Munir Bachir - Luth Solo "Oud" Recital A Geneve (Club du Disque Arabe 72505)

Munir Bashir (Arabic: منير بشير‎)* was an Iraqi Assyrian musician and one of the most famous musicians in the Middle East during the 20th century and was considered to be the supreme master of the Arab maqamat scale system.

He created different styles of the Arabian short scaled lute, the oud. He was one of the first middle eastern instrumentalists known to Europe and America. Bashir’s music is distinguished by a novel style of improvisation that reflects his study of Indian and European tonal art in addition to oriental forms. Born in Iraq, he had to deal with numerous disruptions of violent coup attempts and multiple wars that the country went through. He would eventually exile to Europe and become noticeable first in eastern nations such as Hungary and Bulgaria.

...Especially in the field of soloistic improvisation (Arabic: taqsim) over the common scales (maqam, plural maqamat) in Arabian music, his colleagues considered him to be an unsurpassed master. It surely attributes to Bashir’s pioneering work, that nowadays oud-players are able to give solo-concerts all over the world.

...Munir Bashir died of heart failure in 1997 in Budapest at the age of 68, a short time before his planned departure to his Mexican tour. (Wikipedia)

A 1971 solo recital in Geneva, Switzerland. Bashir's masterful performance shines through on this somewhat primitive recording. 320 vinyl rip by yours truly*. You can find another great Munir Bachir LP at the ever-magnificent Anthems for The Nation of Luobaniya. Enjoy!



Download Link: Munir Bachir - Luth Solo "Oud" Recital A Geneve (Club du Disque Arabe 72505)

Les Artistes Arabes Associés

A1 Maqam Nahawend
A2 Maqam Rast
A3 Maqam Kourdi
A4 Maqam Hidjaz Kar
B1 La Voix De L'Orient (The Voice Of The Orient) / Variations
B2 Le Oud Fou (The Mad Oud)
B3 Hayra (Ziriab D'Hier Et D'Aujourd'hui)
B4 L'Orient En Andalousie (Sources De La Musique Espagnole)




*Would love to find an image of Munir Bachir's name in his native Syriac script. Wikipedia's Syriac text just isn't doing the trick.

**Folks, this might be my last post for a week or two- As I'm about to move to a new apartment. Too much to do. Moving is of those few circumstances where I'm inclined to curse my LPs for their heavy load. Wish me luck!

Ghostcapital Guest Mix: CD/FM Radio (*by Chris Cilla, 2011)

Chris Cilla is a Portland underground cartoonist whose weirdo comix manage to melt my delicate cerebrum. His style is amazingly off-kilter, with an aesthetic lean toward oddball heros like Basil Wolverton or golden-era outsiders Fletcher Hanks and Boody Rogers, for starters. Chris is the only fellow I've ever known who has vocalized an abiding love for first-wave Scrooge McDuck comics. Just check the cover art- My man rules! This CD/FM Radio mix-disc offers more of Cilla's eccentric, mixed-up, stoney vibe- just in an auditory format. Dig it. Must admit, I was supremely disappointed not to see even a single track here by Chris' beloved Donald Fagen. (Ha!) I had already figured that for certain. Here's a wild ride through burnt-out garage riffs, sweeping funk grooves, and brief forays through the prog-driven haze. I would highly recommend consuming these selections while perusing Mr. Cilla's excellent new comic book- The Heavy Hand. (Details below)

Download Link: (V/A) Chris Cilla- CD/FM Radio (Ghostcapital Mix, 2011)

1. Loaded To The Gills / Michael Liggins & the S... 4:15
2. Black Sheep / SRC 4:42
3. Kol Basti / 3 Hur-El 2:12
4. Refrigerator / Electric Eels 3:28
5. Black Sabbath Medley Reversible / Ruins 2:16
6. Oral Fixator / Mondo Guano 4:16
7. Commercial for 'CD FM Radio' / Radio Myanmar 1:57
8. Answer Lies Beyond / Master's Apprentices 3:38
9. Nehadar Zèytkèwen / Tèwèldè Rèdda 4:02
10. Ventricular Refibulation / Jack Officers 3:58
11. Slow Dope Motion / Bargain Town 0:44
12. Sensi For Sale / The Tufftones 4:11
13. Tiny Postulation 4 / Lucas Moseley 4:37
14. Down in the Bottom / Creepy John Thomas 5:12
15. Spider & The Fly / Monocles 2:04
16. UFO / Sun Ra and his Arkestra 8:37
17. Django / Thrones 2:46
18. Rap Machine / Whodini 4:58
19. Invisible Wind / Jackie Stoudemire 5:10
20. Small Talk / Tall Dwarfs 3:35



