilder's Sweeney Todd leftovers "Roxy Roller" and "Tantalize" are, what are you waiting for?
Then there's "Genevieve" and "Amanda Greer," two haunting gazelles who will never see the light of disc. Let this "Poor Boy" tuck you in at night illuminating illicit images of X-queens between the seats, with the radio playing familiar tin-can beats, before he sails away on a gentle breeze. Glammaster Gilder nailed a number one on his sophomore effort, City Nights, and then polished off the '70s with a near-perfect supernova flourish, Frequency. Like a true '70s star, he disappeared (for the most part) with the delectable decade he helped define, running away in the night, bidding fond farewell, and never going back to his old school, where he taught an endless wave of inferior influences the finer points of back-street noise and plastic metal.

For me personally a great album and i hope you like Gilder, too. I will post also two other albums later.
Have fun
               Frank
320

Wednesday, 11 January 2017

Mikal Cronin - MCll (2013) Flac

If you only know Mikal Cronin as a member of Ty Segall's band, you might be in for a shock on his debut album for Merge, 2013's MC II. If you picked up Cronin's self-titled 2011 album on Trouble in Mind, you might also be in for a bit of a surprise. See, Cronin doesn't go in for noise freakouts or skuzzy garage rock -- he's more of a power popper with an ear for a pretty melody. He's also cleaned up his sound quite a bit on this record with far less reverb and surface noise scuffing up his songs. Cronin and producer Eric Bauer go for a very layered approach that mixes acoustic and electric guitars and features Cronin's nice falsetto harmonies over the top. It makes for a very adaptable sound, perfect for uptempo rockers (like "Shout It Out" or "Turn Away"), midtempo janglers ("Weight," "Am I Wrong"), or introspective ballads ("Peace of Mind.") And despite Cronin playing all the instruments (save the occasional guitar solo by Segall, some drums, and occasional violin), it's a very live and direct feeling record with none of the sterility you often find with one-man band projects.
Much of the rest of the album looks to the '90s for inspiration, touching on Matthew Sweet's punchy power pop or gently biting Sloan's rambunctious, but keenly melodic, sound. Check "Am I Wrong" for something that a track that could have been on One Chord to Another, "Peace of Mind, too, has very Sloan-sounding vocal harmonies. "See It My Way" is a little close to being generically '90s though and tips too far in the grunge-lite direction. It's a minor stumble on an album made up of super hooky, really fun tracks and it's not enough to wreck the good-time vibe. Indeed, Cronin's second album is a step forward from his debut and shows off a guy with enough talent to step out from behind Segall's shadow and make it on his own. (Tim Sendra)
Enjoy
         Frank

p.s.: Tomorrow i want to post some glam and bubblegum music and i hope some of you will like it.
Wish you all a nice day/evening.     New Link

The Junipers - Cut Your Key (2008)


Leicester-based psychedelic pop band the Junipers were formed as a recording project in 2000 by founding members Joe Wiltshire, Marc Johnston, Pete Gough, Liam Riley, and Stuart Pratt. Following in the footsteps of seminal '60s groups like the Zombies and the Left Banke, the group has a strong focus on vocal harmonies and employs instruments like mellotron, banjo, and heavily effected pianos and guitars, creating a lush, neo-psychedelic sound. They released their self-produced debut LP Cut Your Key in 2008 receiving favorable attention from the BBC and several influential publications like Uncut and Record Collector. A couple of singles followed and in 2009, lead singer Marc Johnston left the band and was replaced by Robyn Gibson, a friend of the band. The line-up shifts continued in 2011 and 2012 with the departure of bassist Liam Riley and drummer Stuart Pratt who were replaced by Ash Seldon and Ben Marshall, respectively. In 2012, the new line-up recorded and released the band's follow-up LP Paint the Ground. A four-song EP by the band's side project, the Junipers' Euphonious Trolley, appeared in 2013.(allmusic.com)
In 2016 the band released the album ''Red Bouquet Fair''.

Take a listen. This is the debut album from 2008.

Cheers
          Frank
320

The Lovin' Spoonful - Daydream (1966) 2002 Flac

Hier wie schon angekündigt ''Daydream'', die zweite Scheibe aus der Lovin' Spoonful 5er Box.

