The Aardvarks - Sinker, Line & Hook: The Anthology 1987-1999 mp3@vbr

Aardvarks are native to Africa but the '80s pop group the Aardvarks have no discernable African influence, nor do they have any '80s influence. They're indebted to the sound of the '60s, particularly the tunes of the latter half of that decade, when psychedelia entered the lexicon of pop. The Aardvarks never belonged to the times, as the 2013 compilation Sinker, Line & Hook: The Anthology 1987-1999  proves. The remarkable thing about this set is that the Aardvarks never seem to belong to any of the 12 years under consideration: even when the values they treasured came back into vogue in the mid-'90s, they didn't ride the Brit-pop wave. This hurt the band commercially but it means this comp -- which contains their 1995 debut, Bargain, on the first disc and all the other rarities on the second -- does exist out of time, delivering tight, enthusiastic pop thrills that hark back to the

'60s without belonging to retro-pop trends. Which means that in order to enjoy the Aardvarks you have to enjoy the basic sound and structure of '60s pop more than the recordings of the time, or the fleeting revivals of the decades that passed. If you look just at the beats, the chords, the hooks, the punch, the Aardvarks are satisfying, which Sinker, Line & Hook proves in spades. (S.T. Erlewine)

Kann ich nur unterschreiben und hoffe, die Scheibe macht euch viel Spaß.

Bis bald
              SB1



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Zweiter Teil ( 2nd part) Big Star - I Got Kinda Lost (2013) [FLAC] {8CD set with bonus 9th disc} Disc 3&4

Okay here we go with the second part of the ''Big Star'' post. From the 'Info' file about Disc 3&4:

Disc 03

At last Big Star has arrived with disc three! The cover photo is an outtake of the band in a relaxed, light-hearted moment sitting in the front 3-paneled window of Alex Chilton's parent's house in 1971. The rear insert cover is of the band taken inside at Ardent Studios circa  late 1971. The outside tray liner photo seems to be the proper posed photo of the cover but at this time it's believed they are not the same session/day.
In fact if you look close enough to tray liner of disc 3 and the cover of disc 4, you will notice they are wearing the exact same clothes with the exception of Chilton who has shed the red reindeer sweatshirt.

Track 12 is the real deal 45 single mix of 'In The Street'. This track is a recent needledrop taken from pristine condition vinyl of a vintage Ardent Records vinyl 45 single. In the recent past, there appeared on CD some tracks that claimed to be the 45 single mix but that wasn't really true. The real 45 single mix does not feature a false start/stop.


Disc 04

nothing to report

Here are the tracklists for disc 3 and disc 4. I forgot that yesterday, sorry. Okay that's it for today with  Big Star. Tomorrow more will follow. Wish you all a nice weekend
Cheers
            SB1


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Big Star - I Got Kinda Lost (2013) [FLAC] {8CD set with bonus 9th disc}

This is the expanded 'I Got Kinda Lost' unofficial Big Star box set. Previously this set contained four discs and was jam packed with all kinds of Big Star related tracks.
Like the previous incarnations of 'I Got Kinda Lost', this expanded 2013 release attempts to tell the story chronologically of Big Star through their studio outtakes and alternate versions by keeping it more Big Star centric through the prism of Chris Bell and Alex Chilton - the architects of the band.

The tracks are split up between the CD's to a timeline that carries the listener from 1965 to roughly 1975.

This massive compilation is what one would call a 'fantasy release'. It's designed to look 'official' but clearly it is not.
In fact, this box set carries a fake catalog number - ST100/6 which is a direct homage to Chris Bell and Andy Hummel who briefly had the idea (as a joke) that if Ardent/Stax didn't release their completed #1 Record they were going to do it themselves (à la bootleg it) and give it the mythical catalog number ST100/6. Their little idea has now come full circle back to that very same idea, like a bridge to the past.

