Seven Seven Inches for the End of 2007

01. The Poppy Family - "Endless Sleep"

A pop psyche B-side track with a disgusting guitar line.

02. Tamiko Jones - "Touch Me Baby (Reaching Out For Your Love)"

Yooooooo! This song is insane...

03. Cross Country - "In The Midnight Hour"

Sort of sounds like a CSNY version of the Wilson Pickett tune. Even if you get bored with its sweetness, the end kind of explodes.

04. Kevin Dunn - "Oktyabrina"

Weirdo-atmospheric minimal synth track, with a touch of Eno.

05. Pop Concerto Orchestra - "Eden Is A Magic World"

At moments, this could pass as the blueprint for Tears For Fears' "Sowing the Seeds of Love."

06. Fooka Mainty Band - "Let's Get It Together"

An upbeat funk jam, good for kick-starting any New Year's Eve party.

07. The Nightwalkers - "And I Love"

I've found absolutely no information on this band. All I know is that the cover art for the 7-inch rules. The song sort of does, too. Epic, tragic French rock.

Get them HERE.

CYNE EP

As the final stages of production on the new full-length album begin, CYNE has posted an online EP of unreleased material, including collaborations with: Asshole Parade (No Idea, Gainesville), Seven Star (BDJ / PMC, Miami), Stres (Miami), and Soarse Spoken (BDJ / PMC, Miami). The instrumentals are included.

You can get it HERE.

The new album, "Pretty Dark Things," will be available in February.

Check out the CYNE Myspace page for more info and downloads.

Splash [repost]

By request, here's a link to the Stratosferic Band's "Splash..." record.

Fall Music

As hurricane season leaves us with a hint of Fall in the Miami air, Falcon Hawksome leaves you with hint of music in your ears...

01) New Musik - "On Islands"
02) Supreme - "Trix"
03) Voices Of Brazil - "Belo Horizonte"
04) The Swingle Singers - "Bon Jour, Mon Coeur"
05) Herbie Hancock - "Trust Me"
06) S.S.O. - "Won't You Try"
07) Sylvester - "I Need Somebody To Love Tonight"
08) Arif Mardin - "Sympathy For The Devil"
09) Gershon Kingsley - "Kohoutek"
10) Illes - "Reklam Ur"
11) Vytas Brenner - "Araguaney"
12) Compost - "Bwataa"

Get it HERE.

We got our first Expedit!

Also known as the perfect record shelves! We already built one of two. I am so excited!!!
I'll post pictures when the work is done.

For now, these people really love their shelves:
Link & Link

Mami was here!

I am probably the worst blogger ever but I am very happy to announce that my mom a.k.a. Mami came to visit us for a few days.
It was awesome!!! I can't be more happy :D

Judd Apatow's UNDECLARED

This TV show was awesome!!! If you liked Knocked up and the 40 year old virgin you should watch these. It's very funny and sweet at the same time and for some reason Apatow and his team manage to make you feel for these characters to the point that you miss them when your not watching the show.
100% recommendable!

Link

A Monkton Family Christmas - The 48 Hour Film Project

My friends at N PICTURES made this film for The 48 Hour Film Project.
In this competition they give you a movie genre, a character, prop and line that have to be in your film and 48 hours to finish it.
A Monkton Family Christmas won Best Writing, Best Film and Audience Award in the Miami edition.
Please watch and CONGRATULATIONS!

Design Cutting Boards

I don't like recommending things that I haven't tried myself but this is so cute!
These design cutting boards come in 6 different designs, you can get three of them on elsewares.
I just wanted to share...

Link

Covers, Part 3

1. Back In Time - "The Sound Of Silence" [P. Simon]: this 1978 Cotillion release has some seriously bizarre French disco coverage. Although Simon and Garfunkel is an odd choice to inspire the dance out of people, this rendition has got some interesting emo-soul-dancefloor hybrid action. Despite the fact that the dude sings like Eric Cartman, the song gets pretty synth-tastic towards the end.

2. Merry Clayton - "Southern Man" [N. Young]: aside from this self-titled 1971 release on Ode/A&M, you may recognize Ms. Clayton's voice from The Stones' "Gimme Shelter," or Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama." Her rendition of "Southern Man," at times, transcends Neil Young's version - she delivers an honest force of drama, soul, and social relevance.