Here is as earlier announced ''Daydream'', the second album of the Lovin' Spoonful 5 piece box.

 The band's second LP was very strong; this time, most of the tunes are originals, with the exception of a cover of "Bald Headed Lena." Joe Butler and Yanovsky are featured on some lead vocals, and the album includes two more hits, "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" and "Didn't Want to Have to Do It." [The 2002 reissue includes instrumental versions of "Jug Band Music" and "Fishin' Blues," demo versions of "Daydream" and "Didn't Want to Have to Do It," an alternate version of "Night Owl Blues" and an extra track, "Big Noise From Speonk."]
I spare the biography here because it's in the post of the first LS album.And i think most people know the band and the history. Okay, othing more to say except: Enjoy the music!

Greetings
                Frank

Flac



Redd Kross - Trance - Australian Tour '92 (Flac)

Here are the primary rocks of punk/power pop band Redd Kross. This is not the Trance ep but the whole album. I don't think i must introduce the band. The album is very ''Rock'' like the live concerts of the band. But they never forget to add the pop melodies to the songs.
You know the ''english settings'' of  Marshall amps (for guitars)?  Set all controls of the amp up to level 11 (highest possible level 10) and start rockin'. That's the way listen to the record: All controls up to 11! Have fun.
Cheers
           Frank

Flac

Tuesday, 10 January 2017

The Early Hours - Evolution 1998


The Early Hours second album, Evolution, is a more refined and polished record than their debut , with more prominence given to the lead and backing vocals. However, the album still manages to retain a live and garagey feel thanks to the simple recording and production. Songs like She's Where It's At, I Wonder If You'll Ever Be Mine, Christianne and an infectious re-recording of The Girl I Haven't Met are all the sixties inspired pop songs that the Early Hours are renowned for. Elsewhere, Step Back In Time, Hard Feelings and Adult Attraction have a darker, more garage punk sound while Happening Kid Today and Soon Be Back have an upbeat, rocking beat. The highlight of the album though is the heartbreaking, Lonely With You. Clocking in at exactly 30 minutes, The Early Hours prove with Evolution that when it comes to pop and beat music, quite often less is indeed more.(tripod.com)
After the quite calm power pop sounds of today here comes something for your dancin' shoes. Garage power pop at its best.

Bio
 
The Early Hours began in January 1995 when brothers Kirk and Chet Pohl decided to join forces with school friends Matt Davis and Sean Carthew and form a garage band with the express purposes of writing and recording their favourite style of 60’s influenced pop. The band never intended to perform live and in fact recorded their first album with Tom Thorpe at Bonsai Studio’s before they had ever played a gig together. They were influenced by The Sunnyboys, The Hoodoo Guru’s, Redd Kross, The Stems, The Plimsouls, and The Barracudas.
After pressing 500 copies of their self titled debut album, the band decided that gigging was necessary in order to sell and promote their music. Kirk and Chet were working in the mines in Kalgoorlie Western Australia while Sean and Matt were studying and living in Perth some 350 miles away. The band began alternating gigs between Perth and Kalgoorlie and rehearsing whenever Kirk and Chet could make it to Perth.
The band sent some copies of their album to Spinning Top Records who solicited the album to their contacts in Europe. After a good response from many pop labels in that region of the world, a deal was struck with the Berlin label ‘Twang’ who released the album on vinyl as The Early Hours Greatest Hits Volume 1.
This limited release has become a sought after collectable through out the world and is actually selling second hand at a higher market driven price than it was new.
Just prior to signing the deal with Twang, The Early Hours were unearthed in Kalgoorlie by Radio Station Triple J. This lead the band to some high rotation airplay and a much higher profile in Perth and the east coast. All of a sudden they had gig offers coming in from everywhere but Twang had invited them to tour Europe so they set their sights in that direction rather than the east coast.
The Early Hours set out to play 16 shows in Spain, Germany and France but this snowballed to 31 when they arrived. Gigs varied from playing to 800 people with The Bluetones at the loft in Berlin, (where signatures from Nirvana, the Hoodoo Guru’s, Pearl Jam and Lenny Kravitz were seen back stage), to an underground club in Spain called Kristall, with no PA one power point and a crowd of 20, in a room no bigger than the average Australian lounge room.
After returning from Europe the band was extremely tight, but emotionally and financially drained. They took about two weeks off to ponder did they want to keep playing. The chance of a You Am I support came up and after that gig moral was high and supports for The Hoodoo Guru’s, Powderfinger, and The Stems reunion show followed. By this time the band had recorded a new album again with Tom Thorpe and began taking to Phantom Music about the possibilities of releasing and developing the band. The Early Hours are now signed to Phantom Music and released their second full length CD, tilted 'Evolution', on the West Australian sub label Rocket, and a vinyl version on Melbourne’s Corduroy label. They head back to Europe in October 1998 with over 40 gigs confirmed, a limited edition double vinyl release in France and a strong following in the region. The band is also beginning to establish a strong following on the East coast of Australia and have toured there twice.
So far, so good. And now...put on your dancin' shoes
Cheers
         Frank
link 

