The Embassy - Tacking

The Embassy is a Swedish synth pop duo. It was formed in Gothenburg in the early 2000's around the talents of guitarist/vocalist Fredrik and keyboardist/programmer Torbjörn. The group's signature blend of breezy electronic pop and New Order-inspired dance-rock first appeared in 2002 on its debut album, Futile Crimes, followed by a series of singles and EPs released between 2003 and 2005. 2006's full-length Tacking further exemplified the band's self-described style of "Underclass Disco" and won them critical acclaim both locally and internationally.

Tacking .06

  The Embassy - Some Indulgence

Hooverphonic - The President of the LSD Golf Club

Hooverphonic are a Belgian rock/pop group, formed in 1995. Though early on categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a lone genre, but rather encompass alternative, electronica, electropop, rock, and mixture of others.

The President of the LSD Golf Club is the sixth studio album album of this band. The album has quite a different feel from previous Hooverphonic albums. The album was recorded with live musicians and made use of the mellotron, an electronic keyboard popularised by The Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever. The sound of the album harks back to the psychedelic era of music but clearly retains a sense of modernity. Songs such as Expedition Impossible are also have more of a traditional rock sound, compared to the sound of earlier Hooverphonic work.

The President of the LSD Golf Club .07

Hooverphonic - Expedition Impossible

Björk - Volta

Björk Guðmundsdóttir is an Icelandic singer-songwriter, composer, music producer, and occasional actress, whose work includes six solo albums and two film soundtracks.

Volta is the sixth studio album by Björk released in 2007. A work consisting of 10 songs composed and produced by herself, and that has a long list of contributors. An album about paranoia, the challenges of love and alienation, introspection and hope. For more information see the BBC review

Volta  .07

Björk - Declare Independence

Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe

Depeche Mode are an English alternative band, founded in 1980, originally from the town of Basildon, Essex, United Kingdom. They are one of the most enduring and successful bands to have emerged during the 80s, and particularly from the new wave/new romantic era.


On 15 January 2009, the official Depeche Mode website announced that the band's 12th studio album would be called Sounds of the Universe. The album was released in April 2009,  The album went to number one in 21 countries. Critical response was generally positive and it was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Alternative Album" category. 

Sounds of the Universe .09

Depeche Mode - Fragile Tension

Entertainment For The Braindead

Entertainment for the Braindead is a lo-fi singer-songwriter Julia Kotowski from Cologne, Germany. She has a voice and a bunch of little instruments, ranging from guitar and ukulele to paper bins and pepper mills. The first ep Hypersomnia (a collection of lullabies) was released in 2007 and is completely avalaible from Entertainment for the Braindead’s site. Her second release, Hydrophobia (songs about drowning),was published with cooperation of Aaahh Records

Seven (+1) .09 
Hydrophobia .08 
Hypersomnia .07

EFTB - Souvenirs

Ich + Ich - Gute Reise

“Ich + Ich” is a project by the German musicians Annette Humpe and Adel Tawil. They first met in spring 2002 in Berlin. In April 2005 they released their first album (Ich + Ich), providing mostly melancholic popmusic.

On November 13, 2009, their third album, Gute Reise, was released, reaching once again the top of the German album charts. Its first single, Pflaster, became the band's first No.1 single in Germany.

Gute Reise .09

Ich + Ich - Es Tut Mir Leid

Massive Attack - Heligoland

The pioneering force behind the rise of trip-hop, Massive Attack were among the most innovative and influential groups of their generation; their hypnotic sound — a darkly sensual and cinematic fusion of hip-hop rhythms, soulful melodies, dub grooves, and choice samples — set the pace for much of the dance music to emerge throughout the 1990s, paving the way for such acclaimed artists as Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, Morcheeba, UNKLE and Tricky, himself a Massive Attack alumnus.

Heligoland is the fifth regular studio album, entitled after the German archipelago of the same name. It had been officially released in February 2010 – seven years after the release of their previous non-soundtrack, standalone studio album, 100th Window.

Heligoland .10

Massive Attack - Psyche

The Inspector Cluzo - The French Bastards

The Inspector Cluzo is a French rock band formed in 2008 by Laurent Lacrouts and Mathieu Jourdain, Both former members of Wolfunking native of Mont-de-Marsan. It consist of two musician, Malcom on guitar (Lawrence Lacrouts)and Phil on drums (Mathieu Jourdain).

In a important French magazine, Nicolas Chapelle describe the genre of the album The French Bastards of fusion between Funk, Rock and Metal.

The French Bastards .10

The Inspector Cluzo - Giving His Opinion Is Not a Job

B.B. King - The Best of Early Years

Riley B. King aka B. B. King (born September 16th, 1925 in Itta Bena, Mississippi) is a well known American blues guitarist and songwriter. He is among the most respected electric guitarists.

One of King’s trademarks is naming his guitar (Gibson ES335) “Lucille”. In the 1950s in a bar in Twist, Arkansas two men got into a fight, accidentally knocking over a bucket of burning kerosene (used for heating) and setting the establishment on fire. Risking his life, B.B. King ran back into the collapsing building to retrieve his guitar. King later found out that the two men had been fighting over a woman named Lucille. He named his guitar after her to remind himself never to do something so stupid again.

The Best of Early Years .86

B.B. King - Lucille

Pearl Jam - Hartford Concert 2010

Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1990. Since its inception, the band’s line-up has included Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard , Mike McCready, and drummer Matt Cameron, who has been with the band since 1998.

I had to wait for so many years to finally see Pearl Jam on stage, and my expectations were more than topped. They are so powerfully present, the energy of this group it's unbelievable, even at this festival gig that lasted only one and a half hours. I only saw one other band that was equally good on stage, that being Live. Turning that old military site into a music venue was a great idea, even Eddie appreciated.

