Voice of the Xtabay!

Xtabay - Lure of the Unknown Love

Xtabay, a lovely young Incan virgin, fell in love with a prince of an Aztec kingdom. It was a forbidden love, however, for he was high born and she was but a simple peasant..The young girl, unable to keep the secret in her heart, sang to the mountains, the wind, whoever would listen to her song. Her voice was so penetrating and enchanting that ultimately it reached and killed the far off prince.

Please post suggestions and contributions here.

If anyone wants to make a political or non musical comment (no spam or commercial links please) please post it in the Wonderwall section as this area is for positive comments or share links only.

Please make requests on the Requests page.

Album links in comments:

Over 30 Enoch Light albums.

Serge Gainsbourg - lots of albums.

All Ultra Lounge albums - fill in your collection.

78 Library albums mainly Roger Roger and Nino Nardini

More Joe Meek stuff including videos and Tornados Greatest Hits (same CD I own) courtesy Jonathan.

George Tipton Plays Nillson

Another Tipton obscurity. After tackling Jan & Dean, Tipton gives his impression of terminal geek Nillson's repertoire. And a nice album it is.

Highly talented but plagued by self doubt and a similar self hating lifestyle to sometime companion John Lennon, Nillson flared brilliantly in the late sixties and early seventies before succumbing to the Hollywood excesses and passing prematurely.

Thanks to the brilliant blog "For the Love of Harry" for this rare gem and there's a treasure trove of Harry's material there. For a (not so) minor talent the aforesaid site is an exhaustive labour of love for the Harryphiles involved.

Essential albums: Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, Nillson Schmillson and Son of Schmillson.

Track list

01. Rainmaker
02. Poly High
03. Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore
04. Think About Your Troubles
05. Marchin' Down Broadway
06. One
07. Maybe
08. Open Your Window
09. Without Her
10. Mourning Glory Story
11. Waiting

GTPN

Diablo Swing Orchestra

Seriously demented music here for the adventurous. A mad band from Scandanavia (it must be the climate) they combine elements of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman soundtracks with heavy metal riffing all overlaid with a Kate Bush like soprano. I can also here some trad jazz elements and the occasional Tijuana Band flourishes (seriously!).

I personally love it, although I've heard only a couple of tunes so far I'm sold. Sort of reminds me of a surf/death metal/country folk band called the Reventlos although the Diablo's take it to another level.

Anyhow I've found a couple of their albums on Avax (in lossless format) so get in quick as they don't usually last long there.

AMG likes them.

Sing a long Songs for the Damned and Delirious (great title).

The Butchers Ballroom

Ennio Morricone Platinum Collection Flac

Here's something I found in my travels. Three CDs in the lossless flac format. I'm in the process of converting my entire CD collection into Flac files for easy access and no loss in listening quality.

From the cover blurb: Three CD collection featuring some of the finest music composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone, recent recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Oscar at the 2007 Academy Awards. Features 60 tracks from his early 'spaghetti westerns' to Hollywood blockbusters like The Mission. A stunning, emotional musical trip that can stand on it's own without the listener ever having seen any of the films these tracks were composed for. EMI.

These are not my uploads as my upload speed is too slow to upload these 11 files so thanks to the original uploader.

Get em here . See comments for track list and p/w.

Bel-Aire Orchestra - Jan & Dean's Pop Symphony

I thought some of you might like to listen to this oddity. Its not just a Hollyridge Strings style orchestral version of a group's hits (good as Hollyridge are) its unique in that Jan Berry actually got involved in the production of this album and most of the ideas are his.

He's helped by the usual stellar Hollywood session men and George Tipton. Its very different to the usual strings play groups sounds and has some very good ideas and makes for interesting listening.

AMG thought it was pretty good too:

The general perception, of course, is that Jan & Dean were almost exclusively a singles act in terms of their most important output, and that is largely true. But a few of their albums were "conceptual" in nature...and then there's Pop Symphony, No. 1, the strangest album in their entire output -- an instrumental album of Jan & Dean hits played by the Bel-Aire Pops Orchestra (augmented by some top L.A. sessionmen, most of whom played on Jan & Dean's usual output), arranged by Jan Berry and George Tipton, who also conducted. What's funny is that Pop Symphony, No. 1 isn't a bad little record, and was also damned rare for a very long time. The material seems at first like standard pop instrumental music, except it does have those melodies, which work whether they're sung by Jan & Dean or, as is the case here, carried by a brass or string section. And it turns out that Pop Symphony, No. 1 is full of entertaining and unexpected delights, with the result that this record isn't quite as bizarre as it seems.

