FIRST BATCH OF RE-UPPED FILES POSTED

The file re-upload campaign has been moving along at full speed here at Mutant HQ. 177 of the album links that were down are now back up again with new Rapidshare links. Unlike the old files that were removed, these links are now housed in my paid account with them, so this should hopefully forestall more disasters like the one that occurred. I know many will carp about my continued use of Rapidshare, but I'm not looking for a debate on the worth of one hosting strategy over another. At this late date and after Mediafire killed hundreds of my links dead within weeks of using them on the heels of the Megaupload take-down, Rapidshare are the only one left standing who have been around long enough to convince me they'll remain viable in the long run. With that said, you can download the list of these 177 re-ups and their new Rapidshare links here   

An un-named blog friend is doing Mutant a great turn and moving some 400 of the other downed titles to an ftp server for me to grab them from right now, so within days I'll begin re-upping those albums and plugging them back into Mutant as well. This will put us close to the half-way mark with getting all these links back up again.

I've compiled a list of the 650 or so remaining albums beyond those I've already plugged back in and the other 400 I'm already getting help with. If you'd like to contribute to the cause, you can download the list of titles that are still needed here and you can contact me at pantheonbar (at) gmail (dot) com to sort out details. Thanks in advance to one and all.

Onward and upward...

ASSESSING THE MASS FILE WIPEOUT FROM RAPIDSHARE AND DETERMINING STRATEGY

There's been a 600 pound white elephant sitting in the Mutant Sounds room for a while now, though the extent of its damage has until now meant that I've been unwilling and unable to confront it in all its magnitude before today. And that thing that must be confronted is this: while the Megaupload shutdown may have gotten all the press attention, Rapidshare's semi-recent decision to eliminate all files from their servers that were either unconnected to a paid account or from someone not signed in to their system (as per their current requirements) has created far more catastrophic damage for Mutant Sounds that what happened with Megaupload. It has in fact wiped close to 1200 titles from our blog, between the removal of many early files from a period when I was less than fastidious about remaining a member of Rapidshare and their interconnected elimination of all rapidshare links created by third party file-spreaders like Sharebee. It's taken me three consistent ten hour days of work to sift through the entirety of Mutant Sounds and figure out how many links are down, but I now have a final tally (1196 files; 813 of mine, 386 of Jim's) and a master list of all those files that are now gone from their system. Complicating matters, much of my collection is currently boxed up and/or in storage in preparation for a move.

my plan of attack is this: over the next few days, I'll be tooth-combing my way through both my own (admitted all over the place) files and those of my bandmate Matt from VDO to figure out everything we do have directly on hand to begin re-uploading. For the albums that don't prove to be directly accessible right now (read: from albums/tapes/CD's/CDR's that are currently boxed up and/or in storage), I'll be putting out a list of those titles to download once my sifting is done, so that, should you be so kind as to want to offer help in re-uploading titles, you can at that point.

This is surely a huge undertaking and an obvious setback for the blog, but Mutant will still be soldiering on regardless. Thanks to one and all for sticking by us for all these years…

CLUSTER & ENO-PARIS, NOVEMBER 1977, UNRELEASED, GERMANY/UK

Nope, no backstory needed with these folks. This file has been floating around various channels for some time and, regardless of the sketchy sonics and general hiss blanket this resides under, this is still a pretty fascinating peek in on a process many would have given their eye teeth to be present for. Cocooned in a warmly defocused blur of elemental pulsations, wavering tones and occasional insectile flutterings, these 27 minutes of ectoplasmic ooze will transport you to one singularly heavy lidded psychological zone.

Get it via Rapidshare Here

BARBED-S/T, CD, 1994, UK

Some choice funny-bone prodding and media mulching from these two British wits, whose sampler-centric approach was created under the direct sway of early genre markers like Negativland and John Zorn's Spillane, but who contort these tactics to ends both more beat-scrambled and more effect smeared then their predecessors.

Get it via Rapidshare Here

LARS HOLLMER WITH LOOPING HOME ORCHESTRA-VENDELTID, LP, 1987, SWEDEN

One time leader of RIO legends Samla Mammas Mamma/Zamla Mammaz Manna/Von Zamla turned solo recording artist, Lars Hollmer passed away in 2008, but his hallmark mix of buoyantly percolating folkloric themes and giddy joie de vivre remains stuck to the bones and bonded to the hearts of many who've encountered his enchanting music. This first outing with The Looping Home Orchestra (many more would follow) traces a direct line from his exploits on both the Von Zamla LP's and from his preceding solo albums, though working with this crew (which includes drummer Martin Tiselius from Von Zamla), tethers his compositions to more streamlined structures than in the past.

Get it via Rapidshare Here

DIE KRUPPS-FOUNDATION, CD, 1997 (RECORDED: 1981-1990), GERMANY

Clangorous and tight jawed meat machine pounding from the smile-free wing of the Neue Deutsche Welle scene. These cats would later gain much greater renown formulating the genre of EBM, eventually culminating in their collaborating with one Nitzer Ebb, but at the early stage  documented on these live recordings from 1981 (contemporary with their debut album Stahlwerksymphonie) what's heard here sounds more like an especially focused Einsturzende Neubauten emulating DAF. You'll find some extra EMB stuff filling out the remaining space on this CD, but that's all sorta outside the Mutant remit.

Get it via Rapidshare Here

FRANK DAVID SELECTION-BLUES & ELECTRONICS, LP, 1972, SPAIN

Frank David (ne Frank Dube), the the Spanish cat responsible for the mind-blowing Proyecto A LP I shared long ago is the brains behind this mixed bag of schtick and stunners. Created during a decampment to Germany circa the early 70's and aided by both Okko Bekker of the Sitar and Electronics album and winds player Herb Geller of Brave New World, Mr. David makes a quick work of separating said schtick from said stunners by reserving all the tasty bits for the B side's 5 part Space Suite, whose relationship to both the blues and space exploration might be overstated but whose moog-tastic library-like grooves are prime sleazy listening.

Get it via Rapidshare Here 

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