Once Again From the Bosom of Loronix: Henrique Simonetti- Panorama Musical (1956)

Some more gorgeous instrumental music from Brazil, brought to us by Loronix. Truly precious work by Simonetti here, crystalline and idyllic and romantically cinematic. Check out the Original Post.

PANORAMA MUSICAL (320)

From the Bosom of Loronix: Radames Gnattali: Joias Musicais Brasileiras (1954)

Continuing to resurrect what little I can of Loronix, here's a wonderful slab of Brazilian instrumental music by Radames Gnatalli, a very good composer whose work can also be found here, bolstering the bottomless voice of Nelson Ferraz. The tunes are orchestral with a hint of jazz, a strong sense of film score, and just a smack of exotica. Check out what morsels of info there are at the wellspring. INFO&Source

Musicais Brasileiras (320)

Flash Strap Presents: Jungle Shadows (Mix #1)

On the one-year anniversary of the first Grzimek Safari mix (give or take some days), here's a new adventurous musical excursion for this savage new year, already so darkly under way. Deep grotto jazz, exotica soul, jungle pop, and anthems for amphibious cars. Perfect for the tape deck in your Safarimobile, or the upholstered mahogany stereo in your Explorer's Room.

There will probably be a volume two next month if you like. Enjoy. Download Both Parts. Follow the links if you're curious. (Mediafire seems to feel that "part one" is in violation, weirdly enough, so I've swapped that link over to Wupload for your downloading pleasure.)

*This mix has been included in the esteemed Doug Schulkind's new edition of Mining the Audio Motherlode, focusing on blog mixes. Check it out, there's more great great mixes from the foggy depths of the blog bog.

And never fear to comment, friends!

PART ONE
1. Candy Clouds (Part I)- Hans Dulfer & Ritmo Natural
2. Blackground- Duo Ouro Negro
3. Seabird- The Alessi Brothers
4. Blue Shadow- Alan Parker
5. Bolivia- Gato Barbieri
6. Nubian Queen- Michael Angelo
7. State of Independence- Jon & Vangelis
8. Loch Ness Monster Stomp- Ferrante & Teicher
9. Flamingo- The Charades
10. Martha Au Clair [bolero]- Orchestre Jamel
11. Nature Boy- Nat King Cole
12. The Phantom- Duke Pearson
13. In the Jungle- Michael Farneti
14. I Don't Like- Lee Jung Hwa (w/Shin Joong Hyun)

PART TWO
15. Chromatique- Vangelis
16. Do You Feel It?- The Alessi Brothers
17. Take Me With You- Lyn Christopher
18. Young Lions- Adrian Belew
19. Exotic Nights- Dieter Schütz
20. New World In The Morning- Roger Whittaker
21. Bahia- Bing Crosby & Xavier Cugat
22. Joshua Gone Barbados- Bob Dylan
23. Canto Karabali- Trio Los Panchos
24. Without Her [vocals]- Harry Nilsson
25. News From The Exchange- Sven Libaek
26. Every Night- Paul Anka
27. Your Dream Like a Stream- Kim Jung Mi (w/ Shin Joong Hyun)
28. Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair- Arthur Lyman
29.Five Grams Of The Widow- EmbryoNNCK
30. April Rain- The Latin Jazz Quintet (with Eric Dolphy)
31. Apocalypse Now: Voyage & End Credits (Flash Strap Mix)- Carmine Coppola & The Rhythm Devils
32. Theme from Hatari- Henry Mancini
33. Seasons in the Sun- The Kingston Trio

PART ONE/PART TWO

Fantastic Man: William Onyeabor Atomic Post (*UPDATED&COMPLETED*)

The Onyeabor Library has been completed, largely due to the efforts and generosity of Feq'wah. I present to you now the fully-updated William Onyeabor Mega-Post.

If you don't have a thank-you in your heart for Feq'wah then get outta my house!



