'O'Rang - Herd of Instinct (1994)

Deliciously deep and dubby, dark and disorientating, like a fall down the rabbit hole.  This is the first album from Paul Webb & Lee Harris, formerly of Talk Talk. It features guest appearances by Beth Gibbons (Portishead), Matt Johnson (The The), Graham Sutton (Bark Psychosis, Boymerang), Mark Feltham (Talk Talk) and Anthony Thistlewaite (The Waterboys).  I think you need to hear it.



Tracklist:

01 Orang         
02 Little Brother         
03 Mind On Pleasure         
04 All Change         
05 Anaon, The Oasis        
06 Loaded Values         
07 Nahoojek ~ Fogou

Get it HERE.

Archach (again)

Okay...there are 6 songs on this fine cassette and I don't know the titles of any of them so, as usual, any information you good people could provide would be greatly appreciated.  Anyone who's listened to the previous Archach posts will know what to expect, gorgeous pastoral Berber pop music from this Souss Valley superstar.

Enjoy.

Get it HERE.

Musiques de l'Asie Traditionnelle Vol. 7: Java - L'Art du Gamelan

 

"The learned music of Java - one of the largest islands of Indonesia - is characterized by the use of a large orchestra based on metallophones named gamelan...there are several thousand types, the structure of which varies according to the kind of music they are used for, according to the period when they were built, finally according to the districts.  The oldest gamelan still in use nowadays date back to the hinduist period of Java, i.e. before the fourteenth century, and still have an extremely pure sonority"

Jacques Brunet

In sharp contrast to the often frantic gamelan music of Bali, these strange sounds emanating from Java exude an airless sense of stasis, or maybe the movement is slower than can be perceived, like evolution or galaxies being formed.

Tracklist:

01 Gending Babad, mode Slendro Nem
02 Gendin Tejanata suivi de Ladrang Playon, mode Pelog Lima

Get it HERE.

Cumbiando - Various Artists (1966)

I can find no mention of this compilation album anywhere on the internet and in such cases I always welcome comments and contributions from those in the know.  What I get from a few listens to the music is that this is a lovely compilation of big and brassy South American pop-cumbia, so if that's your thing, here's a chance to grab something nice.

Here's a taste of what the album has to offer, Pepe Bustamante's 'El Guanaquito':

Tracklist:

01 Los Moonlights - Rosa Maria
02 Danny Chilean - Linda, Bailos Cumbia
03 Hnas Navarro y Orq. P. Beltran Ruiz - La Cumbia de Rosina
04 D. Guttierrez y Conj. Tropical - El Zapato de Rosina
05 J. Bedoya y su Conj. - El Globo
06 T. Camargo - El Pelequero
07 Luisin Landaez - La Banda Borracha
08 T. Camargo - Filosofito
09 Hnas. Navarro y Orq. Beltran Ruiz - Mira Que Coincidencia
10 Luis Landaez - Mira Que Coincidencia
11 Los Bambys - Por Arriba Y Por Abajo
12 P. Bustamante - El Guanaquito

Get it HERE.

Ammouri Mbarek - Nekk Dik A Nmun (1978)

Here's another of the cassettes I picked up on my most recent Marrakech excursion.  This one is quite unusual in that the guitar, violin and flute take centre stage on these recordings and help Mbarek develop a very gentle, pastoral backing for his songs. This album was recorded and released in the year that Mbarek split from the group Ousman, another of the groups (alongside Nass El Ghiwane, Lemchaheb, Jil Jilala and Izenzaren) credited with spearheading a resurgence in the use of the Berber dialects in Moroccan popular culture.

Tracklist:

01     Nik Dik
02     Taghlaghal
03     Isksiten
04     Wayahou
05     Ourti Nlouz
06     Izwa Ifri
07     Amtta Oul

Get it HERE.

Sir Shina Peters - Afro Juju Series 1(1989)

Hey, hey, here's some more juju for yer ears!  Sir Shina Peters started out playing guitar for General Prince Adekunle before forming a group with Segun Adewale in the early eighties.  He formed his own juju troup in the late eighties and this was his first release.  It's a frantic fusion of juju and fuji - a surefire hit on the dancefloors of my dreams - and I hope you like it.



And while you're here, you may want to check this out - a bizarre Shina Peters jungle remix:
  


Tracklist:
01         Afro-Juju       
02         Je Kajo       
03         Ijo Shina       
04         Moju Kuro       
05         Oyin Momo       
06         Omoge To Rewa       
07         Omo Enia Lo Sora       
08         Jesu Gbadura Mi       
09         Atoto Arere       
10         Irawo Lagba (Ace)       
11         Adebisi Odutayo       
12         Afro-Juju Lo Gbode 

Get it HERE.

Sunny Ade & His African Beats - Volume 10

 

 

I picked up this lovely double LP in the bargain bin of local second hand shop, unfortunately the first disc was missing - maybe someone else has it?

Regular visitors will know that I'm quite partial to a bit of Sunny Ade's juju sound, especially these vintage recordings (of which there seems to be very, very many).  These songs are fairly genteel in pace making the LP quite a languid affair.  Perfect for the warm sunny days we've been having recently.  

Tracklist:

01 Ariya Odun Kewa
02 Teni Begi Loju

Get it HERE.