Link

Joe Meek - A Strange Story

Going through a little phase of watching a new feature movie and a 1991 documentary on strange and troubled genius Joe Meek.

The movie, "Telstar" is a pretty good summation of Joe's chaotic and troubled life as an eccentric record producer. Credited with virtually kick starting the British singles music industry and creating some innovative studio tricks Joe eventually was outpaced by more talented studio technicians and eventually swamped by the wave started by the Beatles and Stones.

The actor playing Joe really nails his personality and manner and even looks a lot like him.

The film is fascinating in its depiction of Joe's cramped and chaotic studio situated in tiny rooms above a luggage shop. Its amazing how many famous artists recored with Joe but his main hits were with the Tornados and his bleached fancy, Heinz.

After being sued by somebody claiming to have written Telstar before Joe and hounded by a homosexual criminal charge Joe eventually succumbed to addiction and mental illness culminating in him shooting his downstairs co-tenant and himself with a gun ironically owned by Heinz.

The documentary is even better and really shows the sides of Joe's eccentric genius and features an interview with Joe's two brothers who seem a little bemused by Joe's lifestyle.

The Strange Story of Joe Meek (BBC documentary)

Telstar (the movie)

Joe Meek - I Hear a New World (album of his studio techniques and tricks)

Joe Meek the Amazing World of (album of his main hits)

The rest of the 'A's

I've had a few requests for the rest of the 'A's so here they are. Personally I think they are both better than the other two albums. I've got a feeling the above album had something to do with a Datsun promotion judging by the cover.

Arakawa Yasuo & Shiji Shiroo - Breaking Pop Hit News 1972 Link

Alex Scorier - Scores Link

Out Islanders - Polynesian Fantasy

This is a request. Thanks to Basichip for his usual fine rip.

@320kps Link

When I'm 64 - was the wait worth it?

The miracle of the internet I've already found the complete box sets for the mono and stereo versions of the new remastered Beatles official catalog even though they haven't been officially released yet.

The mono is at 320kps and the stereo is at 220kps. I've also downloaded a couple of albums in flac format to see if there's much difference. The answer is very little if any. These will tide me over until my order arrives.

That could be a while as Amazon has completely sold out the first allocation. Just shows the demise of music sales by people sharing music on the internet has been grossly exaggerated and if anything it creates more interest in my view.

So was the wait worth it the short answer is a resounding yes. There's so many things that could have been done better and not putting each short album on a separate disc to milk as much money from the punters as possible is one of them. But the main issue is the sound and these simply are the best sounding discs so far even making the many Ebbetts versions unnecessary and in fact Dr Ebbetts has officially retired.

So are both the mono and stereo versions essential? Again a resounding yes. The supply of an entire mono version of the albums is an inspired master stroke and they sound deep and transparent and so much better than the thin sounding 80s released mono albums ( a big thumbs down to George Martin who rightly said the mono versions of the early albums were better but then made no effort to remaster them properly).

The mono versions are so good at first its almost impossible to tell if they are mono the sound is so clear and strong. But in a lot of cases they actually sound more detailed and punchy than the stereo versions. This may be because the early albums were made to be released in mono and the stereo versions were hastily made to cash in on the coming stereo boom. Also you haven't heard Sgt Peppers until you hear the mono version its almost a different album.

Of course I can't share the links but seek and ye shall find but be quick as its a constant battle to download them before the net police delete the links. I have no compunction about downloading them as these should have been properly remastered and released at least 20 or 30 years ago before the internet was even invented.

So there you have it the musical event of the year and probably the decade if not the century. And its all happened before I turned 64 (just).

