A brilliant single from the always-impressive Mr. Bongo Records by London-based Kit Sebastian. From the band’s Bandcamp site: “‘L’addio’ saw the band perfecting their production and orchestration, with strings, horns and double bass, and an Italian synth found in a French dump. The music was greatly influenced by Italian soundtracks Continue Reading
Chanson
Marc Almond – Heart On Snow
20 years ago, Marc Almond collaborated with musicians in St. Petersburg and recorded a magnificent album of Russian chanson. It’s as good as you would expect. The gems of the album include the title track and Gosudaryunia, penned by Russian rock legend Boris Grebenshchikov. A fine reissue, and I thank Continue Reading
Abdel Halim Hafez – Mawood
Though it is always with great sadness that modern record labels who release spectacular vinyl editions don’t offer such releases on digital formats for sale, it’s a forgivable sin, as our dear friends at WeWantSounds continue to impress with their choices of artists they so lovingly reissue. Abdel Halim Hafez Continue Reading
Uusikuu – Karuselli
Welcome to the world of Finnish tango as brought to you by Uusikuu, who celebrate their 16th year with this charmer of a disc. As this wonderful release from the ever wonderful CPL-Music isn’t on Bandcamp, I would like to point you to their Qobuz website, as I’m not much Continue Reading
Fairuz – Kifak Inta LP
There is no doubt who the reigning queen of Arab music is. Fairuz, once and always a beautiful songstress from Lebanon, has had this legendary cult album reissued by our dear friends at Wewantsounds, and it will be arriving on November 4, 2022. Unfortunately, there may not be a digital Continue Reading
Various Artists – La Souterraine: Vallée du Don
La Souterraine are one of France’s coolest indie labels. They frequently release compilations of alternative music influenced by chanson, bedroom pop and post-punk. Some of the ditties on offer are almost Beatlesque in their pop perfection. Vallée du Don is one I stumbled upon, but the whole catalog is worth Continue Reading
Yukihiro Takahashi – Saravah!
This album works on so many levels. There is a blend of Italian romance, easy listening, French chanson, sophisticated City Pop, bossa nova, a touch of schmaltz, and electro-pop all rolled into one fine album. Drummer Yukihiro Takahashi had just helped form the Yellow Magic Orchestra after leaving The Sadistic Continue Reading
Suzanne Belaubre – (DIY)
Record label and magazine La Souterraine offer the best indie music coming out of France these days. Their latest release by Suzanne Belaubre is bound to be a cold wave masterpiece. The tracks are short and the production is excellent, if sparse. That sparseness works well with the music, and Continue Reading