Amhakara:

Started by John Zorn (saxophone) of many, many things, most notably Naked City, Mick Harris (drums) of Scorn, Napalm Death, and Bill Laswell (electric bass) of Praxis, Material, Tabla Beat Science, in 1991, PainKiller is an extreme mix of free jazz, hardcore, dub, and noise.

Batrachophrenoboocosmomachia:

Tortured Souls:

Their style can be described as a mix of avant-garde jazz and grindcore; later albums also incorporated elements of ambient and dub.  The band has also had several musicians make guest appearances both live and in the studio, including Yamatsuka Eye, Buckethead, Mike Patton, Makigami Koichi, Justin Broadrick and G. C. Green of Godflesh, and Keiji Haino of Fushitsusha.

John Zorn established in 1995 the record label called Tzadik Records, wich is a not-for-profit, cooperative record label with a variety of artists with diverse musical backgrounds, including, but not limited to free improvisation, jazz, noise, klezmer, rock  and experimental composition.

Links: Mick Harris page, Wikipedia, MySpace, LastFM,

Knee Deep In The Beats:

Junkies Bad Trip:

The London Funk Allstars were Jason Tunbridge aka Mad Doctor X, Stefan Turner and Francis J Carter.

Old Skool Reunion:

Funky Sweater:

U.J.:

Flesh Eating Disco Zombies Vs. The Bionic Hookers From Mars:

Mad Love:

Booyakka:

There’s Only One F In Funk:

According to Wikipedia:

Mad Doctor X, the undercover alter-ego of hip-hop veteran DJ Jason Tunbridge (aka Xavier Jones, Funk Wizard Jay Rock, DJ Jason, Monty Props) has been busy working in the lab conducting his illicit experiments and concocting his ill beats in various disguises ever since: London Funk Allstars and DJ Toolz on Ninja Tune, Clusterfunk on Cooltempo, and most recently as Mad Doctor X on Freskanova. He may also be familiar as the man providing all the scratches on The Freestylers’ recent records.

London Funk Allstars is the fruit of a collaboration between a bunch of musicians/DJ’s/Producers/Mixers already responsible for various projects including Clusterfunk and DJ Toolz and all those releases on Blaaps!. The link between all these is Jason, who was (is) part of all these projects.

For the London Funk Allstars projects, Jason teamed up with long time friends and musicians (keyboard, bass, flute…) and the debut EP Can You Understand arrived in March 1995. This was closely followed by the release of London Funk Allstars Vol. One, packed with samples, breaks, jazzy cuts, laid back hip-hop and even a hint of acid.

At the time Ninja Tune were catching vapours from a pretentious competitor label called Mo’ Wax. Pete played the groundbreaking DJ Krush album Strictly Turntablized to the Doc and felt the London Funk Allstars could sell to a new market of instrumental album buyers of the now vilified Trip hop market.

The album was very well received by DJ’s, punters and press. ..Genius..!! was used by music loving DJ and journalist Willbur Wilberforce in his review of London Funk Vol I for Touch magazine.
“Armed with samples from Gang Starr, Barry White, The Six Million Dollar Man and the video game Street Fighter, the London Funk Allstars add quite a bit of jazzy spice to their funky breaks and hip-hop influenced beats.” (Jessy Terry) London Funk Allstars want to give a big slap to the hip hop genre, giving the London version of the thing. Indeed, London Funk Volume 1 is a small wonder that inspired hip hop turns in all directions.

“I really wanted to have some rap tracks in amongst the instrumentals. I thought that people who bought Ninja Tune releases, that were basically hip hop backings, would want to hear the tracks laced with raps. I wanted to bring in emcees and singers to give my tracks wider appeal.” The Doc was told Ninja Tune was not a rap label. Ironic when you look at its output today.

The second album Flesh Eating Disco Zombies Vs. The Bionic Hookers From Mars, is more musician based than the first album, and includes, William George on vocals, John Miles on flute, Alan Simpson on guitar, Stefan on keyboards and Sir Hugo Havern on brass. It is warm and funky and has a sound resolutely melodic and live orientated.

The 2nd and the last London Funk Allstars album was released on Ninja Tune and the overspill of tracks was released simultaneously on Blapps!’ through Ninja Tunes distribution and was the 1st Mad Doctor X album Mad Doctor X’s Hip Hop Experiments Escape From The Lab And Go On The Rampage Volume 1.

Links: MySpace, LastFM, Wikipedia.