So what now, well if you can grab a copy of the Yellow Submarine songs only album from 1999 you can get a hint of what the Beatles catalog might sound like with new stereo mixes. Well let's hope it doesn't take another 40 years for that to happen. (check comments for a little present)

Billy Strange - Goldfinger

What's strange about Billy? Well nothing really here he's doing the Bond Goldfinger theme and other soundtrack tunes of the period.

There's even Steve Martin's The Jerk now maybe that is a bit strange after all. That's where Steve tried to be the new Jerry Lewis and didn't really succeed but there again much funnier than anything he's done lately. To see Steve at his funniest and best see Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid his tribute to film noir and it gets better every time you see it. Its also the inspiration for Dr Forrest's Cheese Factory blog which is a mad and sometimes inspired melange of weird and wonderful stuff.

So for all the Friend's of Carlotta here it is, its my rip and its been languishing in my Rapidshare folder for ages and now it finally sees the light of day. Its a mono 96kps rip equivalent to 192kps stereo.

Link

Art Van Damme - Cocktail Capers

Here's a delicious album from hip accordianist Art Van Damme. Its a request. Thanks to the original uploader.

Link

Acquaviva and Andy Loore links posted

I've uploaded the above albums. Get em here Acquaviva Andy Loore.

Not entirely satisfied with the response but thanks to those who took the trouble to comment.

Uploads of the other two albums will be subject to sufficient interest being shown.

Les Paul - My Tribute

OK so the legends of music are dropping off the perch at an alarming rate but mum this is serious! The absolute legend of them all Les Paul has left this mortal realm after a lifetime of innovation and great music.

Its probably true to say popular music today would be entirely different if Les Paul hadn't been around. Inventor of the modern electric guitar and multi track recording not to mention all sorts of innovations and techniques this guy was the biz.

Just listen to his early instros, they sound like the fastest picker you've ever heard on helium. Sublime stuff.

Here is a long out of print box set which probably best sums up Les the guitar player and his terrific 50s style duets with his wife Mary Ford.

The album links are not my upload so thanks to him or her.

Download this text file which contains the links. Only 128kps but who cares. Link

Space Age Pop - the 'A' list

I was a little bit disappointed with the response to the basic Space Age Pop (SAP) albums post only getting one comment. I'm not sure if this is because comment moderation is enabled or whether visitors don't know quite what Space Age Pop is or they already have all the albums they want.

I have to continue moderation as there is at least one very determined (and idiotic) spammer.

Anyway I was going to post some albums I thought were the better examples of SAP but this is rather a daunting task due to the large number of great albums in this category.

For instance just looking through the first letter of the alphabet I found four classic albums and I'm sure there are many more. I'm going to highlight these four albums with the first track of each album available to listen to and the album with the best (and adequate) response I'll post.

You can comment in the post or vote for your fave in the sidebar. Just one album per reader thanks as this is just a trial to see if this idea is worth pursuing. All these are rare and I couldn't find much info about them on the web.

Any dedicated SAP or Library music fan would have heard of Janko Nilovic. Well this is a side project in his guise as Andy Loore and a very fine example of SAP or Library or both.

This is a beauty. Didn't have the cover so this will have to do. One track is featured on my Bob Dylan tribute album. This bounces and pops in a wonderfully brassy manner. It practically defines SAP.

Now for something a bit different. If soaring classy strings are your bag this fits the bill.

Breaking Pop News by some Japanese dudes. Originally shared by the wonderful Space Debris who is now no longer active here's a thing he shared way back around 2005 or so and now long disappeared. Its a Japanese offering and rivals the Scorier album for sheer funky brassness or something. Rocks from start to finish. There's details in the MP3 tags.

101 Strings - Sounds of Today

Track Listing

01 - Ode to Billy Joe
02 - I'm a Man
03 - Karma Sitar
04 - California Dreamin
05 - Stone Baroque
06 - San Francisco
07 - A Whiter Shade of Pale
08 - Blues for the Guru
09 - Never My Love
10 - Strings for Ravi
11 - Killer Joe A GoGo
12 - Blues For the Guru 2
13 - Karma Sitar 2
14 - Strings for Ravi 2

This is a request by Jonathan. I looked through the Xtabay archives and found this rare item.

The 101 Strings were perhaps one of the most 'easy' artists of easy listening putting out orchestral versions of the day's hits which could be listened to by mum while she prepared the family roast.

