Orchestra Super Mazembe---Kenya Soukous Stars---

Orchestra Super Mazembe (Bulldozers) were Soukous superstars in East Africa back in the 80's. Originally from Zaire (now Republic of Congo), they set up operations in Nairobi in 1974 and began scoring chart-topping hits and filling dance floors shortly thereafter. I am listening to a compilation album put out by Sterns Music and released by Earthworks in 2001, that collects a number of the band's greatest hits. It is really a fantastic sampler of the group. Sweet guitar, driving rhythms, bass lines bubbling up, soaring sublime harmonies, what more can you ask for? It's no small surprise that this band quickly became a sensation. And to my ears the music still sounds as fresh as it was 30 years ago.

After a hard day's work, and being in an unusually foul mood, listening to the first few songs brought a sea-change to my surly temperament. The music is infectiously happy music indeed, the lyrics seemingly about everyday events, universal situations. Songs about wandering husbands, love songs, difficulties of life, not having enough money. But as much about kicking back and enjoying yourself, sweeping your problems to the side for a little while. Super Mazembe Orchestra was founded by Mutonkole Longwa Didos, who died in 1999. It seems like most of the original members are no longer with us, unfortunately. Knowing how tough it is to make it over here, you can only imagine the difficulties this group must have endured. According to the copious liner notes to album, by Trevor Herman, they toured around a lot in Zambia, Uganda, and Zaire, in addition to Kenya, performing songs in different languages in order to gain more popularity regionally.



Kassongo is the awesome first song on the CD, and the group vocals are downright beatific. Can't stop smiling when I hear this number.





Mukala Musi, folks. Killer stuff. Even though the funkier music from Africa is getting attention these days via numerous recent African reissues, this is the kind of stuff that I enjoy the most. Earthworks put out a few East African comps way back when, Kenya Dance Mania and Guitar Paradise of East Africa, for those looking for some decent samplers. But I have to say this CD definitely hits the spot, abundant with the sort of joy that crosses international boundaries with impunity, my favorite form of globalization. Listen, and enjoy, and be more than a little amazed. A band on top of their game.

Croatian Sensations!--Kud Idijoti---Glupost Je Neunistiva

I pulled out an old CD I've had for a while by Kud Idijoti, a punk band from Pula, Croatia. Just because I don't understand a damn thing they are singing about doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the hyperspeed pop punk on this 2 album collection released by Incognito Records in 1996. Glupost Je Neunistiva--Stupidity is Indestructible. Really enjoyable melodic music in the vein of the Clash, Damned, Ramones. In a lot of cases there are team sung vocals on the choruses, giving a lot of the songs an anthemic feel. But like any good band, they can't hide the great musicianship they possess. Like the German Punks Die Toten Hosen, they incorporate other musical genres for effect; in this case like polka, hard rock, balkan horns, country music, surf rock, 50's music, kitsch. But when the day is done, these guys play punk the way its supposed to be played--with a lot of heart. And they know their way around a pop hook.

Before and After Communism

I'm trying to remember how I got this Cd. My gut tells me I bought it through Ajax records, a great mail order company/eclectic music label from Chicago. Alas, they are no more---I spent a lot of money there. Incredibly diverse music was stocked at Ajax and they also released albums by groups like East River Pipe, The Cannanes, New Zealands' This Kind of Punishment, The Mountain Goats. You kind of knew that the main impetus of the label was not about getting rich. Well, I digress....

According to their website, the band is:
Tusta: Vocals
Sale Varuda: Guitar, Bass
Bucolini Dejo: Drums

Since I don't speak the language, here are some examples of what these guys do so well. I am under the impression that a lot of their songs are politically themed.




I guess they are a very popular band in Croatia, as they should be. I went on their website, and apparently the band is on a hiatus that began last year. But this is a band well worth knowing. There are a lot of great bands that most people don't know about. For the discerning punk rocker, the world can truly be your oyster.

