TH#111 - Door Of The Cosmos [Graham's Selection Summer '25]

 

Summer time's here ! This selection will joyfully accompany your road trips and summer parties. Estonian composer Misha Panfilov's "Together" opens and ends the journey with its magical theme. A couple of South African funk numbers, all-time legends Nina Simone, Bob Marley and Sun Ra ; Neapolitan disco gems, a couple of 60's curiosities (France Gall's "Néfertiti" penned by Gainsbourg and arranged by Goraguer, Trovajoli & Orlandi's "Ariana" penned by Morricone himself, Jean-Jacques Perrey's answer to Pierre Henry "E.V.A.")... And more contemporary artists like Italian pop songwriters Giorgio Poi and Calcutta, Frenglish band Morningstar Music Club, French-Italophile band Mazalda, and finally "Serious Drug" by Freddie Cruger & Anthony Mills a.k.a. Wildcookie. Groovy!

A

1 Misha Panfilov – Together Part 1

2 Nina Simone – It's Be That Way Sometime

3 Jabula – Jabula Happiness

4 St Vincent Latinaires – Roasted Or Fried

5 Wildcookie – Serious Drug

6 Nina Simone – Blackbird

7 The Beaters – Thiba Kamoo

8 Sun Ra – Door Of The Cosmos (edit)

9 Bob Marley & the Wailers – Hypocrites

10 The Silvertones – Tear Drops Will Fall

B

11 Calcutta – Coro

12 Morningstar Music Club – Spiritual Guide

13 Donatella Viggiano – Napule Canta E More

14 Mazalda – Otto Mata

15 France Gall – Néfertiti

16 Jean-Jacques Perrey – E.V.A.

17 Oro – Sasa'

18 Armando Trovajoli & Nora Orlandi – Ariana

19 Giorgio Poi – Uomini Contro Insetti

20 Misha Panfilov – Together Part 2

 

Thanks : Helen, Molly, Ned, Cam Cam.

Stream below, DL available soon !

TH#110 - Chains Of Love [Luke's Summer 25 Mixtape]

110 mixtapes later, this blog is still running and slowly forming a giant Chain Of Love around the world - this warm selection to fit on to a C60 musicassette is the newest link in the chain.

Side A
01 - Piero Piccioni - Chains Of Love
02 - Ennio Morricone - Il grande silenzio
03 - Junior Byles - Curly Locks
04 - Boo And The Tru Tones - I Just Can't Reach You
05 - Etubom Rex Williams - Kukpong Mi Obong
06 - Andre Tanker Five - Lena
07 - Ñanda Mañachi - Llaki Shunkulla
08 - Kuku Sebside - Belibe Godana (On My Heart's Road)

Side B
09 - Bolivia Manta & Ñanda Mañachi - Medley
10 - Willamu Osale - Usimalize Mali
11 - Henri Bembele And Orchestra Tinapa - Stanleyville Putulú (Stanleyville is Dusty)
12 - Olmedo Torres - Diablo Huma
13 - Graham Mushnik - Octopus Dance
14 - Yishak Banjaw - Libey Ma'aduley
15 - Chelique Sarabia - Barlovento
16 - Black Flower - O Fogo
17 - Steve Waring - Sedona

TH # 109 - Stand By Woman [Le Major's mixtape • April '25]

Oh Ha ! Here's a bunch of new tunes to dive into Spring. You'll mainly find sunny and soulful vibes, though hypnotic and mysterious numbers remain. Happy listening !