The Heavy Hand, Chris' first graphic novel, was published by Portland's Spark Plug comics imprint in late 2010. A primo specimen of contemporary comic absurdism, it reads like a musty, beer stained David Lynch cartoon. I will make no attempt to synopsize, but will say I personally keep rereading it in the hope that this book's many bizarre, anachronistic details will one day all fall into place. As author/oracle, Chris has told me he "like[s] to think they will." Perfect. He's also given me permission to post a handful of image scans from he book, in conjuction with his rad mix-disc. So, take a looksie:

Stan Hubbs - Crystal (1982 - Companion Records reissue, 2011)

"Many plays were required for me to get a handle on this obscurity, and I'm still not sure what to make of it. The brainchild of an older guy who looks more like a liberal arts college professor than a rock artist, the music is a strange hybrid of styles, partly because Hubbs recruited a much younger band of musicians to commit his opaque visions to vinyl. Loud arena-rock fuzz riffs and dense keyboard support wild Hendrix-flavored feedback leads and the rare treat of deadpan ensemble singing. These odd vocals have a certain Zappa flavor but remain largely unintelligible, although some clarity is provided on a few tracks with female lead vocals. The loud, compressed recording and buzzing wall of keyboard makes this sound almost like King Crimson (or Freedom's Children) at times, but this is surely mere coincidence. The songs are actually pretty good with frequent minor key hooks, and the sub-Starship playing isn't bad for a local band, but the strange, listless choral singing pulls Crystal in yet another direction. Hubbs presumably had written his tunes with other aesthetic models in mind than early '80s power-rock, and out of this unusual mix emerges a record that, in its total obscurity, manages to find some previously unclaimed musical ground. At this point, only two copies are known to exist. A few years after making the LP, Stan Hubbs became one of the few persons in history to smoke so much pot that he died."(Acid Archives)

"FINALLY the official vinyl reissue of Stan Hubb's 1982 Crystal LP is available. 500 faithful repros were made of this confounding slab of stoner rock, each including a replica of the original 16 page booklet. Crystal was recorded in Hubb's rural Sonoma county living room and just like the original, this reissue was mastered and cut by Paul Stubblebine, pressed by RTI and housed in heavy, old-style jackets." (Companion)

Dude...A serious heavy riffin' obscurity! Stan Hubb's = Wow! Quite the artifact of 80's outsider rock. Big ups to hemptimes for this gnarly rip.



Download Link: Removed by polite request from Companion Records. Buy this record.

1. Sundance
2. Joe and Gina
3. Let's Go On Back to Camp
4. Young Saint Augustine
5. Juggernaut
6. The Best Man for Some Jobs is a Woman
7. Golden Rose
8. Crystal
9. Seems Like it's a Rich Man's World

T.M Sounderarajan- T.M. Sounderarajan (HMV/EMI, 1971)

"T.M.Sounderarajan was the famous Playback Singer in Tamil film industry. He was born on 24th March,1923 at Madurai. He was the first singer to introduce the stereo system in tamil songs. He was popularly and shortly called as TMS. TMS is still actively singing for tamil film industry. TMS married in his early age. He was studied only SSLC but his voice of songs were very top all over South India." (Source)

Had it not been spelled out by the cover notes, I would've never guessed that these were devotionals. Sounderarajan's playback pedigree shines through his vocal delivery and the bouyant, upbeat arrangements of the songs. This is great stuff. 320 vinyl rip by yours truly.



Download Link: T.M Sounderarajan- T.M. Sounderarajan (HMV/EMI, 1971)

ECSD. 3203

1. Unnai Padum Thozhilindri 3:59
2. Mannanalum Thiruchenduril 4:55
3. Andru Ketpavan Arasan 4:11
4. Endan Kuralil Inippadellam 4:08
5. Enakkum Idam Undu 4:44
6. Isaiyal Vasamaga 4:41
7. Karpagame Unaiyandri 3:26
8. Kanchi Kamatchi 4:12
9. Thandhaiyudan 4:47
10. Unnaiyum Marappathundo 4:43

Karen Black & Harry Freedman - The Pyx OST (The Left-Handed-Label, 1973)

A special cameo post from Mr. Nate Ashley (mastermind behind the excellent Written In Blood horror music series). He's just fixed up this unnofficial soundtrack EP for 70's cult favorite, The Pyx, starring Karen Black. Says Nate:

"If Karen Black would have released an EP in the early seventies this is what it would have probably sounded like (minus the Harry Freedman cues). Her songs were produced by Bob Johnston who produced many classic folk
albums from Cohen to Dylan. Karen did music in other films as well, but these tracks have a particular haunting and melancholy quality that fit so well in the Pyx and stand just as well on their own. I recorded from vhs and dvd sources when originally making this cd but opted for the better sound quality of the vhs in the end."



