It’s not often that I get to post on a release from Haiti, as I’ve never really had reliable contacts who could guide me to what treasures lie underneath that island which suffers so much. This release from Ostinato Records, a small label out of New York who are doing some incredible reissues from various parts of Africa (think Somalia and Cape Verde for starters), put together this remarkable collection of tracks recorded not only in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, but among the expatriate community residing in Brooklyn, New York.
Funk
[Music Podcast] Back In The ESSR – The Archives of Eesti Raadio 1966-1982
Thanks to Pista Sin Titulo, who posted this amazing album of Estonian pop from between the sixties to the eighties.
[Music] Kologbo – Don’t Mind Them
One track of pure Afrobeat power from Nigeria’s Oghene Kologbo! Thanks to Paris DJs, who released this bumping track.
[Music] Sudan Archives – Escape
Sudan Archives is a vocalist and violinist who hails originally from Cincinnati, Ohio (what a shame she wasn’t directly from Khartoum with a band name like that, alas), and who is working out of Los Angeles, California, making her a local to me. Her Soundcloud page is active with some extremely interesting cuts which straddle the like of hip-hop (the good kind which actually sounds like art), electronic music, world music and R&B. I can’t wait to hear more from this talented artist.
[Music] Madurai Mani Iyer – Sarasa sama Dhana
2017 is as good a year as any to start learning a bit more about Carnatic music, and any help which can be provided by friends would be most welcome.
This is a track by an acknowledged master in the field, Maduri Mani Iyer, from Madurai, Tamilnadu, in India.
[Music] Kashmere Stage Band – Take Five (The Dave Brubeck Quartet Cover)
This is easily the funkiest take on a jazz standard I’ve ever heard. Apparently, the Kashmere Stage Band were famous for making funky sounds which were the equivalent of the JB’s and the Bar-Kays during their peak in the 1960s. Really amazing stuff.
[Music] James Brown – Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryKRcVqsph8
Let yourself have a funky ass Christmas with James Brown.
[Music] Janko Nilović – Funky Tramway
One of the 70’s greatest funk albums didn’t come from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, or even Africa, for that matter. This gem came from Montenegro, which was then part of Yugoslavia, and it came from a very fruitful period Janko Nilović had from 1968 to 1978.
[Music] Penza Penza – Donald Trump
Technology…
It used to take a bit of time for a novelty record like this to come out. Estonian band Penza Penza cuts that time to almost instantaneous. The track is instrumental, so if you’re pro- or contra the POTUS, make your own lyrics if that makes you feel better.
[Music] John Zorn – Nosferatu: The Stalking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKWbBJv3cKU
John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Rob Burger and Kevin Norton perform a new soundtrack for a Polish production of Nosferatu. Heavy prog vibes here.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 