Jun 25, 2010

An introduction to DINING OUT Records

CLUB TANGO For The Night /Get the picture, 7'', 1981




OCCULT CHEMISTRY Occult Chemistry, 7'', 1980



Twilight Zoners Brighton Rock, 7'', 1980

Dining Out was a small, London based, independent and short-lived label, active in early 80s. It released mainly singles and EPs from some not much known postpunk and new wave bands of the era. Although label's history doesn't coincide with the creation of a specific sound direction, Dining Out stuff enjoys a small cult status and, to say our opinion, some of it rather worths the trouble...
Selections and representative tracks from Dining Out releases:

THE ADICTS easy way out (1979)
TWILIGHT ZONERS diversion (1980)
DISCO ZOMBIES
mary milington (1980)
THE INSEX fractured vision (1979)
THE SINATRAS
that shape (1981)
KAN KAN
blue tango (1981)
FIFTY FANTASTICS
god's got religion (1980)
NORMIL HAWAIIANS
ventilation (1980)
OCCULT CHEMISTRY
earth (1980)
KAN KAN
laugh clown laugh (1980)
NAUGHTIEST GIRL WAS A MONITOR
to love nuclear (1982)
CLUB TANGO get the picture (1981)
NEW AGE
amazed (1982)
THE INSEX
inner sanction (1979)
BEHAVIOUR RED
offerings (1982)

Dining Out Records
(15 tracks - 1 hour)

compiled by LaFolieDuJour

Jun 17, 2010

The Global Sounds Of HANNIBAL RECORDS

Formed by producer JOE BOYD (Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, etc) and active in the field of folk/ethnic music throughout 80s and 90s, Hannibal Records was a daring label that brought us in touch with sounds and artists from all over the planet, a label with a major contribution to the evolution of world music and the globalization of folk influence.
Some selections from Hannibal catalogue:

ALI FARKA TOURE i go ka
[Mali], ("The Source", 1991)
TOUMANI DIABATE
sankoun djabi
[Mali], ("Djelika", 1995)
BAKA BEYOND nahwia
[Cameroon/UK], ("Spirit Of the Forest", 1993)

SONGHAI
jarabi
[Spain/Mali/UK], ("Songhai", 1988)
PATA NEGRA blues de la frontera
[Spain], ("Blues De La Frontera", 1986)

SILVIO RODRIGUEZ como esperando abril

[Cuba], ("Dias Y Flores", 1986, reissue)
MAHMOUD AHMED Tezeta

[Ethiopia], ("Ere Mela Mela", 1986, reissue)
KANDA BONGO MAN malinga
[Congo], ("Amor Fou", 1988)

JAZZ JAMAICA don cosmic
[UK], ("Skaravan", 1993)

OUTBACK an dro nevez
[UK], ("Baka", 1990)

DANNY THOMPSON yucateca
[UK], ("Whatever", 1987)
MARTA SEBESTYEN & MUZSIKAS regen volt, soka lesz
[Hungary], ("Prisoner's Song", 1986)

VUJICSICS svatovac iz pomaza

[Hungary], ("Vujicsics", 1988)
MUZSIKAS jewish dance from szaszregen
[Hungary], ("Maramaros: Lost Jewish Music Of Transylvania", 1993)
MARIA KALANIEMI & ALDARGAZ slingerdansin
[Finland], ("Iho", 1997)
NORMA WATERSON rags and old iron
[UK], ("Norma Waterson'', 1996)
CHOYING DROLMA & STEVE TIBBETS tal

[Nepal/USA], ("Cho", 1997)
Hannibal Music
(17 tracks - 74 min)

compiled by LaFolieDuJour

Jun 12, 2010

MINIMAL MAN "Mock Honeymoon" (1987)


Avant post-punk and industrial pioneer Patrick Miller is well known to LFDJ readers. In addition to our previous MINIMAL MAN posts, here is the 12'' "Mock Honeymoon". Miller produced this EP in Belgium in 1987 with help of Tuxedomoon members Peter Principle (bass, guitar)and Luc Van Lieshout (trumpet, flugelhorn). Drums and additional keyboards by Ludo Camberlin.

Jun 3, 2010

Sounds In Restless Motion: The music of ANO KATO Records

Florina Brass Band


Lefteris Agouridakis (Diotima)


F. Floridis, M. Siganidis, K. Vomvolos (Wutu Wupatu)


Ano Kato Records was formed in 1984 in Thessaloniki. It is one of the oldest independent greek labels, definitely the most historical one in Northern Greece.

Due to the fact that Ano Kato has always supported in their first steps, artists derived from different music cultures, its repertoire displays great variety of sounds and idiosyncratic styles.

