Do You Like Seoul Music?

Join me now on a journey through space and time. We are going back to South Kora in 1974, where a singer called Kim Jiyeon teamed up with a band called The Revival Cross to make an album. But when they handed it over to the record company the executives were evidently so alarmed by the weird and uncommercial nature of the music that they refused to release it.  

The album in question was "Losing My Mind" and it was finally released in 2018 by Korean reissue label Beatball Music. You can find it on their Bandcamp site along with many other intriguing releases that I plan to explore when I get the time. 

Listening to the album now it is hard to see why the old executives got so agitated. It is mildly funky in some  places and mildly psychedelic in others, but its not exactly avant garde. The selling point is Kim Jiyeon's great vocals, as showcased on today's selections.

"내 마음 흔들려 (Losing My Mind)" - Kim Jiyoen & The Revival Cross

"밤 12시 (12 O'Clock At Night)" - Kim Jiyoen & The Revival Cross

Speaking of losing your mind... 

My Kind Of Town

I got back from my little jaunt to North Macedonia on Monday night with a small selection of local CDs in tow. I have not had a chance to listen to them yet but you can be sure that some of them will be featuring here in the near future.

The reason for my visit was to perform at a conference on the banks of the beautiful Lake Ohrid, which is down in the south bordering Albania. I then spent a long weekend in the capital, Skopje. I was last there back in 2007 and there have been quite a lot of changes since.

Visually Skopje is one of the most weird and wonderful places I have been. Large parts of the city were flattened by an earthquake in 1963 and over the next 20 years it was redeveloped by a group of brutalist architects from Japan and all parts of Yugoslavia. So the city is awash with decaying concrete structures from the 1970s and 1980s.

Fast forward to the early 2010s and the Government of the day decided that in order to make Skopje a greater source of national pride they should erect a load of large buildings that were meant to look like they were built in the 1800s. Some do, but mostly they look like the modern knock-offs they are. Many of them are completely over the top, and they don't exactly fit seamlessly next to the brutalist bits.  

Then to top it all off they liberally sprinkled new statues in every park and square, on every street corner and on some of the new buildings that are pretending to be old buildings. They even went and built two new footbridges just to put more statues on. The whole place is mad but I loved it.

Here are a few holiday snaps of monstrous carbuncles for you - in order, the university, the central post office and the opera house - followed by a musical selection loosely inspired by the Skopje skyline.

"The Brutal Here And Now, Part 1" - The Spook Of The Thirteenth Lock

"Concrete Reservation" - Syl Johnson

"Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect" - The Decemberists

Double Durs

If I were to say to you "Dur Dur" would you think of the leading Somali funk band of the 1980s or the opening bars of the Pink Panther theme tune? If the former then you are in luck, as here are a couple of sizzlers from Somalia. 

The first is from an album released by Analog Africa titled "Volume 1" - you can find that combined with Volume 2 plus some bonus tracks on their Bandcamp page. 

The second is from "Rafaad iyo Raaxo", which was first released in 1986. I can't remember how or when I got hold of it and it doesn't seem to be readily available, but someone has uploaded the full album on YouTube. Apologies for the slightly ropey sound quality, I'm not sure whether that is the fault of my copy or the original.

"Yabaal" - Dur-Dur Band

"Muraadka Waa Helee" - Dur-Dur Band

And here is something for the rest of you.

I'm heading off in a few hours to the Republic of North Macedonia (as absolutely nobody calls it) - a couple of days work then a long weekend of fun. Hopefully I'll have better luck finding music than in Romania and Bulgaria. 

See you in a week or so. Until then, take it away King Ferus...

Strapping Lads

On Saturday I visited the Bishops Stortford branch of the Goggins family. While there I popped into Ecco, a shop supporting a local environmental conservation charity that always has something interesting in stock. I popped out again shortly after, having nabbed three CDs for the grand total of 50p.

Among those three was "Here We Go", a 1997 CD single by those boys in the Arab Strap. The B-side clocks in at just over 12 minutes, making it a perfect fit for a new and entirely original spot that I'm calling Monday's Lengthy Listen.

"Trippy" - Arab Strap

Today's videos are the answers to the little Austrian cover versions quiz I set you on Friday. Congratulations to George for correctly identifying them all. The Zappa track comes with a health warning.

Österreich Eggs

Knowing my interest in pop from around the world, the landlord of my local recently lent me Volumes 1 and 4 of a series called "Weltberühmt In Österreich: 50 Jahre Austropop". He normally has decent taste so I can only assume they were an unwanted gift.

The CDs came out in 2006 which means that according to the title there should be songs going back as far as the mid-50s. On Volumes 1 and 4 almost everything was from the 80s and 90s. There were three songs from the 70s but nothing before that. Maybe all the really old stuff is on Volumes 2 and 3. 

Maybe all the good stuff is on there as well because these two volumes are pretty dreadful apart from Falco and a couple of others you might know. Rather than subject you to anything that purports to be original here are three cover versions that were included. 

The first is a schlagered-up standard, the second is somewhat surprising and the third utterly inexplicable. There will be a prize of sorts for the first person to identify all three. 

"Gö, Du Bleibst Heut Nacht Bei Mir" - S.T.S.

"Meier" - Heli Deinboek

"Berti Braun" - Ostbahn-Kurti & Die Chefpartie

Here are a couple of original Austrian hits featured on the volumes that I endured. Well I say original, the tune for Peter Cornelius's verses is clearly a slowed down version of "Heroes and Villians". Minisex were a relative highlight.

Mr Stewart Stops By

It has been a while since we have had a visit from the late great Gary Stewart, one of my all-time favourite singers. When it came to putting tears in your beer he's up there with George Jones and Merle Haggard, and he could put a fire in your belly too when he was in the mood. 

Here he is with a song about love gone bad, one about good love in hard times for balance, and then one more about love gone bad. Call it a bad love sandwich. 

"Ten Years Of This" - Gary Stewart

"Shady Streets" - Gary Stewart

Kingly Character

This time last week King Khayem of Dubhed shared an excellent home-made Sahel Sounds selection that featured King Ayisoba of Karaga in Ghana. It's obviously a King Thing.

Anyway, I was so enthused by discovering that others also admire King Ayisoba that I committed then and there to featuring a couple of tracks from his fabulous 2017 album "1000 Can Die" - still readily available on Bandcamp. 

And here they are, with a wide array of guest stars including luminaries such as M3nsa, Steven Anaho and some obscure newcomer called Perry.

"1000 Can Die (feat. M3nsa & Lee "Scratch" Perry)" - King Ayisoba

"Anka Yen Tu Kwai (feat. Atinbila & Steven Anaho)" - King Ayisoba