Tuesday 28 December 2010

Maimoona: Music of the Rif Mountains



As a special festive treat, here is the last of Uncle David's Moroccan cassettes, and this one's a complete mystery. The words 'Maimoona: Music of Rif' are handwritten on the label and this is the only clue we have to go on. The music is completely timeless, and this cassette could possibly be a complilation of songs recorded from other cassettes, but in the end, I'm as clueless as everyone else.



Tracklist:

Side One
Side Two

Get it HERE.

Monday 13 December 2010

Bhai Davinder Singh Ragi & Party - Shabad Kirtan



As I said previously, I know very little about Indian music. It would be fair to say that I know even less about the music of the Sikh religion. I picked up this album of Sikh devotional songs in a charity shop a couple of weeks ago and its very beautiful. As usual, any information about the songs or the artists would be much appreciated.



Tracklist:

01 Ek Onkar Bani Guru-Guru
02 Sun Sun Jeevan Teri Bani
03 Choji Mere Gobinda
04 Ditha Sab Sansar
05 Guru Mere Sang Sada Hai Neale
06 Kirpa Karo Deen Ke Datay
07 Abh Tabh, Jabh Kabh, Tuhi Tuhi
08 Mithay har Gunn Gao
09 Toou Mera Pita Tu Hai Mera Mata

Get it HERE.

Thursday 9 December 2010

Los Guaraguao - Es Mi Viejo (1974)




When I was at university a couple of years ago there was a big debate between different members of the teaching staff over elements of Marxist theory. Which is the more pertinent element of the theory, exploitation or alienation? Some liked the work of Guy Debord and Walter Benjamin and the idea that capitalism creates a world of illusion, an enchanting wonderland of fashions and glittering trinkets which help separate us from our fellow human, whilst others thought this irrelevant in the face of the real exploitation of the world's poor for the benefit of the world's rich.

Of course the world is never so simple as such false dichotomies would suggest. The spectacle is necessary so that the exploitation can be perpetuated, and the spectacle must be brighter and more encompassing as the exploitation intensifies.

What does all this have to do with this week's charity shop musical 'bargain' you may ask. Well not much would be my answer, other than that this group of Venezualan musicians were part of the Nueva Cancion (new song) movement that swept Central and South America in the 1970s and '80s. Music was used as a form of immediate mass communication to express ideas that were in opposition to the views of the repressive, right wing regimes that were being installed and supported by the US government across the continent. This music expressed the feelings of the people, of the workers, and was considered dangerous enough to warrent repression in many South American countries, and many songwriters and musicians were harrassed, beaten and forced into exile.

Check out these great recordings from the 1983 Nicaraguan peace concerts for a good overview of the Nueva Cancion movement.

Tracklist:

01 Es Mi Viejo
02 Canto a mi Pueblo
03 Mi Canto
04 Cancion Por Il Fusil Y La Flor
05 Ay Que Si, Ay Que No
06 Algo Diario
07 Cristo al Servicio de Quien
08 Juventud Adelante
09 El Campesino
10 Eres Asi

Get it HERE.

Sunday 5 December 2010

Bukka White - Mississippi Blues (Sonet 1968)



This was a fantastic recent charity shop find. Bukka White was born in 1906 and recorded some 78s in the 1930s before spending a number of years in prison, apparently for shooting a man. This classic album of delta blues was recorded by the guitarist John Fahey in 1963 and if you haven't already, then you need to hear this. Great voice, great slide guitar as you can see:



Tracklist:

01
Aberdeen Mississippi Blues

02
Baby Please Don't Go

03
New Orleans Streamline

04
Parchman Farm Blues

05
Poor Boy Long Way From Home

06
Remembrance Of Charley Patton

07
Shake 'Em On Down

08
I Am In The Heavenly Way

09
The Atlanta Special

10
Drunk Man Blues (Piano)

11
Army Blues

Get it HERE.

Tuesday 30 November 2010

La Sensation - Co. (1976)


Its been quite a while since we heard any of the cadence sounds of the Caribbean around these parts, so I was excited when I found this in a local fleamarket. Attempts to uncover any information about this group have been completely fruitless, so as usual any knowledge you could impart about La Sensation would be gratefully accepted. What I do know is that this album contains plenty of that itchy, staccatto island funk that we all love so much.

Check this one, its called 'Reverie':



Tracklist:

01 Co
02 Aras Ka Pe
03 Soleil Soleil
04 Frankeinstein
05 Pa Bombarde Nou
06 Nou Bien Vivants
07 Exile
08 Reverie
09 Cosita

Get it HERE.

