ANNOUNCEMENT

ANNOUNCEMENT

For personal reasons, Ayah Gagöhn, who cooked all these compilations with me, has decided to considerably slow down his activity on BAISTOPHE.
I'm now looking for new collaborators which have what it takes to take on his spot as regular poster here.
Leave a comment to tell me that you are interested. Thanks to Ayah for the great work and thanks to all for supporting us!

HUBERT-FELIX THIEFAINE (ABO #136)

HUBERT-FELIX THIEFAINE
LE CHANT DU FOU

French singer/songwriter Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine is an artist whose work one may find very difficult to file in any genre. Influenced by Bob Dylan and Lou Reed as well as Léo Ferré, Jacques Brel, and French writers, his music first took shape as a form of folk-rock, turning darker and more synthetic in the '80s and constantly evolving with time into a quite personal style of pop featuring poetic, daring, and sometimes difficult lyrics. Never submitting to musical fashion or ideology, Thiéfaine's work might be considered just as original as that of Jacques Higelin or Gérard Manset, expressing a conflicted and sometimes odd personality. Although Thiéfaine has opted out of the mass-media music business since the beginning of his career in 1978, he has managed to attract a large and faithful audience, selling more records and concert tickets than one might imagine given the level of his exposure, and gaining cult status along the way.
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine was born in Dole, Jura, in 1948. Having had a quite unhappy childhood, he quickly encountered issues at school. Developing a great deal of imagination at that time and already with a rebellious streak, he started writing songs with a couple of friends at the early age of 12. He later managed to make it through university, where a friendly collaboration with the folk-influenced Tony Carbonare began.
In 1976, he was signed to record his first LP, Tout Corps Vivant Branché Sur le Secteur Étant Appelé à S'Émouvoir...; released in 1978 and selling few copies, the album nevertheless included his first semi-hit, "La Fille du Coupeur de Joint" (which was to become a cult classic). The Thiéfaine-Carbonare collaboration continued with the release of two further studio records, 1979's Autorisation de Délirer and 1980's De l'Amour, de l'Art et du Cochon. His 1981 record, Dernieres Balises: Avant Mutation, made with the help of longtime friend Claude Mairet, exposed Thiéfaine's darker side, while his live sets were increasingly warmly welcomed by his growing audience.
The Thiéfaine-Mairet collaboration continued with 1982's Soleil Cherche Futur, an album that gained Thiéfaine his second gold record after Dernieres Balises: Avant Mutation, along with some radio airplay. From 1984 to 1995, Thiéfaine alternated studio recordings (Alambic/Sortie-Sud, Météo Für Nada, Eros Über Alles, Chroniques Bluesymentales, Fragments d'Hébétude) with tours and numerous live albums (1986, 1988, 1995), then sticking to his newfound style, more devoted to synth pop and rock.
In 1996 and 1998, he released two new sets of material like two parts of a diptych, La Tentation du Bonheur and Le Bonheur de la Tentation. After 2001's Defloration 13, 2005's Scandale Mélancolique saw Thiéfaine collaborate with famous young artists like Cali and J.P. Nataf, stepping out somewhat uncharacteristically with his most visible comeback to date. (allmusic guide)

22 mai

Stalag-tilt

Amants destroy

La philosophie du chaos

STEVE VAI (ABO#135)

STEVE VAI
LITTLE BLACK DOTS
(1984-2007)

I already hear some people say "hey another guitarist, I hate guitar songs, always boring and without the technical talent, they are nothing". This sentence may often be true for many guitar player, but not for Steve Vai. Although he has been a Satriani pupil, he really started with (no one less than) Frank Zappa. This apprentice took everything he learned and that is recognisable in is work. Imagine Frank Zappa playing hard/metal stuff. This is it. But the real talent of Vai is that his hard/metal is not violent nor uninovative, and his compositions are not too difficult to listen to even if they are very technical. Well, you might have guessed, Steve has got a place of choice in my heart because he is unique and gathers many styles of music that were hardly fuse. And he did it !

