Monday, October 31, 2022

Sonic Youth: Daydream Natiom 1988 (2CD Deluxe Edition 2007) + Dirty 1992 (2CD Deluxe Edition 2003)

 

As they redefined what noise meant within rock & roll -- and what success meant for a band with


experimental roots -- Sonic Youth became one of the most influential, and popular, acts to emerge from the American underground. Their inventive use of alternate tunings, dissonance, and feedback, which they combined with the intensity of hardcore punk and the performance art aesthetic of New York's avant-garde, created a new sonic landscape with an impact that lasted for decades.
                        

While 1983's Confusion Is Sex reflected the height of no wave's harsh yet hypnotic influence on their

music, Sonic Youth soon added more structure and melody without sacrificing any of their edge. Their trio of independent late-'80s records -- 1986's EVOL, 1987's Sister, and 1988's Daydream Nation -- became touchstones for a generation of indie rockers, thanks to their volatile mix of experiments and accessibility.
                       
The band's growing popularity led them to sign to a major label, and with 1990's Goo and 1992's Dirty,

Sonic Youth courted mainstream success (most of their albums from the '90s onward charted within the Top 100 of the Billboard 200) while maintaining their reputation as innovators and tastemakers.
                         

Later in the '90s, creative restlessness led them to make more challenging major-label albums like

1995's Washing Machine and to release overtly experimental works on their own SYR imprint. In the decade that followed, Sonic Youth continued to balance the different sides of their music in ways that felt true to their legacy; from 2002's introspective Murray St. to 2009's hard-hitting swan song The Eternal, they remained a band who always forged their own path.

SONIC YOUTH - DAYDREAM NATION 1988

                                  


Sonic Youth made a major step forward with 1987's Sister, their first album where the songs were as

strong as the group's visionary approach and they rocked with the force and authority they'd clearly sought since the beginning. If 1988's Daydream Nation didn't make as decisive a leap in terms of theory or style, as far as execution was concerned, it was Sonic Youth's first unqualified masterpiece, a triumph that made them one of the most respected bands in indie rock.
                     

Initially released as a two-LP set, the sheer scope of Daydream Nation was ambitious, but the longer tracks worked to Sonic Youth's advantage, allowing them the space to lay down solid melodic

structures and then use them as a framework for extended jams (thankfully, the band made splendid use of their wanderlust without wearing out their welcome). Sonic Youth were playing at the top of their game on the Daydream Nation sessions; the guitar interplay between Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo was stronger and more intuitive than before, and bassist Kim Gordon and drummer Steve Shelley had grown into a powerful rhythm section that cut an impressive groove, giving the band a greater freedom to explore the space around them without getting lost.
                         

Sonic Youth were not simply tighter on Daydream Nation, they were making better and more satisfying use of their arsenal of alternate tunings and bent but elemental song structures, and the final product

fused their love of creatively applied noise and the sound of the electric guitar with song structures that merged elements of punk, prog, boogie, and psychedelia. The journey from the trippy joy of "Teenage Riot" to the hot-rodded choogle of "Eliminator Jr." was a bracing, glorious experience, and Daydream Nation confirmed their status as one of America's best and most original alternative rock bands, and one that had a shot at a future outside the underground -- a pleasant surprise given the alienating air of their earliest work.
                                 


Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
Label: Geffen Records – B0008992-02
Series: Deluxe Edition
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Compilation, Deluxe Edition, Remastered Jun 12, 2007
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Noise

DISC 1. THE ORIGINAL ALBUM  (RELEASED 1988)  
     

                                

  
01. Teen Age Riot    6:58
02. Silver Rocket    3:47
03. The Sprawl    7:42
04. 'Cross The Breeze    7:00
05. Eric's Trip    3:48
06. Total Trash    7:33
07. Hey Joni    4:23
08. Providence    2:41
09. Candle    4:59
10. Rain King    4:39
11. Kissability    3:07

Trilogy:       
    
12. A) The Wonder    4:15
13. B) Hyperstation    7:12
14. Z) Eliminator Jr.    2:38

BONUS DEMO TRACK       
    
15. Eric's Trip (Home Demo)  (Recorded By – LR)   2:27

MP3 @ 320 Size: 174 MB
Flac  Size: 390 MB

DISC 2. LIVE DAYDREAM  
     

                             