Karen Black & Harry Freedman - The Pyx OST (1973)

1. Song of Solomon Chapter 3 (verses 1-3)
2. It All Turned Out the Way I Planned It
3. The Last Scarifice
4. The Satanic Choir
5. I Was Touched By Your Passing Through
6. Song of Solomon Chapter 3 (verses 1-4)


If you have any questions or comments you'd like to share directly with Nate, feel free to hit him up: lefthandedlabel@yahoo.com

http://www.lefthandedlabel.com/

Scientist- Dub Landing (1981) *320kbps

"Dub's golden age dates from the mid-seventies to the early 1980s, when the genre's most creative forces were heavily active and the dub album was a widely employed format. Both volumes of Dub Landing clock in at the latter end of the scale, bookending the classic period, representing two of the last great 'classical' dub albums ever put together in Jamaica, before the digital form of computerized dancehall delivered a killer blow to the longevity of straight dub albums. Produced by Linval Thompson, mixed by Scientist and released in 1981, Dub Landing Volume 1 starts out deep in premo dub territory, with a mighty powerful dub reformation of Al Campbell's excellent 'Unfaithful Children,' here showcasing Scientist's exceptional skills of deconstruction and reconstruction, evidencing his untouchable mixing credentials. Believe. " (Boomkat)

Classic Scientist tracks are just thick. Deep dubs for the pre-apocalypse.




Download Link: Scientist- Dub Landing (1981) *320kbps

A1 Invaders
A2 Landing
A3 Dark Side
A4 Attack
A5 Beaming
B1 Vulcan
B2 Black Out
B3 Tima Passage
B4 Meteorite
B5 Galaxy

***

Produced by Linval Thompson
Arranged by Desmond Popsy & Benup
Recorded at Channel One by Crucial Bunny, Barnabas & Maxie
Mixed at King Tubby's by Scientist
Bass : Flabba Holt
Drums : Santa
Lead guitar : Sorvel
Rythm Guitar : Bingy Bunny
Percussions : Sky Juice & Skully
Organ : Steely & Winston Wright
Piano : Gladdi

Label : Starlight (UK)
Cat # : SLD 901

Monty Reynolds and His Silver Seas Orchestra- All Jamaican Calyspo: Series 5 (Motta's, 1957)

It wasn't uncommon for golden-age mento records to find themselves misleadingly marketed as "Jamaican Calpyso" in the interest of buttressing Stateside sales. This album was released as the fifth volume in a 10" mento series by Motta's Recording Studio in 1957. Some of you might recognize two of these irreverent Monty Reynolds classics from V2 records' excellent Mento Madness collection. Fun Stuff! A much-needed dose of sunshine at the tail end of this long, grey winter.



Download Link: Monty Reynolds and His Silver Seas Orchestra- All Jamaican Calyspo: Series 5 (Motta's, 1957) 320 vinyl rip by yours truly. *Re-upped 7/20/12

MOTL-105

A1 Not Me
A2 Long Time Gal I Never See You
A3 Caroline
A4 Wrong Man
B1 Car Park
B2 Go Slow
B3 Pen Pal
B4 Me Dog Can't Bark

Steve Gunn- S/T (Self-Released CD-R, 2007)

Totally zoning to this early solo outing from Brooklyn-based guitarist Steve Gunn. Fans of American primitive picking à la Jack Rose or Robbie Basho might want to give Mr. Gunn the time-of-day. Self-released on CD-R in 2007, I'd been looking high & low for this one. Big ups to Owl (as ever) for the hook-up.



DL: Steve Gunn- S/T (Self-Released CD-R, 2006)

1. Ai 4:28
2. Osiris Jones 5:35
3. Rose 6:13
4. Crystal Mysteries 7:13

Juthika Roy- Songs of Devotion (HMV, ECLP. 2278)

"..Featured on this album are 12 selections from amongst the artiste's most popular devotional songs including both Meera and Kabir Bhajan."