A Side   1. Shuggie Otis - Aht Uh Mi Hed • 2.  Ann Peebles - Stand By Woman • 3. Wanderléa - Kriola • 4. Nino Nardini - Tropicola • 5. Con Funk Shun - Now & Forever • 6. Armando Trovaioli - Black Pearl Necklace • 7. Ginger Bamboo - Stinlo • 8. Rozi Plain - Quiz 

 

B Side   9. Dawn - I’m Afraid They’re All Talking •  10. Los Zheros - Cuarto Oscuro • 

11. Aurita Castillo - Puya Tropicana • 12. Love Joys - All I Can Say • 13. Ranking Ann - Stop Romance Inna Dance • 14. Ibrahim Heswani  - Watany Al Kabir • 15. Cheikha Djenia & Yacine Abbassi - Chet B’Ainia • 16 Peki Momés – Göç Mevsimi • 17. Forest Law - Balm

thanks: The Şimşeks + Gérard 

TH#108 - A Different Sunset [Graham's Selection Spring '25]

 

A

1 Fikret Kızılok – Leylim Leylim

2 Ananda Shankar – The River

3 Meral Atakök ve Üç Hürel – Masa Üstünde Testi

4 Taci Özmen - Çekilmez Bu Dünya

5 Gülsüm Kamu ve Ergun Özer Ork. – Aliyi Gördüm Aliyi

6 The Ghetto Brothers – Viva Puerto Rico Libre

7 New Colony Six – Elf Song (Ballad Of The Wingbat Marmaduke)

8 Syd Barrett – Golden Hair

9 Bruce Haack – Cherubic Hymn

10 Fikret Kızılok – Gözlerinden Bellidir

B

11 Hümeyra – Onu Bana Sakla

12 Zümra Aycan – Bilemedim

13 Augusto Martelli – Berjl's Tune

14 The Ghetto Brothers – You Say You Are My Friend

15 Cici Kızlar - Gencim, Yaşamı Severim

16 Gülcan Opel – Gavuşmak Hayal Oldu

17 Arif Sağ - Bizim Şarkımız

18 Ali Rıza Binboğa - Dost Kazanmak Kolay Değil

To welcome Spring, here's a trippy and folky selection, in the spirit of 'Voyage Sans Retour' and 'Bees & Things & Flowers'.

This time, a big half of the tunes are Anatolian / Turkish 7''s that I recently got in Ankara, Istanbul, and through my friend Ilker. Fikret Kızılok (left on the photo) and his unique voice opens the voyage with his hit 'Leylim Leylim', and the trip continues with Indian composer Ananda Shankar's 'The River'. A handful of great Anatolian folk songs follow – Meral Atakök accompanied by the young Hürel trio, protest singer Taci Özmen, and a haunting bossa-nova version of an ancient Alevi poem, 'Aliyi Gördüm Aliyi', sung by actress Gülsüm Kamu.

NYC's obscure Latino garage band The Ghetto Brothers come in with their anthem 'Viva Puerto Rico Libre' and lead the way to a more freaky psychedelic moment with New Colony Six, Syd Barrett and Bruce Haack. Then, back to Türkiye with Fikret again - and some interesting pop tunes by Hümeyra, Zümra Aycan and the trio Cici Kızlar. The latter perform in a 'Quarteto Em Cy' style (singing « I am young, I love life » in Turkish) on a cool boogaloo beat, which links with Augusto Martelli's groovy 'Berjl's Tune' and another Ghetto Brothers song. On 'Gavuşmak Hayal Oldu', Gülcan Opel teams up with bağlama master Arif Sağ , who (unusually) sings in Arabesk style on the following tune 'Bizim Şarkımız' ; and finally, Ali Rıza Binboğa concludes the adventure with the epic 'Dost Kazanmak Kolay Değil'.

Thanks : Ilker, Ethem, Helen.

 

Captain XXI presents: DOUCES FRANCOPHONIES [French-Speaking Female Singers From The 60's & 70's]

 

Douces Francophonies is Captain XXI's newest hot selection of rare 7-inches ripped and mixed on to a C60 musicassette for your listening pleasure. He says:

"Along my discoveries and through my work as a DJ I always had in the back of my mind the desire to make a compilation that would highlight french-speaking female singers, thus opening up my research to several continents and making me travel musically to numerous countries. Throughout this mixtape the 60’s and 70’s atmosphere is predominant. Those decades left a strong mark in music history in general and french music in particular, thanks to the creativity and productivity of artists and producers of that time. This selection covers a wide range of genres : psychedelic rock, soul music, acid-folk, Occitan disco, Brazilian music, jazz… and a sprinkle of early 80's productions.
Many years were necessary to collect these songs and mix them up into this playlist of 20 cherry-picked tracks.
After releasing “Hunt Down” in 2018, putting together this new selection was the next obvious step. This way I strive to bring you plenty of exciting music by forgotten artists, obscure songs and oddball productions from half-a-century ago." 

