27 April 2008

Sony Playstation 1


Lately there has been a buzz about the first generation of Sony Playstation being a terrific CD player. My brother bought one and we plugged it into his setup comprising of Harman Kardon HK610 amplifier, Avalon Acoustic speakers connected with a classic Kimber loudspeaker cable. His CD player is a classic budget Technics SL-P 170. While the Technics is siginificantly louder, it is undeniably more harsh and unnatural to the ear. Guess the buzz is true, don't believe the hype believe your ears. Try it yourself.

20 April 2008

Pops Mohamed presents...Bushmen of the Kalahari




M.E.L.T. 2000 releases a carefully selected choice of World Music-, Jazz- and Acoustic recordings from mainly Southern Africa. The site features well known names from the beginnings of the label in early 90's but also presents new offerings from long standing recording artists like Madala Kunene, Bernard Mndaweni, Amampondo, Busi Mhlongo and Mabi Thobejane. Recent recordings and filming of new and exciting artists include L.A.P. (Live African Percussion), Castro B., Vivid Afrika, Greg Georgiades, Ashish Joshi, Della Tamin, , Thabang Tabane, Syd Kitchen, Johnny Fourie, Carlo Mombelli, Ernest Mothle & Ntombe Thongo's African Band. ELECTRIC M.E.L.T. is undertaking several new projects in conjunction with local South African- and European remixers.

Making music is the most primeval form of human expression, imbued with a mystical power to communicate at an instinctual level that transcends language and speaks directly to the soul. The San Bushmen - the indigenous people of the southern African region are Africa's oldest inhabitants, having lived in the region for approximately twenty-five thousand years. For them, music and dance are not merely creative expressions, but an integral part of their being. An essential element of the San cultural identity is their medicine dance and music, in which they use rhythm to heal both the individual and the collective. The medicine men have a supernatural potency within them called n/um that enables them to cure sickness. To activate this substance they dance and sing, creating sounds and a tempo that heats the n/um, causing it to rise up to their heads and evoke trance. Tragically, after decades of systematic marginalisation and dislocation, the modern world threatens these ancient people, their culture as hunter-gatherers, and their strange and beautiful music. The San involved in both the original Melt recordings Pops Mohamed Presents the Bushmen of the Kalahari, and the forthcoming remix projects come from an area of Namibia called the Omaheke Region, bordering with Botswana. In May 2001 four San musician Ngube, Anna,Kuela and Marcela visited England to launch the SanScape Project. Performing with Pops Mohamed and Zena Edwards, the artists were reunited after their success at the . There are over twenty different San groups distinguished by their language spread over Southern Africa. There are seven different San groups in Namibia with Ngube, Anna, and Marcela from the Noa, based in the corridor in the Omaheke Region. Kuela is from the Dcuikhoe tribe in Botswana.

http://rapidshare.com/files/109003783/Bushmen.zip.html

maximin


Charlemagne Palestine

Young God Records' release of the music of the seminal early Minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine, as re-configured/re-iterated by David Coulter and Jean Marie Mathoul, in co-operation/collaboration with Mr. Palestine. Coulter and Mathoul have taken previously recorded works of Mr. Palestine and - with the full respect due these often transcendent and sacred works - interwoven new sounds/found-sounds, drones, and unexpected textures into an ever-shifting flow that brings new light to these deeply soulful, sonic-sculptural emanations. Re-contextualizing the pure and spiritual force of nature that Mr. Palestine’s music represents could be a risky musical undertaking, but in my opinion Coulter and Mathoul have pulled it off beautifully, inspired solely by their love and respect of the original works themselves. The mixes have an authentic, hand made sensibility, and even when electronics are occasionally introduced, retain an organic feel. The music on this CD has given me hours of listening pleasure, and I hope it provides you with a similar experience. It’s also our hope that the release of this CD will serve as a portal to the work of Mr. Palestine for those who might not already be aware of his substantial catalog of music.

- Michael Gira/Young God Records

This is quite a great CD and as an introduction to Mr.Palestine's it fits perfect.
If you like this, go and dig some more of his stuff. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

http://www.badongo.com/file/8940035