Gérard Lenorman - Ses Plus Grands Succes

Genre(s) - Chansons Françaises, pop, singer-songwriter
Origin - Take a guess
Year of release - 198?
Bitrate - 128 kbps
Size - 54.40 MB

Ses Plus Grands Succes, which simply means His Greatest Hits, is a compilation album by the French singer-songwriter Gérard Lenorman. I really do not know a lot about the man, but I remember having known his song La Ballade des Gens Heureuses (Ballad of the Happy People) for about all my life. It's still, to me, the most beautiful song on the disc though that may be because of the memories attached. Voici les Clés (See Here the Keys) and Si j'Était Président (If I were President) always flush my chest with some aching warmth as well, it's fantastic if music can evoke such a response. If you enjoy this album as much as I did, may I suggest for you to try this album out as well, by a compatriot and collaegue chansonnier Benjamin Biolay.

1. La ballade des gens heureuses
2. Michèle
3. La petite valse
4. Boulevard de l'océan
5. Warum (mein Vater)
6. Vacances en France
7. L'enfant des cathédrales
8. Si j'était Président
9. Voiçi les clés
10. Le bleu des regrets
11. Et moi je chante
12. Tu t'rappelles plus de rien
13. Le soleil des tropiques
14. Un ami
15. Le dauphin triste
16. Chanteur de charme
    

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Tori Amos - Scarlet's Hidden Treasures

Genre(s) - Chamber pop, singer-songwriter
Origin - United States of America
Year of release - 2004
Bitrate - Eh, it's actually in M4A (old WMP-rip of my own), hope you don't mind.
Size - 32.12 MB

This EP came as a companion disc to the concert DVD Welcome to Sunny Florida so that's the picture I used. It features six songs, and going by the title I imagine they are the unreleased overspill of the beautiful Scarlet's Walk that preceded the live registration. It's easy to conclude it must be less accomplished material for it not to appear on the album but I wonder if you could keep that up after hearing just Ruby alone. Seaside and the long Apollo's Frock are also beautiful, and would have been strong contenders on the full-length. This is really just an extra for long-time fans and completists, people new to the glory of Tori would do well to walk Scarlet's Walk first (find it here).

1. Ruby through the looking-glass
2. Seaside
3. Bug a martini
4. Apollo's frock
5. Tombigbee
6. Indian summer
   

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Would you love me through the winter?

I once posted a Nick Drake album, perhaps as early as 2008. The "Nick Drake Estate" Bryter Music kindly asked me (they did, they were ever so polite) if I could please remove it and I complied; I'm not a bad sort.

But dammit, this blog is not complete without Nick. He was a beautiful being and I recognise a lot of myself in him (minus the talent and creativity, and he was also rather more handsome than me). His music is exquisitely beautiful and fueled by a pain that proved sadly genuine.

I want to post the one track for you. Just the one, and hope nobody notices. I sincerely hope you get as much out of it as I frequently have. If you enjoy sad music, and I mean really sad enough to make you cry then please, please, please take this song, there is no better. After hearing it hundreds of times it still works for me. In fact, if you can't cry to this you were probably the school bully, and spent your free hours setting cats on fire.

This song's for Chief Commies, curly-haired Imprint journalists, blonde Swedes that think the party is always right, their girlfriends who decidedly don't, and YOU.

Northern Sky

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

I've been a long time that I'm waiting
Been a long time that I'm blown
I've been a long time that I've wandered
Through the people I have known
Oh, if you would and you could
Straighten my new mind's eye.

Would you love me for my money
Would you love me for my head
Would you love me through the winter
Would you love me 'til I'm dead
Oh, if you would and you could
Come blow your horn on high.