 

TH#107 - Love & Service [Luke's Spring 25 Mixtape]

 

Keeping up the comping - here is #107 - hope you like it!

SIDE A
01 - Mugadzikwa Mwanagona - Chirombo Woye Nditerere
02 - Alan Lorber Orchestra - The Flute Thing
03 - Piero Piccioni - Camille 2000 (end titles)
04 - Nara Leão - Primavera
05 - Sivuca - Nao Me Diga Adeus
06 - Calchakis - Solsticio
07 - Marinês e sua Gente - Casa de marimbondo
08 - Ahmed Malek - Le Mariage De Moussa
09 - Juan Luis Restrepo - A Saravino
10 - Brother Ali - Love & Service
11 - Piero Piccioni - Camille 2000 (alternate take)

SIDE B
12 - Lal & Mike Waterson - Fine Horseman
13 - Balla Et Ses Balladins - Paulette
14 - Disco Soccer Buari - Adesa A
15 - Madlib - Rolled Peach Optimos
16 - Alhaki K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas - Hwehwe Mu Na Yi Wo Mpena
17 - Brother Ali - Cadillac
18 - Matthewdavid - Dampener

 

TH#106 - Blow 'Way ! [Graham's Selection X-mas'24]

 

The traditional X-mas comp/mixtape, full of goodies for your winter parties, car trips, messy breakfasts... Perhaps the common denominator in this selection is every track contains an element of madness, in one way or another.

It starts with my favourite track from 2024 : Misha Panfilov's ''Mesosphere'', recorded with his septet in one weekend somewhere in the woods (the story says), a truly beautiful and inspiring tune.

Side A then goes more Caribbean and party-friendly with genius Rapsonian Lancelot Layne, Ranking Ann (what a vibe!), The Tufftones (what a sound!), Jeannette Azzouz and Harry Panday (both taken from our friend Chris ''DJ Sofa''s highly recommended ''Elsewhere CC'' compilation), the Paragons' beautiful version of War's hit ''The World Is A Ghetto''... and a great version of Ecuadorian organman Polibio Mayorga's hit ''La Minga''.

Side B takes us back to the good old US soul-jazz sounds : jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby, bass&drums killers Young & Holt, New Orleans drummer June Gardner, latin-jazz king Cal Tjader...

Easy then to bounce back to the old continent with crooner Voldemar Kuslap (Estonian like Misha Panfilov), and to end with an epic funk-inematic fresque by Lebanese legend Ziad Rahbani... Play and rewind !

A

01 Misha Panfilov Septet – Mesosphere

02 Lancelot Layne – Blow 'Way

03 Lancelot Layne – Bassman

04 Olmedo Torres y Los Gatos – La Minga

05 The Paragons feat. Rosalyn Sweat - The World Is A Ghetto

06 Jeannette Azzouz & Belles Combo – So Close To Me

07 Ranking Ann – Indian Dub Song

08 Harry Panday – Love Your Mother And Father

09 The Tufftones – Sensi For Sale

B

10 Dorothy Ashby – Soul Vibrations

11 Young Holt Unlimited – Dig Her Walk

12 Young Holt Unlimited – Give It Up

13 June Gardner – Mustard Greens

14 Cal Tjader – Souled Out

15 Voldemar Kuslap – Motlen Sinule

16 Ziad Rahbani – Abu Ali

 

Thanks : Flavien, Diz-Diz, Helen Wells, Chris Sofa, Axel Z

TH#105 - True Love Will Find You In The End [Luke's Autumn 24 C60 mixtape]

 

Click here to find true love, or stream below. Calm and deep selection to fit on a C60 musicassette.

