Episode 41
Episode 41 first appeared on March 18, 2019.
Tracklisting:
01) “The King of Spain” by the Tallest Man on Earth.
From the 2010 album The Wild Hunt.
Dalarna, Sweden.
According to the Wikipedias: “Kristian Matsson is a singer-songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden, who performs under the stage name of The Tallest Man on Earth. Matsson grew up in Leksand, and began his solo career in 2006, having previously been the lead singer of the indie band Montezumas.”
02) “Face Behind The Sun” by the Plastic Cloud.
From the 1968 album The Plastic Cloud.
Bay Ridges, Ontario, Canada.
The Plastic Cloud was a Canadian psychedelic rock band formed in Bay Ridges, Ontario, Canada in 1967 and which only lasted about a year, producing this single album, definitely influenced by the Byrds and others.
Purchase the album on Amazon.
03) “Hora Staccato” by Zoltan and His Gypsy Ensemble.
From the 1994 album Gypsy Music From Hungary And Romania.
Hungary.
Not much to be found on this artist or album. Help? A now-expired eBay page said: “This is a very old style, collection of authentic romantic, European Gypsy music, which includes gypsy songs from the Balkans & Russia. The sound is very 1930s before WWII.”
Purchase the album on Amazon.
04) “Moja Bhari Moja” by Rupa.
From the 1982 album Disco Jazz.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
“Barely disco and hardly jazz, Rupa Biswas’ 1982 LP is the halfway point between Bollywood and Balearic. Tracked in Calgary’s Living Room Studios with a crack team of Indian and Canadian studio rats alike, Disco Jazz is a perfect fusion of East and West. Sarod and synthesizer intricately weaving around one another for 37 transcendent minutes, culminating in the viral hit “Aaj Shanibar.” Remastered from original analogue source material and withe permission and blessing of the producers and performers.”
The only album from Rupa Biswas, who is surprisingly difficult to track down. Not sure where she is from or what happened to her. Anyone have any information?
Purchase the album at Amazon.
05) “B.L.M.” by the Specials.
From the 2019 album Encore.
Coventry, UK.
A recent Rolling Stone profile tells us:
“When the Specials’ Jerry Dammers’ launched the 2 Tone label in Britain in 1979, his group was more than just a ska revival band with good taste in covers — they were a multi-racial spearhead of a post-punk movement combatting skinhead racism (fueled by far-right groups like the National Front) and the craven business-first classism of the Thatcher government. Now, with racist nationalism on the rise amidst the Brexit debacle, the Special’s third album — 38 years since the last one, More Specials — is well timed. As frontman Terry Hall puts it, the band remain “horribly relevant.”
06) “Smile Goddess Sarasvati” by Vasant Rai.
From the 1976 album Spring Flowers.
Unjha, India.
“Until his death at the young age of 43 in 1985, Vasant Rai was one of the world's most acclaimed masters of Indian music. Born in Unjha, in the province of North Gujarat, India, in 1942, he began musical education at age seven. He studied vocal music with his father, Govindji Brahmbhatt, and instrumental music with his elder brother, Kantilal. Vasant became proficient on sitar, violin, and flute, and appeared in his first concert at age 11. In 1958, after 13 years of musical experience, Vasant became the disciple of the incomparable guru Ustad Allauddin Khan, and was the last student to receive the Indian maestro's complete musical training. He emerged a virtuoso on the sarod.”
07) “La Mariposa” by Bruno Sanfilippo.
From the 2019 album Pianette.
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sanfilippo’s Facebook page tells us that:
“Bruno Sanfilippo is a classically trained musician and composer. He graduated from the Galvani Conservatory, Buenos Aires, with a degree in musical composition [piano] His focus alternates between the exploration of minimalist piano concepts and electro-acoustic music. He is obsessed with the search for new and unique qualities in music, the magical and the deep. In dreams, there’s no imagined thing that’s too absurd, too strange, and Bruno Sanfilippo’s music comes from that inexhaustible and shameless source.”
We invite you to gently browse the map of where each featured artist is from. Since we Google Maps, they only let us feature 10 episodes at a time. So see other maps of featured artists here. In the meantime, this week’s artists are represented by yellow map-points.