GRABBA GRABBA TAPE - Kurt Kobaya y G.R.O.X. Man Odia Nirvana

Quote:
"They’re called “drunken Daft Punk” and “too pop to be noise and too noise to be yummy,” but Grabba Grabba Tape are the definitely the noisiest and weirdest shit to come out of Madrid in a minute.

Formed in 2004, Grabba Grabba Tape, Gros-OH!-Vot and Lol-OH!-Vot, are more like Devo on crack. Their track “Bue da Fixe” is extremely catchy, Mr. Roboto noise with an interesting ending that brings to mind Snoop Dogg after a gay orgy with Kraftwerk and Devo.

The band has played festivals such as the Primavera Sound Festival, Mira Mama Soy Raro, Pegatina Rock Fest, and Callarte and is poised to become the next classic cult band.

Out now is their latest release “Kurt Kobaya y G.R.O.X. Man Odia Nirvana” released by GSSH! GSSH! Records – the label run by Lol-OH!-Vot.

GSSH! GSSH! just relocated guerrilla-style to Lisbon from Madrid and, according to their Web site, they forgot their street so they’ll get back to us."


(that's a juno 106 on top with the label over the roland logo by the way)

This is a rip from the vinyl release. As far as I can tell there seems to be an actual fault in the pressing on Baila El Naja! Naja! which is what causes the skips (the grooves seem to cease existing at regular points, but only for that track so who knows if it's intentional). Recommended for fans of Polysics I guess, it's very 'new technopop' with little apparent sonic influence from the old Japanese school which informed that late 90s scene. Think Japanather fallen in love with analog synths. All vocals vocoded, it's even the drummer who sings!



GRABBA GRABBA TAPE - Kurt Kobaya y G.R.O.X. Man Odia Nirvana (2006)

Ismaël Lô - Xalat

Ismael Lo is a Senegalese musician who makes "Mbalax" music, which combines aspects of western pop with Cuban and Senegalese rhythms. From the wiki (There's a more complete biography on the Allmusic page):

He was born in Dogondoutchi in Niger on 30 August 1956 to a Senegalese father and a Nigerian mother. Shortly after Lo's birth the family returned to Senegal where they settled in the town of Rufisque, near the capital Dakar. He is a versatile singer and artist, and besides his singing abilities, he also plays the guitar and the harmonica.

In the 1970s Lo studied at the School of Art in Dakar later joining the popular group Super Diamono, but leaving the group in 1984 to start a solo career. Over the next four years Lo recorded five popular solo albums.

This is his 1984 solo album, Xalat. Soft guitar interplay with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and an upfront brass section. Highly recommended for fans of highlife music, although not quite the same as far as I know. I'm really not as familiar with this specific type of music as I'd like to be, I found this album by chance and picked it up as soon as I'd had a listen.

Ismaël Lô - Xalat (1984)

One Plus One - 1+1 EP

Four track EP from this obscure (only one mention of them on the internet and a track on a discogs comp) NJ minimal synth duo, featuring a synthy cover of 'Time Has Come Today' and three other synth rock tracks. Reminds me a little of Nash the Slash without the virtuosity and much more of a punk edge to it. To guess, that's an 808 and a pro one or minimoog, alongside some guitar and bass. Enjoy.

One Plus One - 1+1 EP

Daisuke Suzuki - D.D.D.

Daisuke Suzuki - D.D.D. (2001)

Academy, couldn't pass this one up. Two sides of field recordings.

"Duck! Duck! Duck!"
Recording date: Winter 1997 at Zenpukuji Lake, Suginami-Ku, Tokyo.
Recorded with a sony digital audio tape-recorder TCD-D8, and an Aiwa stereo microphone CM-53.

"Cricket Voice"
Recording date: Audumn 1996 at Saginomiya, Nakano-Ku, Tokyo.
Recorded with a Sony digital audio tape-recorder TCD-D8, and a Sony stereo microphone ECM-909A.

King Sunny Ade - Synchro System

King Sunny Ade & his African Beats - Synchro System (1983)

An Academy find (of course). Pretty good shape, classic album from one of the bigger names in 70's Juju music. Got another one of his (Aura) I'll rip someday, but until then you can find a tape rip of it here and the previous album (out of the three he recorded while on Mango) Juju Music here and here. Lots of hand drum/machine drum interaction here, with some synth work. Anyone who knows Ade knows what a wizard he was on guitar, and he's in full effect here.