Side A.
01 - Fausto Papetti - Trust Me
02 - Slim And Slam - African Jive
03 - Mango Santamaria - Afro Blues
04 - Calchakis - Sol Caribe
05 - Anna Makirere - Aue Te Aroa
06 - Lou Christie - Have I Sinned
07 - Ray Cathode - Waltz in Orbit
08 - Una Ramos - Reflejos del Sol
09 - Derya Yıldırım & Graham Mushnik - Horoz Havada
10 - Orquesta Nacional - Atahualpa
11 - Edric Connor & The Caribbeans - Missa Ramgoat

Side B.
12 - Lord Christo - Jacob From Panama
13 - Franco & le TP OK Jazz - Siluwangi Wapi Accordeon
14 - Orchestre Ratego Jazz - Stephin mulofa
15 - Nightmares On Wax - Imagineering
16 - The Wozrd Of Iz - Big Sur
17 - Eugen Thomass - Art Asia
18 - Orkes Krontjong Dhaya Sakti - Sangkurian sangkurinang
19 - Mort Garson - Kevin and Paige
20 - Jad Fair & Kramer - True Love Will Find You In The End

 

TH#104 - Betta Must Come [Luke's Autumn 24 C90 Mixtape]

Good morning! Here is Luke's new batch of killers. Much drumming in this one (check out drummer / composers Tony Esposito and Mansa Musa, resp. from Naples and Port of Spain), many Caribbean numbers (calypso ; nyabinghi oldies ; Martinique "coastal hills" flutist Max Cilla ) and general worlwide goodness: a 90's Franco hit feat. Camille Feruzi on accordeon ; a wild instrumental by wicked a taiwanese band ; brazilian crate digga instros by Waldir Calmon... Can anything really come betta than this?

SIDE A
01 - Charlotte Walters - Fleurs De Pavots Bleus
02 - Waldir Calmon - Airport Love Theme
03 - Tony Esposito - Pagaia
04 - Ali Affandi - Msaydiano
05 - Touré Kunda - Ninki Nanka
06 - Androo - Judso Danc Theate
07 - The Zenmenn - The Magic Eye
08 - Philip Cohran & The Artistic Heritage Ensemble - The African Look
09 - Young Tiger - African Dream
10 - Mansa Musa - Who Told You
11 - Franco & T.P.O.K. Jazz - Likambo Ya Ngana

SIDE B
12 - Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari - Sam's Intro
13 - The Emperor - Tough De Times (Things Getting Tough)
14 - Ginger Folorunso Johnson - Egyptian Bint al Cha Cha
15 - Max Cilla - La Flute Des Mornes
16 - Tony Esposito - Il Giorno e la Notte
17 - Waldir Calmon - Afro Son
18 - Unknown Killer Taiwan Band
19 - Q.Q. - Betta Must Come
20 - Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari - Way Back Home
21 - Simentera - Raiz

THANKS Captain XXI - Madlib - Seb Thieme - Antoine "Maaula" - Paul & Vincent "Coustou" - Fellow Bloggers

TH#103 - Pigtails & Cocktails [Graham's 60's Selection Vol. 2]

After "Freaks & Leeks" (one of the first comps on this blog, over 13 years ago), here's the sequel, "Pigtails & Cocktails" !

Moody garage songs, glamorous Italian pop gems, cinematic instros, surfy Turkish rarities... all dating from the swinging decade.

I wanted to include a few Joe Meek productions ("I Don't Want Your Loving No More", "Pigtails" and "Bitter Sweet Love") and some of the great tracks from the obscure Milky Way label (mad drummer-singer Kookie Cook and amazing all-girl band The Cobras)...

The man on the photo is Tetsuya Watari, the only Japanese artist on the selection, who was also a famous yakuza film star.

Please note : there are 2 garage bands called "We The People", not to be mixed up ! One of them (n° 2) had to change its name for "American Zoo" half way through its (ephemere) career, due to the established success of the other one (n° 1)...

Apologies for the absence of R'n'B, doo-wop, rocksteady, etc. There are so many genres ! These could well be a focus for the next 60's comp – hopefully in less than 13 years...

Cheers !