3. Orpheus - "She's Not There" [R. Argent]: this cover was released in 1968, four years after the Zombies' debut single launched them into the charts. At times, this song takes a Doors-y approach to its sound, but the energy feels angry and less self-pitying than the original.

4. Blue Swede - "Always Something There To Remind Me" [B. Bacharach and H. David]: covered by many, made into an 80's synthpop hit by Naked Eyes, and made awkward by this Swedish outfit - this jam never fails to deliver. These guys seem to have packed all the sounds they could find into this one, and still managed to sound like Tom Jones.

5. Edmundo Ros and his Orchestra - "Light My Fire" [R. Manzarek, J. Morrison, J. Densmore, and R. Krieger]: Ros has been called the "King of Latin American Music," and this African-Venezuelan-Scotsman struts his chops all over the Doors of perception. This sounds exactly like you'd imagine...

Get them HERE.

Playing Diablo II Again

For real! This is not a metaphor. I saw it on the store the other day and got butterflies in my stomach. I loved this game so much when I played it back in the days.
I couldn't take it out of my mind since I saw it, I kept remembering the music, the sounds, the monsters, how much fun it was... until I finally couldn't resist any longer and I bought it again!
Yes I did and I'm so happy, this is probably my favorite computer game ever!!! And I'm loving it, again.

Link

Cold Crushing Pescados on a Rainbow

I found this record, housed in a worn-out disco sleeve, with a label that simply read: "Express." To my surprise, it wasn't a shitty disco cover of some song about trains... it turned out to be an all instrumental dub/reggae record. Nice!

With very little to go on, the world wide web led me to this information:

RANKING BARNABAS - THE COLD CRUSHER
Produced By: PHIL PRATT
Mixed By: BARNABAS
Recorded At: CHANNEL ONE STUDIO
Engineer: BUNNY TOM TOM
Personnel: ROBBIE SHAKESPEARE, SLY DUNBAR, RAD BRYAN, JAH BUNNY, ANSEL COLLINS, BOBBY KALPHAT, STICKY, SCULLY, TOMMY McCOOK, HERMAN MARQUIS
Year: 197X


The record, unfortunately, is warped... so, I've provided you with what should be A4 and B4 of the album. Of course, both sides have five songs. So, the tracklisting that I found just makes what little I know about this record even more frustrating. But, hey... at least I know it was released in 197X !

I was very thankful that the Roots Archive and The King Of Dub were able to provide useful information and images. Both are excellent resources.

-----

Our good friend, Enoch, just returned from a month-long trip to South America. And, what did he bring back as mementos of his journey? Colombian coffee? Ecuadorian shrimp? Aregentinian beef?

Guess again...

When I picked the dude up from the airport, he had an armload of bootleg DVDs and some records...

So, after watching "Los Simpsons" last night, I decided to clean up a few songs I transferred from the new Buenos Aires wing of Enoch's record library...


The first song is "Corto," by an influential Argentine psych-rock outfit called Pescado Rabioso. The song is taken from their greatest hits record, released in 1976, on the Microfon label. They were a short-lived band, but the records are highly sought-after. This jam is an organ drone sing-a-long [please excuse the surface noise].


The next song is called "Abre Tu Mente (Open Your Mind)" by another one of Argentina's successful "musica beat"-era bands, Arco Iris. The song is taken from their 1969 debut on RCA. The opening line is: "Open your mind to the cosmos, and look..."

...so, keep your eyes peeled for transfers of Enoch's 1980 "boot legs" record with Argentine versions of Kraftwerk and Moroder songs.

Get them HERE.

Shopping at fredflare.com

Oh yeah, guilty pleasure!!!

I finally couldn't resist anymore and got some very cute (maybe not so necessary) items from Fred Flare. I loved the online store since day one, but never made the decision to try it until this past memorial weekend when I made my first purchase.
I will post about the items another day but I just wanted to say that I am very pleased with the transaction. It was nice and easy, the items arrived incredibly fast, very well packed, they look even better than in the pictures and I even got a flyer with a code for a free shipping. How sweet!!!

Highly recommended!

