12/22/12

Russian Folk Songs






Slowly sorting the upload problems, and this one is worth the wait. The Dmitri Pokrovsky Folk Ensemble doing a selection of traditional tunes, and doing them fantastically. I will admit to buying this because the cover was a little psychedelic, and it turned out to be a great purchase. Mr. Pokrovsky was, it seems, a well known and respected enthusiast for traditional Slavic folk music, and he put together a group capable of covering some diverse styles brilliantly. This one is from 1979 is unaccompanied vocals that manage to be both other-worldly and rollicking. I'm a sucker for a good choral record, and this most definitely is one. скачать

12/13/12

Chinese Rocks







Another recent but highly limited and semi bootleg slab of vinyl. Direct from Outhouse Records (?) and on vaguely racist yellow vinyl, 'Chinese Rocks' is a collection of top notch South East Asian rock'n'roll madness. Mostly from Hong Kong and Singapore, it's the sound of western youth culture being reinterpreted and reshaped, a musical concept that I love.  Many of these bands were undoubtedly playing the lounges of hotels or in 'foreign' bars and these recordings may have been little more than an attempt to cash in on an assumed hipness, but there's some wild musical abandon here, and it is good. Find it here.