Thursday 9 September 2010

Mixtape #12

The latest in our series of exclusive mixtapes, entitled Greek Sounds: The New Wave And Beyond, can be downloaded for free here. It takes as its starting point what in Greek music is known as new wave or ‘neo kyma’. This was a form of pop that in the mid-to-late ‘60s mixed traditional Greek folk song with other elements such as French chanson/pop. The recordings were often acoustic, stark and wonderfully romantic. From the new wave the mixtape wanders into wilder psychedelic territory and also takes in some astonishing performances of songs (tragoudia) by the great composers like Theodorakis and Hadjidakis. Several of the artists are featured in our Greek sequences. The mixtape is accompanied by Tragoudia, the latest edition of our irrgular publication Your Heart Out, which can be downloaded here. It’s subtitled Adventures in Greek Music, though things are never quite that straight forward. With thanks to Per-Christian Hille for another great piece of cover art.

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Mixtape #11

Pop! A Swedish Selection is the latest in our collection of bespoke mixtapes. It can be downloaded for free here, on the one condition that you tell the world about us. Anyone familiar with the way all of this works will suspect the fondness we have for fumbling around in the dark, discovering hidden treasures more by luck than judgement. But this mixtape is a little different as we had some assistance in our Swedish explorations from the writer Andres Lokko, and he is a person who knows his pop! Andres provided a list of tracks to consider including as part of the Swedish sequences. As there’s still a lot of world left to explore, it seemed that a great way to feature a number of these songs would be to put them in a mix, together with an assortment of Swedish gems picked up along the way in our own fumblings. This fantastic Swedish selection is very much about pop! While you’re downloading, we’ll leave you with another of Andres’ recommendations – an excellent cartoon with an even more excellent soundtrack by Jojje Wadenius ...

Thanks again to Per-Christian Hille for another beautiful cover.

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Mixtape #10

A special mixtape, What A Life! - The Story of the Light Blues, is available here as a celebration of Uruguayan pop sounds. The mixtape, and the free accompanying booklet (a special edition of Your Heart Out available here), tracks the progress from the early beat sounds to the development of a uniquely Uruguayan sound where new pop/rock influences were mixed with local, more traditional rhythms such as candombe. As the '70s unfurled the optimism and idealism of an era was crushed by a military coup, and rock music was outlawed. Still, new ways were found for musical expression despite the repression and censorship. And many of the results were beautifully delivered like a Forlan free kick. This mixtape and booklet is a tribute to the people who made some remarkable music. And as a bonus here is a song not featured on the mixtape but referred to in the text ...

With thanks to Per-Christian Hille for another beautiful cover.

Friday 16 July 2010

Friday 2 July 2010

Mixtape #9


Saffron Sounds is the second of our Sketches Of Iran mixtapes, and also follows on from the wonderful gift shared with us, Pomegranates Vol. 2 - the unofficial sequel to the Finders Keepers compilation. This short selection of Persian sounds makes available recordings of some of the tracks we've featured, such as Giti's astonishing Molana and Kourosh Yaghmaie's beautifully mournful Khar. It also features a full eight-and-a-half minutes of this beautiful song ...

Thursday 24 June 2010

Mixtape #8

We are delighted to be able to share another selection of Persian pearls. This mixtape has been put together by Martijn Busink, and it is a real treasure trove of Persian pop songs. So grab your copy of Pomegranates Vol. 2 - an unofficial sequel and tribute to the excellent and essential compilation issued by Finders Keepers.

And if you would like a taster for what's in store then enjoy this ...