African Guitars

Another one from Mississippi that is predictably collectable- 5 LPs of African guitar music spanning 1951 to 1970, 200 copies done and in a wooden box. There's no information other than the artists and song titles and a weird flow of styles over albums, but it's a beautiful time capsule of some wonderful music from the edges of African pop. Disc 1 is mostly Congolese and Kenyan artists, have at it here.

Orient Express Disco Sound

Seriously- it's called 'Orient Express Disco Sound' and the cover looks like that? Just download it.

Dabke!

Attached to the market I frequent is a Hookah shop- pipes and accutrements- Arabesque tat like embroidered pillows and glittery shawls, a few belly dance outfits and a small selection of CDs. There are however, some gems in there. This one I have no idea about at all as it's a somewhat bootleg looking deal- no label, no sleevenotes, song/artist listing in Arabic and cover of a dark eyed beauty photoshopped over a line of dancers. Obviously worth buying, and here it is. Modern dabke, all beats and cheap synths and immensely fun. What better way to start the New Year?

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

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.

Tribute To Farid El Atrache

As I lagged last week (visitors, thanksgiving, work, Vinjak, beer, chaos) here's a good one to make it all up for you, one of two excellent under $5 Omar Khorshid scores. He is, to my mind, as good a guitarist as you'll find. Effect drenched Egyptian surf guitar? One side Mr. Clapton, this is the business, and Omar's a suave devil in his Adidas trackie top too. Farid is a star as well, that's him in the header (for the next week or so anyway). Music is here. You absolutely should buy the fantastic Sublime Frequencies compilation which has been reissued on CD with bonus tracks.

Meanwhile, in Slovenia

Yeah, I'm lagging but after turkey washed down with Vinjak it's a miracle I can even type. Music in the next day or so. Opa!