Muzyko Mania

01. Everything I See
02. Lali
03. Going Away
04. Sunlight
05. Old And weak
06. Folk Song
07. Take On Me
08. I Know
09. Hurry Up
10. Last Year
11. As Tears Go By

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A troupe of African and European musicians come together, led by Lukas Ligeti, son of the greatly renowned and influential Hungarian composer Gyorgi Ligeti. ?Their music draws from the tradition and rhythms of Burkina Faso while incorporating contemporary electronic elements. Lukas explains Burkina Electric?s formation: ?I received an unexpected call shortly before finishing university studies in my hometown of Vienna, Austria. The Goethe Institute, Germany?s international network of cultural institutes, invited me to West Africa for a collaboration with traditional musicians?[which was] unexpected because I am not German, nor had I ever lived there. However, my friend Pyrolator (Kurt Dahlke) was not only German but a seminal figure in that country?s experimental pop music. So I invited him to join me and a grand experiment began. ?We first traveled to Africa?s west coast in the mid-90s, making our first attempts at creating what could be called African electronica. On our travels to Burkina Faso we met the singer Ma? Lingani and guitarist Wende K. Blass. Soon, we invited two dancers to help us draw audiences into our unusual rhythms and celebrate the continent?s unseverable connection between music and dance.?

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01. Angel Echoes
02. Love Cry
03. Circling
04. Pablo?s Heart
05. Sing
06. This Unfolds
07. Reversing
08. Plastic People
09. She Just Likes to Fight

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1. Forever 4:09
2. Bodes 8:03
3. Monsieur 6:13
4. Zeitgeist 6:37
5. Aurora 7:39
6. Give 6:06
7. Her 4:48
8. Ancients 11:47

?Would You Hug Fire? is the second studio album release from the North Bay
quartet Not to Reason Why. An incredibly ambitious endeavor from a group with a
rather pretentious sounding name that has the audacity to play in a genre titled
post-rock. While it is true that most bands operating in this genre really do
believe they have moved beyond the bounds of this aged and inferior genre, this
album, however, seems to seek the original embrace of that music that drives our
parents crazy. Granted there are moments, for instance on their epic ?Aurora?,
where the group indulges in that deliciously lush instrumental texturing that
draws the inevitable comparison to bands like Explosions in the Sky. The
majority of the music, however, makes you consider that it?s just kick ass rock
and roll.

Fans of drumming are likely to be wowed by the splashy and in your face stylings
of Mr. Paul Haile. In his capable hands, the drums become a lead instrument,
begging for attention. Lauren Haile is really doing most of the heavy rythmic
lifting on piano, creating a heartbeat for the other instruments to follow.
Through the almost one hour long experience, you can feel the band really
pushing and stretching their boundaries. From guitarist Ian Simpson mixing in
Top Gun styled riffs on ?Bodes?, to the band collectively creating soundtrack
ready jams like ?Zeitgeist? and ?Her?, the expanse and scope of the project is
at once fearsome and beautiful.

As if to remind you that it is not safe to take home to mom, the album finishes
with a menacing note. Grimy and unyielding, ?Ancients? ends the record with the
menacing presence of baritone guitar and a brutally angry bass tone, created by
Navid Manoochehri. This track is a little like taking on the school bully at
lunch, getting your teeth kicked in and, with the song ending in a most angelic
albeit slightly creepy fashion, ultimately realizing that through it all you?ve
somehow managed to gain respect from your peers. Through it all ?Would you Hug
Fire?? shows just how much rock post-rock can possibly handle.

-Craig Tierney

?At [The Silent Ballet], we review a lot of demos, debuts, and self-released
discs. Everybody gets a shot. Our reactions to smaller productions tend to fall
into one of three categories: 1) It?s not very good, but thanks for sharing; 2)
It?s okay, but a lot needs to change; or 3) Well done, we expect the next will
be even better. Holly Emblem?s 2008 review of Not to Reason Why?s Who Wants
Flowers When They?re Dead? is an example of the latter. All too often, artists
fail to live up to expectations. Not to Reason Why is the exception, the sort of
act that makes fans puff with proprietary pride: ôYes, well I was listening to
them last year.ö But even more importantly, Not to Reason Why is a band to
wonder at, to cheer for, and to congratulate, because Would You Hug Fire? turns
out to be one of the year?s stronger post-rock releases.

