12/17/11 - The Cowboys From Sweden Live DJ Set on Radio 23!

Saturday night the Cowboys from Sweden will be doing a 4 hour DJ set live on the radio from Beech Street Parlor in Portland OR. Click here to listen in!

The set is from 9pm-1am Portland time. Please Join us on the air or at the Bar! It's a Radio 23 Holiday party! Don't forget to check out DJ Kev It Up from 6-9 (Just before our set).

Never heard of Beech Street Parlor? It's new, it's the best. A very classy place where you can spend a very classy evening. Find them online here.

"X" - Compiled & Mixed By The Cowboys From Sweden (2011)

Almost an entire year has passed since my last Cowboys From Sweden mix tape was posted! That said, sorry for the wait! Anyway, here it is, the 10th mix by The Cowboys From Sweden (thus the title "X", the Roman Numeral "10"). This one is easily the most dynamic mix of the series so far. Starting off in a dark hallucinogenic daydream, exploring the bliss and loneliness of solitude. Soft dream-like soundscapes melt into dark classical psychedelia. Moody late 60's folk, sentimental piano music, some opium den music... The mood shifts and develops, like a journey for your mind! After a few choice break beat heavy vocal tracks, the mix escalates into a hazy cloud of early 70's prog-rock laced with swirling fuzz guitars, pipe organs, synthesizers and BEATS! Let's not forget about the key ingredient in every Cowboys mix: Groovy bass lines! Plenty of those to be found here as well. Oddly enough, this mix turned up a lot of tracks with upright bass lines as too. All of these ingredients combined build up to the climax of Serge Gainsbourg's "Cargo Culte" from the holiest grail of all pop records, his 1971 masterpiece "Histoire De Melody Nelson" (an LP included in every single Cowboy's DJ set since the beginning of time). Yes, I'm sure you all know it already, but I wanted to showcase it as the premier track since our 10th mix is kind of a special occasion for us, and that album has so much to do with our sound (Well, the sounds we like!). A toast to Serge and Mr. Jean-Claude Vannier! To settle things down after all the commotion, there is a little wink at the camera at the end of the mix with a quiet night time nocturne by Poyuschie Gitary... I hope that you all enjoy it, it's been fun making these mixes and I thank you all for your gracious feedback! It makes it all the more fun to know that people are listening and enjoying these rare tracks with us! Comments are always welcome and appreciated! 78 more minutes of rarities ripped at 320 kbps from us to you! Enjoy!

Sincerely, The Cowboys

Ps. I would also like to thank all the other excellent bloggers keeping this music alive with their rips and mixes! Keep Riping!


Tracklisting:
01 Système Crapoutchik/Aussi Loin Que Je Me Souvienne
02 Christophe/Red Mountain
03 Billy Green/Amanda
04 Alain Goraguer/Strip Tease
05 La Nouvelle Frontière/Sans Légende
06 Susan Christie/Rainy Day
07 Stanley Myers/Solitaire
08 Ennio Morricone/Canzone Per Donatella
09 Ilous & Decuyper/Berceuse
10 Alessandro Alessandroni/Sesso In Controluce
11 Claude Lombard/Les Enfants Perle
12 Nino Ferrer/Looking For You
13 Anne Lonnberg/Ne Ferme Pas Ta Porte
14 Jane Birkin/Kawasaki
15 Jean-Pierre Ferland/Le Chat Du Cafe Des Artistes
16 Bernard Lavilliers/L'Espagne
17 Christophe/The Girl From Salina
18 Guido & Maurizio De Angelis/Life Of A Policeman
19 Blue Phantom/Metamorphosis
20 Egg/Fugue In D Minor
21 Bill Conti/Packing Up
22 Remigio Ducros/Vigilia Nel Chiostro
23 Francois De Roubaix/Les Dunes D'Ostende
24 Michel Legrand & The London Symphony Orchestra/Theme and Variations For Two Pianos and Orchestra (From The Go-Between)
25 Pierre Bachelet & Herve Roy/Emmanuelle In The Mirror
26 Pierre Bachelet & Herve Roy/Emmanuelle Steps Out
27 Pierre Cavalli/Un Soir Chez Norris
28 Serge Gainsbourg/Cargo Culte
29 Poyuschie Gitary/Nocturne

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?fj8ml9m35y5um3n

Pantherman 7" (1974)

...Wish all music could be this glamorous!

Tracks:
A. Pantherman
B. You Are My Friend

320 Download

Jacques Denjean - Nevrose/Psychomaniac 7" (1968)

Alright, this is another one of those dream singles that no one can afford. I've managed to track down the two separate tracks from various sources and a nice record scan from some rad person on Flikr (I'm sure you know who you are!) and Frankenstein it all together for your listening pleasure. These are two super funky, noisy French psych-pop insturmentals from 1968, one of which you may recognize from the now infamous "Monsieur Sexe" mix by the one and only Mr. Flash (who seems to be quite the heavyweight crate-digger himself). Anyway, I don't feel much explaining is necessary with this one, just grab it, I'm sure you will love these rare grooves! Thanks to the original rippers whoever you are.