Link

Ratatouille

I loved it!
Link

Busy Busy

Hello Everybody,
This is a short post just to let you know that we're still alive, just super super busy. We moved to a new apartment, I got a new job and we received two wonderful visits in the last few weeks.
Our friend John from Maracaibo, my hometown, and Michael Johnson made us very happy with their presence in our home.
Thank you so much for sharing this awesome time with us.
I'll try to post pictures soon.
Hope you had a good labor day weekend.

CYNE News

CYNE will have a new song featured on the upcoming Mooncircle Project compilation, "The Heart On The Right Spot."


The LP/CD will be released on the 5th of October, 2007.


This is not the first time that we see CYNE team up with their good friends in Dresden. They have contributed to a number of collaborations and productions for other Mooncircle Project artists and releases. CYNE appears on Soarse Spoken's "Leadership Midnight" EP, Seven Star's "Alternate Invention" CD, the "Lunar Orbit" EP, and the "Wisdom In Chains" EP [pictured below].


CYNE has finished recording their new full-length album, "Pretty Dark Things." A release date has yet to be announced.

Other releases and collaborations are in the works. More info to come... In the meantime, you can find the song "Catharsis" [taken from Mooncirle Project's "Wisdom In Chains" EP] HERE.

Super Paper Mario

I finished it!!!! It's awesome. I love it!!! 100% recommended. From beginning to end.
It's so much fun and every new level has something amazing and beautiful. I even cried in one of them...
I'm going to keep playing until I get all the cards and recipes and maps!!! ;-)

Link
Picture from wiispot.com

Friday Mix

It's been a while since we posted any music. So, we hope you enjoy this little compilation. Many of these songs were provided to us by our friends. Have a nice weekend...



01.) Devin The Dude - Treatin' Me Cold (thanks Enoch)
02.) Dow Jones and the Industrials - Malfunction
03.) Hugh Hopper & Alan Gowen - Morning Order (thanks Junior)
04.) Lefties Soul Connection - Organ Donor (thanks Florian Keller)
05.) Lindstrom - I Feel Space Original Mix (thanks Plot)
06.) Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up Part 1 (thanks Plot)
07.) Pekka Pohjola - The Madness Subsides (thanks Luber)
08.) Rob - Make It Fast, Make It Slow (thanks Matt and Lil' Ben)
09.) Fitzroy Sterling - My Sweet Lord (thanks Ricotta Park)
10.) Tinga Stewart - Why Can't We Live Together?
11.) Timmy Thomas - Why Can't We Live Together? (thanks Epstein)
12.) Tullio De Piscopo - Stop Bajon (thanks Pres)
13.) Tuxedomoon - Crash!
14.) The Twins - Runaway
15.) Ricky Wilde - I Am An Astronaut (thanks MJ)

Get it here.

marimekko

Another recommendation from the bottom of my heart. Marimekko is a finnish company that make all these amazingly beautiful products and clothes based on graphic designs printed mostly on fabrics. Above is a selection of some of my favorite designs from the 1950s to these days. Not only the products are beautiful but I have a few and I LOVE to use them.


For more info visit them here. ENJOY

Brian Eno

Just a little post to recommend this wonderful piece of music that I didn't know all this time and I just discovered (thanks to my husband).
Until now I just knew about Eno's ambient albums and some of his production work, but on these albums from 1974 to 77 he plays and sings and they're beautiful. Not only that but I recognized they're a huge influence in modern music.
You know where to go to read more about him and listen to the records...
I just wanted to say that I love them!!!


Photos from enoweb.co.uk

Hecho En Venezuela, part 1

Chelique Sarabia - selections from "Revolución Electrónica en Música Venezolana" [Promus, 1972]

Although this is a collection of typical Venezuelan themes and songs, Sarabia makes use of contemporary recording systems/effects to give them new form. Alongside traditional instruments, these recordings were constructed with inverted vocal elements, synthesized frequencies, and M.R.A.A. equipment (based off of the principles of the Moog). The result is a beautiful, psychedelic-folk journey filled with delayed synth horns, echoing electronic strings, and layers of rhythmic live instrumentation.



Ambar - selections from "Love Maniac" [Polydor, 1979]

Some of you might remember Maria Conchita Alonso as Schwarzenegger's love interest in The Running Man, but this Cuban-born, former Miss Venezuela contender, had a recording career before focusing on acting. Her debut release was a spacey, disco-driven collaboration with Italo-Venezuelan producer Rudy La Scala. The "Sweet Lover" trilogy is a passion-filled tale of a woman who coldly dismisses her current suitor only to dream and sing about "the first, and only one, who ever had my body and soul."



