TED NUGENT (ABO#081)

TED NUGENT
CALL HIM THE WILD
(1975-2007)

In the madness of Rock History, Ted Nugent features in the front ground. His spectacular shows are deeply written into the encyclopaedia of Hard-Rock. For his Craveman Tour he used to enter the stage riding a bison (!). However, any of his concerts are really described as the highest point of craziness. Even in his life, the man is known for his non-conventionnal behaviour : just visit his official website and you'll notice that it never deals with music. It's only a merchandize site to promote his home-made hunting weapons (!, one more time). Beside, the mad guy is one of the strongest Republican in the USA, which doesn't really feeds our sympathy for him.
Anyway, Ted Nugent brings good Hard Rock to our ears and that's nothing much we ask him... don't we ?


CD 1 :

1. Stranglehold
2. Stormtroopin'
3. Motor City Madhouse
4. You Make Me Feel Right At Home
5. Free-For-All

6. Dog Eat Dog
7. Writing On The Wall
8. Turn It Up
9. Cat Scratch Fever
10. Death By Misadventure
11. Live It Up
12. I Got The Feeling
13. Venom Soup
14. Cruisin'
15. Paralyzed
16. It Don't Matter
17. I Want To Tell You (Beatles cover)

CD2 :

1. Wango Tango
2. I Gotta Move
3. Violent Love
4. Put Up Or Shut-Up
5. My Love Is Like A Tire Iron
6. The Flying Lip Lock
7. Tied Up In Love
8. Thunder Thighs
9. Funlover
10. Stinktight
11. Thighraceous
12. I Shoot Back
13. Klstrphnky
14. Crave

15. Wang Dang Doodle
16. Funk U
17. Eaglebrother
18. Lay With Me

Note : The back cover is the wrong one
here will you find the right one
Many apologies for that mistake.



My Ted Nugent TOP3 :
1. Ted Nugent (1975)
2. Free-For-All (1976)
3. Intensities In 10 Cities (1981)

My Ted Nugent BOTTOM3 :
1. If You Can't Lick 'em Lick 'em (1988)
2. Little Miss Dangerous (1986)
3. Love Grenade (2007)

ESBJÖRN SVENSSON TRIO (ABO #080)

ESBJÖRN SVENSSON TRIO
JAZZARIUM

e.s.t. is a phenomenon: A jazz trio, which sees itself as a pop band that plays jazz, which broke with the tradition of leader and sidemen in favor of equality within its members, which not only plays jazz- venues but also venues usually reserved for rock bands, which uses light effects and fog-machines in their live shows, which gets a whole audience to sing-a-long with jazz-standards as eg. Thelonious Monk's "Bemsha Swing", is a trio that goes beyond the scope of the usual classic jazz trio. Their music can be found in the pop-charts and their videos are playing on MTV Scandinavia. With their unique soundscape, combining jazz with drum 'n' bass, electronic elements, funk rhythm, and pop and rock as well as European Classical music, e.s.t. won an audience spanning from the classic jazz-fans to the youngest HipHop fans. Critics and audiences world-wide agree: e.s.t. is definitely one of the most innovative jazz bands of today.
On June 14th 2008 Esbjorn Svensson, 44 years old, died during a diving accident near Stockholm. He was in a company of divers at a Swedish jetty/landing stage under supervision of a dive-leader when he was found severely injured at the bottom. Rest in Peace Esbjörn, and thank you for everything. (AllAboutJazz) Tracklist selected by Max.

1. The Return of Mohammed

2. Don't Cuttle That Crazy Cat
3. In the Fall of Things
4. Dodge the Dodo
5. Behind the Yashmask
6. Did They Ever Tell Cousteau?
7. Elevation of Love
8. Viaticum
9. A Picture of Dorian Travelling With Boris
10. The Face of Love
11. The Well-Wisher
12. Fading Maid Preludium

13. Dolores in a Shoestand

LES NONNES TROPPO (ABO#079)

LES NONNES TROPPO
CA VA CHIER !!!
(1988-1996)

Not long ago, SFP posted a Baistophe concerning les V.R.P. Those who really know them also know that V.R.P. members had another project named Les Nonnes Toppo. That was nothing different from les V.R.P. except that the lyrics were absulutely crazier. Another thing is their costumes and make-ups. Their were dressed like drunk nuns. So nothing uneasy to understand the main aim of their oeuvre... nothing but laugh. You'll also notice that even with a simple guitare a contre-bassine (a bass made with a plastic bowl, a broom handle and a string) and all sorts of unseen percussions, their music is not allways low priced. Just listen to Chanson Roumaine or De Retour de La Noce.
The front cover is from a french comics called Soeur Marie Thérèse (by drawer Maëster). How could we have hesitated to take such a picture to illustrate our Nonnes Troppo Baistophe?

