A few weeks ago I listened to a great compilation of 80's college rock. This week's podcast is filled exclusively by tracks from this compilation.

Enjoy!
01 - Blood On The Saddle - Burning Sun (Fresh Blood 1987)
02 - Bongwater - Ride My See-Saw (Breaking No New Ground! 1987)
03 - Squirrel Bait - Kid Dynamite (Skag Heaven 1987)
04 - The Great Plains - Letter To A Fanzine (Naked at the Buy, Sell and Trade 1985)
05 - Butthole Surfers - Human Cannonball (Locust Abortion Technician 1987)
06 - Big Dipper - Faith Healer (Heavens 1987)
07 - Husker Du - Charity, Chastity, Prudence, And Hope (Warehouse: Songs and Stories 1987)
08 - R.E.M. - Exhuming McCarthy (Document 1987)
09 - Big Black - Bad Penny (Songs About Fucking 1987)
10 - Redd Kross - Play My Song (Neurotica 1987)
Total: 32:49 (30,0 MB)

Sometimes it's a fanboy thing. Other times is just the result of the juvenile storm of ideas. Some bands achieve their top form before releasing their first full length while others are just curiosities. Some bands disappear before releasing anything more than eps.

Beta Band's best songs are from the first eps (as are some of their worst...). If you saw the movie "High Fidelity" you'll surely remember the amazing "Dry the Rain"; "Needles In My Eyes" is another track in the same level. The Smashing Pumpkings are a different beast. They have such an amazing discography that it could be easy to ignore their demos. But, like their b-sides, the demo's should early glimpses of brilliance. "Jennifer Ever" should sound familiar to anyone who heard smashing pumpkins acoustic songs.

Faith No Man is none other than the early Faith No More. Really far from the their funk-metal of the late 80's and the experimental metal of the 90's, in their first incarnation they had more of a post-punk sound. Nonetheless, it sounded great.

Next, two classic tracks from the alternative rock, maybe the better known tracks from both bands, and they came from early eps and singles. Fugazi and Mission Of Burma at their most direct and anthemic.

Clinic is another band that achieved their peak in their eps. Again, the direct approach was the key. The Fall On Deaf Ears was an early band of At The Drive In and Mars Volta guitarist. Unfortunately, a car accident killed two of the band members, and the first ep ended being their only record. That ep is full of great energy and promised a lot.

The demos from Mr Bungle go way beyond mere curiosities. They show the progress of a high school band from death metal to funk metal while approaching experimentalism. This demos granted Mike Patton a place in Faith No More and range from genius to plain noise. Their last demo, OU818, is a lot like their first album, without John Zorn's production. It's, again, a more direct approach, but it's great to listen to this amazing tracks without any more distractions.

Finally, Cynic was already a legendary band before even releasing any full length album. Their demo's show us why. Always with great musicians, they range from straight death metal to progressive songwriting of their only album. Again, their last demo is allot like the album, only without the electronic that so many think is a turn-off.

Enjoy!
01 - Beta Band - Needles In My Eyes (Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos EP 1998)
02 - Smashing Pumpkins - Jennifer Ever (Smashing Pumpkins Demo 1989)
03 - Faith No Man - Quiet In Heaven (Song of Liberty/All Quiet in Heaven Single 1981)
04 - Fugazi - Waiting Room (Fugazi EP 1989)
05 - Mission of Burma - Academy Fight Song (Academy Fight Song Single 1980)
06 - Clinic - Cement Mixer (Cement Mixer EP 1998)
07 - The Fall On Deaf Ears - Your Reflection (The Fall On Deaf Ears EP 1996)
08 - Mr. Bungle - Slowly Growing Deaf (OU818 Demo 1989)
09 - Cynic - Pleading For Preservation (Roadrunner Demo 1991)
Total: 36:47 (33,6 MB)

25th April 1974. A special date in Portugal's recent history. A left-wing military revolution ended a 48 year fascist dictatorship without using violence. Instead, their guns held red carnations giving it a powerful symbol and ti's popular name: Carnation Revolution.

Music had a significant role in the revolution. The political police censored records and persecuted artists, and this artists, mostly associated with the communist party, became symbols of the resistance. Also, the signal to begin the revolution was sent via radio, as military forces took control of the national radio station and two songs were played: Paulo De Carvalho's "E Depois Do Adeus" and Zeca Afonso's "Grandola, Vila Morena".

