World / Traditional / India
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Originally released as a double CD in 2010, Wallahi Le Zein! has persisted as a cult classic, a collection of a rarely heard and utterly unique underground music scene, raw and unfiltered.
The LP, cassette & digital version we now present is intended as an immersive entry into this music: gnarled and virtuosic electric guitars weave hypnotically throughout melismatic sung poetry and exclamations, pulsing hand drums, party chatter, buzzing rigged desert sound systems, and all manner of the ambient sounds of Nouakchott wedded to oversaturated cassette in all its swirling, breathing, psychedelic glory. Operating entirely outside of any local recording industry, these songs were collected from bootleg tape stalls, wedding souveniers, and networks of musicians, expertly curated, researched and produced by Matthew Lavoie.
Drawing from the deep well of Mauritanian classical music, the gamut of musical modes and the tidinitt lute repertoire are transposed to the electric guitar - often with frets removed or additional frets installed, “heavy metal” distortion pedals and phasers built into guitar bodies, blurring the lines between Haratine and Beydane musical cultures, the ancient and the futuristic. At times transcendent and transfixing, and conversely a furious and cascading intensity that commands jaw-dropping attention.
1985 was one of the most important years in Brazil's recent history, when the country was freed from more than 20 years of military dictatorship. The youth took the lead and finally Brazil entered the world show business circuit with Rock In Rio festival. But the real revolution was happening in the underground and this record is a proof of that.
One of the people in charge was the musician, composer, poet, writer, scriptwriter and speaker from Rio de Janeiro Ronaldo Tapajós, who was always involved with experimental and avant-garde music. His trajectory begins in the mythical 1968, when, as part of the the duo Rô and Carlinhos, he released an emblematic single containing the song “O Gigante” - perhaps the first Brazilian bad trip recorded on vinyl and a shrewd criticism of the society's “square” habits.
Cinema was an experimental and avant-garde piece released in early 1985. In many ways it’s an example of the new Brazil that was reborning after 21 years of darkness under Military Dictatorship. Musically, it was a pioneer album for Brazilian music, mixing acoustic and synthetic sounds.
This rare adventure in Brazilian music was released independently in 1985, financed by the artists themselves. The original small press sold-out, belonging now to record collectors around the planet. For the first time Cinema is re-released on vinyl, with two extra and unreleased tracks found after decades.
Remastered from the original tapes, this reissue includes reproduction of the original graphic art, new testimonials from the four members of the project and a long article signed by Bento Araujo, author of the book series Lindo Sonho Delirante, which investigates audacious and fearless music created in the Brazilian underground.
According to Cinema’s LP press release: “in the era of visual music, Cinema is sound”. In terms of sound, listening to this album feels like diving into an intriguing anguish of trying to understand how the relationship between technology available at that time (1983-1984) and the more organic instruments happened, this duality between synthesizers/effects with percussion, woodwind instruments, piano and clarinet. In other words: how was the coexistence between the synthetic and the acoustic? This paradox seems to seduce collectors, DJs and enthusiasts of Brazilian music from the 80's around the world.
This fictional soundtrack has a dark mood, as if a fog of dark and ambient music insisted on staying on top of cheerful patterns of Afro-Brazilian percussion, or conceptual synth pop.
The Beaters – Harari was released in 1975. After changing their name, Harari went into the studio late in 1976 to record their follow-up, Rufaro / Happiness. In 1976 they were voted South Africa’s top instrumental group and were in high demand at concert venues across the country.
Comprising former schoolmates guitarist and singer Selby Ntuli, bassist Alec Khaoli, lead guitarist Monty Ndimande and drummer Sipho Mabuse, the group had come a long way from playing American-styled instrumental soul in the late sixties to delivering two Afro-rock masterpieces.
Before these two albums the Beaters had been disciples of ‘Soweto Soul’ – an explosion of township bands drawing on American soul and inspired by the assertive image of Stax and Motown’s Black artists. The Beaters supported Percy Sledge on his 1970 South African tour (and later Timmy Thomas, Brook Benton and Wilson Pickett). But their watershed moment was their three month tour of Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) where they were inspired by the strengthening independence struggle and musicians such as Thomas Mapfumo who were turning to African influences. On their return, the neat Nehru jackets that had been the band’s earliest stage wear were replaced by dashikis and Afros.