Sunday 28 November 2010

The Stupids - Retard Picnic (1986)



Classic UK hardcore-skater-thrash-punk from Ipswich. This came out in 1986 when I was 15. John Peel used to play them fairly regularly (along with other UK thrash bands of the period like the Electrohippies, Heresy or Napalm Death). In contrast to many of the other UK bands, The Stupids played more of a US influenced style of hardcore that is reminiscent at times of early Husker Du, or some of the Washington DC bands. Also in contrast to most of the UK bands, The Stupids steered well clear of politics. The subject matter for their songs was puerile and silly: horror films, skateboarding or fast food, and extremely appealing to my adolescent self. I never got to see them play, but I imagine their concerts were great fun.

Here they are playing 'Slumber Party Massacre' live in 1987:



Tracklist:

01The Memory Burns

02 Sleeping Troubles

03 Terrordome

04 Heard It Before

05 Jesus, Do What You Have To Do

06 Somethings Got To Give

07 Yah Dude!!!

08 Hawaian Vacation

09 Shades Eyes

10 Frank Furter

11 Slumber Party

12 Waltz Of The New Wavers

13 Your Little Words

14 Killed By A Cripple

15 We Suck

16 People In Your Neighbourhood

Get it HERE.

Monday 22 November 2010

Slim Gaillard - Cement Mixer Put-ti Put-ti (Folklyric Records 1984)


Slim Gaillard was a real oddball character from the classic age of American jazz, as anyone who ever saw the BBC's documentary, The World of Slim Gaillard can attest. This album collects some of his most popular tunes from the mid to late forties on one lovely chunk of vinyl. Here's a short biography of the oroonie man:


One of the most eccentric vocalists ever to hit the jazz scene, Slim Gaillard became a legendary cult figure thanks to his own privately invented jive dialect “vout," a variation on hipster slang composed of imaginary nonsense words (“oreenie" and “oroonie" being two other examples). Gaillard's comic performances, laid-back cool, and supremely silly songs made him a popular entertainer from the late ‘30s to the early ‘50s, especially on the West Coast, and several of his compositions became genuine hits, including "Flat Foot Floogie" and "Cement Mixer." Versatility was not Gaillard's stock in trade, but he was highly effective at what he did, and his musical ability as a singer, Charlie Christian-style guitarist, and boogie-woogie pianist was perhaps a bit overlooked in comparison to the novelty value of his music.

Slim was born Bulee Gaillard, most likely on January 4, 1916 in Detroit, MI.; some sources list his birthdate as January 1, and Gaillard sometimes claimed to have been born in Santa Clara, Cuba instead of Detroit. His father worked as a steward on a cruise liner, and sometimes brought young Slim along, once accidentally leaving him behind on the island of Crete. Gaillard was mostly raised in Detroit, though, where he tried his hand at professional boxing, worked as a mortician, and ran bootleg rum for the Purple Gang during the ‘30s. He also developed an act in which he played guitar and tap danced simultaneously, and eventually moved to New York to work the vaudeville circuit. In 1936, he teamed up with bassist Slam Stewart as Slim & Slam, and two years later they scored a substantial hit with "Flat Foot Floogie," which was quickly covered by the likes of Benny Goodman and Fats Waller in the wake of the original recording's success. Gaillard and Stewart kept cutting songs in a similar vein, including "Tutti Frutti" and "Laughin' in Rhythm," and eventually took their act to Hollywood, where they appeared in the 1941 film Hellzapoppin. Their partnership continued on through 1942, when World War II interrupted; both served in the military, Gaillard in the Air Force.

Upon exiting the service in 1944, Gaillard settled in Los Angeles and took up residency at Billy Berg's Hollywood Boulevard club, a hot spot for stars of the era. Now in tandem with bassist Bam Brown, Gaillard became a top draw and a hip name to drop; his 1945 hit "Cement Mixer" returned him to national prominence, and he recorded frequently that year, often with a quartet featuring Brown, pianist Dodo Marmarosa, and drummer Zutty Singleton. He also cut a session with bop greats Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in late 1945, the most notable result of which was "Slim's Jam." The latter half of the ‘40s saw Gaillard's popularity at its peak; he appeared in several films and recorded for Verve up through 1951. He had further hits with 1948's "Down by the Station," which became a popular children's nursery rhyme, and 1951's "Yep Roc Heresay," a recitation of the menu from a Middle Eastern restaurant that one radio station banned for its "suggestiveness." He performed in New York frequently from 1951-53, and also participated in Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic in 1953; a few years later, he was name-checked in Jack Kerouac's On the Road.

