Νοσταλγία | Nostalgia

On Wednesday, March 28, Bodega Pop Live on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio spun favorite tracks from the Pathé 100 Hong Kong + Shanghai series, early Jamaican mento and R&B, Greek garage and laïka, Krautrock from Brain Records, 70s mor lam from Soi 48, and nascent hip-hop from the U.S.A.

Listen to the show now in the archives

Rock Simera! (Rock Now!) | 1971

Listen to "They All Mean Bad"

Listen to "Imaginary Doctor"

Grab the whole collection here

Found today at the Greek Music Superstore on 31st Street here in Astoria. Hopefully this mostly awesome Greek psych-era collection makes up somewhat for my relative neglect of this blog this year. 

I promise a Best of 2014 before the end of the year. And I know that most of the links here are dead. I'll get on it. All. Soon.

The Olympians | The 45s 1966-1971

Reupped by reader request, here.

[Originaly written and posted November 1, 2012.] So, contrary to my rather cavalier pre-Sandy post last Sunday, here I am about to talk about the storm. Not to reiterate on the enormous damage it has caused up and down the east coast, but to turn your attention to the magazine I've been writing for since this summer, Open City. A number of writers associated with that online journal were asked yesterday to report on the storm's impact on New York's immigrant cultures by editor Kai Ma, who is a personal hero of mine for having started a magazine that focuses on immigrant culture in New York City in the first place. 

Now Kai is assembling and editing these reports from around the New York City area on the special impact the storm has had on these immigrants who, frankly, make this city (as well as this humble music blog) what it is. The first report, from Sukjong Hong, just went up today; you can read it here. 

My neighborhood, Astoria, didn't fare as poorly as others, though there is at least one tree downed on every other block. (Some 10,000 trees reportedly toppled in Queens alone.) We were lucky. Very, very lucky.

Today, while one of my co-workers relocated to Brooklyn with her family from their powerless, waterless apartment on the easternmost edge of Manhattan's Chinatown, I had the relative luxury of wandering around Astoria, surveying pockets of damage here and there, and marveling at the number of businesses--pretty much all of them--that have reopened in Sandy's wake. (Truth be told, most reopened yesterday.) Including one of my go-to immigrant-run stores: GMV, or Greek Music & Video Inc. (25-50 31st Street, Astoria, NY 11102).

As you'll remember, back in February I found this fabulous CD by surf-garage-psych band The Olympians at GMV; today, I returned to the same spot in the stacks and discovered the subject of today's post: A collection assembled in 1996 of the band's earliest 45 records.

The CD includes original songs and covers in both English and Greek (including a Greek version of the Kinks' "Lola") spanning the first five years of the band's existence. It's a rock-solid, life-affirming collection that I'm going to guess many of you, regular visitors and those who may have stepped in to the Bodega for the first time today, will enjoy.

And for everyone whose lives were affected by this truly unprecedented storm, our thoughts are with you ...

Various Artists | DANCE (Greece, 1969)

Listen to Popi Asteriadi's "In Filopappou"

Listen to Nelly Manou's "Crazy Girl"

Listen to Bodega Pop Live's three-hour Greek pop program, Highway to Hellas! 

Get the 14-track album here

I found this lavishly compelling late-sixties Greek garage-pop album a couple of weeks ago in the $3 bin at the Greek Music and Video Superstore (23-33 31st Street, Astoria). I'd gone from my apartment on the LIC-Astoria border up into Astoria proper to meet my cousin Takashi (technically my cousin Rebecca's son) for lunch at BZ Grill before he headed out for a gig in Iceland.

We'd scheduled lunch on the late side, which allowed me to more than simply "pop in" to the Superstore. Honestly? I gave myself a full hour to scrape my way through the store's numerous cheapo bins (because, God forbid I miss anything, right?). When I saw the cover of today's offering, I fell in love.