One off the album:


Original version of the title track:

Series 2: Disco Singles

I've decided to just make this a singles series, so it won't just be things classified as house. Tonight it's Italodisco, next time it will probably be minimal synth and euro post-punk. Two singles on tonight's roster are not technically italodisco, one is american funk (check it on the zshare links before you download the whole thing. or in addition to something if r-s gives you trouble.) and one is polish electronic stuff which is kinda disco, kinda not-quite.

first, you can get/preview the funk tracks without dealing with rapidshare:
Wisdom - Nefertiti
Wisdom - What-cha-gonna-du-about-you


Now for the full set: Wisdom - Nefertiti (4:09)
Wisdom - What-cha-gonna-du-about-you (3:21)



Universal Energy - Universal Energy (5:50)
Universal Energy - Disco Energy (6:51)


Osibisa - Dance the Body Music (3:24)
Osibisa - Right Now (3:08)


Theo Vaness - It's Now or Never (3:24)
Theo Vaness - I, Who Have Nothing (3:32)


C. Niemen - Mleczna Droga (3:14)
C. Niemen - Dorozka na Kisezyc (5:17)

you can still see the academy recs price tag on the last one/first one, but the rest of them were thing finds. one great trip there, haven't been so lucky since.

i can put it up in one file upon request.

Turning Shrines - Cinnabar & Porcelain

Turning Shrines - Cinnabar & Porcelain (1988)

Turning Shrines was the name of Fred Giannelli's home recording experiments up until he joined Psychic TV. The album contains three songs and four tracks (one of which is side-long) of sampler experimentation. The sampler stuff isn't of much interest, coming off like a very low rent tape collage (which, twenty years on, we now know to be what it always sounds like anytime someone without much idea what he's doing sits down behind a sampler). Forgiven of course because sampler use hadn't been much refined by that early date and he clearly found his footing in very little time. The proper songs are a bit more interesting. Are You Experienced? was redone as an acid single with Carese P-Orridge's vocals to good effect. The version here is an early 4-track instrumental. Mystification and Iron Nights are both good-if-a-bit-amateurish sequenced synth tracks, great inspiration to me in my own amateurish sequencing attempts. I'd guess this is all FM synth and sampler, but there could be an analog in there somewhere. Wish I had access to his sample library from the time.

Digital Trip - Crusher Joe

Digital Trip - Crusher Joe (1983)

Now I don't know if you're familiar with it, but 60's bargain label Pickwick used to put out weird bootleg versions of popular film soundtracks. I've got a fifty-cent copy of their Clockwork Orange knockoff, easily among my oddest finds just because it sounds so unlike what you would expect from a cut-rate version of Wendy Carlos' classic. I can't imagine they made much money off of it at the time but it provides a precedent for this album. In the same series as the previous 'synthesizer fantasy' post, this is an earlier LP consisting of sequenced synthesizer covers of the soundtrack to the film Crusher Joe, an animated science fiction story based on a series of novels according to the wiki. Laid to tape in June of '83 according to the insert, this is 100% pure, delicious analog synth. Were I to guess, it was probably done on Roland synths with multiple MC-4's given the complexity of the programming/compositions and the sequencers available at the time. Could be some Juno-60s off DCB, could just be a stack of monos running off CV. Only thing I'd be willing to lay odds on is that drum machine being an Oberheim.

I've got a few more of these I'll be posting in the future, and I might try tracking some others of the series down from Japan if my limited import connections find them in stock. If anyone happens to have one I don't, I would be interested in picking it up.

This is highly recommended (required?) listening for anyone who is a fan of John Carpenter, the Legowelt soundtrack sideprojects, italodisco (Bloodbath Highway, Panic in Disco), and analog synthesizer recordings in general.

Appo Sound Project - SF Animethology '86

Was gonna post my rip of this mud hutters LP i found at the vortex (go figure) but, welp. No shame in being beaten by the best. Lots of shame in this post, though. I Shop At Academy Records, y'all.

LOOK AT THAT FUCKING THING

Appo Sound Project - SF Animethology '86

Medley of instrumental tracks from the earliest era of MIDI, apparently a mix of background music from contemporaneous scifi movies and anime with some pop songs? At the time, a cheap cash-in by a broke studio. Now, a snapshot of a bygone era of music production. feat. Emulator II, Oberheim X-pander, Yamaha TX-816, three DX-7s, Roland Super-Jupiter (MKS-80), Roland HP450 Piano, Simmons SDS-9, Yamaha RX-11, Roland TR-727. Also used an NEC PC-9801 and six PC-8001 MKII's, either for sequencing or tone generation, does not mention.

nerds.

im a nerd too y'all

One of several reasons i try to avoid letting people pick through my records (how can you not buy nazi lps? fucking wfmu fair). a similar lp inspired the blog title reference. much love, loronix.