It's cool man

The Swiss musician Peter Steiner was acting in TV commercials for chocolate with mint filling in the 90's, becoming known as "Cool Man". The song "It's cool man" was released as a single in 1995. As I am staying close to the Alps these days, it seemed fitting to post some local traditional music here. Steiner had ten kids and his wife was his manager. His hobby was supposedly to visit cattle shows.
The track is a remix of a commercial by the Macedonian Hip Hop group XXL. The lyrics go "Oh, a city type, you probably think that we're old fashioned up here too. But that's not true. But attention, it's cool, man!".



Happy 2010 everybody!

Helicopter Rain in Bel Air

"Former Ecuadorian president Abdala Bucaram, is not only a tropical right wing politician, but also a rock performer and video artist. In this great song, he mainly talks about life, about helicopters, tortures and all those things that make Latin American politics a matter of life, death, bemusement and a jolly good laughter as Graham Greene used to say. Bucaram has been called "the repulsive other" by political analysts but his art exceeds these limited interpretations. The texture of his voice reminds us Howling Wolf's 'I put a spell on you' and even Louis Armstrong’s 'What a wonderful world'."

Lord Aux Chiottes, PHD in Contemporary Music, Universidad Perimetral, Guayaquil

Brothers and Sisters, Reggea Traduction!

Best Reggea Traduction Française - Vol.1 Audio (Burkina Faso, 2009, CDR)

Yo, frère Jean-Frédéric nous raconte: "c'est un animateur radio sur Ouaga FM (burkina Faso). Je ne sais pas qui a fait le cd. Mais c'est en vente sur les marchés du sud du togo et c'était diffusé dans toutes les buvettes . Le hit (surtout le morceau ou il parle de maman) de la fin de l'été. C'est vendu dans jaquette slim noir avec photocopie couleur/jaquette. Comme presque tous les cd ou dvd sur place. voila pour l'instant."

All Praise to the Lord,
Fabulator


Reggea Traduction - Piste 10

Folklore Maya - Marimba Tecún Umán - Vol. 2

Folklore Maya - Marimba Tecún Umán - Vol. 2 (Dideca, Guatemala, 19??, LP)

Definitely one of my favourite records of the last months. Fragile music played on a very relaxed mood. Sunny, naive and approximate compositions for marimba, flute and drum. Just beautiful and sometimes quite out of tune too... These funny and vibrating sounds always put a smile on my face.

I found this LP in Graz (Austria) last Summer when Buffle played at the Karneval im Land der Cetacean ethnic music festival and I have been addicted to these sounds since then, just playing this record over and over. All tracks seem to have been composed by Arturo Méndez Cifuentes in the Mayan tradition... and I can't tell you much more about it unfortunately as my second hand copy of the record came housed in a wrong cover. For a few months (!) I mistook this masterpiece for a release by Bolivian band Inti-Mujus. Only a few days ago, when ripping the vinyl for this post, I finally noticed that the record didn't match the cover... Hem. I found the right picture above on the internet.

As read on Wikipedia, "Tecún Umán (1500?-February 20, 1524) was the last ruler and king of the K'iche' (Quiché) Maya people, in the highlands of what is now Guatemala. According to the Kaqchikel annals, he was slain by Spanish Conquistador Don Pedro de Alvarado while waging battle against the Spaniards in the grasslands of El Pinal (Valley of Olintepeque) on February 20, 1524. Tecún Umán is considered the most representative of his people for his bravery and dignity because he fought to protect his land and his people. He was declared Guatemala's official national hero on March 22, 1960 and is commemorated on February 20, on the anniversary of his death" (which is also the date of my birthday by the way).

Hope you'll like this one as much as I do.

Break it

Oby Onyioha - Break it (Sunny Alade, Nigeria, 1984, LP)

Get the streets of Music City ready for this Nigerian eighties electro breakdance classic. The title song of this LP (in both vocal and instrumental versions) is a dancefloor killer. "Nwaezelagbo" is absolute sweetness. "Raid dem Jah" is a lazy visionary steel drum synth reggae tune... Produced by King Sunny Ade and released on his own Sunny Alade imprint.

Bubbly, Sensual, Danish.

Time for another post. The Mayor of M-U-S-I-C-C-I-T-Y kindly asked me to dig through layers of awesomeness around my home region and to post some of the most treasured audio expression there is to be found. What I found is amazing. Here is a masterpiece by Danish keyboardist/composer Tommy Seebach - the track is called "Bobble sex" and the title pretty much says it all. Excellent moog disco saused in erotic guitar jabs and horny female moans. YES. Tommy was a highly acclaimed and beloved pop musician among the Danish people who sadly had to let him go to the other side at the end of march 2003.

Extra treat. On the 12" that exists with "Bobble sex" being the B-side this track is A-side: A cheezy take on "Apache" by The Shadows... This one has an amazing music video & a great female choir.

Take it e.a.s.y

Okay, so this song burned itself into my and my friend JM's minds one cold november evening eating out at our local fav thai house. They had this song playing on repeat for the whole 45 something minutes our stay lasted. Both being big fans of thai music it was highly enjoyable.

SA-BAI-SA-BAI translates into "take it easy" or chill/relax.

Juaneco y su Combo

L'histoire des guitares chicotées du Pérou!!!!

Zaiko Langa Langa x 2

Sebene! Sebene! Sebene!