"What can you tell me about this CD?" I asked the woman behind the counter. (I held back the urge to blurt out, "BECAUSE IT'S GREEK TO ME." Good going, me!) She took it from my hands, turning it over once or twice, squinting at it. I was expecting, given the Aubrey Beardsleyesque cover, that it might be Greek showtunes or something along those lines. "It's kind of ... popular music ... sixties."

"Real sixties?" I asked, having no clue what I meant by that.

"Yes," she affirmed. 

It turns out, she was right.

Stelios Kazantzidis | Asteria Tou Ellinikou Tragoudiou

Just reupped here.

[Originally posted in May 2011. Since then, the Greek music store where I found this moved a couple of blocks north on 31st Street, to just above 23rd Road, and I've moved several avenues south. Also, I'm pretty sure that I'm remembering correctly and that someone in the comments field wonders if I'd been watching The Wire. I hadn't. Since then, however, I've seen the show and understand where the comment came from.]

There is, a couple of blocks away from me, on 31st Street in Astoria, under the N/Q el, what feels like the Tower Records of Greek music. Now, you know I love music, especially pop music, especially-especially old pop music, from around the world. But I'm also, let's face it, not rich. I'm used to spending between $1-$10 maximum for prerecorded entertainment, especially that of a musical nature ... and there is nothing in this store less than, like, $25.

That said, you know those cartoons where the person's head is replaced by a big lolly-pop? Or sucker? Well, yes, in situations wherein I'm confronted with aisles and aisles of prerecorded product, especially that of a musical nature from other countries, that cartoon sucker-head is me.

Oh, god. Was it, like, Christmas Eve when I got this? I know it was cold and dark and depressing and there was some sort of holiday that I really had nothing to do with, but should have. And that this place was empty. Except for me. I spent hours combing through the stacks and plucked out two items, this CD and another, which perhaps I'll upload another day.

Stylianos "Stelios" Kazantzidis (Aug 29, 1931–Sept 14, 2001) was one of Greece's most popular Laïkó singers. Much of his music was included in films. And that is where my "knowledge" of him begins and ends. Well, other than the extreme kick-ass nature of the pop music he recorded. Which, if you weren't familiar with it before, you will be now.

Typically, when I'm buying music from a place like this, I'll either get extreme attitude from the person working the register, or a host of questions: "You speak [language of music]? You like [country of origin] music?"

That night, perhaps because it was Christmas Eve and I was the sole customer at this caverous CD warehouse, I got nothing but a knowing nod. Of course I was buying this CD, the clerk seemed to be saying. That, and, in what I can only assume was Greek, a "Merry Christmas, loser."

Here's a video to watch while you're downloading:

Unknown Dimotika Band | Our Finest Folk Songs

Listen to the first track of this kick-ass CD


Reupped by reader request here.


[Originally posted in August 2012.] I found this collection of Greek dimotika, or folk, music nearly a decade ago in this odd little store in Bayridge just off fifth Avenue at around 79th or 80th Street. All I remember about the store was that it was actually two stores, which you could go back and forth from via a single door in the back connecting both. Oh, wait; no. It was three stores, one of which was a wedding dress maker? Right on the corner. I just Google mapped the area and it looks like none of this exists anymore. Anyway, there was the dress maker, then this weird sort of Z-level movies DVD place and then, last but not least, a small Greek music store. 


What was a Greek music store doing in Bay Ridge? Well, Bay Ridge hosts an annual Greek Cultural Festival, so I'm guessing there must be a Greek population there, although I don't think there were any restaurants or other Greek-related businesses, save for the CD store. I've always thought of the neighborhood as predominantly Arabic (there used to be half a dozen or so Arabic music stores dotted along Fifth Avenue), but this is New York, after all.


I picked up this CD on a lark for like $5-10, having no idea what it was, and have loved it ever since the first play. It sounds to me like gypsy music, perhaps because of the clarinet and the extremely soulful voice of the singer. But it clearly says "dimotika" on the cover and that, so far as I know and understand, means "folk." Oh, and if you read Greek, here's the back cover with the track list:

Sorry I seem to be posting more writing and links to writing than music recently, but I've been getting a lot of requests for writing and comics lately, so I've been admittedly distracted from the music bloggin'. I've got a stack of stuff I've been meaning to share with you, including Arthur H's first album, given that y'all seemed to love so much the song of his I included here. Soon!