1. Frites Moules
2. Le Roi De La Route (could we say a cover when it's a song by the V.R.P.?)
3. Le P'tit Chien

4. Le Crapaud
5. Reggae
6. Cabana
7. Mangoulé
8. Notre Soeur
9. Corinne
10. Le Chat Qui Louche
11. Le Petit Roi
12. Les Feux De La Seine*
13. Les Syndicats D'Initiative
14. Le Pont Du Nord
15. La Grange (this is not a ZZ Top cover)
16. L'Heure Du Thé

17. L'Hirondelle
18. De Retour De La Noce (with Les Pires)
19. Chanson Roumaine
20. Le Vélo
21. Le Quadrille Du Troisième Âge
22. Tu M'As Réellement
(exact translation of the Kinks song You Really Got Me)

* This song is one of the only serious song of les Nonnes Troppo.

MANO NEGRA (ABO #078)

MANO NEGRA
MALA VIDA!

Named in honor of an Andalucian anarchist group, Mano Negra emerged from the same Parisian artists' scene which also gave rise to the like-minded Les Negresses Vertes, drawing equal influence from the punk ethos of the Clash and the multitude of sounds and rhythms endemic to the global music community. Formed in 1986 from the remnants of the neo-rockabilly unit the Hot Pants, Mano Negra essentially consisted of vocalist Manu Chao, his trumpeter brother Tonio and drummer cousin Santiago Casiriego, Spanish natives who fused rock, rap, flamenco and rai to create a heady brew they dubbed "Patchanka," a name derived from a Spanish pejorative for dancehall music. Mano Negra's debut LP, also titled Patchanka, appeared in 1988, scoring the French indie hit "Mala Vida."
The record's success led to a contract with Virgin, which in 1989 issued the group's sophomore effort Puta's Fever (Dominican slang for a sexually-transmitted disease caught from a prostitute), increasing the band's visibility abroad as well as establishing them as France's most popular alternative act. While 1991's King of Bongo attempted to broaden their Anglo fanbase via the inclusion of several English-language tracks, but their focus quickly turned to South America when in 1992 they embarked on the "Cargo Tour," travelling to a series of port cities to perform on a stage built into their ship's hold. Mano Negra returned the following year, this time journeying by rail from Colombia's Caribbean coast to the capital city of Bogotá, giving free concerts at stations en route. Latin influences dominated 1994's Casa Babylon, which proved to be the group's final record. (Allmusic guide)

MARILLION (ABO #077)

MARILLION
AFRAID OF THE PARK
1989-2007

So here is the second part of the Marillion collection. Back in 1989, Fish has left the band, Steve Hogarth has been hired as the new singer. 20 years of music follow then, 10 albums, to be compiled in two. What a wrench!
I tried to compile a good preview of all those years, something half way between a best-of and a beginner’s guide, something that shows most of Marillion’s faces along these years.
The first volume presents the EMI period, when the band was still related to the major. Four albums, both similar and different. The first two albums are issued rather quickly. Then the band takes a long time to produce Brave, a dark concept album based on a true suicide story. The album is in general either loved or hated. I love it. But it’s far from a commercial hit anyway, and the band needs to release quickly the next opus, Afraid of Sunlight; a brilliant album, a quality unexpected for such a short delay. The commercial success is still far though, and the band leaves EMI.
There starts another story. Three albums are issued on a small label that clearly disappoints the band, and the next three ones are going to be directly produced by the band thanks to a massive pre-ordering system. All this period long, Marillion tries, experiments, sometimes comes back to old recipes. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not. But the funny thing is that no one agrees on the best or the worst. Many different albums, different songs, different sounds, different atmospheres. Suprises, questions and contradictions; this is what Marillion is made of. Hope you’ll like it! (Thanks to Max for the selection, the artwork and presentation text)

