Full Moon Mix #36: Foreign Tongues

Phileas Fogg travelled around the world in 80 days. We do it in 2 hours.

33 songs in 33 languages, a trip around the globe.

Here’s a map to guide you:

1. Háskólakórinn – Sóley sólufegri (Iceland)
Sóleyharjvæði, S.T.E.F. 1985

2. Duccio Belgiorno & Gino Carbonaro – La Primavera (Italy)
La Contea di Modica, Control Data 1988

3. Rum – Mateetje (Belgium)
4. Folkfestival auf der Lenzburg, Claves 1975

4. Urs Hostettler, Martin Diem, Luc Mentha – Lied A Üsi Zyt (Fährimaa) (Switzerland)
Urs Hostettler, Martin Diem, Luc Mentha, Image 1976

5. Marek Grechuta – Ptak Śpiewa O Poranku (Poland)
Magia Obłoków, Pronit 1974

6. Аквариум – Сарданапал (Russia)
Черная Роза — Эмблема Печали, Красная Роза — Эмблема Любви. Музыка К Фильму Сергея Соловьева, Мелодия 1990

7. Orchestra Paraschiv Oprea feat. Sofia Vicoveanca – Du-Te Dorule-n Pustie (Moldavia)
Rencontre avec la Roumanie: Moldavie (II), Electrecord 1977

8. Апостол Кисьов – Момице, райковленчице (Bulgaria)
Момице, райковленчице, Балкантон 1988

9. Ansambl Branko Milenovic feat. Nada Mamula – Moj Dilbere (Bosnia)
Yugoslavian Songs & Dances, Artone 1973

10. Slavica Pavlović & Jovanka Ivanovska – Ušti, Ušti Baba (Macedonia)
Songs of a Macedonian Gypsy, Monitor Records 1968

11. Michalis Jenitsaris – Θα Σαλτάρω (Greece)
Fünf Griechen in der Hölle, Trikont 1982

12. Irfan & Altan Hastürk – Nereye Gidion? (Turkey)
La Turquie – Chants et danses populaires, Disques Vogue 1968

13. Armenian Song and Dance Ensemble feat. Lyusik Koshian – Hars Em Gnum (Armenia)
Armenian Folk Songs, Monitor Records 1958

14. Seema Sharma – Laut Kar Koi Na Aaya Shaam Tak (India)
Chitra & Jagjit Singh Present The Brightest Talents Of The ‘80s, EMI 1981

15. Sanath Nandasiri – Ayachanathmaka (Sri Lanka)
Sarna Kundala, Gemtone late 70s

16. Eueng Nary & Pen Ran – Noe Euy Srey Noe (Cambodia)
Cambodian Cassette Archives – Khmer Folk and Pop Music Vol. 1, Sublime Frequencies 2016

17. Kensuke Ide With His Mothership – Otemoyan Isan (Japan)
Otemoyan Isan, EM Records 2017

18. 은방울자매 – 해조곡 (South Korea)
특선집, Hit Record late 70s

19. Angkanang Kunchai – Lam Sarawan (Thailand)
Isan Lam Plearn, EM Records 2014

20. Sopusepa Sisters – O Ina Ni Keke (Indonesia)
X-Country from Sabang to Merauke, Evergreen 1965

21. Emma Terangi – E Hina (Tahiti)
Thaiti Melodies, Tamure Records 1973

22. Trio Select – Ratt La (Haiti)
Plein Calle, Marc’s Records 1971

23. Erasmo Carlos – Cachaça Mecânica (Brazil)
1990 – Projeto Salva Terra!, Polydor 1974

24. Chancha Via Circuito – Cumbión De Las Aves (Argentina)
Rio Arriva, ZZK Records 2010

25. Luka Productions – Terryia (Mali)
Fasokan, Sahel Sounds 2017

26. Alogte Oho & His Sounds Of Joy – Mam Yinne Wa (Ghana)
Mam Yinne Wa / Yu Ya Yumma, Philophon 2016

27. Bella Bellow – Dasi Ko (Togo)
Dasi Ko / Sango Yesus Cristo, Fiesta 1973

28. T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo – Gendamou Na Wili We Gnan (Benin)
The Kings of Benin Urban Groove 1972-80, Soundway Records 2004

29. Alemayehu Eshete – Alteleyeshegnem (Ethiopia)
Alteleyeshegnem / Temar Ledje, Philophon 2017

30. Aamina Camaari – Rag Waa Nacab Iyo Nasteexo (Somalia)
Sweet As Broken Dates – Lost Somali Tapes From The Horn of Africa, Ostinato Records 2017