By starting of sublabel ρει records in early 90s, Ano Kato entered deeper the exploration of jazz, traditional, contemporary music and the space between, creating in parallel, innovative ideas, rediscoveries, international collaborations, experimental projects... the ground, briefly, on which the most interesting Ano Kato works finally were born.

Focused mostly on the ρει spirit, here it is our introduction to Ano Kato music:

ACID FREE
purple
("Acid Free")
WUTU WUPATU doxombus ("Wutu Wupatu")
KOSTAS VOMVOLOS Romeo ("Girls' Bedroom")
P. KOWALD, FL. FLORIDIS, G. SOMMER aphorism 13 ("Aphorisms")
S. PAPADIMITRIOU & G. SYLLAIOU street theme ("The Song Of Lulu")
DIOTIMA eros ("Diotima")
OKAY TEMIZ MAGNETIC BAND kim o tomi ("In Finland 1995")
KOSTAS VOMVOLOS a strain of grass in her wedding dress ("Girls' Bedroom")
A PRIORI at a rubber sea ("A Priori")
GIANNIS MOURTZOPOULOS byzantine shuffle ("Dramamusic")
TRIO PRAXIS byzance ("Palmus")
MODE PLAGAL by the first light ("Mode Plagal")
FLORINA BRASS BAND minderia ("Florina Brass Band")
FLORIDIS, PETROVIC, NIKOLIC oh my life ("Syrtis Major")
WUTU WUPATU Chalkidiki ("Wutu Wupatu")

compiled by LaFolieDuJour

Jun 2, 2010

Σ ι ω π ή - S i l e n c e


Η ηθοποιός και σκηνοθέτιδα Ρούλα Πατεράκη προτείνει εδώ, σε θαυμάσια δική της μετάφραση, μια εμπνευσμένη και άκρως υποβλητική ανάγνωση του ονομαστού αφηγήματος του 'Εδγαρ Άλλαν Πόε, "Σιωπή" ("Siope - A Fable"). Σε κίνηση παράλληλη πλάι της, οι Φλώρος Φλωρίδης και Γιάννης Μουρτζόπουλος αντιδρούν απέναντι στην ποιητική πρόζα του Πόε εξίσου ατμοσφαιρικά, με ήχους αφαιρετικούς και φαντασία ελεύθερη που φτάνει ως τον αυτοσχεδιασμό, χώρο άλλωστε μες τον οποίο με αρκετή δεξιοσύνη συνήθως δρουν.
Ανεπτυγμένη σε δύο εκδοχές (Σιωπή Ι & Σιωπή ΙΙ), η 28λεπτη αυτή μουσικοθεατρική σπουδή ηχογραφήθηκε γύρω στο 1990, ενώ δισκογραφικά εμφανίζεται στο άλμπουμ του Φλωρίδη "Το Βέλος Του Χρόνου" (Αno Kato Rec, 1995), αποτελώντας κεντρική και καθοριστική συνιστώσα του.
Πρόκειται για ένα από τα πιο αξιόλογα δείγματα σύγχρονης ελληνικής πρωτοποριακής δημιουργίας για την ουσιαστικότερη κατανόηση του οποίου παραθέτουμε επίσης και το πρωτότυπο κείμενο.


SIOPE [SILENCE] - A Fable (1837)

by Edgar Allan Poe


Ευδουσιν δ'ορεων κορυφαι τε και φαραγγες
Πρωνες τε και χαραδραι. ΑΛΚΜΑΝ, [7ος αιωνας π.Χ.]

The mountain pinnacles slumber; valleys, crags, caves are silent. ALCMAN

"LISTEN to me," said the Demon as he placed his hand upon my head. "The region of which I speak is a dreary region in Libya, by the borders of the river Zaire. And there is no quiet there, nor silence.
"The waters of the river have a saffron and sickly hue; and they flow not onwards to the sea, but palpitate forever and forever beneath the red eye of the sun with a tumultuous and convulsive motion. For many miles on either side of the river's oozy bed is a pale desert of gigantic water-lilies. They sigh one unto the other in that solitude, and stretch towards the heaven their long and ghastly necks, and nod to and fro their everlasting heads. And there is an indistinct murmur which cometh out from among them like the rushing of subterrene water. And they sigh one unto the other.

"But there is a boundary to their realm -- the boundary of the dark, horrible, lofty forest. There, like the waves about the Hebrides, the low underwood is agitated continually. But there is no wind throughout the heaven. And the tall primeval trees rock eternally hither and thither with a crashing and mighty sound. And from their high summits, one by one, drop everlasting dews. And at the roots strange poisonous flowers lie writhing in perturbed slumber. And overhead, with a rustling and loud noise, the gray clouds rush westwardly forever, until they roll, a cataract, over the fiery wall of the horizon. But there is no wind throughout the heaven. And by the shores of the river Zaire there is neither quiet nor silence.