Eirini Konitopoulou-Legaki | Music from Crete

Listen to the first track on this album

Get it all here.

A really lovely CD I picked up at GMV (25-50 31st Street, Astoria, NY 11102). I just assumed that, because it looked to be a female singing duo, this CD must therefore be as awesome as this or this. My assumption was indeed correct--the album is filled with absolutely gorgeous harmonies--although I'm completely in the dark as to whether Eirini Konitopoulou-Legaki is one person or two. Help!

I've been recovering from a bout with what was either a low-grade nasal infection or early strep throat; the antibiotics I started on Friday made me feel so energetic by Saturday that I spent the day rearranging my room and writing/drawing work space. Why should you care? Because, dear reader, in the process I discovered a number of things I had long ago planned to post here but for whatever reason had slipped out of sight and mind. Insane great things. Don't believe me? Check out yesterday's post and then come back to me with your hesitation and nay-sayin'. 

Doubts quelled? I thought so.

Panorama of Rebetiko Songs | 3 CD Box from Greece

Listen to "Smirneiko Minore"

Get all three CDs in 256 luscious kbps here.

An incredible collection spanning from 1927-1940, found in the same Greek store where I got this. 

I had planned to post a couple more Cheb Khaled CDs this week, but then I discovered that both were already among the 52 of his albums posted here. (Also, in response to last week's Chebfest, Hammer posted a huge collection of early Khaled on his blog, дևծιστøρία.)

So, I thought and thought and thought about what would be a nice consolation prize. And, so ... here we are.

I had to upgrade my Divshare account as it expired and they no longer offer the plan I was under. Good news for you: I now have five times the storage space. Which means, from here on out, nothing less than 256kbps ... and maybe we'll even get super-fancy and bump it all the way up to 320. 

Poke around here while you're downloading ...

Ethnic Balkan Music | 3 CD Box from Greece

I found this fabulous 3-CD set about 8-10 years ago on what was my first-ever trip to Astoria, Queens. I had no idea then that I'd wind up living in this neighborhood, which I had thought at the time was cold and indifferent, based solely on my trying to ask two passersby where a particular address was that I was looking for and having them completely ignore me.

Before I finally found my destination, I stumbled into a Greek music store, where I found this incredible boxed set along with another boxed set of early rebetiko music (which, yes, someday I will upload as well). My memory is very hazy but I am almost certain the store was on or near 31st Street and that it was on the corner. If that was really the case, then it must have gone out of business years ago.

The first CD includes music from Albania and the Central Balkans, 1920-40. CD number two concentrates on Bulgaria and Turkey, 1930-45. And the last focuses entirely on Greece, 1922-50.

"Girl of the Wave" (Albania, first CD)

"Mother Said to Ziatonka" (Bulgaria, second CD)

"Heavy As Iron" (Greece, third CD)

Get the whole box set here.

Rap Around the World | A Bodega Pop mix

Listen to "Phnom Penh Hip Hop" by The Khmer Rap Boyz (Cambodia)

Listen to "Haiti" by Elza Soares (Brazil)

Listen to "Eat Around" by Missile Scoot Girl (Japan)

Listen to "Γουστάρει Η Παλαβή" by Εισβολέας (Greece)

Listen to "DK Anthem" by Divided Kingdom Republic (Zimbabwe)

Get the 24-song mix here.

As anyone who has spent a bit of time in the Bodega knows, this here shop keep has a particular predilection for international rap and hip-hop--the further the language from English, the better. That said, rap & hip-hop from around the world comprise a small percentage of the CDs in my collection, maybe 1%, if that. But you wouldn't know it, looking at the BP tag cloud.

