Last night I drank too much beer and danced on a beach to live Canadian-German rock and yéyé 45s at the Glaz’art Plage. What a great place.

It was said that it didn’t feel or look like Paris, what with these youth in interesting outfits – Parisians generally don’t do costumes – cheering on a crowd-surfer who lost his short-shorts and underwear in the fray. But at the same time we were very much in Paris, beside the Parc de la Villette, watching fork lightning-infused storm clouds all around us as the sun miraculously kept shining.

There are few things better than outdoor concerts, especially ones by crazy motherfuckers like King Khan. But add an afforable barbeque, free-flowing headachy beer, sand everywhere and pétanque à volonter and you have the makings of a great evening.

So I’m moving a little slowly today but it was worth it. It’s nice to have these kinds of nights in Paris. Not all Paris dancing has to be done in a dark room behind a burly bouncer at the door, and not all indy bands must be seen at the Maroquinerie. There exists a sunnier, gentler Paris where mod kids in flip-flops slurp beer and let loose to rock’n'roll.

King Khan and The Shrines – How Can I Keep You Outta Har

I had the good fortune to spend a week in Seoul, South Korea, this past February. The weather was hazy and cold almost every day and the pollution hung in the air like a bad Beijing day, but I still thought the city was pretty cool. It was much bigger than I imagined and it takes you hours to get anywhere.. my meetings seemed to always be at opposite ends of the city.

I could go on and on about how great Korean food is, but I’ll let Louise handle that. Let’s focus on some music.

I have to admit that I’ve had a hard time penetrating the K-Pop scene to find some truly good contemporary Korean music. There were whispers and clips of good Seoul-based hip-hop and reggae but language barriers and time didn’t allow me to follow-up.

Luckily, it turns out that South Korea had a very active – and good – psychedelic folk and rock scene in the late 1960s through to the mid-80s. Why? Three words: United States Army.

It’s interesting how much the military has contributed to music all over Africa and Asia in the 20th century. Colonial-era soldiers and sailors from Europe stationed at ports throughout West and Central Africa swapped music, instruments and ideas with African musicians which eventually led to an explosion of soul, rock and folk as well as home-grown hybrid styles. Similarly, Korean musicians quickly stepped in to fill an entertainment void for American GIs stationed in post-war Korea during the 50s and 60s.

By the middle of the 1960s people like Shin Jung-Hyun, Korea’s “Godfather of Rock”, moved from Army concert halls to recording studios so that their music could reach a growing local audience. Jung-Hyun (also written Jeong-Hyun, also written Jung-Hyeon) produced or was at least partly responsible for much of the music you’ll hear on today’s post, so it’s appropriate that we start with a track from his first band to press an LP, Add4, released in 1964.

Next we’ll listen to his 1969 release featuring Lee Jung Hwa on the mic. This is where we start to get into the Korean psych-rock vibe; the track is an epic 16+ minute psychedelic ballad complete with multiple instrument solos. Unfortunately the recording isn’t great but I love the song.

Moving on, we’ll hear a couple tracks off Kim Jung-Mi’s 1973 album, Now, and one from her 1973 release, Wind. She’s probably my favourite of the bunch, but I don’t know much about her except that she was also under Shin Jung-Hyun’s sphere of influence.

Next up the popular Korean rock group, San Ul Rim (The Mountain Echo). We’ll listen to a track from each of their first three albums. First, the title track from their first album, released in 1977. Next an acoustic joint from their second album, the aptly named “Laying Carpet On My Mind” from 1978. Last a track from their second ‘78 release, My Heart.

We’ll now move back to the 60s and early 70s for some Beatlemania à-la-Korea in the form of The Keyboys and two later spin-offs, He5 and He6. Fun and poppy in that 1969 way.. lots of male vocal harmonies and organ use. One day I’m going to make a cop film set in Seoul 1971 and I’ll have the perfect soundtrack. Or maybe the film could take place in both Seoul and Rome…

Following that awesome version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida it’s only appropriate that we finish off with another cover by The Pearl Sisters.

You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about the history of 20th century Korean rock and folk, as I did, at this amazing site: http://koreanpsych.homestead.com/.

That was fun… next stop, Hong Kong.