Shadows:

Palace of the Tigger Woman:

Lobby:

The Nothing changes:

Goya:

Patra (Saint Vitus cover):

Twisted Horizons:

The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (TKDE) formed in 2000 as a project to compose new music for existing silent movies. Jason Köhnen (aka Bong-Ra) and Gideon Kiers, both graduates of the Utrecht School of Arts, combined their audio and visual skills to reinterpret classic movies by F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu) and F. Langs (Metropolis).

In 2004 UK trombonist Hilary Jeffery and Swiss cellist Nina Hitz joined TKDE to record the self-titled debut album which was released on Planet Mu Records in May 2006. The ensuing tour saw Eelco Bosman and Paris based vocalist Charlotte Cegarra join, forming the Ensemble into a sextet. London based violinist Sadie Anderson joined in 2008 to supply the group with extra power on stage.

Apart from the mothership which is TKDE, there is another entity; The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation is a live improv jazz/ drone/ doom side project consisting of TKDE members and a host of interchanging guest musicians.

Succubus (by the TKDE alter ego: The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation)

MySpace, LastFM, Facebook, YouTube, Official page.

“…devices a.k.a. electronic vices…”

From the “Practice Avoiding Mistakes“ compilation from Tokyo Dawn Records.

Links:

LastFM: Prymer & Blaktroniks, Prymer, Blaktroniks, Krii, Tokyo Dawn Records.
MySpace: Blaktronics, Tokyo Dawn Records.
Facebook: Blaktronics, Tokyo Dawn Records.
Official page: Blaktroniks, Tokyo Dawn Records.

Airships

Four harts

Metal Berry

Snakes & Tea

Nighttime and morning with Anthony Hagerty

Desert Cathedral

Pale Dog

Disparu

Myspace

Pitchfork review for the Desert Doughnuts album

Utomlyennoye Solntse (russian):

“The Last Sunday” was composed by Jerzy Petersburski in 1936. It is a nostalgic polish tango with lyrics by Zenon Friedwald describing the final meeting of former lovers who are parting ways. The Polish title was “To Ostatnia Niedziela” (“The Last Sunday”). The song was extremely popular and was performed by numerous artists (best kown performance by Mieczysław Folg). Along the way, it first gained the nick-name of  ”Suicide Tango” due to its sad lyrics (although, the real „suicide song” in the 30s night restaurants of Eastern Europe was another sad „Sunday” -- the „Gloomy Sunday” by the Hungarian composer Rezső Seress (soon, an international hit; in the US sung by Billie Holiday).

In mid 30’s, Jerzy Petersburski was clever enough to have noticed how great was the popularity of “Szomorú Vasárnap” (Gloomy Sunday), the Hungarian ’suicide song’. He decided to write his own ‘last Sunday’ and probably had no idea at that time what a success was in store for that tango. With passing years, the legend of the ’suicide Hungarian song’ began to affect the reputation of the polish tango. “This Is Our Last Sunday” is about parting with the beloved person who “is a winner in that game” and is going to have, from that moment on, happy and bright days.  The unique unity of the melody and words was attracting listeners for years and made this number to be a Polish evergreen.

“This is our last Sunday,
today we shall say goodbye,
today we shall separate
for all times.
This is our last Sunday,
so share these moments with me,
look more tenderly at me,
this very last time.”

But the Polish „Last Sunday” was also a terrible omen. During Second World War the song was often played in the concentrations camps while Jewish prisoners were led to the gas chambers and ovens, to be executed.

Also during the Second World War its Russian version was prepared by Iosif Alveg and performed by Leonid Utyosov under the title of “Weary Sun” (russian: “Utomlyennoye Solntse”). After the war, the song remained largely successful and appeared in a number of films, including Yuriy Norshteyn’s 1979 “Tale of Tales” (considered by many international critics to be the greatest animated film ever made), the award-winning Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “White” (1994) and Nikita Mikhalkov’s “Burnt by the Sun” of the same year, as well as in Schindler’s List in 1993. The Russian title of the song also became the name-sake for the latter film and, as the result, even the more educated and worldly Russians nowadays consider the old tango from Warsaw their „Russian national song”.

“The weary sun
Bade a tender farewell to the sea.
At that hour you confessed
That you have no love for me.
I became a little sad
Without longing, without sorrow.
At that hour your words
Rang out.
We shall part,
I haven’t the strength to feel anger,
You and I
Are to blame.
The weary sun
Bade a tender farewell to the sea.
At that hour you confessed
That you have no love for me.”