Some notes:

all sourced from CD or vinyl - no mp3 sourced material!
all artwork was created at 300 dpi - full size - saved as png
all needledrops that appeared on previous comps have been re-done (new transfers)
disc 5, tracks 7 & 8 are fan mixes - they were so good and too hard to pass on
there has been no audio leveling between tracks or 'normalizing'. Tracks are represented here as to how they were from their original origin.

I will upload it in five parts. In the first four parts are two discs in each part. The fifth part includes the ninth disc.(bonus)
This evening i will upload the first part but i hurry up with the other parts. Probably tomorrow and the day after tomorrow the other parts will follow.
Okay that's what the info says about the first two discs:

 DISC ONE


Disc one gets started in 1965 with The Jynx, consisting of Chris Bell (guitar), Bill Cunningham (bass), David Hoback (guitar), Dewitt Shy (drums) & Mike Harris (vocals). The first four tracks of disc one are the only recorded tracks from the short lived Jynx which were recorded @ Sonic Studios in December of 1965.
By early 1966 The Jynx called it a day.

We then fast forward a couple of years to 1969 where Chris Bell ended up at Ardent Studios recording with Terry Manning; playing lead guitar on a cover of a then an unreleased Beatles tune called 'One After 909'. Terry had acquired an incomplete demo of the song from someone close to The Beatles. According to Terry, this cover version was Chris Bell's first recording in a 'real studio'.
In addition to that, tracks 9 - 11 feature Chris Bell contributing to songs that would wind up on Terry Manning's solo LP called 'Home Sweet Home'.

From either late 1968 or early 1969 are some Chris Bell experimental tracks called 'Psychedelic Stuff' in which Terry Manning contributes.


During the years in between 1965 and 1968 this compilation doesn't focus on Alex Chilton because his work is more widely known with The Box Tops so there is no reason to add those tracks here as this comp is about rarities and outtakes - not greatest hits.

Alex Chilton departs The Box Tops by late 1969 and records an album's worth of material along with Terry Manning that will remain largely unreleased until roughly 1996 with the album title '1970' - though reports say the material was actually recorded in 1969 - but due to contract stipulations with The Box Tops the album is given the name '1970' so that the recordings can't be viewed as Alex breaking contractual obligations with The Box Tops. Some of these solo tracks make up tracks 12 -23 on disc one. Of course these are alternate or mono tracks that never appeared on the officially released Alex Chilton archival solo album in 1996 called '1970'.

Tracks 18 & 20 are needledrops taken from a pristine vinyl 45 limited to 500 copies.

The cover of disc one features a colorized photo taken by Michael O'Brien of the band in happier days (1971) at Alex's parents house (145 North Montgomery, Memphis, TN). Previously we've only seen a few different shots from this session at Alex's house - all of them have been in black and white. It's interesting to view one of these iconic photos in an colorized alternate way.

The reverse image of the cover features a black & white photo of Alex and Chris in Ardent Studios. It is believed that year is either late 1971 or early 1972.

It's too bad that Omnivore used this same photo of Alex & Chris in the studio for the rear photo of their 45 vinyl single of Alex Chilton's 'All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain' in which they completely airbrushed Chris Bell out of the picture to make it look like Alex was the sole person in the photo/studio!
That crappy omission has been corrected with this release.
The outside tray liner photo is from the same session that yielded the restored photo as mentioned above with Alex and Chris.