01. The Sprawl    8:27
02. 'Cross The Breeze    5:54
03. Hey Joni    3:38
04. Silver Rocket    4:19
05. Kissability    2:19
06. Eric's Trip    3:05
07. Candle  (Recorded By – Aadam Jacobs)   5:04
08. The Wonder    4:02
09. Hyperstation    6:14
10. Eliminator Jr.    2:29
11. Providence    1:47
12. Teen Age Riot    4:37
13. Rain King    4:06
14. Totally Trashed    1:57
15. Total Trash    5:18


Cover Songs   

 
16. Within You Without You  (Written-By – George Harrison)   4:58
17. Touch Me I'm Sick  (Written-By – Peters, McLaughlin, Lukin, Turner)   2:33
18. Computer Age  (Written-By – Neil Young)   5:12
19. Electricity  (Written-By – Don Van Vliet, Herb Bermann)   2:46

MP3 @ 320 Size: 186 MB
Flac  Size: 532 MB

SONIC YOUTH - DIRTY 1992

                        


When DGC Records signed Nirvana in 1991, one of DGC's A&R reps expressed the opinion that, with

plenty of touring and the right promotion, the new act might sell as well as its labelmate and touring partner Sonic Youth. The surprise success of Nevermind upended previous commercial expectations for Sonic Youth (among other established alternative rock bands), and when Dirty was released in 1992, it was seen by many as the band's big move toward the grunge market.
                                   

Which doesn't make a lot of sense if you actually listen to the album; while Butch Vig's clean but full-

bodied production certainly gave Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo's guitars greater punch and presence than they had in the past, and many of the songs move in the increasingly tuneful direction the band had been traveling with Daydream Nation and Goo, most of Dirty is good bit more jagged and purposefully discordant than its immediate precursors, lacking the same hallucinatory grace as Daydream Nation or the hard rock sheen of Goo.
                          

If anything, Dirty finds Sonic Youth revisiting the territory the band mapped out on Sister -- merging

the propulsive structures of rock (both punk and otherwise) with the gorgeous chaos of their approach to the electric guitar -- and it shows how much better they'd gotten at it in the past five years, from the curiously beautiful "Wish Fulfillment" and "Theresa's Sound World" to the brutal "Drunken Butterfly" and "Purr."
                        

Dirty was also Sonic Youth's most overtly political album, railing against the abuses of the

Reagan/Bush era on "Youth Against Fascism," "Swimsuit Issue," and "Chapel Hill," a surprising move from a band so often in love with cryptic irony.
Heard today, Dirty doesn't sound like a masterpiece (like Daydream Nation) or a gesture toward the mainstream audience (like Goo) -- it just sounds like a damn good rock album, and on those terms it ranks with Sonic Youth's best work.
                     


Sonic Youth – Dirty
Label: Geffen Records – 493 410-2
Series: Deluxe Edition 2003
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue CD All Media, Remastered, Deluxe Edition
Country: UK
Released: 1992
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock

DISC 1. THE ORIGINAL ALBUM (RELEASED 07/21/92)   
   

                                     

  
01. 100%    2:29
02. Swimsuit Issue    2:59
03. Theresa's Sound World    5:29
04. Drunken Butterfly    3:04
05. Shoot    5:17
06. Wish Fulfillment    3:27
07. Sugar Kane    5:58
08. Orange Rolls, Angels Spit    4:19
09. Youth Against Fascism (Guitar – Ian MacKaye)   3:56
10. Nic Fit    0:59
11. On The Strip    5:42
12. Chapel Hill    4:48
13. JC    4:03
14. Purr    4:21
15. Créme Brulee    2:36

THE B-SIDES       
    
16. Stalker    3:00
17. Genetic    3:35
18. Hendrix Necro    2:49
19. The Destroyed Room    3:21

MP3 @ 320 Size: 169 MB
Flac  Size: 521 MB

DISC 2. ADDITIONAL B-SIDES  
     

                               

