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

I really think that I brought Young MC’s “Bust a Move” to a whole new level the other night at some Beijing KTV cathedral. The lyrics were just flowing off my tongue and the beat was sweeter than usual. Because we couldn’t quite figure out the Chinese-language buttons I managed to get in two renditions in of this classic of classics.. amazing. (And yes, the room came with 44 bottles of Tsing Tao. Definitely a help on the mic.)

Ah yes, there’s nothing quite private-room karaoke in Beijing at 5am with a bunch of South Africans after quite a few pijou. (Actually, I’ve been known to rock a very similar evening in Toronto at the XO.. but anyway..) Like the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, a down’n'dirty night of KTV should be part of anyone’s must-do list in Beijing.

I imagine you’re not too keen on listening to a recording of me rapping (don’t worry – there isn’t one, at least not that I’m aware of) so we’ll be hearing some Beijng indie rock today. I’ve been busy “blogging the shit” out of Ed Peto’s Beijing musical venture, MicroMu, but we shouldn’t forget some other great labels that I’ve come across in this city.

We listened to some Re-tros the other day, an interesting group off Beijing’s Tag Team label. I went to a Tag Team showcase just the other night and saw a bunch more of their bands. Matt, the guy in charge of Tag Team, was kind enough to slip me a few CDs, including a couple by bands featured at the show.

The show was hit and miss, but there were definitely a couple of great acts. Lonely China Day put on an interesting preview of the kind of laptop-rock they’ll be playing on their upcoming US tour .. we’ll hear from them tomorrow.

Today we’ll hear some Arrows Made Of Desire. The band’s lead, Joewi Verhoeven, is half-Dutch, half-Chinese. He grew-up in Holland but “caught the first flight to Beijing, China to study Mandarin and film directing at the Beijing Film Academy.” He’s a really young guy and a really good guitar player.. he put on a fun set.

You can learn plenty more about Arrows Made Of Desire at the Tag Team web site. If you’re in the US you can buy their releases at the Tag Team online store. While you’re there be sure to check-out another Tag Team band, Venice Is Sinking. Their track “Esther C” is fantastic.

So hey, I’m still in Beijing. Seven weeks yesterday. Man. Now that the work bit is over I have only holiday-time in China to look forward to.. A few days in Beijing then down to the Yunnan province. Lovely.

By the way, I might be at the Hanggai show later tonight at Yugong Yishan. If you’re in Beijing and want one of those “beers on Benn loxo” I’m the white guy in a t-shirt who needs a haircut, hovering near the bar.

Arrows Made of Desire – Truism

I was wandering around Beijing’s 798 “art zone” this afternoon when I found a small record shop – a rarity in this city. Inside they were playing some nice-sounding Chinese rock, which turned out to be Wang Wen’s IV.

(Sidenote: from now I promise to always drop the post- from rock. Every Beijing rock band seems to be tagged with the unfortunate label post-rock.. I’m not quite sure what’s so post about their rock in the first place. It just sounds pretentious.)

To be fair I’d never heard of Wang Wen until I walked into this shop, but I like what I hear. Their laid-back, dreamy guitar sound is perfect for the night-shift I got stuck with today.

From their MySpace page,

“The band was formed in the city of Dalian, a busy seaport in northeast china, in the year of 1999. Wangwen was at first started by two awkward (at that time!) guitarists who were crazy about The Smashing Pumpkins and later joined by the drummer who also brought along the band name, representing the idea of an unknown band and insensibility to what others say. The band began to record their first demo- ‘the animal world’ on their own in the same year they formed. Since then the band members had been changing while continuous creation of new pieces of music and performing. ‘lingshuihe’(‘the IceWaterRiver’)was recorded on their own in 2000 and the third demo ‘the Tenebrous Yinyang Road’ was also completed two years later. During this period the music style of the band had been gradually changing from vocal to instrumental and started to draw broad attentions both from the reviews and the audience as well. It was considered as the one of the leading band from china in the fields of post-rock and acid rock. The band was influenced by: Mogwai, Red Red Meat, Mono, Explosion in the Sky, Polvo, Tortois–GYBE, etc.”

Pretty much sums it up.

Apparently they’re on a European tour this summer and seem to have some kind of a following in various countries outside of China, at least judging from their MySpace comments and some buzz on the web. The track on today’s post is from IV, their May, 2008, release on Fox Tail Records.

The young guy working in the record shop where I picked up this album was quite nice and offered up a bunch of tips, which resulted in me walking out with a bunch of albums. I felt nice actually buying music in China, though I’m not so sure that the artists will see any of the revenue from my buys… but in the very least they’ll help keep this little record shop in business, and the friendly guy working the store in a job.

Wang Wen – 污水塘 (Great Tactic)

Apparently Mao means rock or rock’n'roll in Chinese, at least according to the people at Mao Live, one of Beijing’s best rock venues.

The rock scene here is fairly developed, especially considering that it emerged from pretty much nothing a decade or so ago. I’ve been to a couple gigs now and both were jam-packed with Beijinger fans, eager to rock it .. albeit still a little hesitantly.

A few days ago I checked-out the Re-tros at the Mao Live. Great show. This fun sampler-duo, Zig Zag, opened but unfortunately the crowd wasn’t so into dancing to their electro-pop.. a shame, since I’m a closet beep-and-pop dance fan.