Shin Jung-Hyun & Add4 – 소야 어서 가자 (Cattle, let’s go soon)
Shin Jung Hyun & The Donkeys feat. Lee Jung Hwa – Mah-Eum
Kim Jung-Mi – Toward The Sunlight
Kim Jung-Mi – Wind In The Trees
Kim Jung-Mi – 불어라 봄바람
San Ul Lim – Oh, Already
San Ul Lim – Like A Child Sleeping On A Shoulder
San Ul Lim – Become A Bird
The Keyboys – Unknown
He5 – Lonely Sun
He6 – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
The Pearl Sisters – I Love You

My father has a great little collection of 45rpm records. Much to his dismay I spent many years playing them to death on my Fisher-Price record player, but luckily most survived my early audiophile days.

I think it speaks volumes that my favourite of the bunch was a cover of La poupée qui fait non by Les Sultans. (They’re an amazing Québecois garage rock band from the 1960s, by the way. Maybe that could be another post…)

Anyway, back in 1994 the MP3 codec started getting popular, the web got big, and I was learning how to digitize and edit audio. The 45 collection became my guinea pig. These were the days before powerful home computers and sophisticated, easily available audio filters. I laboured over waveforms, trying to clean-up some of the more damaged 45s in my father’s collection.

The product? I present one of my first MP3s: a crude, home-cleaned version of a badly damaged 45 of The Who’s Can’t Explain.

So what does any of this have to do with Italy?

While searching for some Italian music for another post I stumbled upon Gli Uragani’s cover of Can’t Explain. The lyrics don’t have much to do with the original, but the melody is unmistakable.

I dug a little deeper and found myself in the hilarious and apparently very popular world of cult Italian 1960s American pop music. Today we’ll hear a small sample of covers from the almost 700 tracks that I found with the help of Annie, Louise and a few bottles of red wine from Le salon des vignerons indépendents.

Oh yes, music fans, put in your earplugs. It’s time for such amazing tunes as “Like a stone that is rolling” by Gianni Pettenati & The Juniors.

Now before you dismiss this musical movement it’s worth noting that many of these groups were very popular and some continue to be megastars in Italy. Guys like Bobby Solo, who I’ll save for tomorrow because he’s the greatest, and Fausto Leali, who you’ll hear today, have been playing San Remo since the early 60s right up until 2008.

Welcome to the wonderful world of 1960s Roma. Further proof that Italians are Europe’s musical powerhouse!

P.S. Sorry for any typos. I’m typing this with one hand because I broke two bones in my right hand on Friday. Ouch.

P.P.S. In a way this brings Benn loxo full circle; this blog started out with American-influenced pop-rock from Nigeria in the 1960s and 70s.

The Who – Can’t Explain
Gli Uragani – Con quella voce
Caterina Caselli – Paint It Black
Caterina Caselli – Sono Bugiarda
Davide e Sara – Facciamo lamore non la guerra
Equipe 84 – Bang Bang
I Corvi – Bang Bang
Fausto Leali – Lei ti ama
The Little Boys – Lei t’ama
Gianni Pettenati & The Juniors – Come una pietra che rotola
I Barritas – Rhonda, aiuto
I Jaguars – Barbara Ann
I Dik Dik – Senza Luce
I Dik Dik – Sognando la California
Jimmy Fontana – Per Vivere Insieme
The Ravers – Tanto carina

And before you go thinking this trend is over,

Cor Veleno – Pimp remix

These “new posts” are giving me an excuse to armchair research a lot of countries that I really know nothing about. Hungary is a good example. I’ve been to Budapest twice but until recently I only knew it as a beautiful city coming out of the shadow of a 40-year Communist rough patch. There was a rather large gap in my knowledge that fell somewhere between the Habsburgs and the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

I don’t know.. is it because I grew-up in North America that I have such a hard time imagining these European and near-European countries during the second half the 20th century? I get the impression that during the 80s we were taught that civilization ended somewhere in the middle of Germany and didn’t start again until the Korean peninsula.

It turns out that in many areas of the Soviet Union there some periods of positive, cool cultural growth. Musically, for example, there was quite a bit going on behind that Iron Curtain at various times. Hungarians in particular enjoyed periods of relative cultural freedom smack in the middle of their Communist era.

I promise not to ramble on about the cultural history of Soviet-ruled Hungary especially because, as I said, I don’t know much. What I do know is that Budapest experienced a rock’n'roll boom from the late 1960s until the early 70s.

