"crammed global soundclash": s/d

In that series? I can vouch for the Tuxedomoon, Honeymoon Killers, and Colin Newman discs, and I've heard nothing but good things about Minimal Compact and Bel Canto. The clips on itunes from the Karl Biscuit album are pretty enticing as well.

...and now I see you already mentioned Tuxedomoon. Still great though.

less interested in the goth/postpunk stuff and more in the electro-world-beat tracks but nice to hear that so much of it gets good marks.

also thanks for the heads-up on itunes, i listened to clips from "aksak maboul" and they sounded pretty fresh.

Kind of off-topic, especially as you've said you're less interested in the postpunk stuff, but while we're on the subject of itunes I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that they're selling the 3-CD Minimal Compact box set for $11.99 instead of the $25 or $30 most other triple albums go for.

i will definitely check out the minimal compact disk. i guess james murphy and tim goldsworthy are big fans, right?

I started a thread on this a couple of years ago, I'm gonna try to find it. The easiest is to start with the 2-cd boxset Crammed released in 2003, it is an actual mix of songs, blending snippets and longer tunes. Really perfect to get acquainted with the catalogue.

Aksak Maboul is key and so is Benjamin Lew (if you're into slightly offbeat instrumentals). I wouldnt bother with Karl Biscuit if you're not into the gothier stuff.

Here is the old thread: Crammed Records 1977-1988 re-issues

Re: the box set- you can get it as two separate CDs (more "world" stuff on one and more postpunk/electronic on the other) or as a boxset of three with a few remixes tacked on. I'd recommend the boxset version, not for the bonus material (it's kind of inconsequential) but because both discs are great and it's cheaper than getting them separately.

??

i've got a few by Zazou Bikaye records ('mr. manager' & 'noir et blanc' and some remix ep) and i love every bit of them. i had Guilty for a bit on mp3, but didn't really dig it besides the title track that was weirdo afro-acid.

i've got both crammed 'greatest hits' and love them both. i can leo if you want.

http://www.crammed.be/crammed/graphics/cra113n.gif

http://www.crammed.be/crammed/graphics/cra114n.gif

i started a thread sorta about them here. s/d: Afro-Electric music

LEO LEO!!

"??"?

these are good? saw a 3cd version of that "crammed global soundclash", should i bite?

Yes, go get it asap.

more opinions

I know I already weighed in (over and over) above, but: BUY ON SIGHT. All the reissues in the series (except Sonoko, which is merely "nice") are excellent, and the compilation is a great overview that will help you find albums you'd like.

get it, duh. it's amazing.

I heard one of the Zazou/Bikaye ("Guilty", I think) records recently and it was very dated sounding. Is that representative of this stuff?

well, it was made in the 80s

actually, guilty sucks. that one sounds very dated compared to the others.

that's not the strongest album, though I like the acid mix of 'na kenda'. and 'sans musik' has something too

Here is the old thread: Crammed Records 1977-1988 re-issues

-- baaderonixx, Monday, 11 June 2007 08:07 (6 months ago) Link

Yeah, but it sounds dated crappy, not dated good. Maybe I should just have said it sounded crappy.

i am *loving* zazou, bikaye and CY1 noir et blanc, which i found in a used african music bin in august. not dated at all, totally incredible. very similar in vibe to moebius/plank/neumeier's "zero set" but much more laid-back.

what's the difference between the stuff labeled zazou/bikaye/CY1 and the stuff labeled zazou/bikaye? who is this mysterious CY1?

CY1 worked with electronics, I think they brought the 'zero set' vibes (that's not a bad reference point for this at all actually, 'noir et blanc' was recorded the year after 'zero set' but one year before it came out)

the textures are less alien on the other zazou / biyake, it's more about the songwriting & singing than the production (which is a lot more conservative zazou). biyake's tracks on zazou's 'reivax au bongo' are great though, a congolese take on martin denny's take on INA GRM studios production of european chamber classical

pls tell me martin denny actually did something w/ INA-GRM

les baxter presents the space-age sound of steve reich

^^ not a bad description for nobukazu takemura, right?

pls tell me martin denny actually did something w/ INA-GRM

this makes me think you might like Reivax Au Bongo

be careful not to buy almost everything Zazou did after 1985 though

(the closest I ever heard Denny get to GRM are one or two tracks on Sayonara, mainly for the weird echoed out psuedo-gamelan on his cover of 'My Funny Valentine')

i just want to make sure that poor dally isnt woken up at 1 in the morning again!!!!

OOPS wrong thread

haha probably a good thing in the end