Grupo De Experimentacion Sonora Del ICAIC - selections from "Grupo De Experimentacion Sonora Del ICAIC" [Integra, 1979]

The only reissue of this 1973 release was produced in Venezuela, in 1979. The GES collective formed in 1969, as an extension of the Cuban Institute of Art and Film. Aside from scoring films, the GES focused on re-inventing Cuban music, built on the foundation of their roots and heritage. With an emphasis on traditional song structure, as well as the avant-garde, the GES was a platform for experimentation in composition and arranging. Many of the musicians involved, like Silvio Rodríguez, went on to nurture careers as influential Nueva Trova artists.

GET THEM HERE

Freegums

Our friend at FREEGUMS was recently commissioned to create artwork for the United Trade Show. The result was a labor-intensive, hand drawn fantasy scene (pictured above). FREEGUMS will be showcasing his new line at both the NY and Las Vegas shows, and there's a chance to cop some free gear.

Please check out his artwork and clothing lines -- we highly recommend the hand drawn, tile-able poster.

Mr. Toast

I just got these two pieces from Mr. Toast, and I'm loving them!!!

This little book, called "Parade," is a collection of Dan Goodsell's art, featuring all of his food caracters: Mr. Toast, Lemonhead, Joe The Egg...
And, I got this little painting called Sleepy Joe. Beautiful!

He also has an amazing collection of food packaging from the 20th Century.
I am more than proud to invite you to visit his website and his store.

ROM - Reach For The Thighs

And...
Our good friends from ROM have released a new online EP.

Beautiful stuff...

Get it here.

JAHBITAT - Harpy Lights The Canopy

Our good friends from Jahbitat just put out a new LP with our good friends from Project: Mooncircle.

Some musical goodness from Venezuela/Spain.
Listen and purchase HERE.

Good Synth, Bad Synth...

1.) Mirage - "Weasel's Choice" [self-released, 1986]: this one's for the Jax crew. Hailing from the largest city in the contiguous United States, Mirage sounds like their picture looks (see above).


2.) Karat - "Le Doyen 1" [Pool, 1980]: here's a soft, sad little syntherlude from a German symphonic prog group, recorded at Spliff Studio Berlin.


3.) Tonto's Expanding Head Band - "Cybernaut" [Atlantic, 1975]: this jam was created on the first and largest multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer... to fully grasp what we're dealing with, please go here and here.


4.) Ian Tescee - "Jupiter Part 2, Hunters" [E-N Records, 1984]: Tescee's website says that this music describes "the terrifying beauty of the most volcanically active world in the solar system," Jupiter.


5.) Rick Telli - "The City In Motion" [KGB, 1977]: taken from San Diego's fundraising compilation, Homegrown V. The sleeve notes call this song a "Brian Wilson-Stevie Wonder trip."

GET THEM HERE

Covers, part 2

1.) Clockwork - "Think" [James Brown]: this 1975 release, on Hialeah's Sound Triangle Records, sometimes has the feel of listening to a wedding band. But, Clockwork (pictured above) gives a worthy stab at The Godfather of Soul's classic tune. The drums are pretty nasty, but that doesn't make them the hardest working band in show business.

2.) Shango - "Sunshine Superman" [Donovan]: on the 1969 release from this four-man hybrid band (made up of musicians from St. Croix and California), there are a number of Caribbeat/rock covers. Steel drums, vibes, and locomotive rhythms make for an interesting interpretation that doesn't stray too far from the original.

3.) The Micronotz - "Scarborough Fair" [Traditional]: taken from their "40 Fingers" album (1986, on Homestead), this is a straight-forward, melodic punk cover of Simon & Garfunkel's rendition. Their sound has been described as falling somewhere between Hüsker Dü and The Ramones.

4.) Giorgio - "Knights In White Satin" [Justin Hayward]: this is mister Moroder's 1976 version of The Moody Blues "Nights In White Satin." Like a slow disco mindfuck, Giorgio whisper-sings Hayward's lyrics over a bed of percussive string delays, guitar rhythms, digital harpsichord, and synth washes.