By the mid-‘50s, Gaillard's popularity was on the wane. He spent much of the latter part of the decade on the road with Stan Kenton, and recorded for Dot in 1958. He took a hiatus from music in the ‘60s; he managed a motel in San Diego for a time, and bought an orchard near Tacoma, Washington. He also played clubs and spent time in Los Angeles, where he drifted into acting toward the end of the decade, appearing on TV shows like Marcus Welby, M.D., Charlie's Angels, Mission Impossible, Medical Center, and Along Came Bronson. He reunited with Slam Stewart at the 1970 Monterey Jazz Festival, and in 1979 he appeared in the miniseries Roots: The Next Generation. In 1982, Dizzy Gillespie talked Gaillard into returning to music. He traveled to the U.K. and made his first recordings since 1958 for Hep, which issued them as the album Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere; he also hit the festival circuit and toured Europe extensively, making London his new home base in 1983. He appeared in the cult film Absolute Beginners in 1986, and was the subject of a multi-part BBC special called The World of Slim Gaillard in 1989. Gaillard passed away on February 26, 1991 after a bout with cancer. — Steve Huey

Check out this piano man:



Tracklist:

01 Jam Man
02 Scotchin' With The soda
03 Cement Mixer
04 Cuban Rumbarini
05 Drei Six Cents
06 Three Handed Boogie
07 Groove Juice Jive
08 Laguna Oroonee
09 Tip Light
10 Arabian Boogie
11 The Hogan Song
12 Money Money Money
13 Organ Oreenee
14 Little Red Riding Wood
15 When Banana Skins Are Falling
16 Bongo Cito


Get it HERE.

Saturday 20 November 2010

More Amazigh Music from Fatima Tabaamrant and Rais Moulay Mohamed ben Lefqih


Here is another of Uncle David's wonderful cassettes, and I think this one may be my favourite. I believe the lady in the picture is Fatima Tabaamrant who was featured in this previous post way back in 2009 following a trip up the Souss Valley and on into the Anti-Atlas mountains. She is not the main voice heard in these wonderful songs however, and any help identifying the male lead singer would be much appreciated.
Anyway if you're a fan of the frantic banjo and rabab music of the Moroccan Berbers then you're in for a proper treat with this one. It's great!



Tracklist:

1A) Tandamt
1B) Izda Zine
2A) Allah Inser Siydna
2B) La ilaha illa Llah

Get it HERE.

Thursday 11 November 2010

Posset - Mump Grumpy (Infinite Exchange 2009)






Brain curdling cassette hum and buzz, this skrree takes the sounds of everyday life and turns the volume up to unbearable, in the process making everyday life into something exotic and strangely mysterious. Real freedom propaganda, this is the wobbly sound of Dali's spindly legged elephants learning to walk. It is the sound of children ransacking The City and exchanging bullion for bubblegum, the sound of spontaneous fun.

Posset is J.G. Murray, the North-East's premier purveyor of dictaphone jazz. He jams with a bank of old dictaphones and broken walkmen, ring modulators and antique effects pedals all wired together with strings of snot, scraps of sticky tape and bits of old wool. The noises he makes might not be everybody's cup of tea, but then what is?



Tracklist:

01 Children's Film Foundation
02 Coleslaw Surfeit
03 Verunk Bluaghh
04 Wooden Bells
05 The Pete Best Of Noise
06 Cafe De La Halle
07 Pekar

Get it HERE. And go leave him a message at myspace.com/iamposset

Saturday 6 November 2010

Scotty - Unbelievable Sounds (Trojan 1988)



Sweet reggae and rocksteady sounds from the very early '70s. This'll help ease you through the winter nights.



Tracklist:

01 Draw Your Brakes
02 Children Children
03 Penny For Your Song
04 Jam Rock Style
05 I Worry
06 Musical Chariot
07 Sing Along
08 Rosemarie
09 Sesame Street
10 Lonely Man
11 Riddle I This
12 Monkey Drop
13 I Count The Skank
14 Clean Race
15 Skank In Bed
16 Unbelievable Sounds

Get it HERE.

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Normal Service is Now Resumed.