#1: 1989-1995
1. Easter
2. Berlin
3. The Space...
4. Waiting To Happen
5. The Rake's Progress
6. 100 Nights

7. Runaway
8. The Great Escape
9. Made Again
10. Out Of This World

11. Afraid Of Sunlight
12. King

#2: 1997-2007
1. Man Of A 1000 Faces
2. Three Minute Boy
3. Rich

4. When I Meet God
5. Quartz
6. Interior Lulu
7. Fantastic Place

8. Marbles III
9. The Invisible Man

ANOUAR BRAHEM (ABO #076)

ANOUAR BRAHEM
OUD OF NOWHERE

Anouar Brahem was born on October 20, 1957 in the town of Halfouine in the Medina of Tunisia. He is an oud player and composer who is widely acclaimed as an innovator in his field. Performing primarily for a jazz audience, he fuses Arabic classical music, folk music and jazz and has been recording since at least 1991 after becoming prominent in his own country in the late 1980s.
He is now considered a master of this complex stringed instrument that has been a staple of Arabic music for centuries. In several albums recorded for the esteemed ECM label of Germany, Brahem has collaborated with musicians from around the world and combined his oud with an array of complementary sounds that give the traditional rhythms of North African music a modern twist. Though he is often hailed as the oud's greatest living player, Brahem avoids dazzling displays of virtuosity in his live playing. "Intensity and sincerity are the most important aspects of my performance," he once said in a Guitar Player interview with Hank Bordowitz. "I seek to be good inside the music. Audiences do not react well to an exhibition of technique."

CD 1
1. Raf Raf
2. Ronda

3. Parfum De Gitane
4. L'oiseau De Bois
5. Conte De L'incroyable Amour
6. Sull Lull (with Jan Garbarek)
7. Qaws (with Jan Garbarek)
8. Claquent Les Voiles

9. Ain Ghazel
10. Seule
11. Kashf

CD 2
1. Badhra
2. Mazad
3. Astrakan Café (1)
4. Nihawend Lunga

5. Halfaouine
6. Artefact, part 1 (with L'Orchestre National du Jazz)
7. Le Pas Du Chat Noir
8. Pique-Nique A Nagpur
9. Leila Au Pays Du Carrousel, Variation
10. Sur Le Fleuve
11. L'Aube
12. Nuba

13. La Chambre
14. Zarabanda

BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST (ABO#075)

BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST

SONGS FOR YOU

(1968-1997)

What Happened to Barclay James Harvest ? Why the hell did they change from Harvest label (which is named so thanks to them) to Polydor ? Never have any band suffered from such a change.
In the beginning, back in 1968, BJH was a symphonic pop band like no other... nearly like no other. Their major influences were the Beatles and Procol Harum. Those two influences would be later unarguable with songs like Titles or Poor Man's Moody Blues. Their two first albums are must-haves and then progressively, the inspiration is leaving the band.
In fact, nearly no BJH albums are bad but that lack of inspiration after 1978 (XII album) is really dominent. For that reason, the albums are a bit more homogenic and then boring. So let's have a huge interest to those ones who have really captured my interest and maybe yours ! In my opinion, The best era is until 1973 (or even 1974) with their 4 (or 5) first albums. This is the Harvest era. From the fifth studio album (Every One Is Every Body Else) the band joins the Polydor label and begins a deep pop carreer. The songs you'll find here are really great songs where you will find the delicious talents of harmonists that showed our four english men.
Since 2000 BJH has splited into 3 bands : 'BJH Through The Eyes Of John Lees', 'BJH Featuring Les Holroyd' and 'Wooly Wolstenholme's Maestoso'. It's useless dealing with Lees or Holroyd surdimensioned ego. BJH has now become from a 1968 band with a great future, a band with nearly no past. No past except those 30 great songs.