“In Harari we rediscovered our African-ness, the infectious rhythms and music of the continent. We came back home inspired! We were overhauling ourselves into dashiki-clad musicians who were Black Power saluting and so on.” Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, talking of the band’s time spent on tour in the (then) Rhodesian township from where they took their name. As well as expressing confident African politics, Alec Khaoli recalled, they pioneered by demonstrating that such messages could also be carried by “...happy music. During apartheid times we made people laugh and dance when things weren’t looking good.”
The two albums capture the band on the cusp of this transition. One the first album Harari, Inhlupeko Iphelile, Push It On and Thiba Kamoo immediately signal the new Afro-centric fusion of rock, funk and indigenous influences. Amercian soul pop is not forgotten with Love, Love, Love and, helped along by Kippie Moeketsi and Pat Matshikiza a bump-jive workout What’s Happening concludes the album. The second album Rufaro pushes the African identity and fusion further, with key tracks Oya Kai (Where are you going?), Musikana and Uzulu whilst the more pop-styled Rufaro and Afro-Gas point to where Harari were headed to in years to come. The popularity and sales generated by these two classic albums saw them signed by Gallo and release just two more albums with the original line-up before the untimely death of Selby Ntuli in 1978. Whilst they went on to greater success, even landing a song in the US Billboard Disco Hot 100 in 1982, it was never the same again.
“Harari’s music still speaks directly to one of my goals as a younger artist: to express myself as an African without pretending that I don’t have all these other musical elements – classical, jazz, house – inside me.” (Thandi Ntuli, niece of Selby Ntuli).
Seminal Japanese jazz album from 1971. Journeys through jazz fusion, soul and big band moods. Impossible to obtain in its original format, these days. Hozan Yamamoto was recognised as a "living national treasure" by the Japanese government in 2002. This highly sought-after album from the Japanese wood flute player is more upbeat and swinging than some of his other records. The big band he recorded this album with (Sharps & Flats) played a big part in the genesis of the album’s groove. Forming in 1951, they helped to make jazz popular in Japan after World War II. Yamamoto's flute lines weave over the heavy brass sound and groove, creating an MPS label blending of funky jazz and Japanese vibes. The closest comparison would be Dorothy Ashby's grooviest albums for Chess / Cadet – substituting Yamamoto’s flute for the harp. Licensed courtesy of Universal Music Group Limited.
This is an analog reissue of the 1956 album "Exotica" by Martin Denny, the undisputed king of exotic fantasy music! Once you drop the needle, you're transported to another world... A monumental album that launched Denny's 30-year career and opened up a whole new genre of exotica music! As the tropical mood from the iconic artwork suggests, the album showcases the full range of fantastic space-age sounds that reek of exoticism and imaginary charm.
The singular expressions of music across Indonesia are seemingly limitless, though few are as dynamic and hold such a colorful history as jaipongan of West Java. The form of jaipongan we know today was born from the fields of Java where an early form of music called ketuk-tilu echoed over fields during harvest times. Known for intense and complex drumming coordinated with equally dynamic solo female dancing, ketuk-tilu performances included a rebab (a small upright bowed instrument), a gong, and ketuk-tilu (“three kettle gongs”). Though the original performance context of this music revolved around planting and harvesting rituals, with the singer accepting male dancing partners, over time ketuk-tilu became an outlet for village life expressing fertility, sensuality, eroticism, and, at times, socially accepted prostitution. Activities in the first half of the twentieth century that were best suited amongst the elements of harvest and outside of urban criticism.
Fast forward to 1961, the year the Indonesian government placed a ban on Western music, most specifically rock and roll, ostensibly to revive the traditional arts and have the country refocus on Indonesian ideals. Though, this attempt to reclaim, and in many ways conservatize, musical output had an unexpected musical outcome. In the early 70s the composer and choreographer Gugum Gumbira (1945-2020) took it upon himself to retrofit and creatively expand the core elements of ketuk-tilu into a contemporary form. One that would harness ketuk-tilu’s core dynamics and nod to the government’s pressure to revive traditional forms, while creating a fresh and socially acceptable art form where enticing movements, intimate topics and just the right degree sensuality had a collective musical expression. Born was jaipongan.