Extracts :
Sisters

Iberian Jewels

My Steve Vai TOP3:
1. Alive In A Ultra World (2001)
2. Flexable Leftovers (1984/1998)
3. Real Illusion : Reflections (2005)

My Steve Vai BOTTOM3 :
1. Sex And Religion (1993)
2. Fire Garden (1996)
3. Alien Love Secrets (1995)

RORY GALLAGHER & TASTE (ABO#133 + 134)

COME

TASTE

THE BAND

Taste (originally "The Taste") was formed in Cork, Ireland in August 1966 as a trio consisting of Rory Gallagher on guitars & vocals, Eric Kitteringham`on bass, and Norman Damery on drums. In their early years Taste toured in Hamburg and Ireland before becoming regulars at Maritime Hotel, an R&B club in Belfast, Northern Ireland.In 1968 Taste began performing in the UK where the original lineup split up. The new lineup formed with Richard McCracken on bass and John Wilson on drums. The new Taste moved permanently to London where they signed with the record label Polydor. While with Polydor, Taste began touring the United States and Canada with the British supergroup Blind Faith. In 1969 Taste released their first two studio recordings, the self-titled "Taste" first and "On The Boards" soon following, the latter showing Rory and the band's jazz influences with Gallagher playing saxophone on numerous tracks. In November, the band, along with Yes, opened for Cream at Cream's farewell concerts.Perhaps their most notable performance came in 1970 as part of the Isle of Wight Festival, joining such notable musicians as Jimi Hendrix and The Who. They were well-received by those in attendance, ultimately being called back for five encores. Later the same year Taste would once more tour Europe before performing their last show on New Year's Eve in Belfast. In 1970 Taste split leaving frontman Rory Gallagher to pursue his solo career. (wikipedia)

What's Going On

RORY GALLAGHER MESSIN' WITH THE BLUES (1971-1990)

At the dawn of the 70s, Rory had to make a hard choice : keeping his old friends of Taste, or bring together a new band with really professional musicians. This choice was really hard but imposed itself to his final decision. The 2 first albums were widely made of Taste songs that were to be recorded when Rory broke up with the band. The songs sounded a lot like Taste's one but there featured a great part of acoustic stuff, what Rory excelled in. During the decade Gallagher made unforgettable, unmissable albums until he broke up with his label. Then, he began to be less productive but still liked to go on tour.
We all miss him

Extracts :
For The Last Time

As The Crow Flies

My Rory Gallagher TOP3 :
1. Rory Gallagher (1971)
2. Tattoo (1973)
3. Deuce (1971)

My Rory Gallagher BOTTOM3 :
1. Jinx (1982)
2. Defender (1987)
3. Blueprint (1972)

YES (ABO#132)

YES
YESSENTIAL
(1968-2002)

As many bands, Yes is nearly only known for one hit single : Owner Of A Lonely Heart. Although it is not a bad song, this is really not the trademark that made them popular in the 70s. They were the front band of the Progressive landscape but, as a fashion passes by, they were rapidly called "the dinosaurs of Rock" and became a band making kitsch music (just listen to Awaken to see that this unfair etiquette is rubbish !
Then in the eighties, the Yes most people know is not really Yes. First named Cinema, that band founded by Chris Squire, Alan White and Trevor Rabin became Yes because of the adjonction of Jon Anderson and Tony Kaye. Cinema, with 4 from 5 Yes members had to become Yes. After 2 albums, Yes brang back its glorious old progressive rock habit and talent.

Extracts :
No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed

Awaken

Machine Messiah

My Yes TOP3 :
1. Close To The Edge (1972)
2. Relayer (1974)
3. The Yes Album (1971)


My Yes BOTTOM3 :
1. Union (1991)
2. Open Your Eyes (1997)
3. Big Generator (1987)

MICHEL CORRINGE (ABO#131)

MICHEL CORRINGE
ECCE HOMO
(1968-1999)

Michel Corringe is not only unknown abroad but also in France. Only a few people really know the man and his work and it seemed premedited. Born in Tunisy in 1949, he made his life on the road. His songs were often dealing with his life as a vagabond, and his political thoughts, left-winged to anarchist. He real hippy, then. Although a great success with his first LP, he remained in a very confidential business, and sadly died in 2002 in complete oblivion. His albums remain rare and unrereleased (as many RCA albums) at the exception of "La Route" (his first album) which has been reedited this year on Magic Records. Let's hope the other albums will have the same treatment !
For that reason, this compilation is mostly a vinyl-rip compilation (except for his last album Phénix which was only CD-edited), but I hope will enjoy anyway the great talent of Michel Corringe...
As a bonus, a very late pour-sounding song "Le Tango Du Chien" is a demo tape of a song which should have featured on the album Michel was to record. Cancer did not let him finish it...