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

Jim Croce - You Don't Mess around with Jim

Genre(s) - Folk, singer-songwriter
Origin - Philadelphia, USA
Year of release - 1972
Bitrate - 128 kbps
Size - 29.65 MB

Here's a guy that my mum introduced me to only about a month or two or so ago: Jim Croce. A big man with a big moustache, who could have led the big life if he hadn't died in a plane crash together with his friend and second guitarist Maury Muehleisen, ahead of garnering most of his success. He was a gifted singer-songwriter and guitarist known for simple, natural-flowing songs that speak to your heart and lift you up in quick succession. I believe he was a man from the country, not the city, and seems to me like one of the most normal, down-to-earth people ever to grace the music business. My favourite track is Operator, but it's a very charming, chilled out album altogether that's finished before you know or want it.

1. You don't mess around with Jim
2. Tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day
3. New York's not my home
4. Hard time losin' man
5. Photographs and memories
6. Walkin' back to Georgia
7. Operator (that's not the way it feels)
8. Time in a bottle
9. Rapid Roy (the stock car boy)
10. Box #10
11. A long time ago
12. Hey tomorrow
    

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Björk - Post

Genre(s) - Electronic/singer-songwriter
Origin - Reykjavik, Iceland
Year of release - 1995
Bitrate - 192-320 kbps
Size - 58.74 MB

What's there still to say about Björk, the weirdest chick from Iceland? That's she's totally awesome and one of a kind? No, I'm sure that's been said a million times already. I guess Post is one of her most earthly, grounded albums and a bit more accessible than some others, at least, and It's oh so Quiet is definitely one of her most well-known tracks. Miss Guðmundsdóttir has a voice like an unguided missile, going in all directions and capable of causing massive impact in a landscape built up from a wide array of different electronic sounds and beats that gives each song a whole different mood. An eclectic tour de force and one of the most outrageously expressive, haunting voices in music today.

1. Army of me
2. Hyper-ballad
3. The modern things
4. It's oh so quiet
5. Enjoy
6. You've been flirting again
7. Isobel
8. Possibly maybe
9. I miss you
10. Cover me
11. Headphones
    

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Robert Downey, Jr. - The Futurist

Genre(s) - Jazzy chamber pop?
Origin - New York City, later California, USA
Year of release - 2004
Bitrate - 128-320 kbps
Size - 54.36 MB

Jim Barris, er, Robert Downey Junior is one of the most fascinating creatures to stalk the Hollywood wastelands and I've been a bit obsessed with the good man since I saw A Scanner Darkly (which you should definitely read AND see if you like surrealist dialogue, drug culture, dystopian sci-fi, unhappy endings and/or mindfucky plots!). So when I read he had an album out I had to hear it. And it's... well, very different than what I'm used to: open, jazzy piano arrangements that lack any regular shape or structure. Not everything can really stir my enthusiasm, but it has some great moments. I really like the triple tandem Kimberly Glide-The Futurist-Little Clownz. And Robert's voice is great and evocative, with an impressive span and a nice raw edge. It's elegant, but I guess it has to suit you.

1. Man like me
2. Broken
3. Kimberly glide
4. The futurist
5. Little clownz
6. 5 - 30
7. Your move
8. Details
9. Hannah
10. Smile

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Deb Talan - A Bird Flies Out

Genre(s) - Folk, singer-songwriter
Origin - Topanga (not Topeka!)
Year of release - 2003
Bitrate - 128 kbps
Size - 40.74 MB

Hey, who is that singin' lady? You may know better than you think if you're acquainted with the Weepies, America's happiestly married indie-folk couple. But the Weepies wasn't the start of it; Deb Talan and Steve Tannen met through their shared musicianship. 2003, the year both released solo albums, was the start of their romance and collaboration. They feature in small roles on each other's release and share a great track; Rocks and Water. Deb is the real folkie of the two and responsible for their most minimalist subdued folk side and A Bird Flies Out is a collection of beautiful songs in that very style. Saturn's Light, Ashes on your Eyes, Unraveling, they're still growing on me and who knows how big they're gonna get? I used to compare it unfavourably to Steve's album, but that was undeserved and I ought to be spanked. Spanked to Deb's gentle tones. Make it really hurt.

This release prefers to be downloaded together with Stopped at a Green Light and Happiness.

