I would like to thank Bandcamp and Charity Chic for inspiring today's post.
Friday just gone was Bandcamp Friday and after rooting around in the bargain bins for a bit I came away with a small pile of African and Asian albums.
The next day the Gods of Randomness that determine the contents of CC's Saturday Shuffle picked out three artists beginning with B.
There was only one artist beginning with B in my Bandcamp haul but there were plenty of songs that fit the bill so here are three of them, starting with the B-man himself.
Bola hails from Ghana and his album "Volume 7" first came out in 2009 and was reissued a few years later on the Awesome Tapes From Africa label. Me and Mr Awesome used to be penfriends back in the days when I was bringing Tsonga Disco to the masses, but not any more. He moves in more awesome circles now.
Our second selection was released on a label called Interesting Tapes From India - I can't imagine where the inspiration for the name came from. It comes from the much better named album "Mandolin Ecstasy" by U. Srinivas, who was only 17 when it was first released in 1986 and who went on to become a leading light of the Carnatic music scene before his untimely death aged just 45. Monday's Long Song enthusiasts may wish to note that it clocks in at just over 13 minutes.
Last up we have some brash and noisy youngsters from Indonesia - from Purbalingga in Java to be precise. Sukatani (for it is they) describe their music as "Post-Punk with a strong New Wave sensibility. Gothic-Rock’s dark tones blend in with New Romantic melodies and joyful Synth-Pop", which covers most of the bases. I would describe then more succinctly as Purbalingga's Penetration but I'm not sure whether they would get the reference. The track is from their 2023 album "Gelap Gempita".
"Burilbunbol Suma" - Bola
"Brova Bharama" - U. Srinivas
"Bayar Bayar Bayar" - Sukatani
We also have a video of Sukatani for you. But first something from the band now universally known as County Durham's Sukatani. And then you can chill out a little with U.
I think we may have started a trend!
ReplyDeleteYou started the trend, I am merely following.
DeleteA B Movie awaits
ReplyDeleteI started with Sukatani and hated them, then circled back after playing through everything else and quite enjoyed Bayer Bayer Bayer. Best of the lot I reckon though is Gajavadhana, the second U. Srinivas tune. Very nice indeed.
ReplyDeleteI assume the Awesome Tapes From Africa label is related to the blog that used to exist with the same name? I downloaded acres of splendidly obscure stuff from that place in the noughties, all later tragically lost in a catastrophic external hard-drive incident.
It is the same fellow. Quite a few of the cassettes originally featured on the blog have now been formally reissued where he has been able to track down the artists. One or two of them have started recording new material for the label.
Delete