LISTEN UP: NEW RELEASES OF VARYING DEGREES OF BRILLIANCE (8.20.2022)
JOHN ONDOLO: HYPNOTIC GUITAR OF JOHN ONDOLO
Droning, open-tune guitar masterpieces from an unsung hero of East African music.
John Ondolo spent his life traveling between Tanzania, where he was born, and Kenya, where he recorded a string of singles for independent labels in the late 1950s and early 60s. Unlike most guitarists from the region, Ondolo used open tuning (a favorite of American blues guitarists), creating a hypnotic drone over which he laid down endless rhythmic variations on his main themes. Inspired by the exploding pop music scene in Nairobi, the newest rock and roll imports from the US, and the Abakuria tribal music of his youth, Ondolo transposed traditional instruments and rhythms to his guitar, playing it more like a traditional harp at times, and inventing a sound totally unique in the recorded history of African guitar.
This album brings together John Ondolo’s rare early 78rpm recordings in the first-ever overview of this innovative but overlooked artist. The music traces Ondolo’s creative output, from the resonant acoustic guitar masterpiece Tumshukuru Mungu to the relentless guitar and flute (!) interplay of Kenya Style to his later electric guitar, bass, and drum recordings with the Jolly Trio, all tied together by Ondolo’s unique rhythmic sense and vocal style.
LISTEN HERE:
https://mississippirecords.bandcamp.com/album/hypnotic-guitar-of-john-ondolo?from=fanpub_fnb
OMAR SOULEYMAN - HAFLAT GHARBIA (THE WESTERN CONCERTS)
Omar Souleyman is a folk-pop singer from rural northeastern Syria. Like many Syrian musicians, he made his name as a singer for wedding parties in the region, with hundreds of cassettes and CDs documenting his performances distributed throughout the country. These, along with several studio albums, earned him legendary status in the Syrian dabke scene throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. After his 2005 breakthrough folk-hit Khataba, Omar gained wider recognition throughout the Arab world.
After collecting his tapes for a decade, Sublime Frequencies released the first compilation of Omar Souleyman tracks to be distributed in the West. The success of Highway to Hassake (2007), and the enthusiastic online reaction to the promotional clip for his track Leh Jani, led to Omar being invited to tour the UK and Europe in the summer of 2009. It would be his first time performing or travelling outside of the Arab world.
The recordings on Haflat Gharbia – The Western Concerts, Omar Souleyman's fourth release on Sublime Frequencies, represent an hour of the best moments from the western tours between 2009 and 2011, captured in striking fidelity and intensity. Fans will recognize familiar songs, as well as previously unreleased material presented here for the first time, in what is the biggest sounding Omar record yet.
LISTEN HERE:
VARIOUS - FINDERS KEEPERS x VERDANT BREWING CO: MAKING GLOBAL SOUND LOCAL
An intoxicating concoction of obscure vintage tracks taken from the global Finders Keepers Records catalogue. Compiled in collaboration with Verdant Brewing Co.
Spanning three decades as the UK’s most dedicated outernational reissue label, with a wide discography encompassing multiple generations of uncharted genres and global origins, Andy Votel and Doug Shipton’s Finders Keepers Records inevitable collaboration with like-minded maverick brewers Verdant Brewing Co. finally comes to fruition. Making Global Sounds Local takes inquisitive minds on an intrepid psychedelic pop pilgrimage guided by the labels widely celebrated musical map, showcasing some of its very best and well-loved discoveries unifying fans of psychedelic funk, punk, hard rock, jazz, disco and cinematic pop made by free souls who defy pigeon holes.
LISTEN HERE:
MORT GARSON - LUCIFER: BLACK MASS
Two years after Mort Garson composed and arranged an entire series of albums based on the 12 zodiac signs, the pioneering electronic musician delved into the occult with the 1971 LP Black Mass, simply credited to the artist name Lucifer. Originally issued by UNI Records, the release has often confused record store patrons who have stumbled upon it -- it isn't a recording of an actual Satanic mass (Anton LaVey released the first one in 1968) nor is it a doom metal album. Instead, it's a soundtrack-like set of haunting Moog-based pieces which interpret various supernatural and demonic themes. While it's hard to tell exactly what Garson's perspective on the album's subject matter was, it's easy to assume that he was merely fascinated by the occult rather than someone who actively held Satanic beliefs or practiced such rituals. Far from a set of bleak dirges, the album expresses wonder and excitement, with melodies which bubble and percolate along with skittering drum machine rhythms. "The Ride of Aida (Voodoo)" opens with freakish, distorted vocals similar to the ones Giorgio Moroder would use on his experimental LP as Einzelganger in 1975, then proceeds with a frenzied rhythm as the synths gradually sound like alarms going off. "Witch Trial" begins with a pleasant, nearly Baroque melody before a more sci-fi atmosphere sets in, and after everything goes still for a moment, a more windswept variation of the original melody returns. "Exorcism" sounds downright celebratory, as a spirited synth solo pans between the speakers over a dancing rhythm set in a fractured time signature. The record generally feels mildly spooky rather than truly horrifying, although the possessed moaning of the self-explanatory "Incubus" is certainly disturbing. Still, it seems like Garson's intention with Black Mass wasn't so much about shock value, but rather a genuine curiosity and interest in the subject, and the album remains one of the most accomplished items in his discography. (Courtesy Paul Simpson and AllMusic.com)
LISTEN HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaatDd50R2o&list=OLAK5uy_l8mvA5gmQQLkw5h5qQaPnLOVsjbi6UGV8&index=3
THE JONNY HALIFAX INVOCATION - ACID BLUUS RAAGS: VOL. 1
JONNY HALIFAX is a primitive free blues outsider. His new collection of sound is an instrumental departure into godless raag brut improvisations, layered, manipulated and sculpted into heavily immersive feral sonic collages. Invocations of an hallucinatory apocalyptic near future.
Acid Blüüs Räägs - a beautiful collection of blissed out mantra like drone pieces. Imagine Spacemen 3 in the high desert being scorched by the hot hot sun.
LISTEN HERE:
https://jonnyhalifaxinvocation.bandcamp.com/album/acid-bl-s-r-gs-vol-1
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