1. Unraveling
2. Tell your story walking
3. How will he find me?
4. Saturn's light
5. Comfort
6. Big strong girl
7. Sincerely
8. Two points
9. Rocks and water
10. To the bone
11. Ashes on your eyes
12. A bird flies out

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Steve Tannen - Stopped at a Green Light

Genre(s) - Folk-rock, singer-songwriter
Origin - Topanga (not Topeka!)
Year of release - 2003
Bitrate - 192 kbps
Size - 46.85 MB

Steve is the other Weepie and with his electric guitar, he is the one who provides the duo's more melodic, fleshed-out aspect. His album even starts off with a real uplifting rocker. But in the end he's still just a Weepie so you know it can't last forever. And indeed, Sick to the Bone and Hard Luck Kid are fucking deliciously depressing, with lyrics that seem expressly written for the tragic lives you and I lead. It's great how the Weepies sound like exactly the product (which is a lot more than the sum!) of both halves and having heard their respective solo material you can point out with some accuracy who wrote this or that song, refrain or melody. Fans of the band and of folk(-rock) in general would do well to try out these two albums, they are totally worth it. Warning: spontaneous tendency towards weeping possible.

This release prefers to be downloaded together with A Bird Flies Out and Happiness.

1. Stopped at a green light
2. If you don't feel that way
3. Allison is crazy
4. Picture of you
5. Sick to the bone
6. Good times
7. Rocks and water
8. Late night phone call
9. Yours if you want me
10. Hard luck kid
11. Just a little

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Tori Amos - To Venus and Back

Genre(s) - Piano pop, singer-songwriter
Origin - North Carolina/California, USA
Year of release - 1999
Bitrate - 128 kbps

Here's a double album by that wonderful woman, Tori Amos. It's been over a year since she graced this blog, for which I humbly apologise to myself. The first disc is a regular studio album, her fifth, characterised by a bit of electronic experimentation but without losing her strengths from sight: emotional, evocative piano pop with her soaring vocals as the centerpiece. I've always found this one of her most versatile albums and it's got a few of the best melodies and vocal performances of her career (Concertina! Spring Haze!). Disc two is a live album recorded during her 1998 tour. It's even more awesome with many very powerful performances that easily surpass their studio renditions, especially Cloud on My Tongue, These Precious Things and Cornflake Girl. It's also the first time the beautiful Sugar is featured on any regular release of hers. I love the drumming on this one, as well, which usually doesn't pick my attention in more mainstream music. And I know mainstream is the ultimate cussing word to a lot of people who visit here but you know, sometimes it isn't that bad. Yeah, I'll stop writing so you can go download this stuff.

Disc 1: Venus Orbiting - Load it down (43.57 MB)

1. Bliss
2. Juarez
3. Concertina
4. Glory of the 80s
5. Lust
6. Suede
7. Josephine
8. Riot proof
9. Datura
10. Spring Haze
11. 1000 oceans

Disc 2: Still Orbiting (Live) - Load it down (68.18 MB)

1. Precious things
2. Cruel
3. Cornflake girl
4. Bells for her
5. Girl
6. Cooling
7. Mr. Zebra
8. Cloud on my tongue
9. Sugar
10. Little earthquakes
11. Space dog
12. Waitress
13. Purple people

Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians - Fegmania!

Genre(s) - Psychedelic rock/folk, singer-songwriter
Origin - United Kingdom
Year of release - 1985
Bitrate - 320 kbps
Size - 94.52 MB

Previous Hitchcock post (here) was a compilation I made, combining some of my favourite songs. It was a measure out of necessity, not knowing what album to post. But it felt a bit like cheating so after long deliberation I chose this one for the upping. It's an and the Egyptians-release so it's relatively complex and rock-oriented, but as always balances the fine line between psychedelically goofy and really really beautiful. Robyn displays a gorgeously shimmering guitar sound here, giving half the songs an introspective, even sad-ish slant, but keeps things spicy with some more upbeat and diverse material like The Fly, Goodnight I Say and Strawberry Mind. This edition is the 1995 remaster, with the added advantage of two live tracks that are wildly superior to their original versions, and the long ambient track Pit of Souls that ends with an almost post-rock like bang. But don't ask me what Fegmania is supposed to mean.

