Around the World in 40 Songs
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Artist:
Summertime gets me in the mood for a different kind of musical experience: funky compilations from around the world. Since I am not getting to travel at all this summer, i'm going to have to do my voyaging via music.First stop: Panama!
My grandfather was born in Panama, while his father was there helping to build the canal, so i've always been curious about the country. This is the ideal musical introduction for lovers of deep grooves like myself.Compiled by the folks at the UK's Soundway records, Panama! Latin, Calypso & Funk On the Isthmus, 1965-75 is THE summer album. From James Brown covers ("New Bag" by The Exciters) to what some consider the origins of Reggaeton ("Racombey" by Lord Cobra), Panama has an incredible musical history that has yet to be fully discovered. Pick it up at Dusty Groove.
On to Italy!I just received a postcard from Italy yesterday- a friend of mine has spent the past 8 years traveling around the world, from Alaska to Tibet, and every once in a while I get a slightly cryptic, very poetic missive from him. Trying to alleviate the feeling of wanderlust I get when I hear from him, I put on Arriva La Bomba, a compilation of trippy Italian covers and soundtracks. The album includes Giorgio Moroder's version of "Mah Na Mah Na", a song made famous by The Muppet Show, as well as the coolest Deep Purple cover i've ever heard "Hush", done by a band called I Colours. Grab it over at Lost-in-Tyme.
A short hop over to France, with So Young But So Cold: Underground French Music 1977-83, on the Tigersushi label. This compilation of No Wave music is chock full of artists I had never listened to before, like The (Hypothetical) Prophets, consisting of Bernard Szajner (thought by some to be the Brian Eno of France) and Karel Beer. Cold synth sounds and spoken word vocals, I see The (Hypothetical) Prophets as a companion to New York No Wave bands of the same era, like Lydia Lunch and Teenage Jesus & The Jerks. Play this at a vodka-fueled late night party.
Finally, we head over to my favorite musical continent, Africa. Booniay!! A Compilation of West African Funk was a must have because it includes a track from William Onyeabor, whose song "Better Change Your Mind" was my soundtrack last summer. According to the liner notes from another excellent compilation, Nigeria 70, "William Onyeabor studied cinematography in Russia for many years, returning to Nigeria in the mid-70s to start his own Wilfilms music label and to set up a music and film production studio. He recorded a number of hit songs in Nigeria during the 70s, the biggest of which was "Atomic Bomb" in 1978. "Better Change Your Mind" is taken from the same album, and, as well as slating the power-crazed nations of the world, the second half settles into a unique slice of stripped down spacey, lo-fi funk which is unlike any other Nigerian music being made at the time. William has now been crowned a High Chief in Enugu, where he lives today as a successful businessman working on government contracts and running his own flour mill." Someone's got to write a biography of this guy. Booniay!! was compiled by the L.A. reissue label, Afrodisiac Records. The current vogue for digging up lost African funk gems has resulted in a huge amount of these compilations, and for the most part, they are quite good. Booniay!! is no exception. From the Ivory Coast (Brigth Engelberts and the B.E. Movement) to the Ghanian highlife musician Gyedu Blay-Ambolley, think of this album as a musical history dance party.Buy Booniay!! here.
My grandfather was born in Panama, while his father was there helping to build the canal, so i've always been curious about the country. This is the ideal musical introduction for lovers of deep grooves like myself.Compiled by the folks at the UK's Soundway records, Panama! Latin, Calypso & Funk On the Isthmus, 1965-75 is THE summer album. From James Brown covers ("New Bag" by The Exciters) to what some consider the origins of Reggaeton ("Racombey" by Lord Cobra), Panama has an incredible musical history that has yet to be fully discovered. Pick it up at Dusty Groove.On to Italy!I just received a postcard from Italy yesterday- a friend of mine has spent the past 8 years traveling around the world, from Alaska to Tibet, and every once in a while I get a slightly cryptic, very poetic missive from him. Trying to alleviate the feeling of wanderlust I get when I hear from him, I put on Arriva La Bomba, a compilation of trippy Italian covers and soundtracks. The album includes Giorgio Moroder's version of "Mah Na Mah Na", a song made famous by The Muppet Show, as well as the coolest Deep Purple cover i've ever heard "Hush", done by a band called I Colours. Grab it over at Lost-in-Tyme.A short hop over to France, with So Young But So Cold: Underground French Music 1977-83, on the Tigersushi label. This compilation of No Wave music is chock full of artists I had never listened to before, like The (Hypothetical) Prophets, consisting of Bernard Szajner (thought by some to be the Brian Eno of France) and Karel Beer. Cold synth sounds and spoken word vocals, I see The (Hypothetical) Prophets as a companion to New York No Wave bands of the same era, like Lydia Lunch and Teenage Jesus & The Jerks. Play this at a vodka-fueled late night party.Finally, we head over to my favorite musical continent, Africa. Booniay!! A Compilation of West African Funk was a must have because it includes a track from William Onyeabor, whose song "Better Change Your Mind" was my soundtrack last summer. According to the liner notes from another excellent compilation, Nigeria 70, "William Onyeabor studied cinematography in Russia for many years, returning to Nigeria in the mid-70s to start his own Wilfilms music label and to set up a music and film production studio. He recorded a number of hit songs in Nigeria during the 70s, the biggest of which was "Atomic Bomb" in 1978. "Better Change Your Mind" is taken from the same album, and, as well as slating the power-crazed nations of the world, the second half settles into a unique slice of stripped down spacey, lo-fi funk which is unlike any other Nigerian music being made at the time. William has now been crowned a High Chief in Enugu, where he lives today as a successful businessman working on government contracts and running his own flour mill." Someone's got to write a biography of this guy. Booniay!! was compiled by the L.A. reissue label, Afrodisiac Records. The current vogue for digging up lost African funk gems has resulted in a huge amount of these compilations, and for the most part, they are quite good. Booniay!! is no exception. From the Ivory Coast (Brigth Engelberts and the B.E. Movement) to the Ghanian highlife musician Gyedu Blay-Ambolley, think of this album as a musical history dance party.Buy Booniay!! here.
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