Prince 4

Guinean dance and music comedian Prince 4 aka Mori Keita on the 1987 (?) video tape Parade.

Interstellar Laser Fantasy

The audio and video files on this page are totally inspiring.

Interstellar Laser Fantasy was a laser disc game manufactured by Funai in 1983. The laser disc background images were created by Japan-based company, Gakken.

In Interstellar, you fly the starship, "Ferald Runner". Your mission is to fly to distant worlds battling alien spaceships and destroying alien bases. Armed with lasers and bombs, you travel across alien deserts, through space caverns, and into bizarre wire framed cities to find and destroy the Delta UFO.

(From Dragon's Lair Project, the laser disc gaming community website)

4 Rappers here, and the fifth is El Señor

This is an amazing piece from Guayaquil, the largest and meanest city of that crazy country called Ecuador. Lirica Oscura is a hip hop band from the slum suburbs. I do not know much about them yet, but I hope that in the near future I’ll find some more of their wicked (very wicked) music.



And a big thank you to the Ecuadorian author Fernanda Toscano for making me discover this!!!!

Faux Pas

Mbilia Bel - "Faux Pas" (Congo RDC, 1983)

King Sturgav Sound System Tape

Life is one big road with a lot of signs.

From the higher spheres of Music City Green Hills Area comes this original tape recording of King Sturgav featuring Uroy, Tenor Saw, Yami Bolo, Josey Wales and Joe Lickshot circa 1985. 12 tracks including: "Standing in my way", "Original spirograph", "Rip it mi friends", "Life is one big road with a lot of signs", "Run come call me", "Breaking up is too hard / Sweet Charly Jones", "Waiting for forever", "Let up multiply", "Singing from a ghetto post", "Security ring" and more. Encoded in wm audio format, playable in almost every media player though. Be sure to check this one!

Dancing Around The Teapot

Afghani Music Recorded by Lowell Sheehy for Charles Armikhanian's Ode to Gravity

I am amazed by Afghan music. I have never listened to sounds that are able to reconcile the most opposed feelings in such manner. They are rough and spontaneous like a dream punk band can be and simultaneously, they suggest deep feelings of graciousness and tranquility as a smooth raga.

I find this dutar music extremely touching. It comes from a world that seems to have vanished, only leaving small traces like the recording of this incredible party. Charles Armikhanian is a musician with a fascinating body of work and in the 1970’s he had a radio program called ‘Ode to Gravity’. Happily, a good number of these broadcasts is available on www.archive.org. I researched the name Lowell Sheehy, but it seems that he has not made other field recordings beside the one presented here.

Kilimambogo Brothers

Here's a first prelisten for the upcoming kikamba mix!

Eba Aka Jérôme - "Trahison"

Wonderful of Africa Eba Aka Jerome et le Sanwi Star - Trahison (Papa-Disco, Côte d'Ivoire, 1978, 12"). Face A: "Trahison".

Voici la magnifique plage titre de ce 12" sorti en 1978 sur le label Papa-Disco d'Abidjan, et n°1 de l'année en Côte d'Ivoire. Vingt minutes de guitare chicotée, pour une des plus belles chansons jamais écrites sur l'infidélité... Dedicated to DJ Snack Attack.

Linnea Quigley "Strange Ways" (Beverly Hills Girls)

So psyched about this one!!
Thanks to jetkust for the original VHS upload.

Taken from the girl-band lesbian soft-core porno flick Beverly Hills Girls .
The band is made up of b-movie giant Linnea Quigley on guitars and vocals, Becky Lebeau on drums and vocals, and some unknown older woman on bass.

This page has two small clips of Linnea Quigley. A toothpaste commercial and another which looks like a clip from the original music video of "Strange Ways".

Special K

Dedicated to the DJs of the World:
Dizzy K - Excuse Me Baby (1982)
Dizzy K - Be My Friend (1983)
Dizzy K - Sweet Music (1984)
Dizzy K - Traffic Jammer (1985)

From Wikipedia:

DIZZY K FALOLA is a Nigerian pop musician and gospel artiste.

EARLY LIFE AND POP CAREER. He lost his parents young. He took his undergraduate studies at the University of Ife. He met Tony Okoroji in the mid-1980s and soon began working with him. His album Baby Kilode became an instant hit. Other albums included Sweet Music and Excuse Me Baby. With Chris Okotie, Felix Liberty and Jide Obi he stimulated Nigeria's emerging music industry, but his last secular hit was African Jamboree, produced by Bisade Ologunde.

GOSPEL MUSIC MINISTRY. In 1989 he became a born-again Christian and, inspired by Ebenezer Obey, gave up a recording contract with EMI Music to turn to gospel music. He started his Christian recording in 1994. He toured with ministries through Europe and the United States, and his gospel music albums sold in the United States, Canada, Sweden, and throughout Africa. These five albums were: My Joy, Power in the Blood, The Healing Songs, I'm Blessed, Marvellous. From 2001 he began visiting Nigeria again, and in 2002 came to Lagos for the official African launch of Dizzy K Gospel Music Ministries with Centre of my Joy. He now lives in London and owns a studio that publicises youth problems. He is married with four children.

Dizzy K Falola is on Facebook

What a Feeling

Annette Brissett - "What a Feeling"

Ecstatic reggae cover of the famous song from the film Flash Dance... and so much better than the original if you ask me! Taken from her beautiful album Love Power (Wackie's, New York, 1983).

Ecuadorian Dinosaurs and Dancers

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