Turning Curious--80's Champaign Band

Here's a quickie post, just a tune from an 80's band from Champaign-Urbana, Turning Curious fronted by Nick Rudd, who later was in Blown and Weird Summer. It was a band I had heard of before I was in Illinois, but by the time I went out there, they were no more. This is a bit of jangly pop in the vein of REM. The 1983 album Soul Light Season--actually EP-- was produced by jangle guru Mitch Easter, no less. Never made it onto compact disc, but it's still out there on vinyl for those interested. I thought it was a pretty great effort and I was disappointed that I never got to hear them play live. I can't remember precisely but I may have seen the Big Maybe, a band with Rudd, and Paul Chastain and Ric Menck of  Velvet Crush. Anyhow, I think any fan of a good pop song would approve of Soul Light Season.





Rudd also has a collection of solo work on Parasol records, One Track Mind, if this song appeals to you.

Helter Seltzer!!! The Liquor Giants--Something Special for The Kids

No Clown that drives this Plow....

 

Doing a bit on the Russian language version of California Dreaming in the last post, got me to thinking about cover albums. Also I belatedly realized that my Laughing Clowns post must have got me thinking about Clowns. Something Special for the Kids, by The Liquor Giants is a really good covers collection, released in 1998 on Blood Red Vinyl & Discs. It's a rough but tightly played collection of 60's tunes, and most of them are less than obvious, at least to me. The Liquor Giants are Ward Dotson's band, a veteran of The Gun Club and Pontiac Brothers. He's gone from wearing influences on his sleeve to overt homage on this record. And the band is having a lot of fun here. I'm reminded here of the Pop Art Toasters a bit, a New Zealand super group of sorts that put out a 6 song ep on Flying Nun, a band that included both David Kilgour of The Clean and The Chills' Martin Phillips.



Nothing complicated here---just a lot of lovingly played 60's pop. Some of the songs are obvious, like the take on Tom Jones' campy What's New Pussycat?. Don't Ever Leave Me by the Zombies is here also. They do a nice cover of the Move's Fire Brigade and The Idle Race's Days of Broken Arrows. Boys Keep Swinging by David Bowie is also covered in raucous fashion.



The Liquor Giants on this release are:

Matt Simon: Drums
Ward Dotson: Vocals and Guitar
Mark McNally: Guitar and Vocals
Mark McGroarty: Bass and Vocals
Marx Ferguson: Keyboards


For me, I find it as much fun to hear the other songs in this collection, like the tunes previously recorded by female singers, Don't Ever Leave Me by Connie Francis and Stay Awhile by Dusty Springfield. Del Shannon's Led Along is here, hewing fairly close to the original but a take no less fun to hear. When I hear the songs on the album, I want to find out who some of these groups are like Tin Tin the originator of Toast and Marmalade. Even curiosities like Beatles Please Come Back by Gigi Parker and the Lonelies and I Don't Know Why by Sons of Thunder are fun listens. (The Beatle's homage Gigi original can be found on the Beatlemaniacs! compilation album, which is chock full of mop top themed tunes from the early 60's.)

So there you have it, a covers collection of 60's music, performed with enthusiasm and love. You simply can't beat it. If you find this one, scap it up. It seems like the label doesn't have a presence anymore on the internet. Certainly check out some of the Giant' albums with original material, which can be had for a pretty reasonable price.


This is not on the record, but what the hell...

Like a Version: Mumiy Troll-Western Dreams from Russia

Mumiy Troll---I don't know if their music is really my cup of tea. It sounds to me to be fairly MOR sounding rock and roll. I know that they are a very popular group in Russia. They seem to have won tons of awards in the Родина. Maybe my poor Russian language skills are causing to miss something in the lyrical content. Maybe there are some things about the music that are so intrinsically Russian that they don't translate well to an American. The singer has an almost cabaret-like charisma about him. But the music doesn't have the edge that I like.

But I found this cover interesting, because it seems to me to be a very Russian take on a bittersweet all-American sixties classic, from an entirely different perspective, with new meaning. An old Mamas and Papas song, ala Russe, a bonus track from Comrade Ambassador.




It seems as though the band is involved in a lot of worthy social causes, like dealing with the AIDS epidemic, and environmental issues in Russia. They have also created the first social network in Russia, Ikra.tv.

Not sure whether these guys are my thing musically, as I mentioned earlier. But I know that a huge country with such a fantastic literary tradition is making great music someplace. I'm searching for more Russian Rock music. I'll probably have some posts in the future with my findings. But for now, I'll be listening to this album some more. Sometimes some of my favorite albums were non-starters the first time I heard them. Maybe after a few more listens I'll come around a bit.