5.) The Family - "Nothing Compares 2 U" [Prince]: this track is sort of a reverse cover. It's the rarely recognized original recording of the Prince-penned song, made famous by Sinéad O'Connor. The Family was formed by Prince, and the band "performed" songs written, recorded, and produced by The Artist (apparently, Paul Peterson's voice was just dubbed over the finished tracks). The song was released in 1985, on their only album. {thank you, Pres, for sharing this one}

GET THEM HERE

Futurisk

I would love to own this. It's an ultra-rare 7", limited to 1000 pressings... More importantly, it's a fantastic record.

Thanks to www.minimal-wave.org, I was able to discover a long-forgotten local band.

Futurisk was from South Florida. They formed in the early 80's, under the leadership of Jeremy Kolosine. Sadly, they disbanded in 1984, but left us with two amazing releases.

This is incedibly dynamic and driving synth pop/rock, supported by a recording that is both raw and warm (apparently, they tracked the drums in a bathroom).



You can find a nice bio here.

It's the kind of record that makes me wish I was old enough to have experienced the SoFla new wave scene...

*** If anyone knows where to find a copy of "The Sound of Futurism 1980/Army Now" EP, that would be greatly appreciated.

GET IT HERE

Covers, part 1

In response to the omission of the "Gloria" cover from the Stratosferic Band post, I have included it here.

So, I figured that this could be the first in a series of posts about cover songs that I have found...

1.) Rosebud - "Money" [Roger Waters]: this track is the B-side to a 1977 disco 12" on Warner. This jam kicks off with sweet synth bass, (synth?) harmonica, and spaceship soundscapes. Guits, bleeps, clavs, and key stabs surround the layers of female vocals echoing "goody good bullshit."

2.) Idris Muhammad - "House Of The Rising Sun" [Traditional]: This version came off of a 1976 Kudu promo 7" for Muhammad's album of the same title. Frank Floyd sings over this R&B/funk rendition, with David Sanborn on the sax and Eric Gale on guitars. This is a pretty tight little number, with a little bit of drama and some jazzy chops...

3.) The Stairsteps - "My Sweet Lord" [George Harrison]: This is taken from a 1971 Buddah Records release. It's a warm and emotive R&B/soul variation of the song. It has a slight gospel approach in the vocal call and response, while showcasing a slick rhythm section (there's even an occasional nod to Harrison's guitar stylings sprinkled amongst the sounds).

4.) Gogi Grant - "Somebody To Love" [Darby Slick]: This song sounds like everything Jefferson Airplane was trying not to be. But, there is something endearing about it. Gogi tries very hard to convince us that she is free... "Miss Grant is still performing, currently she headlined with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies in Palm Springs, California (from Wikipedia)."

5.) The Moments - "I'll Be Around" [Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt]: This 1978 version (of the Spinners' 1973 hit) amazes me every time I hear it. It speeds up the tune into a soft, breathy, driving, soul-disco track. Every copy I've found sounds like a low-quality pressing, but I think it lends to the charm of the Iight synth work, slightly-present drums, and floaty vocals.

6.) Stratosferic Band - "Gloria" [Van Morrison]: The missing piece in the Stratosferic Band's Splash-terpiece...

GET THEM HERE

Cristal

I found this sweet little 7" under a bridge, at the downtown market in Caracas... A French release from 1977, on Crocos Records. It's kind of a cosmic, sleazy, disco/funk, synthy, 2-track jammer.

GET IT HERE

Splash....

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon this intergalactic Italian disco gem. It was one of those great dollar-bin discoveries...

A 1977 release on Italy's Voom Voom Music label, this is one of only a few records put out by the Stratosferic Band.

The little bit of internet info I could find tells me a few things:

1) on eBay Europe, it's mainly going to DJs and vinyl collectors
2) it's popular with obscure, dance-heavy online radio shows and music blogs
3) there's very little explanation of how it might have ended up alone and unloved in a used record store in Boulder, Colorado.

Regardless, this record is awesome. It's cosmically-themed, which is always a plus. The production is synth-heavy, with incredibly precise live instrumentation. And, with titles like "The First Galaxy," "Cosmic Show," and "Mexican Space," you can't be misled.

If anyone has more information or releases by the Stratosferic Band, it would be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy!

GET IT HERE

Hello

Is anybody there? This is our blog, let's see if we can be serious enough to keep it alive...