I've been having some difficulties since getting a new laptop (bloody technology - I was led to believe it was meant to make life easier!), I thought the problems would be over when I bought a cheap external soundcard from Maplins. How wrong I was, I recorded a couple of albums through said cheap soundcard, and was annoyed by a low level buzzing or humming noise that droned on in the background of the recordings (anyone who managed to unzip the A.R. Kane album may have noticed the noise). This has been preying on my fragile mind, causing sleepless nights, my place in the world feels tenuous if I can't deliver sounds to the music hungry masses - what would I do without the love I receive from my adoring public? All this is now resolved, I took the buzzing sound card back to the point of purchase and explained my problem and they very kindly replaced it with one they said should work. I have tested it out and the hum is no more. Hooray!

HERE is an entirely re-recorded copy of the aforementioned A.R. Kane l.p. for those of you who were annoyed by the buzz, and those who were unable to unzip the zip.

Friday 29 October 2010

A.R. Kane - 69 (1988)



A.R. Kane dubbed their sound dream-pop, and that's about as good a description as I can think of. This music has the strange and elusive quality of something you might hear during sleep, its a bizarre and wonderful mix of disparate sounds that create something unique and surreal. There are elements of shimmering melodic pop, fragments of reggae and funk, ghostly smears of electronic noise and washes of atonal guitar. Echoes of echoes of echoes. And like in dreams there are disembodied and seemingly random scraps of the real creeping around - the song Baby Milk Snatcher may or may not be a song about Margaret Thatcher.

Check out the gorgeous Spermwhale Trip Over:


Tracklist:

A1 Crazy Blue
A2 Suicide Kiss
A3 Baby Milk Snatcher
A4 Scab
A5 Sulliday
B1 Dizzy
B2 Spermwhale Trip Over
B3 The Sun Falls Into The Sea
B4 The Madonna Is With Child
B5 Spanish Quay (3)

Get it HERE.

Sunday 24 October 2010

An apology and an explanation.

I acquired a new laptop recently (hooray!), unfortunately it has no line input to record sounds from vinyl or cassette (boo!). I certainly wasn't brought up around digital technology and I have this kind of blind faith that things should just work. As such, when I plugged my mixer into the mic input of said new laptop, I just expected that the recordings would be fine. How wrong I was, the last post sounds absolutely terrible. My apologies for that, and a rerecorded version will be posted as soon as possible as I have now found a solution to the recording conundrum.

Thanks for your patience people!

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Your Favourites from Laxmikant Pyrelal (1974)



Laxmikant Pyrelal were a duo who composed over 500 songs for Hindi films between the early '60s and the '90s. They worked with all the great Bollywood playback singers over the years. This compilation album that I picked up at a local boot sale features songs recorded between 1969 and 1974 and features great singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh and Mohd. Rafi, but its Asha Bhosle who takes my top prize with this inspired piece of musical mania:

Tracklist:

01 El Pyar Ka Naghma Hai
02 Sharafat Chhod Di Main Ne
03 Mere Dil Men Aaj Kya Hai
04 Sa Re Ga Ma Pa
05 Khilona Jan Khar
06 Bindiya Chamke Gi
07 Chabi Kho Jae
08 Hangama Ho Gaya
09 Yeh Jeevan Hai
10 Achha To Hum Chalte Hain
11 Jal Bin Machhli
12 Sawan Ka Mahina

Okay, the poorly recorded tracks have been replaced with nice clean recording which you can get HERE. My apologies to those of you who downloaded the first attempt.

Sunday 17 October 2010

Warped Sounds from an Old Cassette of Arabic Music

I picked this up at a boot sale a couple of weeks ago and was initially disappointed that the tape doesn't play 'properly'. The sounds coming from my old walkman were twisted and warped and chunks of sound kept dropping out - suddenly all the bass is gone, or there's a weird flanging effect. It didn't take long for my disappointment to turn to delight and curiosity, I've now played this a few times and suspect that it might sound better now than it did when it was initially released. This is urgent, percussion heavy, bellydance music from somewhere in the Middle East, though I have no idea where. A period of neglect has done some strange things to the cassette, and this music now sounds like time has played at being King Tubby at the controls of some celestial mixing desk. Exciting stuff and I hope you enjoy it. As usual, any information about this music would be greatly appreciated.



Tracklist:

Side One
Side Two

Get it HERE.