p.s.: it's mp3 320

The Electric Soft Parade - Idiots 2013

It’s a beautifully sunny, unashamedly melodic tour de force which pitches up somewhere between a fevered Beatles obsession and a well-loved pile of Go-Betweens records. Just as Teenage Fanclub possess the rare knack of sweetening their songs without making them sickly, ESP happily go through the gears every time, throwing out key changes and layered harmonies like they've got an expiry date.
Lyrically, the themes are well worn; but you have to wonder if this is part of the conscious aping of those who have inspired them. “The sun never shined on me until you came around,” may not be a new sentiment, but played out at the heart of a glistening chorus it can subdue the most miserly cynic.
Some records make you think, some records redefine whole genres. And some, like ‘IDIOTS’, just make you very happy.
9/10 (Gareth James)

Wonderful band and i hope you feelin' fine with this album.
Cheers
           Frank 
link

Baby Scream - Greatest Failures

 Baby Scream is a project of argentinian musician Juan Pablo Mazzola.

Back in January, Juan Pablo Mazzola(the man behind B.S.) told me: "I'm a huge ELO/Beatles fan, and what I do is basically classic Power Pop!" and his new compilation "Greatest Failures" really is a tremendous showcase of the Baby Scream decade long recording career, basically from 2002 up until 2013. Fifteen great songs are squeezed into less than 45 minutes as this swift overview showcases an artiste who I summarised previously as being the result of crossing "... T.Rex with David Bowie and [throwing] in a little Tom Petty".
From the lyrically shocking opening of the first lines of "Slut" [a song of remorse written around the death of his father] through to the most recent track "Aching Eyes", Juan Pablo Mazzola writes and performs near perfect Power Pop gems which please upon hearing and will appeal to any T.Rex, Bowie, Dylan, Petty, Van Morrison and Jeff Lynne fan. There are no weak tracks included in this compilation with the Bowiesque "Mars" impressing as well as the raucous "Every Day [I Die A Little Bit]", the sublime "Morning Light", the string-laden ELO influenced "Nicole", the anthemic "Jekyll & Hyde" with the Van Morrison inspired "Secret Place" bringing up the rear with the superb Bolanesque "Aching Eyes".

"Greatest Failures" - ironically - is of tremendous credit and testimony to the talent of Juan Pablo Mazzola. There is a great range of tempo and style within this release to quickly impress the listener and it makes for a worthy addition to the collection of any Power Pop addict. (k.j.sinclair,elobeatlesforever)

                                                                                           You can buy it here: Bandcamp
 Enjoy!
           Frank
mp3 320
 

Dwight Twilley - Rarities (7 discs)

He's dipped into the vaults to present this series of totally awesome, high quality, career-spanning studio and live recordings that every hardcore Twilley fan will want to own! (amazon.com)

Hmm...there is not a lot to find about this ''Twilley rarities''. And i can't remember from where i get this copy. Anyway, this is for sure a fine collection of songs on seven discs. I guess there are around 100 songs in this package (haven't count). The quality is mp3@vbr~200 average value. But it sounds really good in my opinion. If anybody of you have a better copy please send me a pm and i will post  it here. Hope you will enjoy it.
Cheers
          Frank

link