CD1 :
1. Brother Thrush
2. Taking Some Time On
3. The Iron Maiden
4. Dark Now My Sky
5. She Said
6. Song For Dying

7. Mockingbird
8. Vanessa Simmons
9. Ball And Chain
10. The Poet
11. After The Day
12. Breathless
13. Summer Soldier
14. Child Of Man

CD2 :
1. Medicine Man single version
2. Moonwater 2002 remix
3. Paper Wings

4. Carzy City
5. For No One
6. Song For You
7. Suicide
8. Leaper's Song
9. Fact: The Closed Shop
10. The Streets Of San Francisco
11. Sperratus
12. Life Is For Living
13. Fifties Child
14. Victims Of Circumstances
15. Lady Macbeth
16. Spud-U-Like

My BJH TOP3 :

1. Once Again (1971)

2. Barclay James Harvest (1970)

3. Baby James Harvest (1973)

My BJH BOTTOM3 :

1. Sorcerers And Keepers (1993)

2. Ring Of Changes (1983)

3. Face To Face (1987)

THE YARDBIRDS (ABO#074)

THE YARDBIRDS

MONSTER UNDER CONSTRUCTION

(1964-1968)

Not to look after the Yardbirds case would have been a huge error. First because they have been one of the major bands of the 60s, and second because three of the best english guitarist have been a central member: Erci Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. You know my love of Beck's music (ABO#001) and you'll understand my favourite Yardbirds era be his's.
But, for many people who are not aware of the Yardbirds history, the band never really broke up. In fact different band with other names have followed the adventure. When the Yardbirds splitted in July 1968, Jimmy Page wanted to go on and united a new line up as 'the new Yardbirds' which switched to 'Led Zeppelin' according to a Keith Moon (The Who) idea.
During the 80s, after Bonham's death, other Yardbirds members founded the Box Of Frogs. nothing in common with the great Zep. Last, after a reunion Tour in 1990, the Yardbirds still tours and have even recorded a new album: Birdland, nothing but an auto-tribute.
This compilation spans the first era of the Yardbirds, dropping both Reunion tour album and Birdland, because both don't really brings nothing new.

1. For Your Love
2. I'm Not Talking
3. Got To Hurry
4. Evil Hearted You
5. I'm A Man
6. Still I'm Sad
7. Heart Full Of Soul
8. The Train Kept A-Rollin'
9. Shapes Of Things
10. Someone To Love, part 2

11. What Do You Want
12. Here 'tis (instrumental)
13. Over, Under, Sideways, Down
14. Farewell
15. Hot House At Omagarashid
16. Jeff's Boogie
17. He's Always There
18. Happening Ten Years Time Ago
19. Little Games
20. White Summer
21. No Excess Baggage
22. Ha! Ha! Said The Clown
23. Goodnight Sweet Josephine
24. Think About It

25. Spanish Blood
26. Dazed And Confused
27. Knowing That I'm Losing You (later Tangerine)

My Yardbirds TOP3 :

1. Having A Rave Up (1966)

2. Over, Under, Sideways, Down [aka Roger The Engineer](1966)

3. Little Games (1968)

My Yardbirds BOTTOM3 :

1. With Sonny Boy Williamson (1965)

2. Reunion Tour (1990)

3. Birdland (2002)

SOFT MACHINE (ABO#073)

SOFT MACHINE

MEMORIES

(1967-1984)

Fronting the Canterbury scene, Soft Machine is one of the main progressive band which has ever existed. Although this compilation only features their work as the "Soft Machine" one can notice that the band never ended but took other names due to rights problems. Indeed, the name Soft Machine is owned by '72-'84 member Karl Jenkins. So when ex-member Hugh Hopper wants to make a Soft Machine album or wants to follow up the adventure in 1984, the only right he has is to keep the "Soft" part of the name. So, if you'd expect to find some Soft Works, Soft Bounds, Soft Head, Soft Heap, Soft Mountain, or even Soft Machine Legacy in here, you'll be a bit disappointed. Maybe will this be the subject of another baistophe (why not a baistophe Hugh Hopper ?). So, here will there only be exclusive Soft Machine.
Fortunately ! Because that band made so much great music in only a dozen years that it was very hard to fill in only 3CDs. but I made it ! No edit to shorten the songs. Much better : only live-existing songs (as Noisette, Riff III, Down The Road, ...) have their place here.
I'm not ashamed of the finished product because each of the 3CDs represents one of the 3 periods of that wonderful prog/free/jazz/psych/rock band has met. Enjoy !