Download Link: Juthika Roy- Songs of Devotion (HMV, ECLP. 2278) 320 vinyl rip by yours truly.

His Master's Voice: The Gramophone Company of India Limited

1. Ghunghat Ka Pat Khol Re 3:14
2. Tan Man Pe Manhar Ne 2:54
3. Sajanwa Nainan Mere Tumri Ore 3:26
4. Main Ne Chakar Rakho Ji 3:06
5. Pag Chunghru Bandh Meera 3:00
6. Nachungi Main To 3:26
7. Rana Ji Main To Girdhar Ke 3:13
8. Meera Lago Rang hari 3:16
9. Tulsi-Meera-Sur-Kabir 3:22
10. Kanhaiya Pe Tan Man Lutane 3:26
11. Aaj Mere Ghar Preetam 3:10
12. Main To Prem Diwani 3:06

*If any of you know a good way to correct the vocal distortions on this well-worn record, please drop me a line. Either way, this record was just too fantastic not to post...I hope you enjoy it.

(V/A) Groove Club Vol. 3: Cambodia Rock Intensified! (Lion Productions, 2010)

"There were no deluxe studios for the musicians who recorded the devastating tracks contained on this double-LP collection. Nothing so grand. Most of these tracks were recorded live, with traditional instruments finding a place alongside any keyboards or guitars that could be found.

And yet, it was these experiments of Khmer rock musicians which transformed the nightlife of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh—and which many years later have seduced countless listeners around the world with their groovy sound. Alas, in 1975 came an entirely different type of transformation: the rise to power in Cambodia of the fanatical, anti-Western Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot. Within roughly four years, implementing their “concept of Year Zero,” Pot and his regime were responsible for the deaths of an estimated two million Cambodians, many in the notorious “killing fields.” Even the most famous and beloved Khmer musicians could not escape. Sinn Sisamouth (“the Emperor of Khmer Music”), Ros Sereysothea (“The Golden Voice of the Royal Capital”), and Pan Ron—all featured on this collection—met their deaths at the hands of the Khmer Rouge..." (Cover notes)

Tha rock is hot. 2xLP collection of raw Khmer psych & soul from the years just prior to the Pol Pot takeover. The artist bios included in the liner notes are expansive, illuminating and deeply tragic. Sold out in many shops, I'd highly recommend you purchase these Cambodian Groove Club collections before they're all gone. 320 vinyl rip by yours truly.

Buy it here.



Download Link: Removed

* 1. Crazy Loving You- Thra Kha Band
* 2. Chnam Oun 31 -Pan Ron
* 3. Gunya Rouh Sroh -Ros Sereysothea
* 4. Pros Reang Yeh Yeh -Pan Ron
* 5. Nek Na Min Rom -Houy Meas & Dara Chom Chan
* 6. Sray Mouy Keo -Ros Sereysothea
* 7. Tonsai Mok Pi Na -Pan Ron
* 8. Prous Teh Oun -Sinn Sisamouth
* 9. Onguyng Keuy Bey -Sinn Sisamouth & Girls
* 10. Jah Jou Aem -Ros Sereysothea
* 11. Kchol Kdot Tirk Jonn -Sinn Sisamouth
* 12. Jom Nor Trocheak -Pan Ron
* 13. Kairch Har Cut Stung -Ros Sereysothea
* 14. Berk Tvea Auy Bong -Im Songserm & Houy Meas
* 15. Oun Jong Prolung Saravan -Thra Ka Band feat. Keo Sokha
* 16. Tirk Ho -Pov Vannary
* 17. Kom Nirk Oun Euy -Ros Sereysothea
* 18. Sora -Yos Alarong

FXFU: March 19th (PDX)

Hot off the presses, it's the poster for FXFU on 3/19/11. I'll be spinning records between the bands with another fellow named Black Sandwich.

Here's the schedule:

* 5:00 DOORS OPEN
* 6:00 YES, FATHER
* 7:00 SURPRISE GUEST
* 8:00 WHAT HEARTS
* 9:00 OLD LIGHT
* 10:00 MIKE COYKENDALL AND THE GOLDEN SHAG
* 11:00 PIGEONS
* 12:00 STIFFWIFF

Eagles Lodge
4904 SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97215

Doors Open at 5pm.