Musically, Gumbira added in the gamelan thereby augmenting the overall instrumentation especially the drums. Importantly, he brought a new and very focused emphasis to the role of the singer allowing them to concentrate solely on their voices opposed to dancing as well. These voices weren’t there to narrate upper class lifestyles or Western flavored ideals (and colonial mentalities in general), but the worldview and woes of the common people of West Java. Intimacy, love, romance, money, working with the land, life’s daily struggles and the processes of the natural world were common themes in jaipongan that ignited the hearts of the people and directly spoke to both the young and old. The two timeless voices that would define the genre and fuel it to echo out across the globe were Idjah Hadjijah, featured here, and Gugum’s wife, Euis Komariah (1949-2011), two nationally cherished voices that catapulted the genre into the sensual, elegant and other-wordly.
Movement-wise, Gumbira included some of the original sensual moves of ketuk-tilu and intertwined them with movements based on the popular martial art called pencack silat. With just enough new and just enough old, and just enough safe and just enough bold, men and women danced together in public in ways never allowed before. The genre and its performances were an oasis for the optimal amount of controlled intimacy and sexual nuance to be socially acceptable. Jaipongan was embraced by a country longing for new societal norms and creative expressions.
All these elements combined rooted Jaipongan in the hearts of West Java and set the genre on fire. Gumbira established his own studio, Jugala studio in the city of Bandung, where a cast of West Java’s best players resided. This record, as well as hundreds more that have defined music in West Java of every style, were recorded there. Radio, a booming cassette industry, and live performances of jaipongan flooded the country, so much so that the government's attempts to reel it in were futile. Jaipongan had tapped into the hearts, daily worldview, airwaves and clubs of West Java and wasn’t going anywhere. And by listening here, it’s still as alive as ever.
TRAP beats born in Atlanta in the United States have become a common language in the world and continue to produce replicas, and as in Asia, many acts appear and disappear, and rappers from countries such as South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia have been attracting attention for a long time nowadays. "YouTube play XX million times!" "Instagram follower XX million people!" Such phrases flew around, and the rapper made full use of social media to aim for monetization from a single buzz. It is JUU4E that strongly expresses and continues to create original HIP HOP.
JUU4E is a rapper who has been respected as an OG in Thailand, where young talents are appearing one after another, and has established a unique standing position. In the previous work "New Luk Thung" (2019), under the production of Young-G of stillichimiya / OMK, a masterpiece that is the latest HIPHOP and the latest Luk Thung by eclectic Thai omnivorous ghetto song, Luk Thung with HIP HOP. I made it. This work shocked both inside and outside the country, such as being nominated for the prestigious RIN (Rap is Now) annual best in Thailand, but when this "New Luk Thung" was released, in fact, this work "Idiot World" was already produced. Was starting.
This work is all self-produced by JUU4E. The lyric that interweaves Thai, Japanese and English, the stretchable flow, and the track that has a lower center of gravity than the previous work and is boiled down in dubby are the same as the previous work that chewed HIP HOP / TRAP and made it completely own, but it should be noted. Is a point where you can feel the intention to strongly represent
If you touch this work by biting the information that floods the net with HIP HOP hot in Asia, you're lucky. I want you to be stupid by all means being overwhelmed by the lyrics that challenge the "stupid world" head-on and the sound that is bitten by overwhelming freedom.
The best compilation album of Dao Bandon, a Luk Thung singer from Isan (Northeastern Thailand) who was most wanted to be released by world music fans and frontier rare groove DJs! Thai music is now attracting the attention of collectors all over the world as dance music. Dao Bandung's music, which is characterized by thick beats, killer breaks, and unique voices and tunes, had the appeal of being addicted to the ears once heard. But what was sung in Isan in the 70's? Why did Dao Bandung hit? Its charm remained a mystery. This time, we interviewed Dr. Dao Bandon directly and translated all the songs in Isan and Thai into parallel, and the astonishing facts are under the sun! The laughing and crying original scenery of the idyllic Isan is revealed, such as a song about the set from reggae-like Ga * ja tune, a love song in the world of blues, and so on.