CD1 : BOB'S MICROPHONE
1. I Should've Known
2. Memories
3. Hope For Happiness (incl. Joy Of A Toy)
4. A Certain Kind
5. We Did It Again / Plus Belle Qu'Une Poubelle / Why Are We Sleeping ?
6. Hibou, Anemone & Bear
7. Pig / Orange Skin Food / A Door Opens And Closes / 10.30 Returns To The Bedroom
8. Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening (Peel Sessions)
9. Dada Was Here (Live)
10. Moon In June

CD2 : FREE & UNEASY
1. Facelift
2. Mousetrap / Noisette / Backwards / Moustrap reprise / Esther's Nose Job
3. Kings And Queens
4. Virtually, part 2
5. All White
6. As If
7. Pigling Bland
8. The Soft Weed Factor
9. Chloe And The Pirates

CD3 : A SOFTER MACHINE
1. EPV
2. Down The Road (BBC Sessions)
3. Nettle Bed
4. Hazard Profile, part 1
5. Bundles
6. The Floating World
7. Riff III (live)
8. Song Of Aeolus (live)
9. The Tale Of Taliesin

10. Ban-Ban Caliban
11. Out Of Season
12. Huffin (live)
13. Sly Monkey

My Soft Machine TOP3 :

1. Third (1970)

2. One + Two (1968-1969)

3. Bundles (1974)

My Soft Machine BOTTOM3 :

1. Land Of Cockaigne (1981)

2. Rubber Riff (1976 ed. 1994)

3. Fourth (1970)

RENAUD (ABO#072)

RENAUD
UNE COMPIL' QUE J'LA TROUVE VACHEMENT BIEN ...
PAS VOUS ? AH BON ...
(1976-2006)

Renaud has undoubtedly been the most rebelious french singer of all times. He has never really been a master of music or singing. However, his songs really fit in French chanson landscape. Like other singers in France, Renaud's talent is in his lyrics. If you don't understand French, I just can advise you to get translation from his texts. His major work came in the 80's even if two of his greatest albums have been released in the 90's and his early works are really worth a listen.
As I said, if Renaud is not a musician per se, he has managed to get together some of the greatest musicians of French scene such as Bernard Paganotti, Jean-Pierre Alarcen and others...
At the end of the 90s, Renaud fell down into alcoholism and drug abuse causing him to disappear from the musical news for about 7 years. After that painful episode of his life, he made one of the best sold album of his career with the 2002's 'Boucan D'Enfer'. If there are great songs, we hardly recognize our beloved Renaud, ironic and clever. The new one is more a "Vieux con" disliking nearly everyone and everything as he tells in his song 'Docteur Renaud Mister Renard'. Nethertheless, this album is still a great listen even if Renaud's singing is deeply injured (and much more when he sings live since that come back).
What I was expecting sadly happened with his last album to date, 'Rouge Sang', where, for the very first time in my life as a Renaud connoisseur, no track really met my interest. That's why my Baistophe stops in 2002.

CD1 :
1. Société Tu M'Auras Pas
2. Hexagone
3. Rita
4. Laisse Béton
5. Je Suis Une Bande De Jeune
6. Charognards

7. Mélusine
8. Sans Dec'
9. C'Est Mon Dernier Bal
10. Chanson Pour Pierrot
11. Marche A L'Ombre
12. Les Aventures De Gérard Lambert
13. Dans Mon H.L.M.
14. It Is Not Because You Are

15. Pourquoi D'abord ?
16. Manu
17. Le Retour De Gérard Lambert
18. Le Père Noël Noir
19. J'Ai Raté Téléfoot
20. La Jeune Fille Du Métro
21. Dès Que Le Vent Soufflera
22. Deuxième Génération
23. En Cloque

CD2 :
1. Morgane De Toi
2. Ma Chanson Leur A Pas Plu (1)
3. La Pêche A La Ligne
4. Mistral Gagnant
5. Tu Vas Au Bal ?
6. Morts Les Enfants
7. Il Pleut
8. Triviale Poursuite
9. Putain De Camion
10. Marchand De Cailloux

