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Zack de la Rocha - His works outside Rage Against the Machine (@256)

Artists such as Zack de la Rocha are needed in today's music environment. His political activism, his militant "Hard Stance" (to use the name of his first band), and not less importantly his great talent as a composer, singer and live performer have created a big gap during his years of absence. Thus, it was a great pleasure to grab a new release that came out from his collaboration with Jon Theodore, under the name "One Day as a Lion". Their debut ep was released in 2008, and although nothing has been said about their first album, I hope that this year we'll have the pleasure to hear more. I was also very happy about the reunion of RATM for live shows in Reading and Leeds festival last year.
Zack's comeback is celebrated from this blog by compiling songs that have been released outside his former group. Two songs are offered from the bands he was a member before RATM (Hard Stance, Inside Out), while the rest of the tracks have been taken from compilations, soundtracks or albums of artists where Zack is participating as a guest.

Tracklisting:
01-Hard Stance - Face Reality (1988 - Zack plays guitar)
02-Inside Out - No Spiritual Surrender (1990)
03-KRS-One, Zack de la Rocha & the Last Emperor - C.I.A. (Criminals in Action) (1998) (from the comp. "Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1")
04-The Unbound Allstars - Mumia 911 (2000) (from the comp. "The Unbound Project, Vol.1)
05-Chuck D., the Roots feat. Zack de la Rocha - Burned Hollywood Burned (2000) (from "Bamboozled" OST)
06-Roni Size Reprazent feat. Zack de la Rocha - Centre Of The Storm (2000) (from Roni Size & Reprazent "In the Mode" lp)
07-Blackalicious feat. Saul Williams, Lyrics Born & Zack de la Rocha- Release (2002) (from Blackalicious lp "Blazing Arrow")
08-DJ Shadow & Zack de la Rocha - March Of Death (@160 as offered online in marchofdeath.com) (2003)
09-Saul Williams feat. Zack de la Rocha- Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare) (2004) (from Saul Williams's s/t lp)
10-Zack de la Rocha-We Want It All (2004) (from the comp. "Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11)

download link: here (mirrorcreator) or here (rapidshare)

Various - The soundtrack of Tom Stoppard's "Rock 'n' Roll" (@256)

I recently enjoyed Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll. A play that goes from 1968 and the invasion of the Soviet tanks in Prague, to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The communist utopia for those who lived it from the outside and the harsh face of it for those who lived it from the inside, rock'n'roll as a rebellious declaration against oppressive regimes, as well as a paganist device, and last but not least, the significance of idealism and passion in people's lives, all these are part of this magnificent play.

This upload offers all songs, in the exact order they are heard during the play.
see also:
official site (Broadway)
NY Times review

Tracklisting:
part 1
01-Internationale
02-Vera Lynn - We'll Meet Again
03-Jimi Hendrix - The Star-Spangled Banner (live)
04-Country Joe Mc Donald - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag (live)
05-Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
06-Pink Floyd - Interstellar Overdrive
07-Bob Dylan - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
08-Rolling Stones - The Last Time
09-Plastic People Of The Universe - The Universe Symphony And Melody About Plastic Doctor (Part 1)
10-Velvet Underground - Venus In Furs
11-Doors - Break On Through
12-Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting For The Man
13-Syd Barrett - Golden Hair
14-Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine
part 2
15-Syd Barrett - Terrapin
16-Pink Floyd - Jugband Blues
17-Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock'n'Roll (But I Like It)
18-Grateful Dead - Chinatown Shuffle (live)
19-Pink Floyd - Welcome To The Machine
20-Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice
21-U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
22-Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
23-John Lennon - Give Peace A Chance
24-John Lennon - Bring It On Home To Me/ Send Me Some Lovin' (medley)
25-Guns 'n' Roses - Don't Cry
26-Pink Floyd - Vera
27-Beatles - Rock And Roll Music
28-Plastic People Of The Universe - Apocalyptic Bird
29-Rolling Stones - You Got Me Rocking (live)

download link: here (mirrorcreator) or here (rapidshare)

Various - Doob Doob O' Rama: Filmsongs from Bollywood (@256)

After the triumphant soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire, A. R. Rahman stands next to R. D. Burman as the most important composer of Bollywood. His addictive melodies that combine Indian elements and western pop, as well as the subscription of M.I.A. gained him three Academy Award nominations, one for Best Original Score and two for Best Original Song.