It Could Go On Forever....Songs from the Victorious City-Jaz Coleman and Ann Dudley

The collaboration between Anne Dudley of Art of Noise and Jaz Coleman seems to be a bit of a stretch. That the collaboration was a musical blending of classical composition and Middle Eastern music is even more surprising. But the reason I am respectfully tapping away tonight about this disc is because it is a seamlessly smashing successful integration, and performed with gusto and art. Every time I listen to this album I am blown away as I was when I listened to this for the first time. I always hear something new in the mix. And a project like this must have been difficult--this project could easily have fallen on its face.



The album is about Cairo, which according to the liner notes means The Victorious City. So, it seems timely today in light of the ongoing Arab Spring to talk about this record, originally released in 1991. When I listen to the record I feel like an armchair traveler, as though I've visited a place I've never been to before. Barry Adamson has composed a number of imaginary movie soundtracks, and as much as this record has that type of feel, it would be more accurate to call this an imaginary soundtrack to a city. More Calvino than Morricone, I guess.

But don't misunderstand me; this is not a staid over-intellectualized genre exercise. The music is brimming with excitement and passion, at times lively and at other times quite poignant. The compositions are strong, and the musicianship is top rate. The use of sampling of local voices and found sounds adds to the warmth of the music. The impetus of the album was to combine the timeless eternal city of Cairo, with the Cairo of modern times.

Of course this project would not be what it was without the enthusiastic performances by the Egyptian musicians, who seem to have embraced the songs with great enthusiasm.

Anne Dudley: Keyboards
Jaz Coleman: Violin, Cobra pipe, flute
Redda Bedaire: Nai
Ibrahim Kowala: Kowala
Fouad Rohin: Violin
Amir Abd-el: Qanun
Aboud Abdel Al: Violin
Hossam Ramzy: Percussion
Tarak Aakef: Cairo Strings Conductor
Cheikh Taha: Accordian
Gilber Biberian: Guitar

After an introductory number, Endless Festival kicks in. When you listen to the song, you feel as though you were transported to a bazaar.





Another song dear to my heart is Minarets and Memories, which sounds like Arabian Salsa Music.





I think you get the idea at this point. It's a pretty brilliant conceptual album, and miles away from what you might expect from an artist in Killing Joke. Check this one out if you like what you hear.

Bailterspace Returns!!! Strobosphere Out Tomorrow!

Just found out that Bailterspace, the great New Zealand noise pop band is releasing their first new album in 13 years, Strobosphere,  on Fire Records. Very welcome overdue news. One of my favorite bands, they were one of the most unique sounding bands of their era, and as I've said in prior posts, I was fortunate enough to hear them live on numerous occasions.

It seems that this incarnation of the band is without John Halvorsen, the bassist, and an integral part of the band. But I am looking forward to hear what Alister Parker and Brent McLachlan have been up to. For those uninitiated, these three musicians were also in the legendary Gordons in the early 80's, arguably one of the loudest bands to ever walk the earth.

Now................



Then.............



Before Then........


This is a truly great band that is still criminally unappreciated. Go check them out.

Seksound---Kohalik Ja Kohatu 2--What's Cooking in Estonian Music

A while back I picked up a compilation of Estonian bands issued on the Seksound label, out of Tallin.

Kohalik JA Kohatu 2 is the title, released in 2007. For some reason I bought the second label compilation, not the first. While not everything is to my liking, there is some good music being made in Estonia. And certainly they seem to appreciate shoegaze there.

Baltic or Nordic? You decide

I picked the disc up from Tonevendor, which is a great site to find interesting music, particularly of the shoegaze variety. I was drawn to the site initially because of my interest in the band Secret Shine, but they make a lot of recordings available that you would not be able to get easily, say, from Estonia for example. In addition to the Seksound compilations, they probably have about a dozen releases available. They also sell music on Clairecords, an important shoegaze label, and have a lot of interesting releases by the German group Guitar. Check out their site---I don't think they will disappoint.