It took me a few days but I’ve managed to throw together a little mixtape of some good Hungarian tunes from this period of Communist-era musical growth in the country. If you’re a big Zombies fan as I am, some of these tracks definitely won’t disappoint. (What is it with the Zombies these days, anyway? They’re suddenly the “band your father was into” for in-bands to reference during an interview. Does this mean that it will one day also be cool to admit owning several Emerson, Lake & Palmer albums? Ok, probably not.. but, yeah, I do.)

We’ll start with a couple tracks by Metró, a very popular Hungarian rock band from the 1960s and 70s. These two lead-off their 1969 self-titled release which you can find re-released on Hungaroton. Looking for the lyrics? I wonder what they’re saying…

Next some more music from Budapest by Illés off their 1969 release, Illesek Es Pofonok. Along with Metró and Omega they were part of what I understand to be a trio of very popular rock groups in Budapest during the late 60s. ‘69 was the year that Beatles released Abbey Road.. comparisons are easy to make. Illés rock it their own way, though.

Omega are up next. I see a lot of incomprehensible Hungarian forum and blog posts on the ‘net about the first track, Gyöngyhajú lány. It was a huge hit and still this is to this day. The title translates into “The Girl With Pearl’s Hair”. Awesome video. It’s off their 1969 release, 10,000 Lepes. I’ve also posted another good track off their 1968 release, Trombitas Fredi.

We’ll finish up with a great, dirty blues track from by Hungarian “super-group”, Lokomotív GT. It was formed in 1971 by members of Omega and Metró. It’s off their 1971 self-titled release.

Unfortunately after about 10 years of musical growth the government cracked-down on rock music in a big way. Many band members left the country and the scene died a quick death. It wouldn’t be until the final years of communist rule, around the end of the 1980s, that (good) contemporary music would once again flourish in the country.

However, as a testament to the cultural resilience of Hungarians the music scene bounced back pretty quickly. As we heard yesterday there are lots of good contemporary sounds coming out of the country these days.

I’d love to hear/learn more about Hungarian music, both old and new. If you’re Hungarian or happen to be into the contemporary Magyar sound please get in touch in the comments.

Metró – Ülök egy rózsaszínû kádban
Metró – Okos szamár
Illés – A beérkezett levelekre válasz
Omega – Gyöngyhajú lány
Omega – Vasarnap
Lokomotív GT – Royal Blues

Ok, I admit it. I’m getting older in at least one stereotypically way: I don’t listen to as much loud music anymore.

I’ve been into heavier guitar rock since I was but a pup.. memories of my mother having to accompany me to Ed’s Record Shop to buy a Jane’s Addiction album because the guy wouldn’t sell it to a kid. (I grew-up in rather anal Toronto, especially back then, and the cover of the album in question featured some kind of claymation threesome sex scene.)

But let’s face it, if you’ve listened to this blog for a while or if you know me personally you’ll know that my taste has shifted decidedly acoustic over the past few years. What was once “indie” or “alternative” is now “alt-folk” or “stripped-down”. Even my taste in dance music is more mellow.. what was once drum and bass is now decidedly Herbert-esque.

So that said, it’s nice to go to a loud-ish rock show like the Tag Team showcase the other night and genuinely enjoy the over-cranked acoustics and guitar fuzz that still rings in your ears as you leave the venue.

Let’s hear a good example. As I mentioned yesterday Lonely China Day played an interesting set with nice light work and lots of effects to go with the noise. If you catch them live in the US in the near future they’ll probably sound a bit like this.

It’s the 27th of August today and I leave Beijing on the 1st of September. I probably won’t get a post in between now and when I’m back in Paris on the 10th of September, but I’ll try to pick-up some more music for future posts while I’m still in Beijing and when I get down to the Yunnan.

This Chinese series has been fun. Beijing has far exceeded expectations, musically and otherwise. Of course there’s so much more to the scene(s) here than what I’ve touched upon.. but as far as casual musical travel goes, Beijing has impressed.

I’ve met a lot of good people here- special to David of Panjir, Ed of MicroMu, Mat “of the alter ego”, Matt from Tag Team, and everyone else I’ve met for all your knowledge and some great nights out.

See you in a couple weeks.

Lonely China Day – Beijing Realize