Extracts :
J'Ai Tant Rêvé De Toi

Un Feu D'Artifice, Mets Ta Tête Dans Le Mur

My Michel Corringe TOP3 :
1. J'Ai Mal, J'Ai Peur, Mais Je T'Aime (1979)
2. Les Paumés (aka La Route) (1968)
3. A Suivre (1976)

My Michel Corringe BOTTOM3 :
1. Phénix (1998)
2. Tatouages (1978)
3. Aldébaran (1982)

Special Post : Tool (ABO#129) + A Perfect Circle (ABO#130)

TOOL
PHALLOCRACY
(1993-2006)

Tool emerged with a heavy metal sound on their first LP at a time when the genre was dominated by thrash metal, and later reached the top of the alternative metal movement with the release of their second LP, Ænima, in 1996. Their efforts to unify musical experimentation, visual arts, and a message of personal evolution continued with Lateralus (2001) and their most recent album, 10,000 Days (2006), gaining the band critical acclaim and success around the world. Due to Tool's incorporation of visual arts and relatively long and complex releases, the band is generally described as a style-transcending act and part of progressive rock and art rock. The relationship between the band and today's music industry is ambivalent, at times marked by censorship and the band members' insistence on privacy.

Extracts :
Opiate

Reflection

My Tool TOP :
1. Lateralus (2001)
2. Ænima (1996)
3. 10.000 Days (2006)
4. Salival (2000)
5. Opiate (1993)
6. Undertow (1995)

A PERFECT CIRCLE
BLUE

Bonus cd to the Tool compilation cooked by Ayah Gagöhn, I give you the best of A Perfect Circle's 4 releases.
Much more laidback and less progressive than Tool, APC allows Maynard James Keenan to display different abilities and to prove that he's as good a songwriter in the shorter song format that the one he usually exploits with his most famous project.

3 Libras

Imagine

JACQUES BREL (ABO #128)

JACQUES BREL
30 ANS DEJA...

Jacques Brel (April 8, 1929 - October 9, 1978) was a Belgian French-speaker author-composer with such a strong power of expression in his lyrics that many consider him a poet as well. He was also an actor and directed two movies. He was born in Schaerbeek, Belgium, a small city north of Brussels.
In the early 1950s he went to Paris, writing music and singing in the city cabarets and music-halls, where on stage he expressed his songs with grand physical gestures. By 1956 he was touring Europe and he recorded the song Quand on n'a que l'amour that brought him his first major recognition.
His themes are extremely diverse, exploring love, society but also spiritual concerns amon others. His work is not limited to one style. He was as proficient in funny compositions as in heart-breaking ones.
Brel's acute perception made him an innovative and creative painter of daily life with rare poetic ease. He was a master poet. His intelligent use of words was striking and simple, exhibiting a very visual and meaningful vocabulary. Few of his peers are considered to match his skill in fitting as much novelty and meaning in a sentence from a few words of common use.
He composed and recorded his songs almost exclusively in French, and is widely recognized in French-speaking countries as one of the best French-language composers of all time. But he occasionally included parts in Flemish as in Marieke, and also recorded Flemish versions of a few songs such as Le Plat Pays and Les bourgeois.
In 1973 he retreated to French Polynesia, remaining there until 1977 when he returned to Paris and recorded his well-received final album.
Brel died of lung cancer and was buried in the Altuona Cemetery, Altuona, Hiva-Oa, Iles Marquises, French Polynesia only a few yards away from painter Paul Gauguin.
English versions of his songs have been recorded by artists as varied as David Bowie, Scott Walker, Terry Jacks, Alex Harvey, Jack Lukeman, and Marc Almond.
Today is the 30th anniversary of his death.

La valse à mille temps

Madeleine

Chanson des vieux amants

Voir un ami pleurer

BAD COMPANY (ABO#127)

BAD COMPANY
JUDAS MY BROTHER
(1974-2002)

After Free broke up in 1973, Simon Kirke and Paul Rodgers recruted ex King Crimson Boz Burrel and ex Mott The Hopple Mick Ralphs to found a new band. Without any surprise the new band, Bad Company sounded like if Free had went on. Indeed, the unique presence of Paul Rodgers can explain that logical transition. This classic rock ensemble had their success at their very beginning but as the years passed, sells fell inexorably until Rodgers left in 1982. Even without their magistral font man, Bad Co managed improve and managed to fill in the lack let by this miss.

Extracts :
Feel Like Making Love

Simple Man

My Bad Company TOP3 :
1. Straight Shooter (1974)
2. Run With The Pack (1976)
3. Bad Company (1974)

My Bad Company BOTTOM3 :
1. Fame And Fortune (1986)
2. Holy Water (1990)
3. Company Of Stranger (1995)

GEORGES BRASSENS (ABO #126)

GEORGES BRASSENS
C'LA VA DE SOIT !