1. Egyptian cream
2. Another bubble
3. I'm only you
4. My wife and my dead wife
5. Goodnight I say
6. The man with the lightbulb head
7. Insect mother
8. Strawberry mind
9. Glass
10. The fly
11. Heaven
12. Bells of Rhymney
13. Dwarfbeat
    
14. Some body
15. Egyptian cream (demo version)
    
16. Heaven (live)
17. Insect mother (smithsound demo)
18. Egyptian cream (live)
19. The pit of souls (parts I-IV)
    

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Indigo Girls - 1200 Curfews

Band/artist - Indigo Girls
Genre(s) - Folk rock
Origin - Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Album - 1200 Curfews
Year of release - 1995

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers are two awesome women, deeply entrenched in the Queer movement, the American Indian struggle for self-determination, and environmental activism. By the name of Indigo Girls they make awesome folk rock, in which these themes often recur, as well as frequent references to the Old Testament and more regular, romantic topics. This is a live album, of course, so it has a nice cross-section of their songs and sounds all the more dynamic. A backing band wielding drums, bass and electric guitar is present for that extra schwung. Some of their best songs are characterised by that sense of urgency that graces a lot of political folk. The most suitable example is the lyrically and musically intense This Train Revised, which is a MUST-listen even if you weren't planning on taking the album - so get it here. Such monumental interplay between vocals, electric guitar and drums, such powerful singing, such profound subject matter - a highlight on a release that knows no low points.

Disc 1 - Load it down (64.78 MB)

1. Joking
2. Least complicated
3. Thin line
4. River
5. Stranger fire
6. Power of two
7. Pushing the needle too far
8. Virginia Woolf
9. Jonas and Ezekial
10. Tangled up in blue
11. World falls
12. Bury my heart at Wounded Knee
13. Ghost
14. Dead man's hill
    

Disc 2 - Load it down (76.09 MB)

1. I don't wanna know
2. Galileo
3. Down by the river
4. Love's recovery
5. Land of Canaan
6. Mystery
7. This train revised
8. Back together again
9. Language of the kiss
10. Chickenman
11. Midnight train to Georgia
12. Closer to fine
13. Bury my heart at Wounded Knee
14. Data
    

Alanis Morissette - MTV Unplugged

Band/artist - Alanis Morissette
Genre(s) - Singer-songwriter, pop
Origin - Canada
Album - MTV Unplugged
Year of release - 1999

I must confess I love - that is, I used to love Alanis Morissette (sorry, sorry) but MTV Unplugged is still quite dear to me because for me, there's a lot of good memories attached to this release. Her studio albums always have a few great songs but there's always too much filler, and there's usually something in the mix or the production that gets to my nerves too much to enjoy the tracks. This live set was recorded after Jagged Little Pill, which was much too dry, and Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie which had too much going on in the mix, and sees these problems fixed. In a live situation her songs sound more natural and especially Joining You and I Was Hoping, songs that did not especially stand out on SFIJ, are lifted to unpreceded heights. Another great surprise is the exclusive track No Pressure Over Cappuccino. Her old hits off JLP benefit from the production but aren't half so angry anymore which is a shame. Good stuff though!