Today this tango is still singed by many artists:

fragment from “Burnt by the Sun”:

fragment from “Tale of Tales”:

interpretation by Gidon Kremer:

interpretation by Eduard Artemyev:

interpretation by Alina Orlova:

interpretation by Sophie Solomon:

Links: Wiki, Mieczysław Fogg wiki, Jerzy Petersburski wiki, Leonid Utyosov wiki, Gidon Kremer wiki, Eduard Artemyev wiki, Alina Orlova wiki, Sophie Solomon wiki///  Mieczysław Fogg MySpace, Eduard Artemyev MySpace, Alina Orlova MySpace, Sophie Solomon MySpace///  Mieczysław Fogg lastFM, Jerzy Petersburski lastFM, Leonid Utyosov lastFM, Gidon Kremer lastFM, Eduard Artemyev lastFM, Alina Orlova lastFM, Sophie Solomon lastFM.

Wiera Gran and Albert -- “Gdy gitara gra piosenkę” (When guitar is playing the song) -- 1939:

Cristian Vasile -- “Zaraza” (1944):

The tango Zaraza  was first heared  in 1929 at the Great Contest of National Disc of Uruguay (Cine Teatro Cervantes -- Montevideo) where it won the second prize. The music and text was by Benjamín Tagle Lara. In the same year, the song was recorded by Jose Razzano, Ignacio Corsini and the Francisco Canaro orchestra. Another recording was made in 1941 by Rodolfo Biagi Orchestre (with the voice of Jorge Ortiz).

The appellative ”zaraza” is used affectively in Argentine for animals.  This expression was taken from the 20’s fashion, zaraza being a colorful cotton fabric that is often glazed, known also as chintz. The teamster from the song is calling his ox with this word “zaraza” due some similarity between the chintz and the animal skin.

The tango was quickly adopted in Europe, when  in 1930, the singer-actress Sofía Bozán sang it in Paris. The british movie director Alexander Korda (hungarian-born) used this song in “Lo mejor es reír“ the Spanish version of ”Rive gauche“, directed in co-production with Manuel Russell and Rosita Díaz.

“Zaraza” was very popular also in Poland in prewar time with the title ‘When guitar is playing the song’. A very rare rendition was made by two young Polish singers -- Wiera Gran and Albert Harris, the only one they made together, short before the outbreak of the Second World War. Both experienced and suffered exile and emigration.

In Bucharest, Romania, Cristian Vasile sings one of the most beautiful version, although the text is dramaticaly changed from its origins by Nicolae Kiriţescu. The exotic word “zaraza” suggested to the romanian text writer a feminine presence.

“When you appear segnorita in the park at sunset
Around you lily petals fall
In your eyes are sweet passions and unholy flames
and your body’s a serpent that curls
Your mouth is an ode to wild desires
your breasts a priceless treasure
You’re a demon in a dream that torments and lies
But you smile like a cherubim.

Oh, please tell me beautiful Zaraza
Who’s in love with you?
How many cried madly for you?
And how many died?
Oh, please give me your sweet lips, Zaraza
to poison me… true!
From your sweet kiss, lovely Zaraza,
I wanna die too!”

This way, “zaraza” originating from the world of fashion, and the appelative for animals in the argentinian spanish language, became a strange love story, which after many years, with the help of the romanian writer Mircea Cărtărescu, started to convince many people that the story was  actually real.

The fiction story starts  somewhere between the Wars, when Bucharest was called “The Little Paris”- elegant, crowded, filled with music and fashion, but also with dark mysteries and sad memories: dirty taverns, backstreet naughty girls, drunken inn keepers, more or less talented singers and entertainers, all paying their tribute to local gangsters for protection. One of the most loved singers of this époque was Cristian Vasile, an elegant man with a strong vibrating voice, creator of many wonderful tangos. Another one was Zavaidoc, less talented and Cristian Vasile’s greatest enemy. One night, at the “Red Fox tavern” where Cristian Vasile was singing, a noisy group entered, joyful men laughing and talking to a gypsy girl. Her name was Zaraza (traditional gypsy name meaning “the wonderful one”), dark shiny hair, huge eyes, sensual lips, a true exotic beauty. Cristian Vasile climbed on stage and captivated his audience as usual with one of his wild tangos, newly composed. Zaraza was so impressed by him that she immediately left her ”lover” and ran to meet the “maestro”. They talked and walked and laughed till they were lost in the dark. Since that night they became passionate lovers. For 2 years they were unseparable. The Zaraza song was composed after the first 6 months of love. The verses and the music were so new, passionate, and almost tragic that they brought a huge fame to the artist and to his “wild adored”. Enraged by such success, Zavaidoc who for quite long hadn’t composed anyting valuable, and who’s career was falling, decided to go to his “protector” and find a solution. The “gangster” didn’t agree to have Cristian Vasile killed because he also liked how the guy sang and came with another idea. One night Zaraza went out to buy cigarettes and didn’t come back. The singer started a mad search all over Bucharest, ’till she was finally found, lying in blood, with her throat cut. When the police interrogated him, later that day, they noticed a glitter of madness in his eyes. Zaraza’s death completely altered the artist’s mind. The girl’s body was incinerated and the ashes deposed in an urn at the crematory. But soon the urn mysteriously disappeared. The singer stole the urn and deposited it in his bedroom. Destroyed by despair, for 4 months he ate every day a spoon of ashes, till the urn was empty and afterwards drank terebentine wishing to die. He survived, but the toxic liquid burned his vocal cords and put a total end to his musical career. He also vanished from Bucharest. Mircea Cartarescu’s uncle found him in a provincial theatre years later. He was the one who pulled the curtain every evening. The former celebrity was very aged now, looking like a beggar. The visitor gave him some money and managed to hear Zaraza’s story painfully whispered by the one who longed for her kisses.