Today's upload (a release of Russ Meyer's QDK) compiles songs from the vast Bollywood discography. Seminal artists of the genre such as Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar appear in this overly representative compilation, often accused for its lack of information (films/ years of release) and for the low recording quality of some of the songs.

album review link: here

download link: here

Buddy Holly - A selection of songs (@256)

The first song Lennon and McCartney ever recorded was "That'll Be The Day" while the Rolling Stones' first top 10 hit in the UK was "Not Fade Away". I don't think that someone should go any further to seek for additional credits for Buddy Holly. An artist whose recording career lasted for less than two years and transfused rock'n'roll to its second level that would eventually inspire and shape the sound of the British Invasion. On Feb. 3 it was the 50th anniversary of "The Day the Music Died".

Tracklisting:
01-Heartbeat
02-That'll Be The Day
03-Peggy Sue
04-Oh Boy
05-I'm Looking For Someone To Love
06-Rave On
07-Think It Over
08-Tell Me How
09-True Love Ways
10-Raining In My Heart (single version)
11-Everyday
12-Wishing
13-It's So Easy
14-Listen To Me
15-It Doesn't Matter Anymore
16-Words Of Love
17-I'm Gonna Love You Too
18-Well... All Right
19-Peggy Sue Got Married (single version)
20-Maybe Baby (1957 album version)
21-Baby I Don't Care
22-Reminiscing
23-Take Your Time
24-Not Fade Away

download link: here

Eartha Kitt - Purr-fect Greatest Hits (@256)

Orson Welles dubbed her "The most exciting woman in the world." Critic Brooks Atkinson wrote: "Eartha Kitt not only looks incendiary, but she can make a song burst into flame." Just compare Eartha Kitt with what most contemporary female pop artists represent and you will realise how much adventurous, risky and ultimately sexy she was, and how rule followers, label-manipulated and ultimately fake the latter are. Eartha, when label executives tried to encourage her to fol­low more standard pop formulas, made it perfectly clear that, "I don't want to be an artist who has to live on his latest record. This does not prove that I'm an artist, only that I am being adver­tised, like Coca-Cola. What happens to me when I don't have a hit? I explained that I must be the artist I thought I was capable of being. If I happened to have a hit record in this process, so much the better." Like many of her contempo­raries, Eartha's recording career was stymied by the advent of rock and roll, and it certainly didn't help matters that Kitt and Elvis were both in RCA, with Elvis receiving all promotional attention. She remained though a constant pres­ence in films, the theatre, and on television, where she gained an entirely new following for her campy portray­al of the Cat Woman on the Batman series. In 1968, during a luncheon at the White House, she had the guts to criticise the US involvement in Vietnam and its impact on poor minorities. Unfortunately, the consequence was a dramatic career downfall since she was blacklisted and could not book throughout her country. RIP

album review link: here

download link: here

Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley - Somethin' Else (1958) (@256)

I started to build up a Blue Note compilation, to celebrate the company's 70th birthday. I soon found out that I was working in vain! First of all, I realised that it would be wrong to pick up tracks from Blue Note albums, since the latter work as entities rather than sums of separate tracks. Then, we are talking about a vast discography. Even if someone chooses only the essentials (from which I do not own many of them), he will end up with an unsolved dilemma of which one to pick and which one to leave.I know that for those that own more than ten jazz albums, Somehtin' Else is one of them. But let's give the chance to many music fans that are reluctant to approach jazz, to give it a try with one of the strongest jazz albums ever and one of the seminal recordings of the 20th century.

album info link: here

download link: here (link removed)