1. You learn
2. Joining you
3. No pressure over cappuccino
4. That I would be good
5. Head over feet
6. Princess familiar
7. I was hoping
8. Ironic
9. These R the thoughts
10. King of pain (Sting cover)
11. You oughta know
12. Uninvited
    

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Cat Stevens - Saturnight (live in Tokyo)

Band/artist - Cat Stevens
Genre(s) - Folk-pop
Origin - London, United Kingdom
Album - Saturnight (Live in Tokyo)
Year of release - 1974

My love for Cat Stevens isn't what it used to be but I still enjoy his classic albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat once in a while. Most of my favourite songs made it onto this live release in a dignified quality, in contrast to the later Majikat live album which was overstuffed with ladies' choirs and other grotesqueries. In addition to being a not ungifted acoustic guitarist and pianist, Cat has got a warm, gentle voice that somehow reminds me of oak wood. His songs are elegant and uncomplicated, and most of you will probably have heard one of them somewhere. The best ones among them are usually a tad autumnal (Wild World, My Lady d'Arbanville) if not plain sad, like Father and Son and Oh Very Young, though sometimes also hopeful like Peace Train. Ah, the nostalgia.

1. Wild world
2. Oh very young
3. Sitting
   
4. Where do the children play?
5. Lady d'Arbanville
6. Another Saturday night
7. Hard headed woman
8. Peace train
9. Father and son
10. King of trees
11. A bad penny
12. Bitterblue
    

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Dar Williams - The Beauty of the Rain

Band/artist - Dar Williams
Genre(s) - Folk, singer-songwriter
Origin - United States of America
Album - The Beauty of the Rain
Year of release - 2003

This lil' album got to me really quickly the last two, three days. I've had it for a long time but it had always escaped my attention, funny how these things happen. Dar Williams is a folk chick and apparently The Beauty of the Rain is her first album to incorporate broader musical ideas than straightforward folk. Now I haven't heard any other material than this yet so we'll just have to take that for granted. What we shouldn't take for granted are her gorgeous songs. Especially the track Your Fire Your Soul has had considerable impact on me; bittersweet as it is I still can't figure out if I find it more depressing or uplifting, but at least it no longer makes me cry. Other songs are less ambiguous: opener Mercy of the Fallen and the title track are distinctly melancholic whereas I Saw a Bird Fly Away makes me quietly happy inside. This is one of those albums that would still be good if it was twice as long.

1. Mercy of the fallen
2. Farewell to the old me
3. I saw a bird fly away
4. The beauty of the rain
5. The world's not falling apart
6. The one who knows
7. Closer to me
8. Fishing in the morning
9. Whispering pines
10. Your fire your soul
11. I have lost my dreams
    

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John Frusciante - Curtains

Band/artist - John Frusciante
Genre(s) - Singer-songwriter
Origin - United States of America
Album - Curtain
Year of release - 2005

John Frusciante is best known as the previously previous and currently current guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, probably my favourite big, commerical rock band of today. He started releasing solo albums after quitting the Peppers between '92 and '98, and still does. His own work has enormous variety, this particular album is (nearly) entirely acoustic, others are electric or even electronic. In fact, to RHCP-fans, Curtains will sound sombre and stripped-down, and this fits his voice which has more feeling and a more graceful timbre than that of Anthony Kiedis. The Past Recedes will probably convince you immediately; I don't think I've ever heard anyone extract such beauty from just an acoustic guitar, mouth organ and his own voice before.

1. The past recedes
2. Lever pulled
3. Anne
4. The real
5. A name
6. Control
7. Your warning
8. Hope
9. Ascension
10. Time tonight
11. Leap your bar
    

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Boudewijn de Groot - Grootste Hits

Groep/artiest - Boudewijn de Groot
Genre(s) - Folk, singer-songwriter
Oorsprong - Nederland
Album - Grootste hits
Jaar van uitgave - 1973

Boudewijn de Groot is a Dutch self-styled troubadour who's had all kinds of songs in his repertoire, from plaintive (Verdronken Vlinder, Waterdrager) to uplifting (Tante Julia, Jimmy) and from socially critical (Welterusten, Mijnheer de President) to nonsensical (Het Land van Maas en Waal, Als de Rook om je Hoofd is Verdwenen). It was he who consciously decided to write the first Dutch psychedelic album, entitled Picknick, in 1967/68. He's still a popular artist in Holland and Flanders and several of his songs are known to most Dutch people. This is a compilation of his greatest early hits, and it has always been the album my family listened to in long car drives to our holiday destination. I can sing them all word for word and they're all great songs that are by now rooted deeply in my subconsciousness. Absolute favourites of mine include the scathing anti-war protest anthem Welterusten Mijnheer de President which gets more tense and dramatic as the song progresses, the poetic and melancholic Prikkebeen, and the fun Tante Julia. Also much respect to late Lennart Nijgh who wrote most of Boudewijn's best lyrics.