31. Soli – Miravi (Iran)
Pomegranates – Persian Pop, Funk, Folk and Psych of the 60s and 70s, Finders Keepers 2009

32. Al Massrieen – Mafatshi Leh (Egypt)
Modern Music, Habibi Funk 2017

33. Chocolate Menta Mastik – במקום פרדה (Israel)
Chocolate Menta Mastik, Hed-Arzi 1976

Full Moon Mix: Shades Of Grey

No colours allowed this time, neither on the covers nor in the music. Grainy beats under grey skies. Rainy hisses over gloomy basslines. Post-techno that might serve as a soundtrack to a vampire take on 50 Shades Of Grey.

Download

1. Dalhous – Response To Stimuli
The Composite Moods Collection Volume One, Blackest Ever Black 2016

2. Demdike Stare – Caged In Stammheim
Liberation Through Hearing, Modern Love 2010

3. Benedikt Frey – Private Crimes
Artificial, ESP Institute 2017

4. Birds Of Prey – Hollow Object
Birds Of Prey, Kathexis 2015

5. Ketev – Linger
Traces Of Weakness, Where To Now? 2016

6. Alex Smoke – Dust
Love Over Will, R&S Records 2016

7. Loscil – Drained Lake
Monument Builders, Kranky 2016

8. Morphosis – Music For Vampyr: Shadows
Dismantle / Music For Vampyr, Honest Jon’s Records 2013

9. Karen Gwyer – Missisissipippi
New Roof, No Pain In Pop 2014

Full Moon Mix: Pianissimo

Contemplation on white keys and black keys. Melodies trickling, harmonies shimmering. Hymns and nocturnes intertwined. Old masters and new age gurus play the pianoforte pianissimo. Approaching silence to reach infinity.

Download

1. Hans-Ulrich Hausheer – Douala
Piano Improvisation, Sack-Records 1981

2. Roedelius – Balsam
Jardin Au Fou, Egg 1979

3. Chris Abrahams – Scale Upon The Land
Fluid To The Influence, Room40 2016

4. Steve Kuhn – Trance
Trance, ECM 1975

5. Theleonious Monk – Crepuscule With Nellie
Blue Sphere, Black Lion 1980

6. Deaf Center – Fiction Dawn
Owl Splinters, Type 2011

7. Jean-Philippe Collard – Nocturne n° 1
Gabriel Fauré – Nocturnes, La Voix De Son Maître 1974

8. Keith Jarrett – Reading Of The Sacred Books
G.I. Gurdjieff – Sacred Hymns, ECM 1980

9. Tom Ehrlich – Whirling III
Sunstar, Trikont 1983

Full Moon Mix: African Field Recordings

It’s getting cold here at the Moon Lagoon, but tribes from Kenya, Ghana, Congo, Mali, Cameroon, Senegal and Burundi warm things up with a polyrythmic roundel.

All of this music was recorded by ethnomusicologists outdoors, on village squares, in backyards and in the back country. In spite of that, most of these songs sound like they were recorded in a studio. The sound quality is astonishing, and so is the music.

These sounds created by traditional African instruments like the sanza, the nyatiti, and most prominently the balafon are uninformed by pop and its relatives, but interestingly they predict genres supposedly invented in the 20th century: jazz, blues, minimal music, even techno, it’s all been there before, in the soil of the motherland.

Download

1. nyatiti player, Luo tribe, Kenya – title unknown
Tribal Music From East Africa Vol. 1, CMS 1964

2. balafon player, Lobi tribe, Ghana – High Life
Sounds Of West Africa – The Kora & The Xylophone, Lyricord 1976

3. balafon orchestra, Yassoua tribe, Congo – title unknown
Musique Bantou D’Afrique Equatoriale Francaise, BAM 1958

4. balafon player from Mopti, Mali – title unknown
Black Magic 2 – Beispiele Afrikanischer Musik 1&2, Perlinger-Verlag 1978

5. sanza and rattle player, Bali tribe, Cameroon – title unknown
Zanza, Gogi und Alghaita – Musik aus Dörfern in Nordwest-Kamerun, Brot für Brüder 1980

6. three Griots from Mopti, Mali – title unknown
Black Magic 2 – Beispiele Afrikanischer Musik 1&2, Perlinger-Verlag 1978

7. flute and rattle players, Wolof tribe, Senegal – Dance Acrobatique
Senegal, Ex Libris 1975

8. balafon duo and harp player from Yaoundé, Kamerun – Mesi Ng’ekudi
Kamerun, Ex Libris 1976