  
01. Is It My Body  (Mixed By – Conrad Uno, Jack Endino)   2:52
02. Personality Crisis  (Mixed By – Wharton Tiers)   3:40
03. The End Of The End Of The Ugly    4:18
04. Tamra    8:34

REHEARSAL RECORDINGS       
    
05. Little Jammy Thing    2:20
06. Lite Damage    5:21
07. Dreamfinger    7:41
08. Barracuda    4:22
09. New White Kross    1:29
10. Guido    3:49
11. Stalker    3:36
12. Moonface    4:44
13. Poet In The Pit    2:40
14. Theoretical Chaos    3:08
15. Youth Against Fascism    5:03
16. Wish Fulfillment    3:51

MP3 @ 320 Size: 159 MB
Flac  Size: 410 MB


Friday, October 28, 2022

The Black Heart Procession: Amore Del Tropico 2002

 

Pall Jenkins formed The Black Heart Procession in 1997 with Tobias Nathaniel, who had previously collaborated with him on Three Mile Pilot. The duo released six albums over the span of eleven years


and achieved a degree of critical acclaim and recognition for their work. In 2006, Jenkins formed Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects with bass player and trumpeter Brad Lee. In 2010, a reunited Three Mile Pilot released The Inevitable Past Is the Future Forgotten, an album that was five years in the making. Formed in late 1997 in San Diego, the Black Heart Procession have been described as beautifully bleak and brooding indie rock with a dark side.
                                      


Lyrically touching on the melancholy side of human nature, the five-piece band is appropriately named given its themes of isolation, depression, and heartache. The core members of Pall Jenkins and Tobias

Nathaniel (Three Mile Pilot) also collaborate on-stage and in the studio with various musicians whose instruments include guitar, piano, percussion, and even saw. This uniqueness led to a 1998 record deal with Cargo Records, which released their first album, "1". The Black Heart Procession then toured the United States and Europe with A Minor Forest, and the group's follow-up, "2", was released through Touch & Go Records in 1999.
                                             

The final piece to the trilogy, "3", arrived in 2000. Joe Plummer (the Magic Magicians, Modest Mouse)

and violinist Matt Resovich (the Album Leaf) were added to the Black Heart Procession lineup for the recording of the group's fourth effort, 2002's "Amore del Tropico".
                                   

This cinematic songbook of love and deception was an exploration of lounge and blues, making it an

epic set for the band. Two years later, the Black Heart Procession scaled back their usual sinister presentation for In the Fishtank, Vol. 11, a co-release with Dutch prog rockers Solbakken for KonKurrent's celebrated album series.
                              

Bassist Jimmy LaValle, who also plays with the Album Leaf, joined in 2005; the dramatic, torrid love

affair that is The Spell followed in May 2006. The haunting set was recorded and produced at the Black Heart Procession's own SDRL studio in their hometown of San Diego. The group hit a lull as members pursued their other projects. After three years, in 2009, the band released Six. "Blood Bunny/Black Rabbit", a mini-album of prodominantly remixed material followed a year later.
                                   

In 2013 the band went on indefinite hiatus, with Jenkins citing the toil of "years of touring and traveling

and focusing on music" as the impetus. In 2017 the group came out of hibernation and embarked on a European and North American tour, in support of the deluxe reissue of their eponymous 1998 debut album.
                             

Amore del Tropico is the fourth studio album by the American indie rock band The Black Heart Procession. It was released on October 8, 2002, on Touch and Go Records. The Black Heart Procession

took a chapter out of the Nick Cave book of cool for their fourth album, "Amore del Tropico". It's a sultry, mystical book of romance. The crime of love is the culprit in this murder mystery and the Black Heart Procession mix a tantalizing session of lounge and blues aesthetics, dark guitars, and lush string arrangements. It's an epic move for this Californian foursome -- the concept is brilliant and musically the Black Heart Procession are sonically at their best.
                      