 Disc 02

By 1970, after recording this solo album at Ardent with Terry Manning in 1969, Alex heads to New York City to try his hand at playing folk clubs.
Meanwhile, back in Memphis, Chris Bell, Thomas Dean Eubanks, Terry Manning & Jody Stephens form a band in 1969 - 1970 called 'Rock City' and manage to record a proper album. This material makes up the heart of disc two following the rest of Alex's solo material with Terry Manning.
Following the dissolution of Rock City, another Chris Bell led band called Icewater, featuring Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Terry Manning with extended cast members that included Andy Hummel and Steve Rhea circa 1970.
On a jaunt to New York City in late 1970 to shop demos of Icewater, Chris Bell and Richard Rosebrough meet up with Alex Chilton. Alex tries to convince Chris to stay in NYC and form an acoustic folk duo like Simon & Grafunkel. Chris tells Alex he is more interested in electric guitar in a band - like the Beatles. Chris asks Alex to come and see them play in Memphis and Alex tells him he will.
By late 1970 (just before Christmas) Alex has left NYC and is back in Memphis and true to his word comes to see a 3-piece band Icewater (Chris, Jody & Andy) playing a gig. After the gig Alex discusses with Chris a meeting date and to possibly record. And so in February of 1971 Alex shows up at Ardent where Chris is and enters the studio, announcing he has a new song to play called 'Watch The Sunrise'. Alex pulls up a stool and starts playing his Martin 12 string acoustic guitar - meanwhile Chris is recording the performance and will ultimately add guitar parts to it.

The front cover to disc two features all four Big Star members in an unknown locale. The rear cover features Alex Chilton slumped over an organ in Ardent studios. The outside tray liner pic is Terry Manning recording Chris Bell in 1972.

Okay i hope some of you have fun

Greetings and see you
                                    SB1



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John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy - Stripped Down 2010 (Flac)

Nothing to say about it. It is the last work of John Lennon before he was shot down and die in 1980 at the age of 40. It was his seventh album after the end of The Beatles.
This is the Double album with the ''Stripped Down'' production of the album.
Enjoy!

See you
            SB1




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Apollo Sunshine - Katonah 2003 (flac)

This is not the kind of ''straight ahead'' Power pop. Sometimes it seems that hundred of things happen in the same moment and all runs in a different direction just to hear a moment later all explodes in a great chorus or bridge . pitchfork com. says : ''That subversion of expectation is what keeps things interesting; along with their bright-eyed optimism, the band offers up some surprisingly innovative songs and lots of quirky, Sgt. Peppers-ish instrumental flip-flops.'' Yeah haha that sounds like a professional review.
This is for sure no commercial radio music, first because it's power pop music and not Madonna. But the main reason is too much things happen in this songs . Too much GOOD things. I love it and i hope you will enjoy it, too.

See you
             SB1



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Sixties pop, easy listening and an album that never existed

First album is from 1968 and it is from Rainbow Ffolly (spelling is correct :-) ) It is calling ''Sallies Fforth'' . Next one is an sunshine album that was never released as a proper album. I think that's the reason why some people called it the ''lost'' album. It is from a band called ''Fountain Of Youth''. The band had released four singles on Colgem (It was the Monkees' label) and one single from earlier on the Tower label as ''The Crossfires''.  All this songs are on the ''lost'' album & two stereo single mixes from 'Liza Jane' and 'Witness people'.
Fountain of Youth was made up of four guys from Fredericksburg, Texas:
Jimmy Panza (lead vocals & drums)
Gary Itri (bass & vocals)
Gary Jenschke (lead guitar & vocals)
Ken Molberg (rhythm guitar & vocals)

And the third and last one for today is 'Roger Nichols And  The Small Circle Of Friends

A true sleeper in the context of California pop. As a songwriter, Roger Nichols wrote with such luminaries as Paul Williams and Tony Asher (fresh from his collaboration with Brian Wilson on Pet Sounds, who co-wrote several of the selections here). The album is a lot of things at once. Soft pop, a smattering of rock, and a heavy dose of easy listening. The group itself has a great vocal blend. Nichols is joined by Murray MacLeod and his sister, Melinda. The three voices combined create a wonderful, soft sheen, equally effective on the ballads (Bacharach's "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart") and uptempo numbers ("Don't Take Your Time"). There is an extremely gorgeous version of the Goffen&King song "Snow Queen," which is a graceful waltz, underpinned by the groups' superb vocals. The credits on the album are a virtual who's who of California pop at the time. Among those who helped out on the project on one way or another are Lenny Waronker, Van Dyke Parks, Bruce Botnick, and Randy Newman. Superbly produced by Tommy LaPuma, the album unfortunately didn't do very well at the time of its release, which is an incredible injustice. The music, though, holds up extremely well today, and is an authentic slice of California pop. Delicious.Thanks to
Matthew Greenwald from allmusic.

links in two minutes in the comments

Wish you all a nice day or evening
see you
            SB1

Back to '67 - The Alan Bown- Outward Bown(with 14 Bonus Tracks)

A lot Bubblegum here, sunshine pop, blue eyed soul, british psychedelia. And a lot of fun. Music from 1967... DEFINITELY!!!