The second song on the album got things going with a roar, by the band Ans. Andur, called Parklate Linn, sort of a high energy punked out shoegaze tune--for me the standout on the compilation. Very strong song! I definitely want to hear more from these guys.

Another song that I liked was Indigo Tuba by Galaktlan, though it sounds like it came from an 80's synth-pop time warp, maybe from the Soundtrack to the Estonian "Pretty in Pink". Overall a well executed, pleasing number. In a slightly different vein is Popidiot--the song Hey Girl! sounds like an odd mixture of synthpop and folk music. But I enjoyed the song also.

Another high point on Kohalik 2 is November by Vaiko Eplik Ja Ellit, which is solid shoegaze tune, replete with giant hooks that any fan of Ride or Slowdive would appreciate. Simply a great sounding tune. Another song that I really liked was more of a classical experimental piece by Jakob Juhkam, basically a piano composition with accompanying synth, which would not be out of place on a Birdsongs of the Mesozoic album. Different from the rest of the comp, but well worth hearing.

Another nice song is by Pia Fraus, probably the best known band in the collection, often compared to My Bloody Valentine, but at least I hear a bit of Stereolab. Yenissey seems to be built around a repeated riff, with the ethereal melody layered atop it. They sound like a group that really have their sound together.

Other bands on the record include the Bad Apples, who do a mellow acoustic ballad ala Velvet Underground or maybe Wilco. Honey Power is also well represented, whose Lights From Pillow is one of the better more original songs here, more chamber-pop than shoegaze. The horns on Soterios' Twisted Romance reminds me a little of the Boo Radleys. Picnic's song Who Do You Love is an understated song, pretty sounding with ambient outdoor sounds. Mirabilia's Let it Shine sounds like one of those peppy 60's folk songs, that is at least until the music seems to go into a bad trip, which for me makes the song more interesting.

Overall I think this is a pretty solid compilation. Naysayers would say that the music is derivative,

but I have listened to this three times, and there is a lot to recommend here. Certainly the bands I have recommended here have a lot going for them, and I expect a lot more interesting music coming from Estonia in the future. I mean, I have only heard a few songs by a few bands on one label, but I am pretty impressed with the quality. And thanks, Tonevendor, who did a good job stoking my musical wanderlust.

Killer Clowns From Brisbane! Laughing Clowns Cruel But Fair!

You never know when Coulrophilia will strike. I think I just developed a case of it.

Meat and Drink to Me to hear the Clowns....

I'm listening to Ed Kuepper's post-Saints group right now, the Laughing Clowns. Cruel, But Fair, released in 2005 on Hot Records. It's taking me a while to navigate all three discs, basically the band's entire 5 year output. What a superb, one-of-a-kind band! The collection is a three disc circus of jazzy post-punk splendor.

Imagine a musician who as a member of the Saints, put out 3 of the best albums of the "punk era", and then put together a wildly innovative jazz-influenced post punk group dominated by horns and percussion! I mean, two amazing acts within a decade. Of course Kuepper has had a great run as a solo artist, and as the Aint's, his massively loud response to Chris Bailey's continued use of the Saints monicker. Listen to S.L.S.Q. (strictly limited sound quality!) and you'll see what I mean.

If you aren't familiar with the Saints, I would strongly recommend picking up the All Times Through Paradise box, or if you can find it the Raven Records release, Wild About You. Pretty essential music for music fans who like high-energy rock and roll. One of the greatest rock bands ever. Still have my fingers crossed, hoping they reunite again and do a few gigs in the American Northeast. They played some gigs in Australia fairly recently, but apparently they were one-offs.

But the Laughing Clowns, are quite a different animal altogether. The lineup must have raised the eyebrows of a few punters expecting music more in line with the old band. But this music is really just as brilliant and even more compromising than what he was doing before. The musicianship is first rate--and while Kuepper sings and writes the music, it is clearly a group creation, a great confluence of sonic ability.


I wouldn't call this Jazz-Rock, because there is a certain connotation to the term that would mislead you as to the nature of this music. If you view jazz music as a loose constructivist like me, yeah, you could call it that. If you view the genre narrowly, you can count it out. There are just too many sharp edges here. There are those fans that would inadvertently put jazz in mothballs, fill it with formaldehyde or stuff and mount it like a exercise in taxidermy. But everything evolves as long as people keep being creative. Probably the best way to look at it is, who cares? Maybe you could call it Jazziness, as defined like the new word coined by Steven Colbert, "truthiness.".