"It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood. And I stood in the morass among the tall and the rain fell upon my head -- and the lilies sighed one unto the other in the solemnity of their desolation.

"And, all at once, the moon arose through the thin ghastly mist, and was crimson in color. And mine eyes fell upon a huge gray rock which stood by the shore of the river, and was lighted by the light of the moon. And the rock was gray, and ghastly, and tall, -- and the rock was gray. Upon its front were characters engraven in the stone; and I walked through the morass of water-lilies, until I came close unto the shore, that I might read the characters upon the stone. But I could not decypher them. And I was going back into the morass, when the moon shone with a fuller red, and I turned and looked again upon the rock, and upon the characters; -- and the characters were DESOLATION.

"And I looked upwards, and there stood a man upon the summit of the rock; and I hid myself among the water-lilies that I might discover the actions of the man. And the man was tall and stately in form, and was wrapped up from his shoulders to his feet in the toga of old Rome. And the outlines of his figure were indistinct -- but his features were the features of a deity; for the mantle of the night, and of the mist, and of the moon, and of the dew, had left uncovered the features of his face. And his brow was lofty with thought, and his eye wild with care; and, in the few furrows upon his cheek I read the fables of sorrow, and weariness, and disgust with mankind, and a longing after solitude.

"And the man sat upon the rock, and leaned his head upon his hand, and looked out upon the desolation. He looked down into the low unquiet shrubbery, and up into the tall primeval trees, and up higher at the rustling heaven, and into the crimson moon. And I lay close within shelter of the lilies, and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; -- but the night waned, and he sat upon the rock.

"And the man turned his attention from the heaven, and looked out upon the dreary river Zaire, and upon the yellow ghastly waters, and upon the pale legions of the water-lilies. And the man listened to the sighs of the water-lilies, and to the murmur that came up from among them. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; -- but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.

"Then I went down into the recesses of the morass, and waded afar in among the wilderness of the lilies, and called unto the hippopotami which dwelt among the fens in the recesses of the morass. And the hippopotami heard my call, and came, with the behemoth, unto the foot of the rock, and roared loudly and fearfully beneath the moon. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; -- but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.

"Then I cursed the elements with the curse of tumult; and a frightful tempest gathered in the heaven where, before, there had been no wind. And the heaven became livid with the violence of the tempest -- and the rain beat upon the head of the man -- and the floods of the river came down -- and the river was tormented into foam -- and the water-lilies shrieked within their beds -- and the forest crumbled before the wind -- and the thunder rolled -- and the lightning fell -- and the rock rocked to its foundation. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; -- but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.

"Then I grew angry and cursed, with the curse of silence, the river, and the lilies, and the wind, and the forest, and the heaven, and the thunder, and the sighs of the water-lilies. And they became accursed, and were still. And the moon ceased to totter up its pathway to heaven -- and the thunder died away -- and the lightning did not flash -- and the clouds hung motionless -- and the waters sunk to their level and remained -- and the trees ceased to rock -- and the water-lilies sighed no more -- and the murmur was heard no longer from among them, nor any shadow of sound throughout the vast illimitable desert. And I looked upon the characters of the rock, and they were changed; -- and the characters were SILENCE.

"And mine eyes fell upon the countenance of the man, and his countenance was wan with terror. And, hurriedly, he raised his head from his hand, and stood forth upon the rock and listened. But there was no voice throughout the vast illimitable desert, and the characters upon the rock were SILENCE. And the man shuddered, and turned his face away, and fled afar off, in haste, so that I beheld him no more."

Now there are fine tales in the volumes of the Magi -- in the iron-bound, melancholy volumes of the Magi. Therein, I say, are glorious histories of the Heaven, and of the Earth, and of the mighty sea -- and of the Genii that over-ruled the sea, and the earth, and the lofty heaven. There was much lore too in the sayings which were said by the Sybils; and holy, holy things were heard of old by the dim leaves that trembled around Dodona -- but, as Allah liveth, that fable which the Demon told me as he sat by my side in the shadow of the tomb, I hold to be the most wonderful of all! And as the Demon made an end of his story, he fell back within the cavity of the tomb and laughed. And I could not laugh with the Demon, and he cursed me because I could not laugh. And the lynx which dwelleth forever in the tomb, came out therefrom, and lay down at the feet of the Demon, and looked at him steadily in the face.



Silence I
(taken from "The Arrow Of Time", Ano Kato Rec, 1995)

A study on E.A.Poe's short story "Silence -A Fable"

ROULA PATERAKI - translation, recitation
FLOROS FLORIDIS - clarinets
GIANNIS MOURTZOPOULOS - electronics

SILENCE I & II  (updated March 2013)

"Arrow Of Time"  (updated febr. 2014)