Links:  Todo tango,  Ignacio Corsini Wikipedia,  Ignacio Corsini LastFM, Sofía Bozán Wikipedia,  Sofía Bozán LastFM,  Wiera Gran Wikipedia,  Wiera Gran LastFM, Albert Harris Wikipedia,  Albert Harris LastFM,  Cristian Vasile Wikipedia,  Cristian Vasile LastFM.

Elemental’s Chinawhite Remix:

According to boomkat.com:

“Immigrant Recordings [now Imminent Recordings] is the new label managed by up and coming dubstep producers Subeena and Dot. The first release includes four very different tracks: Justice by Subeena, Justice Remix by Cyrus (Random Trio), Chinawhite by Dot and Elemental’s Chinawhite Remix. Head straight for the Cyrus remix, “Justice” channelled through some sparse filters and that metallic sound that works so well, standing out from pretty much anything else on the twelve with its rugged BASS posturing and determined minimalism. Dot’s “Chinawhite”, meanwhile, introduces some string samples into the mix, having the rather unexpected result of sounding not unlike Murcof trying his hand at Dubstep…”

Links: Dot Myspace, Dot LastFM, Imminent Recordings MySpace, Subeena MySpace, Boomkat, Murcof Myspace.

According to boomkat.com:

“Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of the great composer Sergei Prokofiev and member of indie disco-ites Spektrum (no, seriously) returns for a second collaboration with the Elysium Quartet, which once again finds the composer setting about merging classical disciplines with contemporary production techniques. This time around Prokofiev has recruited the likes of Vex’d, Hot Chip, Starkey, Conboy and Earlyman to set about remixing the original quartet composition, but kicking off the disc we’re treated to the four movements of the piece itself. The first two of these in particular are characterised by a brusque staccato, jagged and lurching in all quarters. During the opening movement, the viola is played with such severity you’d swear someone had swapped the performer’s bow for a hacksaw. Meanwhile, while just as choppy, the second movement begins to open up towards the end, transforming into the kind of rhythmic piece that actually might lend itself rather well to reworkings from the aforementioned lineup of beat manglers. The Conboy track brings a mild percussive element to the table, preserving much of the original detail, while Vex’d is predictably less reverent, slamming down some padded bass sounds and vicious weeps. Next, Marcus Lancaster eschews using outright beats right until the final thirty seconds or so, instead choosing to contort the string sounds into a right old mess. Prokofiev’s own remix is one of the best, filled with diced-up granular edits and house-styled percussiion, and Hot Chip go even further down this route to produce some very disciplined string quartet disco, as only they could. A very weird album by any measure, but against all odds it works tremendously well. Highly Recommended.”

Links: Nonclassical, Boomkat, Vex’d MySpace, Vex’d LastFM, The Elysian Quartet,  The Elysian Quartet MySpace, The Elysian Quartet LastFM, Gabriel Prokofiev MySpace, Gabriel Prokofiev Last FM.

I heard this beautifull song on the world first non official short movie shot with the Canon EOS 5D MarkII “Tokyo Reality” (by David Michaud & Florent Porta):

For some this song reminds of DJ Shadow, for me it reminds of Planeta Moldova, and more exactly “Ermetic -- Intre patru scanduri”:

Kraked Unit is a french based music production company founded in 2000 by french composer and DJ Loïc Dury in collaboration with other musicians and composers.Loïc Dury was the radio show producer of Novamix at Radion Nova between 1987 -- 1997.

Links: Official page, Wikipedia, LastFM, iLike, MySpace.