The years after the revolution were turbulent. This period, known as PREC (Processo Revolucionário Em Curso, Revolutionary Process In Course), was rich in social confrontation and was another field of confrontation between United States and Soviet Union.

I chose to today's podcast not only music from those years but also other recent examples of portuguese popular music with intervention lyrics.

First, the most recent track, by a portuguese rapper and producer, with a great spoken-word track with a traditional portuguese guitar backing. It's just a portrait of the white city (nickname of Lisbon) but it's a very heartfelt one.
Two very direct post-revolution left-wing tracks follow: the Grupo De Acção Cultural (Cultural Action Group) was a collective of musicians openly of communist influence. Fausto is the master of portuguese popular music. "As Comissões" is about associations that were supposed to represent (and for some time represented) the power of the proletariat. No metaphor’s here.

Next, a track about popular poetry. I can’t really describe it: if you don’t know portuguese, you really can’t appreciate the genius lyrics. José Mário Branco was part of the G.A.C. and was also a popular solo artist, a producer of some of the most important albums in Portugal’s history and also a left-wing politician. “Eu Vi Este Povo Lutar” (I Saw This People Fighting) is another direct percursion-heavy call to arms to the proletariat against the oppression and the poverty.

Quarteto 1111 is a very different band from the previous ones. They were more influenced by English bands than they were by portuguese popular music. Nevertheless, they wrote about the exiles of the dictatorship and the war in the African colonies. The result: banned by the censorship. Another victim of the censorship (the most famous one) was José Afonso, or Zeca Afonso, a genial singer-songwriter associated with the communist party with various banned albums and forced to exile. “Venham Mais Cinco” is one his best known songs, with a light pop sound but with lyrics about the hunger, comradeship, police raids and resistance.

Finally, another song by Fausto, this time from its last album: a concept album about a singer in the years of the dictatorship and his relation with the censorship. In its usual fashion, Fausto uses the story to show his views on today’s society with an amazing background music that fuses numerous influences (Portuguese, African, pop-rock, dance, jazz) and doesn’t have any fear of the direct lyrics.

Last song is “Grândola, Vila Morena”, the ultimate symbol of the revolution. The lyrics talk about a city, Grândola, were the people are the rulers, and really is about the original ideals of the revolution. I included a late live performance, only with voice and mostly emotionally singed by the audience, showing that it is almost like an unofficial national anthem.

Enjoy!
01 - Sam The Kid - Slides Retratos Da Cidade Branca (Pratica mente 2007)
02 - G. A. C. 'Vozes na Luta' - Pois Canté! (Pois Canté! 1976)
03 - Fausto - As Comissões (Madrugada dos Trapeiros 1977)
04 - Sérgio Godinho feat Gaiteiros De Lisboa - Quatro Quadras Soltas (O Irmão do Meio 2003)
05 - José Mário Branco - Eu Vi Este Povo Lutar (Ser Solidário 1982)
06 - Quarteto 1111 - Pigmentação (Quarteto 1111 1970)
07 - José Afonso - Venham Mais Cinco (Venham Mais Cinco 1973)
08 - Fausto - Materialista... Sou Eu (A Ópera Mágica do Cantor Maldito 2003)
07 - José Afonso - Grândola, Vila Morena (Ao Vivo No Coliseu 1991)
Total: 34:56 (31,9 MB)

Again, I have to apologize about the inconsistency of my posts, but the last weeks weren't easy.

A week ago, a cousin and good friend tragically died in a car accident. This week's post is in her memory.

01 - Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely (Kid A 2000)
02 - Spiritualized - Death Take Your Fiddle (Songs In A&E 2008)
03 - Grateful Dead - Death Don't Have No Mercy (Fillmore West 1969)
04 - Johnny Cash - Hurt (American IV 2002)
05 - Interpol - The Lighthouse (Our Love To Admire 2007)
06 - Eels - P.S. You Rock My World (Electro-Shock Blues 1998)
Total: 30:56 (28,3 MB)

A long time passed since the last metal post. This week's is dedicated to metal albums from last year that I only got to hear recently.

Beginning and ending in (can we say that?) beauty first with Baroness and then with an amazing live performance by the mighty Opeth. In between, there's the technical assault of Blotted Science, the melodicism of Alchemist and some genial humor-metal from Dethklok.