11. L'Aquarium
12. P'tit Voleur
13. Le Tango Des Elus
14. La Ballade Nord-Irlandaise
15. Ma Chanson Leur A Pas Plu (2)
16. Zénobe
17. C'Est Quand Qu'on Va Où ?
18. Le Petit Chat Est Mort
19. La Médaille
20. Baltique
21. Mon Nain De Jardin
22. Mon Bostrot Préféré

My Renaud TOP3 :
1. Marche A L'Ombre (1980)
2. Marchand De Cailloux (1991)
3. La Belle De Mai (1994)

My Renaud BOTTOM3 :
1. Rouge Sang (2006)
2. Cant'el Nord (1995)
3. Le Petit Bal Du Samedi Soir (1981)

LES GARCONS BOUCHERS (ABO #071)

LES GARCONS BOUCHERS

MORCEAUX CHOISIS

Not only Les Garçons Bouchers were a terrific band, they also were friends of mine. I've seen them countless times from 1989 to their split in 1995 (about 40 times, maybe more...) always enjoying the powerful and fun experience a concert of theirs was.
Formed in 1985 by François Hadji-Lazaro (also in Pigalle, Los Carayos and now a solo artist) and signed on his very own independant record company (Boucherie Productions), they were the emblematic band of the label as well as one of the most reknown of the mid to late 80's alternative french rock scene explosion. Mixing punk with chanson, the band refined its sound as time passed and the line-up changed.
This compilation spans their entire career and displays how big a change Blitz Eric, their first singer, leaving to be replaced by Piéro Sapu (from Docteur Destroy and BB Doc's fame) caused to their music. While Eric had a typical punk voice, Piéro's more melodic style made the band aim towards different musical territories so that I can say there's been two Garçons Bouchers... And it's here for you to enjoy! I even included 4 songs that were never on any of their 5 albums! So... What are you waiting for? Get it damnit!!!

1.La bière 3:27
2.Noir et blanc 2:09
3.Viens 1:59
4.Punkifiée 2:47

5.S.K.A.G.B. 2:30
6.Marche de Ménilmontant 2:30
7.Je ne regrette rien 2:06
8.Carnivore 2:54
9. Le rap des Garçons Bouchers 3:58
10.Toutes des putes sauf... 2:35
11.Chambre Froide 2:13

12.La bastringue 1:36
13.Sale gueule 2:54
14.La lambada on aime pas ça 3:34
15.L'histoire mélodramatique de Momo, Farid et du Grand 3:46
16.La fête, la joie 3:09

17.La bière (version 90) 2:22
18.Du Beaujolais pour oublier la nuit où est partie Marie 2:49
19.Où sont-ils donc ? 3:09
20.Où sont tous mes amants ? 3:01
21.Bourré bourré ratatam 2:35
22.Province - Paris 2:53

23.Quelquefois 2:59
24.Tout se dégrade 2:05
25.Arthur 3:27
26.Doucement 3:26

27.Un verre 3;18
28.Le trèfle et la harpe 3:27

BURZUM (ABO #070)

BURZUM
MAAMAR-OB ASH SHRA AKASH

Burzums (Darkness is Tolkien's Mordor language) is the musical project of Varg Vikernes (under the pseudonym "Count Grishnackh"). It began during 1991 in Bergen, Norway and quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene. During 1992–1993, Burzum recorded four albums that played a key role in the development of black metal. However, in 1993 Vikernes was convicted and imprisoned for the murder of guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth and the arson of several churches. While imprisoned, Vikernes has recorded two albums in the dark ambient style.
Controversial because of Varg Vikernes (born Kristian Vikernes on February 11, 1973) and his prsumed National Socialist sympathies (which he denied while still embracing some kind of cult to unchristian, uncommunist, uncapitalist white traditional European millenary culture) yet essential to understand the modern Black Metal scene, Burzum is a "band" people either love or hate. Try it and make your own mind. (Thanks to Lord Yorik for selecting the tracklist of this compilation)

1. Ea. Lord Of The Depth
2. My Journey To The Stars
3. Lost Wisdom

4. Han Som Reiste
5. Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
6. Burzum
7. Jesu Dod
8. Daudi Baldrs
9. Moti Ragnarokum
10. Der Tod Wuotans
11. Ansuzgardaraitud
12. Einfühlungsvermögen