Thanks : Dav' Grasselli, Beatmike

SIDE A
01 - We The People (1) – In The Past
02 - Robin Ward - Wonderful Summer
03 - Rita Pavone – Solo Tu
04 - Armando Trovajoli – Lady Luna
05 - Armando Trovajoli – F.M.B. Shake
06 - The Blue Rondos – I Don't Want Your Loving No More
07 - The Cobras – Try
08 - The Prisners Dream – Autumn Days
09 - The Bittersweets – Hurtin' Kind
10 - The Saints – Pigtails
11 - Cahit Oben – Hereke
12 - Human Expression - Sweet Child Of Nothingness

SIDE B
13 - Piero Umiliani - Fotomodelle
14 - Tetsuya Watari – Shu Be Du Be
15 - Kookie Cook – Working Man
16 - The Cobras – Goodbye
17 - The Humane Society – Eternal Prison
18 - Cahit Oben – Halime
19 - Mina – Il Cielo In Una Stanza
20 - Optikler – Köylü Kızı
21 - We The People (2) – Feelings Of My Emptiness
22 - B. Bumble & The Stingers – Nautilus
23 - The Riot Squad – Bitter Sweet Love
24 - Piero Umiliani – You Tried To Warn Me

 

TH#101 - The Ocean [Luke's Spring 24 mixtape]

Mixtape number 101 is here! Quite folky / poppy with a bit of an arty-electronics passage. "The Ocean" is taken from the Born Bad Records' far-out "Prend le temps d'écouter" compilation that brings together pieces made by children and teachers in Freinet schools. An ocean of music...

SIDE A
01 - Michel Legrand - Ballade de Polly Maggoo
02 - Mort Garson - They're Off To Find The Wozard
03 - Orquesta Nacional - Ponchito Al Hombro
04 - Tia Blake and Her Folk-Group - Wish I Was A Single Girl Again
05 - Wimple Winch - Lollipop Minds
06 - Ken Boothe - Old Fashion Way
07 - Hudford All Stars - Crying Version
08 - The Jaguars - Night Walker
09 - Lord Sutch - The Cheat
10 - Prefab Sprout - Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
11 - Grab Grab The Haddock - I'm Used Now

SIDE B
12 - Fools - Snodae
13 - Yasuaki Shimizu - Kakashi
14 - Sil Austin - Aka To Kuro No Blues
15 - You'll Never Get To Heaven - Mad Shadows
16 - Fools - Deefyfe
17 - Bepotel - These Times
18 - Mort Garson - I've Been Over The Rainbow
19 - Tia Blake and Her Folk-Group - Hangman
20 - Nadine Perron - The Ocean
21 - Bibio - Lightspout Hollow 

Thanks : Yippie's Quest, DJ Sofa, fellow bloggers.

TH#102 - Silver Roses And Jade Waters [Graham's Summer Selection 2024]

An eclectic, intercontinental and groovy selection for this summer's road trips, sunny mornings or late night parties ! 

First of all, I wanted to feature songs by Surinami "Chutney" artist Cynthia Bhikharie, as well as instrumentals by Indian percussionist/composer Babla, since their sounds are connected by the phenomenon of Indo-Caribbean fusion. I also discovered some cool late 60's tracks by soul-jazz legends Ramsey Lewis and Nina Simone. And to link back to the Caribbean feel, a reggae version of Nina Simone's "To Love Somebody", beautifully sung by Busty Brown, followed by "Love" by the Twinkle Brothers.

2 magnificent songs by cult Japanese movie-star Meiko Kaji, Anatolian folk track "Metelik" by arranger Esin Engin and Selda's hymn to Anatolia "Gesi Bağları" are followed by 2 important Italian artists from the 70's and 80's : avant-garde pop songwriter Franco Battiato and Southern-Italy's folk legends NCCP. What else ? "Memme Vaev", a groovy collaboration between Apelsin and Collage, two Estonian proggy bands from the soviet era ; and last but not least, contemporary Lebanese producer Charif Megarbane and his morriconesque composition "Pas De Dialogue".

Thanks : Piotr, Dav Grass, Derya, Coco Maria.