One of French chanson's most poetic songwriters, Georges Brassens, was also a highly acclaimed and much-beloved performer. Not only a brilliant manipulator of language and a feted poet in his own right, Brassens was also renowned for his subversive streak, satirizing religion, class, social conformity, and moral hypocrisy with a wicked glee. Yet beneath that surface was a compassionate concern for his fellow man, particularly the disadvantaged and desperate. His personal politics were forged during the Nazi occupation, and while his views on freedom bordered on anarchism, his songs expressed those convictions more subtly than those of his contemporary, Léo Ferré. Though he was a skilled songwriter, Brassens had little formal musical training, and he generally kept things uncomplicated — simple melodies and spare accompaniment from a bass and second guitar. Along with Jacques Brel, he became one of the most unique voices on the French cabaret circuit, and exerted a tremendous influence on many other singers and songwriters of the postwar era. His poetry and lyrics are still studied as part of France's standard educational curriculum.
He passed away on October 29, 1981, in the village of Saint-Gely-du-Fesc, at his doctor's home, and was buried nearby in his hometown of Sète.

Gastibelza (l'homme à la carabine)

Dans l'eau de la claire fontaine

Le vieux Léon

Mourrir pour des idées

SCORPIONS (ABO #125)

SCORPIONS
MECHANICAL ANIMALS

Everybody knows Scorpions' megahits... The power-ballads (Still Loving You) and the slightly cheesy ones (Wind of Change), the rockers (Rock You Like A Hurricane) or the surprises the band often offers (Is The Anybody There and it's reggae tone for example).
Not everybody knows what treasures the band gave throughout their 35 years of activity... From (almost) kraut sounds to heavy hard rockers, from light psychedelia to heavy metal, the germans had it all. Sure, the 70s were their golden era, granted not their most successful, but, even in the recent years, Scorpions still had some really nice tunes to display.
This compilation tries to sum up their lenghty carreer in all its variety and quality, enjoy!

Fly People Fly

Steamboat Fever

Big City Nights

New Generation

A SAUCER FULL OF SECRETS (VAC015)

VARIOUS ARTISTS
A SAUCER FULL OF SECRETS

Behind this Title hides the second part of my Pink Floyd Tribute Project. This second one deals with Floyd's A Saucerful Of Secrets. This was much uneasier to gather cover version of that second album than for the first. The most difficult was unsurprisely Wright's Remember A Day. Maybe the greatest song of the album (difficult to decide when you listen to the last part of the eponymous track or to Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun), but nearly never got covered ! The only two versions I found were recorded since Rick's death and between a poor dance remix and Gilmour's version on the BBC the decision was fast. Only one question : Is a Pink Floyd song sung by Dave Gilmour a Pink Floyd cover ? The answer is Yes because at the time R.a.D. was recorded, Gilmour was not yet in the band...

Extracts :
In The Woods : Let There Be More Light

Hipi : Julia Dream

BLOODROCK (ABO #124)

BLOODROCK
DEAD ON ARRIVAL

Bloodrock was a Fort Worth, Texas-based (hard) rock & roll band in the 1970s.
The band was discovered by Grand Funk Railroad record producer Terry Knight and signed to Capitol Records. Knight produced the first three, and most popular, Bloodrock albums.
Bloodrock was best known for the song "D.O.A." (Dead On Arrival), about the victim of a gory airplane crash which became their only hit single, reaching #36 on the music charts in January 1971. They were only marginally popular in the United States and were essentially a cult band, but reportedly became a favorite among troops in Vietnam.
The early albums featured a heavy metal sound reminiscent of other hard rock bands at the time, such as Grand Funk Railroad and Black Sabbath. The lyrics were unusually cynical for the time, exploring such themes as alienation and revenge, which would later be found in abundance in the punk rock scene, but seemed out of place in the post-Woodstock period of the early 1970s. Before the late 1972 album Passage, their original lead vocalist (Jim Rutledge) and lead guitarist (Lee Pickens) had left and were replaced by vocalist Warren Ham (a born-again Christian who would later perform with Kerry Livgren's Christian rock band A.D. in the 1980s). Bloodrock took a major turn away from hard rock on the last two albums, turning toward progressive rock, pop, and jazz, reminiscent of such artists as Jethro Tull, Todd Rundgren, and Traffic. During live performances in the Warren Ham era, the band often refused to play their earlier songs with morbid or cynical themes such as "D.O.A.". Interestingly, though, the lyrics on the later albums often had leftist or even Marxist themes on songs. (Wikipedia)

D.O.A. (Live)