Mike Absalom — Interflora Angel
from Save the Last Gherkin for Me! (1968)
Was checking out the recently launched John Peel’s Record Shelf yesterday. Phenomenal collection of stuff, really easy to get lost among his stacks and stacks of vinyl! Here’s one of the tracks from the ‘A’ shelf… a tune by Brit folkie Mike Absalom. Whole album streaming here.
Giti Pashaei — Gol-e Maryam (1971)
I just found a slew of amazing tracks over at the blog Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annex, including this 1971 single by Giti Pashaei, a big star in Iran before the Revolution. This track is about an agave relative known in Iran as the ‘Mary flower,’ from which a perfume is made. From wikipedia:
Giti was one of the most popular Iranian singers of the late 1960s and 1970s. She became famous with her song ‘Gol-e Maryam’ (The Maria Flower). The Iranian Revolution put an end to her singing career in 1979. Women were forbidden to sing in public. Later on she composed many sound tracks for Iranian movies after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
Is it just me or did Iran seem like a hell of a lot more fun in the Shah days?
photos via WhatsUpIran.com.
Massara — Margherita (1979)
Today we’ve got a special double feature — one song, two ways. The first (and original) track is the Italian dancefloor hit ‘Margherita,’ aka ‘Daisy’… which repackages the “he loves me, he loves me not” children’s rhyme into an orgiastic italo-disco blow-out.
The genius behind this anthem was Pino Massara, an Italian composer and producer who wrote songs for some of the leading men and ladies of Italian music—Mina, Adriano Celentano and Nicola Arigliano among them. (This track actually samples Celentano’s 1968 hit ‘Azzurro,’ which Pino did not write.)
What I would give to be in a Milanese disco circa 1979, knowing Italians’ love for sing-alongs… pazzesco.
(Stay tuned for part two…)
Marifé de Triana — Dolores, la de Valverde (1971)
Spectacularly glossy track from the sevillana Marifé de Triana, a copla singer and actress. Starts out sounding like ‘Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da’… then the horns come in, recalling a Herb-Alpert-style jam, and then BAM!!… Marifé arrives with a show-stopping vocal performance.
This track comes via a Mallorca-based music blog, Pick Up: Colección de discos. Don’t miss it if you like mid-century Spanish music!
Weird Dreams — Hypnagogic Lullaby
from Hypnagogic Lullaby EP (2011)
East London’s Weird Dreams dropped this EP earlier this year on Sleep All Day Records, and it’s a gem. The songs, like this one, are beautiful glossy pop, swimming in a sea of guitars. They put out a sweet 7” single on Halloween… and have a debut LP in the works. Should be out around Feb 2012!
Catch them on soundcloud. Buy the EP digital here.
Roberto Carlos Lange — Way
from Vesicle Pisces (2011)
Here’s a quiet, thrilling piece of drone from Robert Carlos Lange, aka Helado Negro. A sort of rumbling electro-acoustic odyssey, glued together with pipe organ, a subtle pleasure for your ears. It’s also free for the taking at his bandcamp.
Roberto performs this Friday 12/23 at The Stone in NYC, as part of the dublab/Luaka Bop night of programming.
Sugar Babe — Down Town
from Songs (1975)
The next yer darling mix is in the works—it features lots of danceable Japanese finds, particularly disco-era numbers, along with some Italo disco (including a track by a parliamentary porn star) and loads of other tracks primarily from 1979-1985.
Stay tuned for that… in the meantime, here’s a taste. Truly great Japanese disco pop, with one of the catchiest choruses ever, from Tatsuro Yamashita’s short-lived group Sugar Babe. A well-loved track in Japan (the reissue record even features a karaoke version!)
Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo — Me Dá Um Beijo (Give me a Kiss)
from Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo (1972)
Visits to the blog Super Sonido always yield a few equatorial treats. My last visit was no exception, turning up a brilliant set of psychedelic tracks from Brazilian composers Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo. They hail from the state of Pernambuco, in the region of Brazil that juts eastward into the Atlantic.
Here’s the cover of the forthcoming Dinowalrus album Best Behavior — due Feb 2012.
The One, the Only, the Inimitable DOMINO SUGAR factory on the East River. Nice.
The Human League — Don’t You Want Me
An unforgettable performance by The Human League on German TV in 1982. Red lipstick, rouge and eyeliner are really the key to this song!
(the Hollywood footprints are a little extraneous, yes, but then again so are the fake palms)