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Bleu im Doppelpack

Headroom established Bleu as a Boston sensation, but his "Somebody Else" on the blockbuster Spiderman soundtrack introduced him to more mainstream audiences and paved the way for his second record, Redhead. While it is the proper follow-up to Headroom, Redhead also includes re-recorded versions of four cuts from that album, along with "Somebody Else" and nine new tracks. The most noticeable change from the debut is evident in the execution: The subtle electronic elements on Headroom, along with some of that disc's charming quirkiness, have been replaced with a muscular, straightforward mainstream rock sound. At first this can be a little disconcerting, since Redhead feels like a slightly more anonymous work, but the quality of the new cuts saves the entire affair. The Andy Sturmer co-penned cut "Could Be Worse" sounds exactly like you'd imagine -- Bleu and Jellyfish mixed together, with an end product something like Supertramp. Storming power pop like "Ursula Major, Ursula Minor" sits comfortably next to gorgeous ballads like "We'll Do It All Again." Bleu does occasionally let his more maudlin, dramatic vocal sensibilities run wild here, making him at times sound like a rockier Rufus Wainwright, but even the biggest departures aren't shockingly different from Headroom. Redhead is just a pop record, but it feels like a manifesto, playing smoothly from end to end. Fans of modern guitar pop and singer/songwriters can't miss with this. [The 2003 Columbia re-release of Redhead adds two songs to the track listing (the crashing album opener "Get Up" and "That's When I Crash") and deletes three songs: "Sayonara," "Feet Don't Fail" and "Ursula Major, Ursula Minor". The addition of "Get Up" makes Redhead a stronger album but it is too bad the decision to cut "Sayonara" was made as the track (which features the girls of Puffy on background vocals) was one of the album's highlights.]

 Six years after songwriter and popmeister Bleu briefly flirted with mainstream success -- a song on the soundtrack to Spiderman and a distribution deal with Columbia for his album Redhead -- he's finally gotten around to releasing a follow-up, A Watched Pot , and while the title seems to hint at the record's extended gestation period, the results sound polished and professional without suggesting  Bleu has been worrying this material during his downtime. Bleu's music is smart and laden with hooks, and the production by John Fields makes the most of the melodies, adding a solid crunch when the tunes are supposed to rock, a solid old-school R&B groove when he feels like dancing, and a swooning vulnerability when Bleu is wearing his heart on his sleeve. Or rather, when he acts like he's wearing his heart on his sleeve -- many of the songs on A Watched Pot walk a fine line between a true romantic's sincerity and a snarky air of sarcasm, summed up in "No Such Thing as Love" and "I Won't Fuck You Over (This Time)." While over in the country singer/songwriters section Lyle Lovett has built a career around characters who embody this sort of duality, Lovett can negotiate the balance in a way that makes his characters sound dastardly but interesting, while Bleu generally just seems shallow when he tries the same trick. This failing is all the more frustrating since A Watched Pot is a great-sounding pop album, with just enough contemporary sheen to make it a clear product of the present day while revealing the ear of a classicist who has learned from a lot of great records of the '70s and '80s. Ultimately, A Watched Pot is the work of an artist who writes great tunes but could use some help with the words -- anyone know a good lyricist who likes to write about guys who are a little on the shifty side? Thanks Jason Damas & Mark Deming for the reviews

See you
             SB1

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Atlantic Thrills once again...shit happens!