This fine Nigerian master has made many an appearance on the blogosphere, but in the interest of continuing to vigorously spread the very good word of Mr. William Onyeabor, I offer this post. To the best of my knowledge this represents nearly the complete Onyeabor discography, give or take some rarities and whispered-about myths. Please share any additional information you might have, dear reader.

Here is a brief biography of the man, lifted from the liner notes of the Nigeria 70 comp "The Definitive Story of 1970's Funky Lagos":

William Onyeabor studied cinematography in Russia for many years, returning to Nigeria in the mid-70s to start his own Wilfilms music label and to set up a music and film production studio. He recorded a number of hit songs in Nigeria during the 70s, the biggest of which was ‘Atomic Bomb’ in 1978. ‘Better Change Your Mind’ is taken from the same album, and, as well as slating the power-crazed nations of the world, the second half settles into a unique slice of stripped down spacey, lo-fi funk which is unlike any other Nigerian music being made at the time. William has now been crowned a High Chief in Enugu, where he lives today as a successful businessman working on government contracts and running his own flour mill.

Let's start with 1978's Atomic Bomb, his second record (which I believe I originally came across at the excellent blog Big Head Stevenson). Here we see the first example of the definitive Onyeabor sound: repetition, gorgeously simple electronics and synthesizers, a tradeoff between his own laconic vocals and unmistakable-yet-never-credited female backup singers, and uncomplicated, uplifting messages of positivity, world peace, or everyday emotions. This album contains one of his best songs (the perfect little funk-run "Atomic Bomb") and one of his most well-known ("Better Change Your Mind", featured on the World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love's a Real Thing comp). There's not a bad song here, but another highlight worth mentioning is the charming ode to lifelong fidelity "I Need You All Life", a smile in song-form, bubbling over with gurgling synth sounds of the most optimistic variety and one of the most winning examples of his patented back-up vocals in action. Not to be missed.



ATOMIC BOMB (256)



Next in line we have Tomorrow (1979), which I believe I found at Feq'wah's now-defunct Fishtail Lion. All the same elements are in play here, which is for the best. In this case, more of the same means another little masterpiece- if anything, the beats and compositions are slightly stronger. One of my very very favorite songs of his is here, the fantastic "Fantastic Man", which finds his singers cooing to him "you loook soooooooooooo good.... fantastic man." This is an essential record.



TOMORROW (320)





1980 brought an LP entitled Body and Soul, the entirety of which was once difficult to find- until Feq'wah dragged it out into the light. It's a great one, really grand. Long, funky tracks with awesome sounds.

BODY AND SOUL



Not long ago, Feq'wah graced the comments here one-half of this 1983 Onyeabor joint, Good Name. The title track is a 10-minute joyride of a jam, with a really full, rushing, sci-fi funk sound. Sometime later, another friend o' mine sent me the second half (which may have come from this interesting blog), with the request that I put it out there for all. The track is but another jewel in the Onyeabor sky. It's a glory and a pleasure: seven-and-a-half minutes of crunchy robobeats, wide synths, the classic lead/backup back-and-forth, and (somewhat unique in Onyeabor's catalogue) a great deal of heroic saxophone soloing. So very very fine.

GOOD NAME




We jump ahead now to his final record, Anything You Sow (1985). In a lot of ways, it's my personal favorite. The sounds are a little fatter, a little goofier, and it's just a damn fun record. Fun as hell. Honestly, it's not all that different from any of the others, but the electronic factor is upped considerably. I guess it's extra-bubbly? With more handclaps, perhaps? Trust me, you're gonna need it, because it's amazing.

This excellent quality rip came, too, from the now sadly gone Fishtail Lion blog and the bosom of Feq'wah.

ANYTHING YOU SOW





Crashes in Love is Onyeabor's 1977 debut. Very little electronics present here- in many ways it's not atypical Nigerian soul/funk- but the specific genius of Sir William is very much in evidence. Were this his sole release, it would likely still be hailed as a lost masterpiece of Afro-funk. As it is, it stands as a bit more of a minor effort in his canon- just not one to be overlooked. Its marvellous, low-key funk sound lays out a loose narrative of, as the cover explains, "a tragedy of how an African Princess rejects the love that money buys." Don't tell me you don't need to hear this now. It's groovy as a jeep on a dirt road, too.