PALL  JENKINS

"Amore del Tropico" starts off with the ten-second orchestration titled "The End of Love." The

cinematic approach taken from the beginning sets the scene; "Tropics of Love" and "Why I Stay" shimmy with a Cuban edge. Vocalist Paulo Zappoli croons with a sexy flair while sifting through a world without heart. Steps are retraced on the sinister storm of "The Waiter #4," while "Did You Wonder" spirals around megalomania and Tobias Nathaniel's pinch-hitting guitar work.
                        

As the album draws to a close, elements of discovery are more apparent. "Before the People" presents

the suspects while muted vocal distortions of "Fingerprints" linger around eerie violins. In the end, the soul who was searching for an answer falls to fate. However, the Black Heart Procession believe in the light on the other side and the countrified haze of "The One Who Has Disappeared" is an obvious reason why. Amore del Tropico gives the gift of love's bruised heart.
                                

The mystery of love's pain is never really solved and that's the beauty of this record. In the many years

and albums, the band's line-up has expanded and contracted, but at its heart and soul remains Jenkins and Nathaniel, creating timeless, heart-wrenching classic dirges  that are adventurous, eclectic stories.
[By MacKenzie Wilson]
                                      


The Black Heart Procession – Amore Del Tropico
Label: Touch And Go – tg232cd
Format:    CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: Oct 8, 2002
Genre: Rock
Style: Indie Rock

TRACKS


01. The End Of Love    0:12
02. Tropics Of Love    4:56
03. Broken World    4:33
04. Why I Stay    3:30
05. The Invitation    3:55
06. Did You Wonder    2:54
07. A Sign On The Road    3:49
08. Sympathy Crime    4:24
09. The Visitor    5:03
10. The Waiter #4    3:32
11. A Cry For Love    6:12
12. Before The People    2:53
13. Only One Way    3:11
14. Fingerprints    2:57
15. The One Who Has Disappeared    3:33

CREDITS

Guitars, Vocals - Pall Jenkins
Acoustic Guitar – Matt Parker (tracks: 3)    
Backing Vocals – Arabella Makalani (tracks: 2, 8, 11, 14), Liz Janes (tracks: 2, 8, 11, 14), Liz Schier (tracks: 14), Susanna Waiche (tracks: 2, 8, 11, 14), Traci Wooley (tracks: 5, 14)
Bass – Matt Parker (tracks: 6, 8, 9, 13)
Cello – Charles Curtis (tracks: 1, 2, 10, 11), Joyce Rooks (tracks: 7)
Double Bass [Upright] – Jim Austin (tracks: 1, 2, 11)
Drums, Xylophone, Percussion – Joe Plummer   
Guitar [Lapsteel] – Matt Parker (tracks: 7, 9)
Guitar, Synthesizer, Organ, Percussion, Saw, Vocals – Paulo Zappoli    
Performer – Dmitri Dziensuwski
Piano, Guitar, Bass, Organ, Organ [Optigan], Percussion – Tobias Nathaniel
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – The Black Heart Procession
Recorded By [Grand Piano] – Ben Moore (tracks: 2, 6, 8, 9)
Trumpet – Jason Crane (tracks: 11)
Violin – Matt Resovich (tracks: 1, 2, 7, 11, 14)

PALL JENKINS ART WORK (Visit Here)

                              




A CRY FOR LOVE LYRICS

 
       



Love, not our love
Love it isn't supposed to be this way
Now love is a poison ring
And love has poured you drinks
Now love waits for you to sleep
Don't you lend it to a friend
'cause you may never see that friend again
But don't you bother with a cover 'cause love can
Pick out the fakes
But that's not our love
Not our love
Not our love
This crime of love

Love it isn't supposed to be this way
Love will sting and love will burn
Love will steal all you've learned
Yes it will but not our love
Sometimes in your back
And sometimes in your heart you'll never know
It's a double edged sword
Don't you bother with a cover
'cause in a crowd love can pick out the fakes
But that's not our love
Not our love
Not our love
Not our love
Not our love
Looove


                         



(and the girls sing along) do you hear this cry for
Love
Do you see this crime of love
Love waits for you to sleep
Don't lend it to a friend
You can easily pick out the fakes
Don't you see this crime of love
This crime of love holds you here
Sting burn steal learn
Don't turn your back on my heart
You can easily pick out the fakes