Various - Yalla: Hitlist Egypt (@320)

The Egyptians struggled and managed to get rid of their PM. It's always the same story. No matter how strong an oppressive regime is, the common people, sooner or later, find the strength to oppose it. So, within a short period, after the Tunisians, this is the second successive uprising in the Mediterranean. Hoping the next uprising will soon come from the people of a nation from the northern part of the Mediterranean, we celebrate the Egyptians' victory with an enjoyable compilation of the contemporary music scene of Egypt, released by Mango, a subsidiary of Island records in 1990.

review link: here

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

Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts (@320)

Last year it was the Vampire Weekend (read here for the relevant post) that reached the no1 of the US album chart, this year it's the Decemberists. When a group that I like of the so-called indie finally finds its way to bigger audiences without selling out, I always feel it as a small victory. Moreover, I notice many such small victories during the last weeks. Mumford & Sons entered the top10 and remain there from Jan, 15 (!), the Cake (!) were no1 before the Decemberists and Amos Lee (!) after them, while Iron and Wine (!!) is at no2 this week. The cherry on the cake was of course the Social Distortion's (!!!) first top 10 ever; it's for sure that Mike Ness would never expect this after almost three decades from his group's first release. Unfortunately though a fact that cannot be overlooked is that the album sales show a constant decline (check here for some very interesting figures).
In order to celebrate this fantastic array of albums at the top 10 of the US album chart, I upload the Decemberists' brilliant first album from 2002.

review link: here

download link: here (link removed due to a relevant request :-((

Asian Dub Foundation - Keep Bangin' On The Walls (@320)

FORTRESS EUROPE
Keep bangin' on the wall
Keep bangin' on the wall
of Fortress Europe!

2022 -A new European order
Robot guards patrolling the border
Cybernetic dogs are getting closer and closer
Armoured cars and immigration officers
A burning village in Kosovo
You bombed it out now you're telling us go home
Machine guns strut on the cliffs of Dover
Heads down people look out! we're going over
Burnin up! can we survive re-entry
Past the mines and the cybernetic sentries
Safe european homes built on wars
You don't like the effect don't produce the cause
The chip is in your head not on my shoulder
Total control just around the corner
Open up the floodgates Time's nearly up
Keep banging on the wall of Fortress Europe

Keep banging
Keep banging on the wall of Fortress Europe
We got a right , know the situation
We're the children of globalisation
No borders only true connection
Light the fuse of the insurrection
This generation has no nation
Grass roots pressure the only solution
We're sitting tight
Cos assylum is a right
Put an end to this confusion
Dis is a 21st century Exodus
Dis is a 21st century Exodus

Burnin' up can we survive re-entry
Past the landmines and cybernetic sentries
Plane, train, car , ferry boat or bus
The future is bleeding coming back at us
The chip is in your head not on my shoulder
Total control around the corner
Open up the floodgates Time's nearly up
Keep banging on the wall of Fortress Europe

Keep banging
Keep banging on the wall of Fortress Europe
This is a 21st century Exodus
This is a 21st century Exodus

They got a right - listen not to the scaremonger
Who doesn't run when they're feel the hunger
From where to what to when to here to there
People caught up in red tape nightmare
Break out of the detention centres
Cut the wires and tear up the vouchers
People get ready it's time to wake up
Tear down the walls of Fortress Europe

We read that a new Greece - Turkish border fence will be constructed to keep away the immigrants from Greece. This is the second such fence across the EU borders after the ones constructed in Ceuta and Melilla, in the Spanish-Moroccan borders. We can't forget of course the similar purposed fence across the US-Mexican borders. But as indictos, one of my favourite Greek bloggers, has written, "it's behind the fences that the serpent's egg hatches and grows immensely".

Furter reading: Melilla: Europe's dirty secret (Guardian)
Further viewing: Eden Is West

review link: here

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