This rip came from the womb of the great Music City- home to many other treasures and more than worthy of your gratitude and respect.

Apparently, there is another, more electronic, version of this record- can anyone confirm this? Has anyone heard it?

CRASHES IN LOVE (320)


Now we check out the Onyeabor-produced 1979 N'Draman Blintch record, Cikamele, for Oyeabor's own label, Wilfilms Records. The jams are super, super awesome, funkier and nastier than anything on a proper Onyeabor joint, although Blintch's vocal style is far less intriguing than Sir William's. It used to bother me more, but this record has been growing on me more and more everyday.

To clarify: It's pretty awesome.

CIKAMELE´



Now we pick up a straggler, 1982's Hypertension, which is good but not a favorite of mine. There's a slightly undignified Caribbean flavor doesn't add much to his usual minimalist funk genius, pushing his typical goofiness a tad too far. It's definitely worth a listen, since he's always at the very least good.



Again, this is Feq'wah's rip.

HYPERTENSION



Aaaaaaand once again, Feq'wah has come up with some additional Onyeabor treasures.It started with this lone track from 1981's Great Lover, found over at Art Decade, called "Love is Blind". Thankfully, wonderfully, the Fish Tailed Lion himself has magically managed to scare up the full LP. It's not in the top five Onyeabor LPs, but it is good stuff, friends. This may be the final piece of the puzzle. Be very certain to thank Feq'wah- I'm sure it was much effort and expenditure to acquire these treasures, and he is most definitely Lion-Hearted to share his booty.

GREAT LOVER

And if you have a line on anymore Onyeabor stuff- anything at all- I would love to know about it, and the world, I think, is ready for it. If you've got anything to share, let us spread William Onyeabor's love.

King-Sized Spirit King: Hans Dulfer & Ritmo Natural- Candy Clouds (1971), and some others

In the 70's, especially in Europe, there was no shortage of groups striving to merge the worlds of jazz and rock. Often the fruit of these labors seem proggishly vulgar, pedantically over-intellectualized (looking right at you, Soft Machine), or were simply train wrecks-- the result of clueless musicians who understood neither jazz nor rock with any insight or subtlety, smashing them together like joyless stoners. So If I were to tell you that Dutchman Hans Dulfer's Candy Clouds is a Jazz-Rock masterpiece and beyond, I'd understand if you required some further persuasion.

Let's get something straight: Dulfer doesn't even belong in the Prog-jazz ghetto with acts like Alcatraz, Xhol Caravan, and all the others. Candy Clouds' mind-blowing brand of fusion has much more in common with the free/spiritual jazz scene in Europe, and can be easily to compared to the experimental fusion efforts of Archie Shepp or Gato Barbieri in the 70's. It isn't even entirely accurate to call this jazz-rock, as though the two modes of music share the spotlight equally; the music here is as Latin as it is heavy, and so this becomes a fascinating record of Spiritual Free Jazz Latin Psych. Stupendous.

I am unable to find much information on this record, or indeed much on Mr. Dulfer himself. I was inspired to do this post after Bacosco at Orgy in Rhythm dropped another sweet Dulfer joint, El Saxofon, an event which was followed by my noticing the inclusion of a 6-minute edited-down version of the title track to Candy Clouds on Jazzman's release of Spiritual Jazz Vol. 2. You can listen to it here:



That title track, split into two sections on the record and totaling nearly twenty minutes, is the heart of this fine album. Part 1 opens with a giant smash of heavy guitar that sounds like early Sabbath (forgive the obviousness of this comparison- it just sounds like fucking Sabbath), trading lines with conniptions of free sax. They go back and forth a few times, then the whole things drops and it's a heavy psychedelic Latin jam with red hot sax burning through everything. In case I am failing to make the case, let me be blunt: it is awesome, as in awe-inspiring.