In order to get to this point, the Cali foursome had to do a lot of work. First,
of course, they had to practice their instruments ? the playing here is tight
and instinctive. Second, they had to hone their compositional skills ? the EP
was solid, but the album is deep. Third, they had to choose a signature sound ?
the math rock and ambient influences described by Holly now take a back seat to
post-rock (and thank God, because the genre is in desperate need of
revitalization). The band also secured additional instrumentation: a trumpet on
one track, strings and double bass on others. As bonuses, they released the
album on vinyl and included four double-sided glossy art cards (one side for
each song) with each LP and CD release. Did they leave anything out? Not really.
The album looks good, feels good, and sounds good. A scented version might have
been too much to ask.

Would You Hug Fire? provides eight post-rock pleasures, whose rustling,
cumulative effect is astonishing. The album is upbeat and uplifting, a
collection of happy compositions with a desire to inspire: fortune cookies
wrapped in guitars. Each piece has a defining moment: handclaps, military drums,
a tempo shift, a two-note finale, the sound of conversation, an extended piano
prelude, a slowly-emerging trumpet, a false ending, followed by choir-like
vocals. ôZeitgeistö rolls with unexpected power, given that it is one of the
stringless tracks. The twelve-minute closer, ôAncients,ö makes full use of the
orchestral enhancements and easily corners the attention at the punchbowl.

?the band has doubled their appeal by releasing an album better than their EP.
Suffice it to say that I?ll be buying everything they record until further
notice. Last year, they were the band of the future. This year, they?ve
arrived.?

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01 Elementary Domain
02 When Unwelt Melts
03 Individual Synesthesia
04 Helical Scenery
05 Help Ourselves
06 Be Born
07 First Breathing At Last
08 Beginning

Back in 1999, on the forefront of the Japanese electronic/acoustic microsound scene, was the then two-piece live improvisation band Minamo (two more members were added in 2001 to make the current four-piece lineup). Their live concerts helped pioneer this hybrid of delicate and natural instrumentation with microscopic electronics and subtle digital processing bringing an organic richness to a genre that threatened to remain coldly digital. Fans of Minamo not lucky enough to see them create their music live have enjoyed their studio albums and collaborative releases which captured these performances and processed them into hypnotic drones and electro-acoustic soundscapes.

Duree is named in tribute to French philosopher Henri-Louis Bergson?s writing on human conceptions of the relationship between duration and consciousness. Apparently Minamo are keen to align with Bergson?s view that time is a continuous flow rather than a sequence of quantised, compartmentalised moments. Something like that. Hard to say how that really adds up when you consider that this is a CD that very specifically lasts 45min 11sec and is divided into 8 distinct tracks, but still, given the Japanese electroacoustic quartet?s predilection for narrative-shirking freetime strands of improvised (though subsequently edited) music, you kind of see where they?re coming from. These things tend to be best served without preamble, and purely as an exercise in cochlea-tickling processed loveliness this album is just gorgeous. Led by Fourcolor?s Keiichi Sugimoto, the group uses a selection of instruments including guitars, percussion, bells, analogue synthesizer, harmonium and an unspecified Nintendo console as sound-mkaing devices. After committing a number of lengthy, off-the-cuff recording takes Minamo set about mixing, cutting and splicing together the album, although the digital post-production is apparently reduced down to a minimum, with far greater emphasis placed on the realtime use of effects pedals. Although Minamo?s established sound remains largely in place, their renewed, organic approach lends Durée?s compositions a more song-like feel than prior material you might have heard from this band. There?s a wonderful sense of symbiosis to a piece like ?Help Ourselves? however, marrying plodding piano chords to bright, piercing strands of bitcrushed tones to great effect. Nothing too experimental going on here, but Durée is right up there at the pinnacle of Minamo?s musical accomplishments and stands as a top notch example of pastoral, very beautiful electroacoustic soundscaping.

