Unknown Khmer Surin Music

Listen to the first track

Get the whole thing here.

Found at a Thai/Cambodian grocery store in Portland, Oregon, a few years ago. Khmer Surin is a northern Cambodian/Thai dialect, similar to Khmer, but different enough that some suggest it be considered its own language.

Fez City Clan | Fez City Clan

Listen to a fabulous track from this CD.
Grab it all here.

When I began collecting music from around the world in the 1990s, I could never have imagined that one day you'd be able to walk into a music store like Kim's or Other Music and find a solid row of rock music from around the world.

The same cannot yet be said for rap and hip-hop. There is so much out there, all over the world, that it seems likely that at some point some intrepid soul or souls will launch a label or two and begin a similar process for the genre.

There seem to be two kinds of non-American rap: That which attempts to sound in every way as close to contemporary American rap as possible; and that which creates a kind of fission (as opposed to fusion) between the source and host musics, the result of which is often exciting and genuinely new. Obviously, I'm far more interested in the latter.

Happily, that's what we have in the CD above, which I found in a music stall in Marrakeh's Jamaa el Fna.

Some day--perhaps some day soon--I'll put together a zip file of samples of rap and hip-hop from around the world that I've discovered over the last decade. Until then, enjoy the present disc!

Cuī Jiàn | Balls under the Red Flag

Listen to "Flying"

Listen to "Balls under the Red Flag"

Get it all here.

Found for a dollar in a Chinese-language bookstore in Flushing.

Ground-breaking Beijing art/punk rocker Cuī Jiàn has been recording since the mid-1980s. Considered the father of Chinese rock (he was the first mainlander to adapt Western-style pop), he actually started out with the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra when he was 14 years old. His song "Nothing to My Name" became an anthem during the Tiananmen Square protests, despite his own protest that it was merely a love song--nothing more, nothing less.

His music is at times funky, experimental, slightly off-kilter--sort of like James Chance & The Contortions x Sonic Youth, though I don't think I've heard anything quite like at least some of the tracks on this CD. As the title would suggest (and yes, it means *those* balls), he often mocked China's communist past (and present), ultimately getting himself banned from airplay and major public performances until 2005. Recorded in 1994, "Balls under the Red Flag" is considered by many to be his masterpiece, one of, if not the greatest rock records ever recorded in China.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that he's single-handedly responsible for the current Beijing punk movement.

Read a long, detailed article on Cuī Jiàn here.

Read an interview with him here.

Great live version of "The Village Attacks the City" (song begins 2:10 into video):

Dolphin | K.A.M.A.-3

Listen to a track from this CD

Get it all here.

Found today in St. Petersburg Book Store on Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn. A rather fabulous low-fi alt-rock band with minimal vocals and lots of chunky screechy guitar above a wobbling bass and chippy trap set. Sounds live, and may well be so.

The following bit of Joy Division-y goodness, however, is all studio, and well worth a watch:

Various Artists | Altin Mikrofon 1965

Get it all here.

I found this and two other discs (1966 and 1967-68) at Uludag Video in Brooklyn on I think Avenue W near Ocean Avenue.

I'll upload the other two in the next day or so. Meanwhile, a bit of context ...

From Anatolian Psych:

Altın Mikrofon (Golden Microphone) song contest was first held in 1965 to help give a new direction to contemporary Turkish music through the use of western techniques, forms and instruments. The participants were consist of college student bands of metropolitan cities like İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, who most of them were widely renowned bands like Moğollar, Haramiler, Erkin Koray. The finalists would get their contest song (and a song of their choice) recorded and printed as a single and sold on the music market for revenues which were left solely to the benefit of these groups.

Many bands and artists like Sis Beşlisi, Mavi Işıklar, Mavi Çocuklar, Cem Karaca & Apaşlar, Selçuk Alagöz, Silüetler, Oksijen, Kaygısızlar, Hayaletler and many more were introduced to Anatolian cities other than İstanbul, Ankara, and İzmir.

As the regulations for the contest was announced, 78 competitors applied immediately. The jury had a long list of 119 people (which reduced to 82 at the begining of the competition) including important musicians, artists and journalists like M. Nurettin Selçuk, Nadir Nadi, and Safiye Ayla.

Video? Yeah, video:

Hương Lan | Cánh Cò Quê Hương

Listen to a fabulous track from this CD

Get the whole thing here.

Found in a Vietnamese convenience store/sandwich shop in Manhattan's Chinatown.

Hương Lan started her career in Vietnam in 1961 at the age of five when she participated in performances of Vietnamese opera. She was recording pop music by 1966 and ultimately left Vietnam for San Jose, Calif., in 1975.

Listen to a pre-75 recording:

Кэто Джапаридэе | Russian Romances

Listen to a track from this CD

Get it all here.

I know zip about Keto Dzhaparidze, other than that she was apparently Russian and had a fabulously soulful voice. Found in a Russian media store on Macdonald Avenue under the F line el.

I'm guessing these recordings date from the early 20th century, maybe the early teens to twenties. Would welcome any info any of you out there might have.

UPDATE: See the comments for more info. Apparently she was Georgian, not Russian, and these songs are a bit later than I had thought, 30s-40s.

A live performance:

Chris Marker | PASSENGERS

My review of Chris Marker's amazing PASSENGERS photography show and book (Peter Blum SoHo and Chelsea) is the cover story of Berlin film journal CARGO.

Asala Nasri | Al Mushtaka

Listen to "Al Mushtaka"

Get it all here.

Born in Damascus to the famous Syrian composer Mostafa Nasri in 1969, Asala began her recording career in 1991 at the age of 21. She moved to Egypt, where she subsequently became a superstar all over the Arabic world. In my opinion, only Najwa Karam's voice rivals Asala's.

It's likely that I found this at Rashid's in Brooklyn.

Watch Asala sing live:

ORIGINAL ART POETRY COMICS FOR SALE!

Go here to see available work and details.

I'm selling original artwork of the comics series The New Life that I've drawn for Rain Taxi since 1997. If you don't like the price of any piece, feel free to make me an offer!

Comics versions of work by Katie Degentesh, Drew Gardner, Sharon Mesmer, Eileen Myles, the Earl of Rochester, Chris Stroffolino, and more!

Like this blog? This is a great way to support it ... plus, you get some fab art.