Part 2 takes its time getting started, beginning above the clouds with a long dreamy section, the sax heating up to flaming as the combo descends to earth... after six or seven minutes, your flight has landed, and that huge groove from Part 1 makes a return. Bigger, deeper, groovier even than before, Dulfer's improvisations reach a thrilling space between Gato Barbieri's warm exotica shredding and Archie Shepp's emotional Fire Music-- all while electric guitars blaze in a cloud of reverb, a piano wanders off and gets lost, and a glorious cowbell abides with wisdom.

Just as good as "Candy Clouds 1&2" are the two tracks preceding it, a guitar-based groove with jungle shadows that's honestly just too cool to be believed, and a huge Latin jam with excellent flute acrobatics (the flautist is doing that Black Harold-y thing where he's sort of howling into the flute as he's playing it, whatever that's called). The Fire Music is in full force throughout.

The last two tracks sort of lose me, unfortunately. A seemingly pointless, very free jam with no groove and no flavor, entitled "Froggy", followed by a goofy Afro-Cuban/Kwela/highlife number (which does have some fleeting but awesome guitar blasts). These two tracks are short and inconsequential next to the utter majesty of what has preceded them, a lost masterpiece of many fusions, an album so crazy and cool and fun that I honestly can't believe it exists. This is the type of thing I hear in my dreams, then wake up depressed because it wasn't real and I can't even remember it anymore. So, so good.

CANDY CLOUDS(320)



I am very serious: get over to Orgy in Rhythm and grab Dulfer's follow-up to Candy Clouds, El Saxofon, ASAP. The track "Sad Love Story" is jaw-droppin'. Awesome record.



And you can grab The Morning After the Third, here. It seems to precede Candy Clouds, and while it's not as brilliantly conceived, it does have a very similar sound. Highly recommended.

Stranger in Paradise: Ribamar- Dançando com Ribamar (1956)

Gorgeous Brazilian instrumental music from 1956, by accordionist and composer Ribamar. Like several other posts on this blog, this magic came from the Brazilian music blog Loronix, whose links were once excellent but now are all long dead. I only managed to snag a handful of records from the place before all was lost, but I intend to share them all, by-and-by. Not just rare but also wonderful, they all deserve to see more daylight.

Dançando com Ribamar is a delight and a pleasantness. Its charming, expert blend of both Brazilian and American popular music, jazz, and Bossa Nova align the album somewhat with the work of the fellows of Exotica; the influences are so similar, just approached from a different perspective. Reverse-Exotica in a sense. As such, the music would fit in on any Exotica playlist-- as well as one of Brazilian popular-music-circa-1950's, it should go without saying.



Sorry to be posting such Springtime tunes in what must still be a chilly winter for many of you, but the sun is here to stay in this corner of Mexico, so I feel I must post this. Perfect for enjoying a cool beverage in the shade on a sunny day, or just fantasizing about that sunny day to come.

Check out what remains of Loronix here, for some more info.

RIBAMAR (320)

Jungle Birds, Jungle Drums: Tito Puente- Tambo (1960), Top Percussion (1957)

For anyone who's lovin' the recently posted Sabu Safari, this will knock your socks off as well. Safari yourself on over to Orgy in Rhythm and pick up this Afro-Cuban/Exotica mindblower (in 320) and play it back-to-back with Sabu. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how great Tito Puente is, but allow me to insist upon the unassailable majesty of Tambo. Amazing stuff.

*Update: So of course Bacosco's link is dead, I was foolish to ever think otherwise. Apologies! What's worse, I don't even have a copy of his certain-to-be-superior 320 rip. All I'm holding is a not-terrible 160 rip, and I've upped a link to that. If anyone can improve on this, let me know. Grab this record here or elsewhere, and you can still pay Orgy in Rhythm a visit for more info on the record.

TAMBO


In order to sweeten this now sadly somewhat soured pot, I've tacked on another Tito Puente exotic blowout, Top Percussion. Not quite as awesome as Tambo, this is still excellent stuff, with more than enough chants and vocalizations to satisfy any desire for such sounds. Blistering percussion, as might be expected. Also, this is a decent rip, so have no fear.