Certainly I think the songs are structured as rock/pop songs. There is not lot of lengthy improvisation; the instrumentation is different, dominated by drums and brass, the guitar downplayed a bit. Jeffery Wegener, the Laughing Clowns drummer is simply great, making everybody around him better. When all is said and done, these are Ed Kuepper songs. They could have been done with pedal steel and fiddles (well, sure there actually is banjo and violin in spots) in a a country western style and been good; instead the songs were infused with jazz rhythms, breaks and riffs, complex and evolving. Actually the Laughing Clowns remind me a little of the fake soundtrack work of John Zorn like Spillane and The Big Gundown, or his group Naked City, but with vocals. Or maybe John Lurie's Lounge Lizards.



The music is consistently exciting and challenging on all three discs in this collection. I was waiting for a bit of a let down or a drop in quality on this, but it never actually happened. And making music like this can't be easy at all. I can see how somebody could create a horrendous imitation of this. I've seen this selling for a lot of money used, but I just saw that the label Hot Records is still kicking, and they are selling it for 17 quid on their website. Well worth the expense. For a cheaper taste there is the History of Rock compilation that is also out there too.

At Home He's A Tourist, Part 1--Marc Chagall Stained Glass in Pocantico Hills

Well, my niece was in visiting from Arizona, so I thought it might be appropriate to give her a small taste of the Hudson Valley. It might not be a what a 9 year old was excited about doing. Still there are a number of interesting thing to do here that are a short drive away.

One of these things is the Union Church in Pocantico Hills of New York, which is a small community due east of Tarrytown, NY. So we went, some of us more enthusiastic than others. And at least one person doing a little kicking and screaming....

You see, in honor of John D Rockefeller, the family commissioned Marc Chagall to design stain glass windows for this Church. Additionally there is the Rose Window, which was designed by Henri Matisse. I had been there once before probably 10 years ago, and being a fan of Chagall's paintings I was fairly stunned by the glass artwork set into the walls of this small, unassuming country church.



This is just one example of the windows. Pretty impressive. You don't have to be religious to appreciate something this beautiful. When I go to museums in New York, I always found myself drawn to his art work, even when I didn't know his paintings on sight. He was a master of color. His artworks are vivid, yet I think that there is subtlety here because of slight color variations that create an almost magical effect.

And you can go visit. Of course there are set hours--you wouldn't want to walk in in the middle of a religious service. Check the website in advance. And no pictures. For people far away and those visitors who would like a memento, you can be a virtual tourist at hudsonvalley.org, where the images of the windows are available for viewing and downloading. And Tarrytown is a Hudson river town just a short drive away, with shops, good restaurants, and a few other historical sites, like Lyndhurst, Kykuit, Sunnyside.

An indelible memory I have is coming home from work in a snowstorm and taking side roads north to avoid commuter logjams. I still have that image of driving through Pocantico Hills that snowy evening, and seeing the Union Hills Church illuminated to my right. It felt a little like one of the Warner Brothers cartoons where Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny jump in and out of paintings in an art gallery.

Only I felt like a jumped into a poem by Robert Frost.

I think in the end I at least got my niece a little curious. She was looking at the stained glass with my mom on the computer.

You Want Me To Waltz but it Don't Feel Right---The Verlaines-Over The Moon

There was a time before New Zealand's, Flying Nun Records was sold to Mushroom records, when I would get occasional e-mails from the label. Prior to this, I would get their updated catalogs sent, where I could have purchased other NZ swag like Xpressway Cassettes. I remember getting a letter saying they found all this out-of-print stuff in some boxes, including Bill Direen albums on the South Sea Label. I didn't have a lot of money to buy very much of this. I should have known how scarce these things would be one day. I remember getting a tip from a music critic I met at the WFMU record fair about a Gordons album. I had no idea that they made a second album, but he told me to e-mail the label--they had a small stash of the second album apparently. Lucky me. He also happened to notice that a vendor there had a hand-painted copy of the Jono Lonie-Peter Jefferies album At Swim Two Birds, so it was a very lucky record show for me. Ultimately I bought a pile of cool records from him so I guess he did okay himself.