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Billy Nicholls - Would You Believe 1968 Deluxe Edition

Billy Nicholls - Would You Believe '68  Deluxe Edition (2006)

Erst als Antwort auf ''Pet Sounds'' von den Beach Boys und Brian Wilson hinter vorgehaltener Hand gehypt, wurde das Album 1968 letztlich doch nicht veröffentlicht (bis auf einige hundert Kopien die
in Schweden auftauchten), aufgrund von finanziellen Schwierigkeiten des damaligen Labels von
Nicholls. 1998 veröffentlichte Billy Nicholls es dann doch auf seinem eigenen ''Southwest'' Label.
Diese Doppel CD ist die 2006 Deluxe Edition. Ich habe irgendwo noch das komplette Werk von Nicholls und werde es später auch mal reinstellen. So wie immer viel Spaß
Bis später
                SB1

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The Jupiter Affect - The Jupiter Affect (1998)@320

The Jupiter Affect truly lives up to the definition of the term "rock & roll band." On one hand, it's a guitar-driven project (Jason Shapiro and Dan Epstein are your culprits here), and indeed, one of the finest twin-guitar groups in the pop field playing in Los Angeles today. It's also led by vocalist/bass guitarist/songwriter Michael Quercio, the former guiding light of such popular aggregations as the Salvation Army, the Three O'clock and Permanent Green Light. Both of these elements meet and create a rock & roll attitude that's infectious - they do it together, as a band, and that's the most obvious factor of this party. The music itself is pop scraping against metal scraping against psychedelia; Sell Out-era Who comes to mind as a reference point. The songs themselves are a mixed lot, and are not necessarily the stars of the show here -- aside from "Angela Davis Hair," which sports one of Quercio's finest melodies ever. One of the songs' secret ingredients is a lovely Mellotron-esque keyboard courtesy of guest Phil Parlapiano. "#17 Dream" sports the same effect, along with a delicious (and tastefully short) backwards guitar solo. It's a fine debut, and a lot of fun.(allmusic)

I forget to mention this is an Ep. 5 Tracks full of magic music. I hope you will enjoy

See you
             SB1


mp3@320

Andy Kim - How'd We Ever Get This Way (1968) @320

Absolutely underrated Topnotch Pop-Bubblegum album from 1968. Let's hear what Thomas Stephen Erlewine says about it:
Andy Kim's 1968 debut How'd We Ever Get This Way showcased his knack for commercial pop music, pitched partway between bubblegum and Brill Building tradition, often recalling both the effervescence and moodiness that marked Neil Diamond's '60s work for Bang. Brill Building mainstays Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich produced those recordings, and after their partnership soured, Barry started writing with Kim on a regular basis, eventually signing him to his fledgling label, Steed. How'd We Ever Get This Way was Kim's debut, consisting entirely with material he co-wrote with Barry, and it's an excellent example of hooky mainstream pop from the late '60s: bright, melodic and well-constructed, from its composition to its productions. At times, it may sound strikingly like Diamond -- "Just Like Your Shadow" recalls "Solitary Man," right down to the mournful horns that come in on the second verse; "Love That Little Woman" bounces along on handclaps and maracas just like "You Got to Me" -- it does so without ever sounding imitative; it sounds like the work of a singer/songwriter with similar gifts, sharpened and honed by Diamond's producer. That producer also happened to be a producer for the Monkees, and there are echoes of that group as well; it's easy to imagine "Circus" as sung by Micky Dolenz and the skipping "Shoot 'Em Up Baby" is just gimmicky enough to work well on TV. At times, the music edges toward the middle-of-the-road (the swelling strings on "Pretty Thing") and sometimes it bears traces of psych-pop, but it never goes too far in either direction. With the exception of the dreamy, dramatic closer "Resurrection," which is notable and excellent in its own way, this is late-'60s pop at its lightest and brightest, and cut for cut it's one of the strongest records of its kind, thanks to songs as irrepressibly catchy as "How'd We Ever Get This Way" and sweetly understated as the McCartney-esque "Ordinary Kind of Girl."
I hope you'll enjoy it
See you
             SB1

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