Again, Bacosco has the skinny on this one, so check out more info here.

TOP PERCUSSION

The Ever-Throbbing Drums: Safari With Sabu- Sabu Martinez (1957)

This is not the hardest or rarest thing to find in the blogworld, so I'm gonna keep it brief. I just wanted to make sure everybody got a chance to know how good this is. Anyone who's heard Sorcery! (previously made mention of at this spot, here) knows how massive a Sabu Martinez session gets, and how gnarly and awe-inspiring his brand of Exotica/Afro-Latin jazz can be. This album is easily on the level of Sorcery! It is therefore, essential, so I recommend it in the highest fashion.

Check out the back cover notes over at Orgy in Rhythm, then thank him for rebirthing this monster into the world. His link is no longer hot, but it was the original, and for that I call him a hero.

I'm serious. This is enormous. God-sized jungle visions, scorching the earth in dark green fire. A headlong tumble into the witchdoctor dimension, eating a tiger's soul. Exotica Jazz Masterpiece.

SAFARI (320)

If you don't have Sorcery!, then get it you fool!

Fantastic Man: William Onyeabor- Good Name (Complete Album) 1983

In a previous, plus-sized post on Mr. Onyeabor, I've been able to offer up only one-half of this small slab of sweetness. The generous Mr. Feq'wah furnished myself and ourselves with the scorching title track, but for the A-side there was no accounting, save a youtube clip that led back to this interesting blog.

A friend recently sent me a rip of Good Name's other half, "Let's Fall in Love", with the request that I put it out there for all. I'm only happy to oblige, as the track is but another jewel in the Onyeabor sky. Not quite as awesome (by a hair) as the previously available title track, "Good Name", "Let's Fall in Love" is nonetheless a glory and a pleasure: seven-and-a-half minutes of crunchy robobeats, wide synths, the classic lead/backup back-and-forth, and (somewhat unique in Onyeabor's catalogue) a great deal of heroic saxophone soloing. So very very fine.

Thanks to all those who spread the Good Name and Good Sounds of this delightful Nigerian enigma and master. If anyone has a line on Great Lover and a yen to share, give me a holler, please.

GOOD NAME

And again, feel free to check out this previous post on the William O. discography.

In Search of New Tabus: Milt Raskin- Kapu (Forbidden), 1959

Milt Raskin's Kapu is a positively sterling addition to Exotica canon. Well-played, thoroughly Exotic, and committed to the specific tropes of the genre, it's a perfect if slightly unremarkable Exotica LP. But what sets it apart from other perfect-in-tone, yet somewhat vaguely underwhelming efforts-- such as Ted Auletta's Exotica, Warren Barker's William Holden Presents: A Musical Touch of Far Away Places, to name just a couple-- is that the record contains a set of (almost?) exclusively original Raskin pieces. A swing jazz pianist from way back, and a widely-employed, if not widely-known, session player, Mr. Raskin here employs his gift and experience in the disreputable and glorious art of the Exotica facsimile. The results are, as has been previously noted, sterling. Dreamy, Polynesian in flavor, lightly percussive, lush with strings and harp, Jungle Book flutes, and laden with bird calls... a casual listener might easily feel he was listening to a set of Exotica standards. That said, none of the songs seem as though they could have become standards or standouts; they aren't that distinctive or weird. Which is okay. Think of this as a lost soundtrack to an old safari movie, and enjoy Mr. Raskin's excellent piano work and pitch-perfect production details. Notice that there ain't a bad track.



Just to clear up any confusion, this record has some alternate titles and artwork, so Exotic Percussion and Exotic Tahiti are essentially the same record as Kapu (Forbidden). The tracklisting may vary, but the selections do not.




This is eminently listenable, lovely, and original 2nd-tier Exotica. Not an all-time classic, but a must-have for any medium/large collection.

KAPU (FORBIDDEN) (320)