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Ata Kak — DaaNyinaa
from Obaa Sima (1995?)
When I first heard this I was in a stupor for seven minutes—what the hell is this?
It’s Ghanaian highlife singer Ata Kak rap-singing on top of clubby techno beats and shabby synth piano, with a few Michael-Jackson-esque shrieks thrown in—and released on CASSETTE. This shit is old. And it’s some of the catchiest stuff I’ve heard in recent memory.
I first heard this track on Dent May’s Journey Through the Nite mixtape for Vice Magazine, which is highly danceable and highly recommended. The original source is of course none other than the unbeatable blog Awesome Tapes from Africa—but you might want to grab the remastered album, here.
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André Cymone — Kelly’s Eyes
from Livin’ in the New Wave (1982)
Epic squiggly-synth dance track about a long-distance affair, from Prince’s childhood buddy and onetime bassist André Cymone. With what may be one of the best lyric couplets ever:
I’m sick and tired of this phone affair
I just wanna get into your underwear!
They don’t make ‘em like that anymore, do they? Though WALSH sampled this track on his tune ‘Birthday Girl.’ So maybe they do.
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Jef Barbara & DannielRadall — On Mirror
from Cocaine Love EP (2011)
Oh gawd… you’re gonna need sunglasses for this one. This sounds almost just like that slinky synth jam by Italian pornstar Ilona Staller I posted a few weeks back… only she was singing about bedtime entertainment. These guys are serenading cocaine. Already lined up ‘On Mirror’ perhaps?
Funny, because I’ve been reading about white powder all week for a work-related assignment, the new book An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine. Did you know Freud used to get suited up in white tie and gloves, head to Parisian soirees populated with medicine’s best and brightest, and snort a little cocaine to “untie [his] tongue”? Yeah.. me neither.
Freud wrote his ode to cocaine, Über Coca, in 1884. You can grab this slightly less scientific modern tribute for free, courtesy of Mr Barbara, Mr Radall and the ever-great AM Discs.
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Dent May — Fun
from Fun b/w Wedding Day 7” (Sept 2011)
Sing-along summer FUN from Dent May, recorded at Hits Inc., his home studio at the Cats Purring Dude Ranch in Oxford, Mississippi. Cosmic American music for the synth kids. He plays Thursday at Glasslands in Brooklyn, with fellow spaceman Julian Lynch; Prince Rama djs.
Follow Dent on tumblr (lots of tunes there!); buy the digi-single via iTunes…or order sexy clear vinyl from Paw Tracks.
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Twin Sister — Bad Street (2011)
Was listening to the excellent new yvynyl summer mix yesterday, and this tune jumped right out, because I thought Mark accidentally threw a Tom Tom Club b-side on there.
Which, to my ears, means Twin Sister has locked into their best work yet. They’ve come a long way from their (also awesome) free-floating space jams—this is rock-solid new-wave funk, punctuated by glittery synths and staccato contributions from the rest of the band. And Andrea Estella’s vocals are better than ever—ultra-confident, alluringly deep. Dance party, anyone?
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Roy Ayers — Everybody Loves the Sunshine
from Everybody Loves the Sunshine (1976)
Make sure your shades are on for this one…and your chaise lounge is in full recline. Then play on endless repeat. This number is an encyclopedia of keys, from electric piano to synthesizer strings to wah-wah snorts and squeaks from the ARP synth. Liquid gold.
Added to : Imperial Beach Tunes
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Givers — Up Up Up
from In Light (Glassnote, June 2011)
Crisp little curlicue guitars twisting to and fro on top of a thumpity-thump-thump beat, with sing-along vocals that just make you wanna screeeeaaaam!! Tiffany Lamson’s raspy voice is really to die for. And if you stick around til the end, they’ll actually slay you with huge drums and synth hits.
I quickly fell in love with sunshine and bounce of this single from Givers. The chorus is just is just contagious, rapturous glee, and the joyous afro-beat keeps the track bopping along. The gang vocals and alternating male and female vocals are some of the better I’ve heard. First available on their debut EP, it now leads their debut album, In Light, available June 7th through Glassnote Music.
- Tyler Hanan
Lesands — Glowing
from Sweet Skin (2011)
video by Cargo Collective
LA’s Lesands brings to our attention this sparkling VHS footage of a cheerleading meet in the 80s. You may conclude, as I did, that Lesands is quite fond of bouncing lycra-suited butts… which do, however, appear an ideal accompaniment to his beats.
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Datahowler — Voltage
from Slowdrifter (2011)
This track’s so short it’s almost like a little business card that says “Datahowler: Synth Squealer, Chillwave Creator” but it’s the kind of business card you look at for a good bit and think “nice card” before shoving it in your pocket.
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Voyage — I Love You Dancer
from Voyage 3 (1980)
Hot daaaaamn fancy dancer. Unless yer in a straightjacket, next thing you know you’ll be sashaying down the street, grabbing passerby and lip-synching the words in their face as you fake ‘em out with your next-level moves.
At least that’s what I did this morning. Your mileage may vary.
Welcome to the weekend…
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Nite Jewel — It Goes Through Your Head (2011)
Mexican Summer put out a 12” by Nite Jewel a few months back, and I gotta say I’ve been digging this spangly number. I won’t say it’s the most cutting-edge sound since, oh, 1983 (in fact Nite Jewel released an earlier EP on the label 1984 Records). But she has a damn fine set of vocal chords, has figured out the charming “Culture Club” setting on her synth, and this tune is so catchy it, you know, goes through your head.
ps NPR had a nice piece on the vinyl boom the other day, in which Mexican Summer features prominently, and in which I also learned they have a shop in Greenpoint. I guess I’ve been sleeping under a rock.
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Computer Magic — The End of Time
from the Spectronic EP (2011)
Popped through the Free Music Archive yesterday and stumbled on some Computer Magic — aka a blond girl from Brooklyn named Danz, who’s pumping out her computer-assisted tracks at a furious pace, and it’s all sounding synthetically delicious. This jumpy jewel will have you pogoing off Mario Bros clouds and gliding through lines of golden coins.
She just performed at Brooklyn’s Bruar Falls and Union Hall with a live band, which I missed, but never fear, she’ll be at The Gutter in Williamsburg on Feb 26th (yeah, it’s a bowling alley). Until then, why not charge up with yer own video game soundtrack and start Danz-ing?
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Dumbo Gets Mad — Harmony
from Elephants at the Door (2011)
I fell in love with the trippy Italian group Dumbo Gets Mad back when the surfalicious slo-mo video for Plumy Tale made the blogrounds…maybe you did too. Now, with just enough time gone by to forget about ‘em, they’re back with a staggering masterpiece of an album, straight out of who-knows-what-provincia in Italy.
Rich, ethereal psych-rock landscapes littered with chunky synths, falsetto, electronic marimbas, jangly out-of-tune guitars, cheesy organs, basement drums and flying saucer fumes, each tune essentially a musical Where’s Waldo, with so many tracks it’d take Phil Spector or Brian Wilson to get to the bottom of it all.
You can get all this madness for free from the label, Bad Panda Records. Highly recommended for those who enjoy sippin’ on the Ariel Pink/MGMT koolaid. Definitely of the cult, and the caliber.
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Rob Jo Star Band — Black Sun
from Rob Jo Star Band (1975)
Heard this French psych-punk rager on Brian Turner’s show the other day and it blew my mind. Like a vision of the End Days, cooked up in a garage with homemade fuzz boxes and smooching robots.
