AFRICA MUST BE FREE
Lilith, the questionably legal and questionably russian reissue label, has started reissuing crucial tropicalia and krautrock lp's. So far this has included both Harmonia records, the 2nd and 3rd Cluster records, Faust's first lp (on clear vinyl), 4 Caetano Veloso lp's and Os Mutantes debut lp. Who know's what the future holds? I suspect at least the 2nd and 3rd Mutantes lps and hopefully the early Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa and Tom Ze lps (and is the original tropiclia v/a comp too much to ask for?) and maybe a couple of the other Faust lps and maybe Amon Duul. Perhaps it has something to do with what label they were licensed too in Russian and that's how they got the rights. With all that, it means a lot of record purchasing and hard decisions because all these lps go for $20+ in US record stores. But since they're all CLASSIC, it's a reasonable price to pay.
One of the other threads in my recent listening (besides a 77 punk revival streak- Pagan's 'Shit Street' = great) has been a wandering path through African musics. Besides a little bit of the Awesome African Music Tapes this has been solely a practice of seeing what comes through Amoeba and buying then. Therefore this equals an awesome comp on Portland's Mississippi Records (very cool boutique/bedroom/analog only label) of seemingly random African obscurities, Sublime Frequencies' Tuareg Guitar Revolution (from Sun City Girl's Alan Bishop - i think), and the two recent Afrobeat 3xlp single artist collections from Vampisoul (Munster's soul side?), one I have - Orlando Julius, and one i desire - Tony Allen. Sure there's a bit of voyeuristic exoticism involved, but there's also some ear opening. Really there's not much tying all these together other than a shared continent and the fact that they aren't folkways 'tribal' field recordings. Sure I should be more systematic and more adventurous, but these days I listen/acquire for my own ears and not to prove or share or one-up my fellow listeners. Recommendations for further things to pursue needed! I'm probably going to try to track down the (john atkinson recommended) Indestructible Beat of Soweto next or maybe some of those Ethiopiques or fuck it and finally break down buying boogaloo lps and comps.
As an aside: In conversation I've recently thought about how Damon Albern has been the successful (at keeping his youth cool) where David Byrne had previously failed (and now appeals mostly to World Music (ewwwwwww) Yuppies. Though arguably it's silly to think of twenty something post-napster money-burning world music gourmands (like myself) to be really any different then the less hip thirty something putamayo types. At least it's something to ponder. I'd say something, and do, to defend the way I (we) listen versus the jam band and putamayo types, but my cynicism shoots through any claims to difference. And the stakes are high! So the blood boils to build the wall and broaden the (perceived) schism.
Oh, and Sleeping Bag's Reggae Dancehall II $2 tape = gold. My reggae ear is now starting to favorably hear dancehall.)
One of the other threads in my recent listening (besides a 77 punk revival streak- Pagan's 'Shit Street' = great) has been a wandering path through African musics. Besides a little bit of the Awesome African Music Tapes this has been solely a practice of seeing what comes through Amoeba and buying then. Therefore this equals an awesome comp on Portland's Mississippi Records (very cool boutique/bedroom/analog only label) of seemingly random African obscurities, Sublime Frequencies' Tuareg Guitar Revolution (from Sun City Girl's Alan Bishop - i think), and the two recent Afrobeat 3xlp single artist collections from Vampisoul (Munster's soul side?), one I have - Orlando Julius, and one i desire - Tony Allen. Sure there's a bit of voyeuristic exoticism involved, but there's also some ear opening. Really there's not much tying all these together other than a shared continent and the fact that they aren't folkways 'tribal' field recordings. Sure I should be more systematic and more adventurous, but these days I listen/acquire for my own ears and not to prove or share or one-up my fellow listeners. Recommendations for further things to pursue needed! I'm probably going to try to track down the (john atkinson recommended) Indestructible Beat of Soweto next or maybe some of those Ethiopiques or fuck it and finally break down buying boogaloo lps and comps.
As an aside: In conversation I've recently thought about how Damon Albern has been the successful (at keeping his youth cool) where David Byrne had previously failed (and now appeals mostly to World Music (ewwwwwww) Yuppies. Though arguably it's silly to think of twenty something post-napster money-burning world music gourmands (like myself) to be really any different then the less hip thirty something putamayo types. At least it's something to ponder. I'd say something, and do, to defend the way I (we) listen versus the jam band and putamayo types, but my cynicism shoots through any claims to difference. And the stakes are high! So the blood boils to build the wall and broaden the (perceived) schism.
Oh, and Sleeping Bag's Reggae Dancehall II $2 tape = gold. My reggae ear is now starting to favorably hear dancehall.)
posted by furtanic at 3:11 PM
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