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01 Robbie Williams – Bodies (Cahill Refix Vocal) 6:27
02 Second Sun – We Own the Night (Club Mix) 8:16
03 Dj Spacecake – I Am a Speaker (Dj Spacecake 5:36
vs Robbie Rivera Mix)
04 Fedde Le Grand f. Mitch Crown – Let Me Be 6:24
Real (Funkerman Remix)
05 Late Night Alumni – You Can Be the One 7:28
(Sultan & Ned Shepard Remix)
06 David Waxman f. Steve Bertrand – Lift Me Up 8:52
(Flood) (Stephan Luke Remix)
07 Dj Ralph & Avicii – Break Da Floor (Robbie 7:01
Rivera Juicy Remix)
08 Dj Spacecake – I Am a Rockstar (Dj Spacecake 6:01
vs Robbie Rivera Mix)
09 HonoRebel f. Pitbull & Jumpsmokers – Now You 4:46
See it (Afrojack Mix)
10 Office Sluts – Whores in This (NYClub Mix) 5:19
11 Three 6 Mafia vs Dj Tiesto w. Sean Kingston & 5:45

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01 Basement Jaxx f. Santigold – Saga 2:38
02 Lushlife – The Songbird Athletic (Me & John 3:40
remix)
03 Etienne Jaumet – Entropy 4:42
04 Tricky Meets South Rakkas Crew – Numb 6:07
05 Phoenix – Fences (Boombass Remix) 6:51
06 James Curd – The Wills and the Wonts 4:27
07 Spirit Tag – Howling Wind (Horizon Sight 7:36
Breaks Mix)
08 Friendly Fires – On Board (Joakim Remix) 5:53
09 The Glass – Superhero (Ursula 1000 Remix) 4:14
10 Tiesto f. Emily Haines from Metric – Knock 5:04
You Out
11 Anjulie – Rain (Dj Escape & Tony Coluccio 7:47
Main Mix)
12 The Bravery – Slow Poison (Drop the Lime 5:05
Remix)
13 Simian Mobile Disco f. Beth Ditto – Cruel 4:09
Intentions (Jokers Remix)
14 Caspa – Marmite 4:09

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01 Jaicko f. Vybz Kartel ? Oh Yeah (Black Chiney Remix Clean)
02 Munga Honorable ? Cyaan Shawt A Nutn
03 Torrus Riley ? Life of a Gun
04 Sanchez ? Longing to Come Home
05 Courtney John ? Lucky Man
06 Romain Virgo ? Mi Caan Sleep
07 Jahfe ? Crying Blood
08 Tian Winters f. Patrice Roberts ? Bump N Gring
09 Tian Winters ? Baby I
10 Wisin & Yandel ? Te Siento
11 Alexis Y Fido ? Mala Conducta
12 Jay Sean f. Lil Wayne, J King & Maximan ? Down (Remix)
13 Dyland & Lenny f. Arcangel & Zion ? Nadie Te Amara Como Yo (Remix)
14 J King Y Maximan ? Cuando Cuando Es
15 MAFU Crew ? Confuso
16 Serani f. Fuego ? She Loves Me (Remix)
17 Magic Juan f. Guary & Cleyton ? Paralizado (Remix)
18 Eddy K ? Mami Besame
19 Papi Sanchez f. Shabakan ? Guayamo O Peliamo

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On January 17, Mail on Sunday brings you another amazing musical treat ? Paul McCartney singing the Beatles on a unique FREE CD.

Designed, chosen and approved by Paul McCartney himself, this is a CD that is unavailable anywhere else ? and every Beatles fan will want it in their collection.

The album features seven fantastic classic Beatles tracks ? including I Saw Her Standing There, Lady Madonna, Get Back, Blackbird and the iconic Hey Jude.

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01 Sixties Medley (live)
02 Right On (live)
03 Wholy Holy (live)
04 Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) (live)
05 What?s Going On (live)
06 What?s Happening Brother (live)
07 Flyin? High (In the Friendly Sky) (live)
08 Save the Children (live)
09 God Is Love (live)
10 Stage Dialogue (live)
11 Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler) (Reprise)
12 What?s Going On (Reprise)
13 What?s Going On (original single version)
14 God Is Love (original single version)
15 Sad Tomorrows (original single version)
16 ?Head Title? aka Distant Lover

2010 stand-alone single disc release that contains all the bonus tracks featured on the second disc of the Deluxe Edition release of this album

Perfect for collectors who may have missed the double disc version or for those who are in search of all the great tracks that were initially exclusive to the Deluxe Edition. Marvin Gaye?s What?s Going On.was the masterpiece which forever changed the sound and subject matter of black and Pop music, This rarities edition includes a live version of the album, recorded at a 1972 Kennedy Center concert, the original singles versions of ?What?s Going On,? ?God Is Love,? and ?Sad Tomorrows,? along with ?Head Title,? a previously unreleased tune recorded when Motown initially rejected the ?What?s Going On? single, redeveloped later as Gaye?s hit ?Distant Lover? for the Let?s Get It On album.

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