These are 320 rips of files that I re-touched up. Hope you enjoy.

Tracks:
A. Nevrose
B. Psychomaniac

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?1n0c6w9nbjyvxdx

Nilsson - Per Chi/Leggenda 7" (1972)

A few weeks back my friend Robbie (an infinite source of rare vinyl I can't afford!) found this rare Nilsson single on Italian Ebay. Side A contains an Italian language version of his smash hit "Without You". At the end of the song, he does switch back to English on the last chorus. A powerful song, now available in Italian. But the real winner here is side B, from what I can tell is an old Italian folk song called "Leggenda", which lyrically has something to do with trying to catch a butterfly (and I believe killing it in the process). The moral of the story is that we cannot catch our dreams. Anyway, the song is really catchy and kind of dark aside from the really uplifting bouncy baroque chorus. A rare gem in the vast catalogue of a musical genius! Give it a try. Ripped from vinyl, at 320 Kbps with cover scan included. I would have included the back too, but it was the same as the front...

Tracks:
A: Per Chi (Without You)
B: Leggenda

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?40dbfyyagczdww2

A rare single from Michèle Mercier...

This is an extremely rare 7" single by actress Michèle Mercier. I've only seen one physical copy online before, so I actually had to Frankenstein this one together from 3 different sources over time. Two really cool tracks on this, it's a shame someone doesn't reissue it. Side A offers "La Fille Qui Fait Tchic Ti Tchic", a really catchy dark pop tune written by Serge Gainsbourg with some obvious help from Jean-Claude Vannier (heavy minor key orchestral stabs, shredding harpsichord). The song is about a girl who wears a metal dress that goes "Tchic Ti Tchic" when she dances (I think, I don't actually speak French). Side B is a flirtatious bouncy pop tune called "Six-Huit" written by Guy Skornik. Slightly less dark than the A side and a bit more up-tempo and funky (while still managing to pull off some top notch orchestration). Although I didn't actually create the original rips and scans here (thank you to whoever originally did!), these two tracks that are pretty hard to track down, so I'd definitely recommend grabbing it while you can...

Tracks:
A: La Fille Qui Fait Tchic Ti Tchic
B: Six-Huit

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?bbaug4k126px7gg

A Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin single from '69....

A few weeks ago I was browsing my friend Robbie's (the other Cowboy From Sweden) 7" collection and came across this one. I'm sure you all already know it, but I got excited about it and wanted to rip it since it was an original. Keep in mind, it is an original from 1969, so the sound is a bit dirty, but perhaps not as dirty as the music (ha ha)... Anyway, I am huge fan of both of these tracks, Jane B being one of my all time favorites. Both tracks were originally featured on the "Jane Birkin Serge Gainsbourg" LP that was released in 1969 by Fontana. This album is probably the holy grail of sleazy pop chanson, filled with innuendo and blatant sexually charged tracks (69 Erotic Year, Les Sucettes). I think probably enough has been said about "Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus" already, so I don't really want to throw in my two cents, but I will say that it is a masterpiece of liturgical erotica (if that genre exists). I will say a little about "Jane B" however. The melody of the song is based on Frédéric Chopin's Prelude No. 4 in E Minor (one of the "five easy pieces" featured in the 1970 Jack Nicholson film). The other thing about the song that blows my mind is the lyrics which happen to be very cryptic and strangely conceptual for such a pretty tune. The lyrics read as a police report of a missing girl (probably murdered).

They read:

"Reporting
Blue eyes brown hair
Jane B
English, sex: Female
Age: between twenty and twenty-one
Learning drawing
Residing with his parents
Blue eyes brown hair
Jane B. Pale complexion, aquiline nose
Missing this morning
At Four Forty
Blue eyes brown hair
Jane B.
You sleep by the roadside
Blood flower by hand"

Anyway, so now I'm done with my little history lesson, here's the link. Ripped at 320 Kbps with scans included. As always, comments make this more fun...

Tracks:
A: Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus
B: Jane B

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?m9xnyuxyqi27198

Christophe - Aline/Je Ne T'aime Plus 7" (1965)

A few months back I found this rare Christophe Single in an "as is" dollar bin at record store. Turned out to be two really solid french pop tracks, so I thought I should share... Side A titled "Aline" is a lighter number, I assume they are both love songs although I do not speak French. Anyway, Aline is a breezy tune backed with a spector-esque wall of sound: rumbling bass, chink guitars, harpsichord, choir, strings.. The works... On the B side, we have "Je Ne T'aime Plus", which features the same production techniques as Aline but the tune is a bit darker, deeper, more serious with a slight western tint to the melody. Both tracks here are top notch Chanson and would seem at home on Françoise Hardy's debut album "The -Yeh-Yeh- Girl From Paris" from the same year. In fact "Je Ne T'aime Plus" is quite similar to miss Hardy's hit "Le Temps De L'Amour" which is one of my favorites. Give it a listen, the record is well loved, but still sounds decent considering it's age. 320 Rip from vinyl, with scans.

Tracks:
A. Aline
B. Je Ne T'aime Pus

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?wo30thjwksttx7q