The discs published in this post are of the Hartford concert, which I think was the best presentation  of this tour and where the band played many songs of their lastest album, Backspacer. Enjoy it!

Disc One .10

Disc Two .10

Pearl Jam - Corduroy

Le Café Abstrait - Volume 6

"Welcome home, Bienvenue au café abstrait": Without compromises but with a lot of passion, Raphaël Marionneau continues his relaxing serie. This is the sixth volume of one of the most loved chillout compilations in Germany. 

This time Raphaël presents a double cd compilation with two parts: Le printemps "Is cheerful and warm as the first rays of sunlight on the skin of a spring morning". L'automme "Is more melancolic and calm as a cosy moment in front of the fireplace during a rainy autumm evening.   

Le Printemps .09 

L'automme .09

Le Café Abstrait - Be Here

Placebo - The Acoustic Set

Placebo are an alternative rock band formed in London in 1994, currently consisting of Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Forrest. To date, they have released six studio albums, six EPs  and twenty-nine singles. The band have gained a considerable amount of international recognition, selling over one million albums in the UK  and over ten million worldwide.

The acoustic set is a unofficial album released in 2001, which has the acoustic versions of songs from their first three albums.

The Acoustic Set .01

Placebo - Every You, every Me

Beck - Sea Change

Beck is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. With a pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and postmodern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation and sound effects, Beck has been hailed by critics and the public throughout his musical career as being amongst the most creative and idiosyncratic musicians of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock.

Sea Change is the eighth studio album and was released in September 2002. Inspired by the dissolution of a relationship, Sea Change received glowing reviews upon its release.

Sea Change .02

Beck - Lost Cause

Fito Paez - No se si es Baires o Madrid

No se si es Baires o Madrid (I do not know if Baires or Madrid) is the album that launches Fito Paez October 1, 2008, recorded live on 24 April that year at the Palacio de los Congresos, Madrid, Spain. The album consists of a CD and a DVD with four bonus tracks. It has the participation of many artists invited to this concert.

It is the third CD of Paez that collects items included in previous albums. Also the song "Contigo" (With You) performed together with Joaquín Sabina, formalizes the end of the disagreement between both born since the work Enemigos Intimos (1998).

No se si es Baires o Madrid  .08

Fito Paez - Brillante sobre el Mic

Stéphane Pompougnac - Hello Mademoiselle

Stéphane Pompougnac is a French House DJ, musician, composer and producer who was born in the South of France.

Very early on, Stéphane was fascinated by different kinds of music, listening to pop, rock and new wave. The real trigger happened in the late 80s, when he discovered house. One day in 1997 in Paris, when he was already a fairly famous DJ, he met up with Jean-Louis Costes, who asked him to mix music at his hotel restaurant. Very soon they had the idea of a compilation which could spread worldwide the spirit of the Hôtel Costes, this mythic glamorous place. The first compilation quickly became an undeniable reference. Over a dozen more successful and intense compilations followed.

Pompougnac released his second album Hello Mademoiselle in early 2006 after his eighth Hôtel Costes compilation.

Hello Mademoiselle .06

Stephane Pompougnac - Hello Mademoiselle

Radiohead - Paragons of Virtue

Radiohead are an English alternative rock band from Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway.

Paragons of virtue is an official compilation album of rarities, b-sides and live shows of the band.

Paragons of Virtue .07

Radiohead - Bananna Co

Muse - Do We Need This

Do We Need This: B-Sides & Rarities is an unofficial bootleg of the British rock band Muse from 2008. The twenty-five songs on this album are recorded in 1998, when their first EP (called Muse) were released until 2007 . Do We Need This? is a collection of B-sides, covers and other obscure recordings. So are the album covers of the traditional American "The House of the Rising Sun" and written by The Smiths song "Please, Please, Please". 

Do We Need This .08 

Discography 

Muse - The House of the Rising Sun

Airlock - Drystar

Airlock is a Belgium based Trip-hop musical group formed November 1997 notable for their ambient music on several popular TV series. The band members were Renaud Charlier, Ernst W. Meinrath and Pierre Mussche.

In 1998, Musicom, began crafting tracks of cool electronic ambience mixed with orchestral hip-hop, as soundtracks for adverts and underground films. Scottish born Esra Tasasiz joined Musicom and the four decided to work together on recording a short piece of music. It was during these sessions that it soon became obvious that their creative output worked outside the confines of cinematography and Airlock were formed. 

The production of the first album ‘Drystar’ stretched over a period of two-and-a-half-years. 

Dystar  .02

Airlock - Alpha 

The Stance Brothers - Kind Soul

The Stance Brothers represent raw garage jazz in its purest form. The band was formed by the Stance brothers Isiah and Dwayne. After enlisting their friend, a virtuoso drummer by the name of Byron Breaks, the line up was complete. The core of The Stance Brothers' sound stems from countless of hours spent jamming at their dusty garage. The trio's unfaultering will to excel in playing funk-influenced garage jazz comes second only to their passion for shooting hoops at the nearby basketball court.

Kind Soul .07

The Stance Brothers - She May Be Moody

Placebo - Battle for the Sun

Battle for the Sun is the sixth studio album by the alternative rock band Placebo.

the band utilize new instruments, such as trumpets and saxophones. Molko even experimented with the Springtime and It is also the first album with the new drummer, Steve Forrest.

Frontman Brian Molko said on the concept of the album: We've made a record about choosing life, about choosing to live, about stepping out of the darkness and into the light. Not necessarily turning your back on the darkness because it's there, it's essential; it's a part of who you are, but more about the choice of standing in the sunlight instead

 

Battle for the Sun .09

Placebo - Battle for the Sun