WAKING.GHOSTS..............

by Fray D. Jay

download here :
http://www.filefactory.com/file/aauexk3xy6n/n/waking_ghosts_mp3

www.groundsforappeal.ihookitup.com

01. Leonard Cohen – Democracy (Spoken Intro)
02. Sounds From the Ground – Treasure
03. Alex Turner – It’s Hard to Get Around the Wind
04. Klangwuerfel – Trippy Moonlight
05. Freelance Whales – Ghosting
06. David Bowie – Move On (reverse edition)
07. CirKus – Drug of Choice
08. Jam & Spoon – Hermaphrodite
09. The Clash – The Call-Up (You Talkin’ To Me Mix)
10 The Land of Nod – Chronicle Blueprint
11. Eagle Owl – Sleep the Winter
12. Nick Drake – Three Hours
13. Robbie Robertson – Unbound
14. Northerner – Lost Logic (Part Timer Mix)
15. William Fitzsimmons – Farewell Angelina
16. Leonard Cohen – Book of Longing
17. July Skies – Afternoon Pips
18. United Future Organization – The Sixth Sense
19. Carbon Based Lifeforms – Central Plains
20. Leonard Cohen – Joan of Arc (spoken excerpt)
21. Phosphorescent – South (of America)
22. Something Beginning With An L – Younger Thoughts
23. Leonard Cohen – Anthem (spoken excerpt)

Notes on “Waking Ghosts”:

The single most daunting part of doing mixes for “Radio Etiopia” is finding a piece of music that may surprise The Cardinal or The Bishop – and slipping it onto the mix before they place it on one of theirs! These guys know where the good music lives and that’s why it’s a great pleasure to offer my humble efforts through the “Radio Etiopia” podcast site.

“Waking Ghosts” takes inspiration from the established and from fresh-faced rookies. Of the established, none is more so than 76 years young Leonard Cohen, who recently rounded off a 3 year jaunt round the world, playing to wildly rapturous, sold-out audiences wherever he paused to play.

I hope you had a chance to see him. For spirit, grace and pure poetic artistry, there is none who compare and Mr. Cohen was generous both in his appreciation for his multi-generational concert attendees, and in the three-hour sets he played for them night after night world over.

I reckon words of wisdom can come from no finer source – hence the little spoken excerpts sprinkled throughout the mix, together with an unreleased song, the loping, sinuous “Book of Longing” recorded for L.A.’s KCRW radio station in 2006.

Of the other venerable veterans, David Bowie makes a back-to-front appearance with the reversed “Move On” from the “Lodger” album. Rumor has it that he used the backing tapes from the song he gave to Mott The Hoople, “All The Young Dudes” for this track, simply reversing them and layering his vocals on top. Take a listen – about halfway through you’ll realize rumors sometimes are more than simple legend!

The Clash make an appearance (sort of) with a highly corrupted mix of “The Call-Up” from the classic “Sandinista” (in my view anyway). Corrupted by the menacing voice of a certain De Niro, R. lifted from one of the great modern-era films which, if you don’t recognize, you don’t deserve to be told!

Even ageing pugilist Bob Dylan gets a look-in through the interpretation of his “Farewell Angelina” by 2011’s Nick Drake wannabee William Fitzsimmons.

That’s a compliment, by the way. Fitzsimmons’ new album, “Gold in the Shadow”, is a beautiful piece of work and highly recommended.

It’s just that nothing and nobody compares to the majesty of Nick Drake, so tragically lost to us in 1974, aged just 26.

The irony of Nick Drake’s lasting and ever-growing fame is, of course, that he never experienced it while alive. But, if there’s ever an artist who will always simply be beautiful because they were lost so young, then Nick Drake is that artist. Every note he ever committed to tape just drips with emotion, longing and aching majesty.

Quick notes on the rest – Alex Turner is better known as the vocalist/guitarist/songwriter of the superb Arctic Monkeys. This track is from a mini-soundtrack he did for a movie named “Submarine”; CirKus contribute the weird and trippy “Drug of Choice”, opening track of their second album. Big in France, you may find the name of one of their female vocalists more familiar – Neneh Cherry.

If post-rock is your thing and Land of Nod is a new name to you, then you are in for a treat – they’ve been around many a year and have a several releases for you to discover. A perfect launching pad is their “best of”, the 2-disc “Archive” from which the track here is snipped. Melodic, psychedelic and accomplished, Land of Nod have it all going.

Northerner is a one-man ambient/glitch operation out of Yorkshire well worth investigating with several releases available, of which “The Ridings” gets my nod as his finest.

Finally Eagle Owl and Something Beginning With An L both hail from my homeland, Scotland, where a vibrant music scene is jiggling many a sporran! Eagle Owl’s only problem would appear to be getting the finger out to record more material. What is available is just beautiful and, if you like “Sleep the Winter”, you’ll really like the session they did for the estimable Songs, by Toad blog available at

http://songbytoad.com/2010/03/toadcast-112-eagleowl-toad-session/

Something Beginning With An L is the latest soon-to-be-available offering from The Little Label That Could, Armellodie Records out of Glasgow, Scotland. A true indie label, Armellodie has built quite a roster of talent of which The Scottish Enlightenment and Thirty Pounds of Bone really stand out as burnished gold. A label to patronize if you are a helpless devotee to the food of love, Armellodie may be visited at:

www.armellodie.com

Hope you enjoy “Waking Ghosts”.

Until next month, remember – protest EVERYTHING! We don’t want no neo=feudalism around these parts!

Fray