I'm not exactly picky when it comes to pop; though I suppose I do have some standards. But, while there is certainly a goodly amount of bad hip-hop out there--mostly stuff that simply mimics rap in the USA--there are people in all corners of the world who, picking up cues from Western examples, take it somewhere else, occasionally somewhere totally unexpected. 


I'm not going to sit here this morning and tell you that every hip-hop artist in this mix is some sort of insane genius, turning rap & hip-hop up to 11. But some of them are. And those that aren't, at least among what I've tried to include here, are at bare minimum making the genre their own.

If you visit here often and have partaken of the dozen or so hip-hop related CDs I've posted over the last couple of years, fear not: I tried really, really, really extra-special hard not to duplicate, whenever possible. So there's Fama in here, but not the Fama you can get elsewhere on this site. I didn't actually count, but I think maybe 4 or 5 songs in this mix can be found in other full CDs or mixes on this blog.

I also didn't just rip stuff from YouTube videos, although--Jesus God Almighty, it was certainly tempting. Everything here is from my own personal CD collection, with a few things I downloaded myself from other sites that I wasn't able to find in CD anywhere (e.g., the Khmer Rap Boyz).


Okay, I'm going to shut up now and let you get to this. Would love to know what you think. It's my personal favorite Bodega Pop mix, and--at some point in the future, assuming people like this--I'll probably put together another (or two, or three).

Rita Abatzi | 1930-1948

Another find from this weekend's visit to GMV, the Greek music superstore near my apartment in Astoria where I also found this fabulous CD by 60s rock band Olympians. Judging by the sound of this one, I'm guessing the whole CD was ripped from 78s. Lots of surface noise. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about her:

Rita Abatzi (Greek: Ρίτα Αμπατζή) (1914 – 17 June 1969) was a Greek rebetiko musician who began her career in the first part of the 1930s.

She was born in Smyrna, Asia Minor, now İzmir, Turkey. A versatile singer of rebetiko, Smyrneika and other music, she was a popular performer on gramophone records in the 1930s. During that decade, the only female singer of rebetiko who rivalled her in popularity, and in the number of her recordings, was Roza Eskenazi.

Abatzi performed with many of the most famous musicians including Panayiotis Toundas, Vangelis Papazoglou, Kostas Skarvelis, Iakovos Montanaris, Spyros Peristeris, Dimitrios Semsis, I. Ogdontaki up to Markos Vamvakaris and Vassilis Tsitsanis. Her career ended after World War II. She did not publish any discography. She died in Egaleo (Athens), Greece.

Her sister, Sofia Karivali, was also a notable singer of rebetiko.

Listen to the second track on this CD

Get it all here.

Olympians | Olympians

GMV, or Greek Music & Video Inc. (25-50 31st Street, Astoria, NY 11102), is a self-described "superstore" about four or five blocks from my apartment here in lovely Astoria. GMV lives up to its self-description; as far as I can tell, they're the single largest retailer of Greek music in the New York City area. Remember Tower Records? These guys are like the Tower Records of imports from the Hellenic Republic.

Despite GMV's proximity to my home, and despite my love for all foreign music burned into optical discs of polycarbonate plastic, I admit that I don't stop in much at GMV. The reason is simple: Other than CDs from Japan, these are the most expensive imports I've ever encountered. It's one thing to pick up five CDs at $2 each from a tiny Burmese store off the 7 train ... even if only one of them is great, you've only spent ten bucks. Greek music typically retails at anywhere from $20-26 for a single CD.

This time, I was lucky. Now, we all know you can't judge a CD by it cover, but when I saw this one, I pretty much assumed it was going to be delightful. It is.

The Olympians are one of three bands mentioned in the 60s Rock section of Wikipedia's Greek Music page. From what I can gather, this collection is a compilation, including songs from 1966-1970. The CD itself was released in 1994 and seems to have more or less vanished from the face of the earth. (I wasn't going to post it if I had been able to find it anywhere online.)

Listen to the first track on this CD

Get it here.