They did put out a couple of more hip albums though, this one, Astro Sounds of course and others like the Les Baxter and Nelson Riddle albums and one or two others.

This isn't the greatest rip I've ever heard but hey its the only one available at the moment. I've added some bonus tracks of better versions (but shorter) of some of the hipper tunes. I've also improved the sound by normalising (it was horribly over modulated) and doing a modest enhancement.

The sad thing is I used to have it on CD but lost it somewhere along the line.

By the way the Strings Beatle album is supposed to be pretty good also so if anyone out there wants to share it let me know.

Link

Space Age Pop - The 10 Basic Albums

Space Age Pop (SAP), what is it? If the album is made in the "age of Stereo" ie from mid 1950 to mid 1970 and has words like Percussion, Super Stereo, Moog, Glittering, Provocative and Exotic the chances are its a SAP album.

So what differentiates SAP from Easy Listening (EL)? Well words like Million, 101, Violins, Flutes, Romantic, Strict Tempo and Gentle would give the clue that its an EL album.

SAP albums were originally intended to show of the new wonder of stereo so ping pong effects, wide stereo panning and the printing of incomprehensible technical details on the back cover were common.

Anyway the Space Age Pop site gives a wonderful overview of this type of music and you should go there right now.

Anyway I was thinking of doing a post highlighting albums I think are representative of SAP music but while I mull over that daunting task I'm going to highlight the 10 basic SAP albums as listed on the aforesaid SAP site (see here).

Its a good starting place and most of the albums are already available on the net. Here then are the SAP 10 basic must have albums.

Available on the LB site or get it here

Here's a great stereo rip of this album courtesy of Manakoora. The original is in mono but Denny re-recorded it in glorious stereo and its my favourite version. Link

One of the kings of SAP music and any album of his is a listening treat. Link

I thought I had every Mancini Gunn album, there were 2 or 3, but I couldn't find this particular one. I found a site that had it but the link is Sendspace my least favourite file hosting site but I finally managed to download it so give it a try. Link

One of the many albums Enoch Light put out with the word Percussion in the title. Its hard to keep track of them all but they're all classic SAP music and the covers are a pop art delight too. Have fun collecting them all.

Link

F & T made a couple of really good SAP albums in the mid 50s until they got sick of eating noodles and living in the same room and decided to go Easy and make some folding money, which they did very successfully I might add. Listen for the treated piano almost classifiable as avant garde music. Classic SAP cover too. Link

Whew this steers dangerously close to EL but who am I to argue with such an esteemed site. The music is languid with sweeping strings and the sound of a cheery fire crackling in the background, oh wait its got some surface noise.

Great make out music but move quickly before you both fall asleep which should take about two tracks.

link

Great cover, great moog music and he's still alive and active today! Probably the greatest SAP moog artist and he has an incomparable library of albums which go way beyond what one thinks as Moog music. One mustn't forget his partner Mr Kingsley either.

A true classic and the album comprises the first 12 songs of this compilation and there's another 14 tracks.

Mr Anonymous has kindly given me a link to the above album. Just go to this blog it was posted in January in two parts. Link

Also here's some more moogalicious sounds from Mr Perrey.

What can you say about this album? Probably the best selling SAP album of all time and denizen of many a bargain bin and op shop. This copy looks like a CD rip so I grabbed this myself. Link.

Great mambo and latin album and this copy has Mambo Mania as a bonus. From a defunct site but the link is still active, lucky us.

Les Baxter - Academy Award Winners - Soul of the Drums

Freshly ripped at 320kps by yours truly here's a truly odd coupling of one of Les' best exotica albums and one of his very good 'straight' recordings.

Les' didn't make many albums for Frank Sinatra's Reprise Records so maybe that's why these two ended up on the same CD.

Anyway go to the Baxter blog for this and other goodies.

Warren Barker - William Holden presents a Musical Touch of Faraway Places

A fine exotica album from 1959 and its a request. One of the longest titles I can remember for a lounge album and Holden seems to be there to lend his name and likeness to the project. Wonder if it helped sales any?

The album certainly doesn't need any help its very good indeed.

Link