Sunday 10 October 2010

Musiques De L'Asie Traditionelle Vol. 18: Inde - Musique Religieuse: Le Bhakti Yoga




These beautifully evocative recordings of Bhajans were made in Rishikesh on the River Ganges. Bhakti is a Hindu practice in which the believer takes an active role in worship and expresses their love and devotion through participation in acts which will help to attain unity with the universal. Here, the music is a form of yoga, it is a vehicle to transport the performers into the arms of the gods; the songs themselves are incredibly complex and require single-minded concentration, their performance is regarded as a form of Hatha-Yoga.


These songs all ebb and flow into each other, with recurrent phrases and melodies dancing around a constant, hypnotic key note. On side two, the music slows and becomes incredibly languid. The air thickens and a crow can be heard cawing somewhere in the distance.


Tracklist:

Side One - Hare Rama, Hare Krishna / Yaya Ganesha / Bhajore Bhaiya Rama Govinda Hari / Namastestu Gange

Side Two - Manasa Sanghara re Brahmani / Mano Bhuddhyahankara-Chittani Naham / Mangalam Song / Santi Mantram /Sarvam-Brahmarparpanam

Get it HERE.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Atahualpa Yupanqui - Campesino (Le Chant du Monde 1968)







I hadn't heard the of this man before I found this wonderfully packaged album in a charity shop a few weeks ago, but it turns out he is considered to be one of Argentina's most important folk musicians. He was a member of the Argentinian Communist Party and many of his songs were stories of the struggles and concerns of the country's workers and the indigenous population. You can read all about him over here.

Or you could just listen to the gentle sound of his voice and virtuoso guitar playing:


Tracklist:

01. Duerme, Negrito
02. El Arriero Va
03. El Tulumbano
04. El Arbol Que Tú Olvidaste
05. Campo Abierto
06. Punay
07. Campesino
08. La Finadita
09. Los Ejes De Mi Carreta
10. Vidala Religiosa
11. Pobrecito Soy

Get it HERE.

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Mystery Cassette from Morocco

Well, here are some mysterious grooves from Morocco courtesy of Uncle David. I can give you absolutely no information about this one, any info you could provide would be much appreciated. The music is hypnotic, trance inducing pipe and drum workouts. Gets pretty frenzied at times. Give it a try, you might like it.

Tracklist:

Side 1
Side 2

Get it HERE.

Sunday 19 September 2010

Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 - Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (1986)



There's an awful lot that could be said about Fela Kuti, about his music, politics, his life, but its all probably been said elsewhere so I think I'll let his sublime music speak for itself. I swear there are moments on this album in which you might feel yourself levitate.

Tracklist:

01 Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (Instrumental)
02 Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (Vocal)
03 Look And Laugh (Instrumental)
04 Look And Laugh (Vocal)

Get it HERE.

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Black Moon - Enta Da Stage (1993)



Hard to believe that this is 17 years old. Homicidal hip hop from Brooklyn, this is so confrontational, so very anti-social, that you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Cartoon gangsta bravado flows into gritty tales of life in the projects, all underpinned by grimey beats that sound like they're bubbling up from the depths of the Black Lagoon.


Tracklist:

1. Powaful Impak!
2. Niguz Talk Shit
3. Who Got da Props ?
4. Buck Em Down
5. Black Smif-N-Wessun
6. Son Get Wrec
7. Make Munne
8. I Got Cha Opin
9. Shit Iz Real
10. Enta da Stage
11. How Many Emcees
12. U da Man

Get it HERE.

Saturday 11 September 2010

Bandolero - Bandolero (Fuzzy psych from Puerto Rico 1970)



Excellent psychedelic-garage-blues jam from this Puerto Rican group. The album was released in 1970 and its full of fuzzy treats, all wailing guitar and screaming hammond...like Moby Grape with congas. I'm loving this at the moment and I hope you do to.


Tracklist:

01 I Got It
02 Ternura
03 Love Me Tonight
04 Don't Hang Me
05 I Can Always Think Of You
06 Salsa Friquea
07 Together
08 My Life Is Always Going Through Changes
09 I Want To Get There
10 Awake
11 Truth An Understanding

Get it HERE.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Raissa Rkya Damcyria - Berber Music from Morocco

Last weekend my girlfriend and I went to a family party where Uncle David lent me a bunch of tapes that he got whilst travelling a few years back. So thanks to Uncle David for giving us this taste of the fabulous Raissa Rkya Damcyria (or Demssirya, Damsirya, or Talbensirt). This is beautiful, hectic music from the Souss Valley of Southern Morocco. Can't say much about this other than it features amazing rabab playing and this ringing percussion instrument that really bends the mind after a while:


Tracklist:

Side 1
Side 2

Get it HERE.