Take whatever bits of me Remain.....

But this post was about a pending album by one of my favorite bands at the time, The Verlaines. I was anticipating the new album, which was supposed to come out soon, on Sony/Columbia, after several albums on Slash. But then word was out that the label decided at the final hour not to release the album. I assumed that it was going to be released in some capacity, but I was wrong. Then I got a semi-miraculous e-mail from Flying Nun, stating that they had a few copies. The label had made thousands of copies, then decided to cut their losses, apparently. According to the folks at the Nunnery, the label was actually shredding copies of the recording. So I dug deep and paid the $30 and got myself a scarce copy of the Verlaines final album (until recently).

I was pretty dumbfounded as to why the label changed their mind about Over The Moon. No doubt there was some story behind it. Perhaps supporters of the band within the label were cut loose. I definitely know that at some point music industry insiders decided that Dunedin would not be the new Liverpool, or at least not the new lucrative scene that might penetrate the U.S. market. Other New Zealand bands were signed to American labels, and then were dropped. Such a short term relationship with the label must have been a bit of a shock to the band. When you see the song titles and the many references to falling on Over The Moon, you get an idea of the general mood at the time.

Sure, this album may not be the band's finest moment, but Over the Moon is pretty damned terrific. Perhaps a pretty dark even for Graeme Downes, but for a guy like me who has a deep appreciation for SadCore, and Big Star's Third, the album's tone is no obstacle for me. Certainly no one at the record label could have been too surprised with the recording. It is a Verlaines album through and through. Maybe like the Wilco Documentary, I am Trying to Break Your Heart, the media folk were looking for the big hit single with dance remix. From being a band moving up in the world with international recognition, they were suddenly shoved aside and dumped, as was Martin Phillips group, The Chills.


From the start of the first song, I knew there was some magic to be found in the album. Hanging By Strands is a gorgeous, fragile ballad, probably one of the better songs in the bands canon, which is saying something. It's one of the numbers included in the Flying Nun Verlaines retrospective, You're Just Too Obscure for Me. I would recommend looking into their early compilation Juvenilia, Bird Dog, and Hallelujah All the Way Home discs for starters, all now readily available.

The lineup for Over The Moon was:

Graeme Downes: guitar, vocals, keyboards, oboe, cheap shot cello ?
Darren Stedman: Drums
Russell Flemming: Bass
Paul Winders: Guitars, Backing Vocals

Another strong tune is the uptempo guitar pop 2nd track Bonfire, which sounds like an exhortation to burn out rather than fade away, as the old philosopher once said. I have a soft spot for happy sounding songs with lyrics that belie the tone. The third tune, Sky-Blue Window, however, combines downbeat with extremely dark lyrics.

Sun come up
Quite Vile and aimless
If a pilot in his cockpit over the earth
could wipe out all the refuse of the world
then he'd take my life cos nothing's all its worth...

But there are no shortage of strong tunes. Ballads like Dunderhead, When I Fall are absolutely sublime. You also have nice pop tunes like When I Fall, Dawdling at the Bridge, and in particular, Feather Fell. The album ends hugely with Coming Back to You, probably my favorite song here after the opener. Even though I deeply appreciate the song lyrics, Downes often finds really interesting song arrangements, using tempo changes and dynamics with great creativity. I always assumed somebody would put this record out eventually, but it certainly hasn't been the first time. The Hazy Janes have a similar problem with their 2nd album, and The Last also have a very great album that has never seen the light of day.....


It's going on 15 years now for Over The Moon. The album may not be Downes' Smile, but its a very good record. Maybe someday it will see the light of day. As far the Verlaines go, they have been very prolific lately, releasing three albums, Pot Boiler, Corporate Moronic and this year's Untimely Meditations, which there has been some positive buzz about. Haven't picked it up yet. Maybe next month. I like it when talented musicians persevere, making music despite lack of commercial success. Of course, a little commercial success would be a great thing. While Downes is a well known artist in New Zealand, its probably a good time for the rest of the world to get an earfull. Check out the videos and see if you agree with me.