The Re-tros – which stands for ReBuilding The Rights of Statues – got a warmer reception. My sources here tell me that they’re one of the better rock acts around the Beijing scene at the moment.. and I have to say that I was impressed. They had a good, original sound by any standard.

The first paragraph on their band page on their label’s site is classic:

“Born in the shadow of post-Tiananmen nihilism, the collapse of state run industry and a desert that will someday swallow the city whole, Beijing-based Rebuilding the Rights of Statues delivers explosive, danceable, unsettling post punk that leaves you unsure whether you want to take your clothes off and shake the spiders out, or go look for a rope, a closet and a copy of Iggy Pop’s The Idiot.”

Need I say more? A strange Joy Division/B52s fusion sprung to mind immediately after they played their first bar.

That night I got to meet Matt, the guy who runs Tag Team Records. Re-tros and a host of other good Beijing groups are signed with Tag Team so Matt’s a great contact to have here.

You can check-out music by the Re-tros and other bands signed with Tag Team on the label’s site. They also have an online store for those of you in the US. Keep an eye out for these bands abroad, too, since they’ve started touring abroad. Apparently the Re-tros were well-received at 2007’s SXSW festival.

Tomorrow you’ll get to hear music by that folk duo I wrote about long ago.. which reminds me: sorry for the slow posts. My access to Internet is limited and time is scarce. I’ll do what I can!

Re-tros – Boys In Cage

Buenos Aires is shrouded in smoke these days. It’s sort of appropriate for today’s post since we’re going to ROCK OUT.

Sorry, I just wanted to write that. But really, if we’re going to “hear” Buenos Aires it’s certainly not by chilling out to some Martha Argerich piano music. While stunningly beautiful, Argerich isn’t exactly playing what the Argentinian kids are into these days.

Argentina is, after all, a rock nacion. A rock nacional nation.

I’m not going to attempt anything comprehensive here. We’ll just listen to bits and pieces of Argentinian rock, or rather rock-ish music that I like from over the years.

Let’s start back in the 1980s. After his buddy Ian Curtis of Joy Division-fame died, this Italian guy named Luca Prodan decided to kick his heroin habit by moving to Argentina. After a while he got some musicians together and formed the group Sumo.

The 80s weren’t exactly a hot cultural time for Argentina thanks to its military dictatorship, but Sumo managed to gain a large fan base and release a bunch of albums. Their music is heavy on the reggae and ska.. no surprise since Prodan was coming from 1980s London and Manchester.

Next we’ll hear something from a band you probably already know: Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. They rose to fame in Buenos Aires in the mid-80s and hit their peak around the mid-90s with the release of Matador, which you’ll hear today. You can see the video here.

Up next is music by Argentina’s hardest to pronounce rock band, Bersuit Vergarabat. These guys are big-time in the Spanish-speaking world, having cleaned-up numerous times at MTV América Latina Awards and VMAs. The album that today’s track is from, Hijos del Culo, went double-platinum. Great cover.

Now we go rocking into the now with some “garange punk” from Los Peyotes. These guys definitely have a great look, and I find myself charmed by their music. ..much in the same way I love The Monks. You can see some of their videos on YouTube.

I see that Los Peyotes are playing with the New York Dolls in Buenos Aires today, April 18th. That’d be fun.. bit of a long flight for me, though. If you go, tell us how it is!

Next you’ll hear something a little different: some country/folk rock by Los Alamos. I don’t know much about these guys except that I read about them on Argentinian “indie rock” web sites. I like their sound.

Same goes for Rosario Bléfari. She’s a Buenos Aires musician who appears to be really into jumping around in bathing suits.. I guess I like that in a woman. Her music is great, too. Today’s track comes off her 2004 release, Estaciones.

Before we leave Argentina it’s only fair that I slip in one, just one, contemporary tango track. I know, I know. Rock fans probably would hate the mix, but I’m over it, and La Chicana’s track is appropriately named Dolor Wolof.

Hasta la próxima.

Sumo – Kaya
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – Matador
Bersuit Vergarabat – El gordo motoneta
Los Peyotes – Cry Baby
Los Alamos – Cola de cascabel
Rosario Bléfari – Cartas
La Chicana – Dolor wolof

Wait.. just.. one.. more.. or maybe two. These two covers are too funny to skip:

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – Strawberry Fields Forever
Los Peyotes – Fuego

The Rail Band’s Belle Epoque Vol. 1 is another compilation that arrived in the Stern’s box last week.

Mali’s famous Rail Band is the name given to the many groups who worked at the Buffet Hotel in Bamako, Mali, situated in an old colonial building just off the railway. The band was initially made famous by the singing of Salif Keita, but over the years included other great Malian musicians like Mory Kanté, Tidiani Koné and Djelimady Tounkara.

The track you’ll hear today is from the Rail Band’s “second period” in the mid-70s. At this stage Salif Keita had left the band and one of my favourite Malian musicians, guitarist Djelimady Tounkara, had just joined. Magan Ganessy was the new singer. The track also features some great drumming by Pacheco.

The lyrics translate to, “Mali, our dear country, is now independent. We have to enforce democracy, power cannot rest in the hands of a single party.”

Rail Band – Fankanté Dankélé