1. Een meisje van zestien (A sixteen year old girl)
   
2. Apocalyps
3. Welterusten mijnheer de president (Sleep well, mister President)
   
4. Verdronken vlinder (Drowned butterfly)
   
5. Testament
6. Het land van Maas en Waal (The land of Meuse and Waal)
   
7. Onder ons (Among us)
   
8. Prikkebeen ("Stingy Leg", nickname of a character)
   
9. Als de rook om je hoofd is verdwenen (When the smoke round your head has disappeared)
   
10. Waterdrager (Water carrier)
    
11. Tante Julia (Aunty Julia)
    
12. Jimmy
    

Laadt het neer

Jesus could wake the dead, Jesus could fly!

Band/artist - Robyn Hitchcock
Genre(s) - Singer-songwriter, folk
Origin - United Kingdom (London)
Album - my own compilation for you!
Year of release - Never actually released

Robyn Hitchcock? Who the fuck is Robyn Hitchcock? Don't you just mean Alfred Hitchcock? Nope. Robyn Hitchcock is a very British, very strange kind of fellow, and by now rather old in that sexy kind of way. He's a multi-instrumental musican and singer, as well as a painter, a sculptor, and a poet - check Museum Hitchcock. In all arts that he dabbles in, he's just as quirky, but I like his music best (because you can hear it). Since he left the Soft Boys in the early 80s he's been releasing solo-albums in a rapid fashion. Roughly alternating between mostly-acoustic albums and electric albums with a backing band like the Egyptians or more lately the Venus 3, he's got such a huge back catalog that I found myself forced to collect the best songs and make a package of my own for you. So the songs vary from folkish to rockish, sometimes manic, sometimes fragile, but all are awesome cause I picked them myself.

1. My wife and my dead wife
2. The man with the lightbulb head
3. Driving aloud (radio storm)
4. Beautiful queen
5. The yip song
6. Alright yeah (in Swedish)
7. Each of her silver wands
8. Madonna of the wasps
9. Uncorrected personality traits
10. Adventure rocketship
11. The devil's radio
    
12. So you think you're in love
    
13. Balloon man
14. A globe of frogs
15. One long pair of eyes
16. Goodnight I say
17. Nocturne (demise)

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Benjamin Biolay - Rose Kennedy

Band/artist - Benjamin Biolay
Genre(s) - Chansonnier, French pop
Origin - France
Album - Rose Kennedy
Year of release - 2002

I'm not too familiar with the Chansons Françaises-scene and this is one out of two very fine albums in the genre that I know. Dealing with the tragic life of the Kennedy family's matriarch, it's an elegant and melancholic piece of work, rather sparse at times and quite fragile-sounding, but very alluring. Biolay's voice is mostly a husky whisper adding an even more poetic edge to an already poetic language. If you're just going to listen to two songs, let is be Les Cerfs-Volants ("the kites") with its sweeping violins and Rose Kennedy with its haunting vocal samples.

1. Novembre toute l'annee (November all year long)
   
2. Les roses et les promesses (The roses and the promises)
   
3. Les cerfs-volants (The kites)
   
4. La mélodie de bonheur (The melody of joy)
   
5. L'observatoire (The observatory)
   
6. La monotonie (The monotony)
   
7. Trombones avant la grande parade (Horns before the big parade)
   
8. Los Angeles
9. La palmeraie (The palm grove)
   
10. Rose Kennedy
    
11. Sous le soleil du mois d'aout (Beneath the mid-august sun)
    
12. Les joggers sur la plage (The joggers on the beach)
    
13. Un été sur la côte (A summer at the coast)
    

...and we are all mortal.