9. singer from Bujumbura, Burundi – Akazehe
Musique Du Burundi, Disques Ocora 1968

10. harp player from Cameroon – Mansa
Music of the Cameroons, Folkways Records 1961

11. sanza player from Bujumbura, Burundi – title unknown
Musique Du Burundi, Disques Ocora 1968

12. njung orchestra from Cameroon – Njung
Music of the Cameroons, Folkways Records 1961

13. balafon sextet from Yaoundé, Kamerun – Ngo Somo
Kamerun, Ex Libris 1976

Full Moon Mix: Same Song, Different Beat

There are certain rules in entertainment. One of them is that a cover version that stays true to the original is a boring affair. It’s like a fake Rolex: Same same, but different.

A more successful strategy for doing a cover version is to make the song your own. The artists featured on this mix do just that. They give the original a strange twist and process familiar melodies through electronic devices.

Here are some post punk mutations of evergreens reinterpreting the golden age of pop in a most peculiar way.

Download

1. Lizzy Mercier Descloux – Mission Impossible
Press Colors, ZE Records 1979

2. The Holy Sisters Of Gaga Dada – Pretty Woman
Let’s Get Acquainted, BOMP! 1986

3. Karel Fialka – People Are Strange
Still Life, Blueprint 1980

4. Marianne Faithfull – Working Class Hero
Broken English, Island Records 1979

5. Voco Fauxpas & Major Kain – It’s A Man’s Man’s World
Definitiv (Zürich 1976 bis 1986), Definitiv 1986

6. In Aeternam Vale – Money
In Aeternam Vale, Minimal Wave 2009

7. Telex – Rock Around The Clock
Looking For St. Tropez, Vogue 1979

8. Silicon Teens – Let’s Dance
Music For Parties, Mute 1980

9. Comateens – The Munster’s Theme
Comateens, Jupiter Records 1981

Full Moon Mix: Oh Death

We’ll never get out of this world alive. Here are nine songs dealing with death in one way or another.

1. Ekkehard Ehlers – Ain’t No Grave
A Life Without Fear, Staubgold 2006

2. 16 Horsepower – Wayfaring Stranger
Deep South, Glitterhouse 1999

3. Kaleidoscope – Oh Death
Side Trips, Epic 1967

4. Bonnie Prince Billy – Death To Everyone
I See A Darkness, Palace Records 1999

5. Smog – Dress Sexy At My Funeral
Dongs Of Sevotion, Drag City 2000

6. Patrick Sky – Dance Of Death
Reality Is Bad Enough, Verve Forecast 1968

7. Doc Watson – St. James Hospital
Doc Watson, Vanguard 1964

8. Lou Reed – Cremation (Ashes To Ashes)
Magic And Loss, Sire 1992

9. Kevin Morby – The Dead They Don’t Come Back
Harlem River, Woodsist 2013

Full Moon Mix: Cittadini e contadini

Italians are said to be light-hearted people. This mix proves this prejudice wrong. As this compilation reveals, Italian folk music is not about la dolce vita, but rather a deeply melancholic affair.

The title of this mix is borrowed from a record by Canzoniere Internazionale, who contribute the opener. “Cittadini e contadini” translates as “songs from the city and songs from the country”, and that’s what we find on here: rural and urban traditionals from Tuscany, Napoli and Sicily.

Download

1. Canzoniere Internazionale – E me ne stavo mesto a lavorare
Cittadini E Contadini – Canzoni Del Folklore Toscano, I Dischi Dello Zodiaco, 1973

2. Gruppo “Z” – Ballata per l’anarchico Pinelli
Canti Anarchici Italiani, Way Out, 1974

3. Duccio Belgiorno & Gino Carbonaro – Cantu ri li scugghitura
Musica Tradizionale Della Contea Di Modica, Control Data, 1988

4. Renato Carosone E Il Suo Quartetto – Maruzella
Carosello Carosone, Pathé, 1955

5. Romano – Tengo nu chiuovo ‘m’ pietto
Chansons Italiennes No 2, BAM, 1957

6. Coop12 Mesi – I pirati a Palermu
Si Cunta E S’Arricunta, Paladino, 1978

7. Sandra Mantovani & Bruno Pianta – Cecilia
Servi Baroni E Uomini, Albatros, 1970

8. Rosa Balistreri – Vinni a cantari all’ ariu scuvertu
Vinni A Cantari All’ Ariu Scuvertu, Cetra, 1978

9. Roberto Di Simone & Compagnia Il Cerchio – Jesce sole
La Gatta Cenerentola, EMI, 1976