01 - Baroness - Rays On Pinion (Red Album 2007)
02 - Blotted Science - The Insomniac (The Machinations of Dementia 2007)
03 - Blotted Science - Amnesia (The Machinations of Dementia 2007)
04 - Alchemist - Wrapped In A Guilt (Tripsis 2007)
05 - Dethklok - Murmaider (The Dethalbum 2007)
06 - Dethklok - Birthday Dethday (The Dethalbum 2007)
07 - Opeth - Ghost of Perdition (The Roundhouse Tapes 2007)
Total: 34:44 (31,8 MB)

01 - London After Midnight - Kiss (Psycho Magnet 1998)
02 - Cocteau Twins - Blood Bitch (Garlands 1982)
03 - Love And Rockets - Mirror People (Earth, Sun, Moon 1987)
04 - Dali's Car - His Box (The Waking Hour 1984)
05 - The Birthday Party - Mutiny In Heaven (Mutiny 1982)
06 - Kommunity FK - To Blame (The Vision And The Voice 1983)
07 - Tones On Tail - Christian Says (Pop 1984)
08 - The Creatures - Exterminating Angel (Anima Animus 1999)
Total: 38:53 (35,5 MB)

50th podcast. A return to familiar territory: the post punk.

Enjoy.
01 - Joy Division - No Love Lost (An Ideal For Living EP 1978)
02 - Clinic - IPC Subeditors Dictate Our Youth (IPC Subeditors Dictate Our Youth EP 1997)
03 - Crispy Ambulance - The Wind Season (The Plateau Phase 1982)
04 - Dead Astaire - New Bass In Hell (Take Time To Hate Me EP 2006)
05 - The Liars - We Got Cold Coughed And Forgot Things (We No Longer Knew Who We Are EP 2002)
06 - Mission Of Burma - Learn How (VS 1982)
07 - Pere Ubu - Nonalignment Pact (The Modern Dance 1977)
08 - Swell Maps - The Helicopter Spies (Jane From Occupied Europe 1980)
Total: 30:30 (27,9 MB)

Enjoy!
01 - Radiohead - 15 Step (In Rainbows 2007)
02 - Map Of Africa - Gonna Ride (Map Of Africa 2007)
03 - TV on the Radio - Playhouses (Return To Cookie Moutain 2006)
04 - Stephen Malkmus - Hopscotch Wille (Real Emotional Trash 2008)
05 - 12 Stone Toddler - Tragicomedy (Does It Scare You? 2007)
06 - Porcupine Tree - Sleep Together (Fear Of A Blank Planet 2007)
Total: 30:45 (28,1 MB)

Apologies for the missed inconsistent scheduling of the posts but the spare time has been very rare. This week, we continue with the lighter styles, but with promises of a return to darker, heavier music in a not very far future.

So, this week's episode features tracks that range from pure genius (as Moloko, Suzanne Vega and Joni Mitchel) to pure fun (Pipettes, Margarida Pinto and the guilty pleasure of the Sugababes).

Hope you enjoy!
01 - Moloko - Pure Pleasure Seeker (Things To Make And Do 2000)
02 - Lily Allen - Littlest Things (Alright Still 2006)
03 - Suzanne Vega - Caramel (Nine Objects Of The Desire 1996)
04 - The Pipettes - Sex (We Are The Pipettes 2006)
05 - Margarida Pinto - Apontamento (Apontamento 2005)
06 - Joni Mitchell - Carey (Blue 1971)
07 - Kimya Dawson & Antsy Pants - Tree Hugger (Juno 2008)
08 - Cat Power - Naked If I Want To (Jukebox 2008)
09 - Kate Nash - Foundations (Made Of Bricks 2007)
10 - Sugababes - Freak Like Me (Angels With Dirty Faces 2002)
Total: 34:47 (31,8 MB)

01 - Black Francis - Tight Black Rubber (Bluefinger 2007)
02 - Death From Above 1979 - Romantic Rights (You're A Woman, I'm A Machine 2004)
03 - Danko Jones - Forget My Name (We Sweat Blood 2003)
04 - The Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control (Standing In The Way Of Control 2006)
05 - Andrew WK - She Is Beautiful (I Get Wet 2001)
06 - Scorched Earth - Woman Gone Bad (Fed To Your Head 1970)
07 - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Date With A Night (Fever To Tell 2003)
08 - Artic Monkeys - Brainstorm (Favourite Worst Nightmare 2007)
09 - The God Damn Whores - The God Damn Whores Gonna Take You Out (We Are the Lucky Thirteen 2006)
10 - Bumblefoot - Thank You (Normal 2005)
Total: 35:07 (32,1 MB)