In the 1980s, Mr. Dao produced singers familiar with world music such as Honey Sri-Isan and Jintara Poonlarp. This album is full of roots up to the present in the genre of Luk Thung, which is still extremely popular. There can be no Thai song without listening to this!
In this work, all lyrics are posted in three languages, Thai, Japanese and English. The commentary is posted in Japanese and English, and the annotations of Thai proper nouns are complete! A spirited specification that will be an indicator of future world releases!
Born in Isan, northeastern Thailand, he is an inventor-like producer who has often sent out cutting-edge (metamorphic) killer that will be the flagship of Thai pop producers, and is a great man who has developed Thai music by himself. A genuine record man who wants to do something different than sell, and a living music library that has seen the rise of Thai music with a solid critique.
This time, we selected 12 unscrupulous mixed songs that insist on the true
If Juu & G. Jee's "New Luk Thung", which sings "new" "Luk Thung", is the Luk Thung
All with translations this time as well. The commentary is of course Soi48.
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* Note
1) Luk Thung: A music genre that means "country child" or "country song". Song music that was established in the mid-1960s and is now inherited as Thai national music. Emphasis is placed on lyrics. It is highly omnivorous because there is no specific music format.
2) Leh: A Thai-specific genre in which Buddhist scriptures have been converted into songs through the preaching of monks. Singers who can improvise with limited syllables are respected because they require a high level of skill in the storytelling art.
3) Ramwon: Music with a strong character of creative folk songs established by the Thai government in the 1940s to raise national prestige. It was popular among the working class because of its characteristic ring dance like Japanese Bon Odori. There are two meanings and usages, one is the melody of Thai folk songs reorganized into Western music style, and the other is dance music called Ramwon regardless of genre.
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Song selection / commentary: Soi48
Mastering: Takuto Kuratani (Ruv Bytes)
Binding design: Shinsuke Takagi (Soi48)
CD version: Normal jewel case / 28-page booklet included
Japanese / English liner / Complete translation
TRACKS:
01. Bupper Saicheon "Deliver love in the wind"
02. Smit Thatcha Tape "Hunger for Love"
03. Kawao Cyantone "Simulation of a new house"
04. Banchop Charon Pawn "Don't talk anymore"
05. Liam Darah Noi "Pounding"
06. Kawao Cyantone "Cannabis Bamboo"
07. Bupper Saichon "Show me on foot"
08. Danchai Sontaya "I want to die"
09. Dam Danspan "Ripe Love"
10. Prune Prom Dane "Persuade the Child of the Mekong River"
11. Smary Saen Sotto "Sakura is waiting for you"
12. Waiphot Phetsuphant "Rum along the rice field"
This time, we remastered the song contained in the record "Saitama Bon Odori" produced by the Saitama Folk Culture Center in 1983, and recorded / mixed the latest version by the preservation society as of 2017. Recorded in. Please listen to the Japanese dance classics, where the stone Buddha begins to dance. The binding is Shinsuke Takagi (Soi48) following "Yumi Kagura".
Son Taya is a singer who was hand-salted by Surin Pakshiri, a famous producer of Isan in the northeastern part of Thailand who made "Isan Lam Phloon" (1972) by Ankanan Kunchai, and is a female mor lam singer Payrin Pawn Phibun (already mentioned by Em). He is a "boy" singer who played an active part in pairs with. Based on the belief of the patterner of Isan music (developed and developed in Thai), Paksiri who always tried new things was the hottest recording of 70s-80s, and this Sontaya sound source is a strange and heavy mor lam that can not be heard anywhere else. A treasure trove of Luk Thung. From the Isan girls at that time to the hearts of the current Japanese, European and American dance floor DJs, this
In Thai music, which tends to focus only on the appearance and voice of the singer, as with the producer / arranger work in Japan, the United States and Europe, there are works that should be talked about in their contents. Soi48 and M are proud to send you unique Thai music that is neither funk, jazz nor rock, and the more you know about it, the more you will understand its speciality.
The solo works "Panorámico" (2007) and "Estrambótico" (2012) released by Emilio Alo, a multi-instrumentalist writer who does not need explanation for Argentine music fans, are a new generation after the acoustic group. It was a complete studio work under the influence of folklore revival. However, it is extremely important that the key man of the scene dared to form a band here. The debut album of this suspicious band name