It’s rather charming to see cultures like this clash. These folks from Sindh, Pakistan, give their takes on everything from music to technology, usually with a calm, relaxed and jovial insight. In this episode, they listen to a-ha’s classic tune, “Take On Me,” and it seems they really enjoy not only the music, but the effort it took to produce the video.
I had no idea who Mancunian soul singer Bô’vel was until our esteemed friends over at Athens Of The North released this album of long-forgotten tracks recently. Bô’vel was a darling of pirate radio during the mid-1990s, and judging by how soulful and funky these tracks are, she deserved a lot more exposure and due than what she received. Kudos to AOTN for continually unearthing little gems like this. For a deeper look at her story, consider going to the AOTN Bandcamp release site.
From Vampi Soul’s Bandcamp site:
“Elia y Elizabeth Fleta were two Colombian girls who recorded a handful of songs between 1972 and 1973, acompannied by Jimmy Salcedo and his group La Onda Tres, mixing soft-pop with a touch of tropical-pastoral funk, singer-songwriter sweetened by the subtle perfume of Caribbean music and psychedelia.”
Charming, sunny music for a very cold Beijing day.
There is no better way to tell the story of this gorgeous and lovingly remastered release by Akiko Yano than to let our dear friends at Wewantsounds to explain it for themselves:
“Wewantsounds is proud to continue its Akiko Yano reissue series with the release of the singer’s third studio album ‘To Ki Me Ki’, recorded in New York and originally issued in 1978 in Japan. It follows her cult “Iroha Ni Konpeitou” LP and retains a similar blend of Japanese pop and New York funk. “To Ki Me Ki” features such musicians as Rick Marotta, Will Lee and David Spinozza and also programmer Hideki Matsutake who would soon join the YMO with Akiko for their international 1979/1980 tour before she recorded her next studio album “Tadaima” that year, featuring the YMO musicians. “To Ki Me Ki” is reissued outside of Japan for the first time, remastered in Tokyo by revered engineer Mitsuo Koike and featuring original artwork by Tsutomu Murakami with 4 page colour insert and new liner notes by Paul Bowler.
1978 was a key year for Japanese Music. Yellow Magic Orchestra was about to release their ground-breaking debut album. All musicians involved had also released key solo albums that year (Sakamoto with “Thousand Knives“, Takahashi with “Saravah” and Hosono with “Paraiso“). Akiko Yano (who would soon join the YMO on tour for their first international tour) was no exception, releasing the brilliant “To Ki Me Ki”. Having started her career with a bang recording “Japanese Girl” in 1976 with Little Feat, Akiko had quickly established herself as a leading force on the Japanese music scene.”
Read the rest of the promo material here. This is rightly seen as a timeless record.
It’s incredibly nice to see Peter Gabriel release the bulk of his solo material on Bandcamp. He even offers a subscription for rare tracks and remixes, most of which are perfectly okay. This release was a pleasant surprise, as it was, I believe, once released as part of the So box set, but it sounds fine as a standalone disc. The recording is during the peak of his creative powers, and the musicians working behind him in this tour (David Rhodes on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, David Sancious on keyboards and Manu Katché on drums) are as tight as can be. As good as one can expect from a live recording.
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 my friend Charles for being so kind as to point it out to me.
A friend passed this site along, and as North Korea is supposedly a die-hard Juche state, it surprised me that they actually have a streaming service for local music. Because Bandcamp, Spotify and others may or may not be under pressure from Western governments to not allow this sort of thing on their platform (though they allow every other kind of oddity), it seems the North Koreans have made Juchify.com to satisfy the curiosity of foreigners like me as well as developing their own listener base at home. Odd, but interesting.
Legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach passed away yesterday at the age of 94, leaving behind countless pop hits covered by singers both major and minor. British label Moochin’ About have collected a 146-track compilation covering his earlier material, and it features artists like Dick Van Dyke, Cliff Richard, and perhaps his best interpreter, Dionne Warwick.
I had no idea what to expect with this album except that it was promoted by Carbon 7 record label impresario and former Univers Zéro bassist Guy Segers. His taste tends to be outstanding, so I gave this a shot. Quite pleasant, actually.
Dominique Figaro’s voice reminds me of a lot of 80s female avant-pop which was coming out in the 1980s or 1990s, and though the sound is a bit too compressed for my liking, the music is quirky enough to hold my attention throughout. It is as if Sade fronted Tuxedomoon for a session. Yes, that quirky, and it’s all the better for it.