Various Artists - Pomegranates - Persian Pop, Funk, Folk And Psych Of The 60s And 70s (2009)

Bright Persian psychedelic pop, funk, soul and boundless grooves from the 60s & 70s -- one of the greatest compilations yet from Finders Keepers! Many of the tunes are actually classics of the era's Iranian scene, if wildly fresh and new our ears, while others are quite obscure all around, but all of it is fresh and exciting exotic pop that we're thrilled to see collected. The sounds draw from the creatively fertile period when traditions were combined in music all around the world -- with hypnotic eastern raga strings blended with global funk and jazz, bursting pop tunefulness and both meditative and instantly gratifying melodies of myriad influences, borderline disco grooves and beyond. Exciting stuff! 16 tracks in all: "Helelyos'" by Zia, "Biya Bar-e Safar Bandim" by Mohammad Nouri, "Talagh" by Googoosh, "Miravi" by Soli, "Kavir-e Del" by Marjan, "Naz Kardanet Vaveyla" by Sima Bina", "Sharm-e Boos-e" by Ramesh, "Cheshm-e Man" by Dariush and more. (dustygroove.com)

Pomegranates

Various Artists - Finders Keepers Records 1-20 Mixed By The Gaslamp Killer (2009)

An excellent mix of some of the best lost folk funk, tripped out psychedelia, 60s & 70s material from the global underground from Finders Keepers -- but far cooler than a mere sampler -- an aurally exciting blend of the material courtesy of the Gaslamp Killer! For this excellent set, eclectic LA DJ guru Gaslamp Killer was given the keys to the Finders Keepers vaults to craft an evocative set of his own, from the sounds found on the first 20 Finders Keepers releases. Turkish rock from Ersen, wild soundtrack grooves from Valerie & Her Week Of Wonders composer Lubos Fiser, instrumental French funk from Jean Claude Vannier, and so much more! All Killer has 12 tracks that are each expertly blended suites of Finders Keepers releases, including "The Sermon" by Lubos Fiser, "Les Garde Volent Au Secours Du Roi" and more by Jean Claude Vannier, "Dance Of The Vampires" by Vampires Of Dartmoore, "Gunese Don Cicegim" by Ersen, "Les Electroniciens" by Bruno Spoerri, "Zeytinyagi" by Mustafa Ozkent, "Europa" by by Susan Christie and more. (dustygroove.com)

1. Lubos Fiser - The Sermon (FKR009) / John Hill - Europa (FKR018) / Jan Jankeje - South Indian Line (FKR020)
2. Spectre - Arkham (FKR020) / Chris Harwood - Wooden Ships (FKR005) / Susan Christie - Paint A Lady (FKR007) / Jean-Jacques Dexter - Be Quite (FKR020)
3. Amral's Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Drum Orchestra - The World Is A Ghetto (FKR008) / Jean-Claude Vannier - Les Garde Volent au Secours du Roi (FKR001)
4. Jean-Claude Vannier - L'Enfant la Mouche et les Allumettes / L'Enfant au Royaume des Mouches (FKR001)
5. Stanley Myers - Sitting Target Main Theme / Solitaire (FKR004) / Omega - Kergeskezu favagok (FKR017) / Sevil and Ayla - Bebek (FKR020)
6. Zafer Dilek - Yekte (FKR008) / Yamasuki - Kono Samourai (FKR002) / Sarolta Zalatnay - Hadd Mondjam El (FKR012) / Yamasuki - Yama Yama (FKR002) / Selda - Yaylalar (FKR011)
7. Ersen - Gunese Don Cicegim (FKR016) / Pierre Cavalli - Un Soir Chez Norris (FKR008)
8. Vampires of Dartmoore - Dance Of The Vampires (FKR019) / Sarolta Zalatnay - Egyser (FKR012) / Mustafa Ozkent - Burcak (FKR010)
9. Sarolta Zalatnay - Zold Borostyan (FKR012) / The Stylers - For You (FKR008) / Mustafa Ozkent - Silifke (FKR010)
10. Mustafa Ozkent - Zeytinyagi (FKR010) / Susan Christie - Europa (Poetry) (FKR018) / Jiri Slitr & Jiri Sust- Sugar Stealers / Man With A Typewriter (FKR013)
11. John Hill - Amalthea (FKR018) / Ersen - Zalim (FKR016)
12. Bruno Spoerri - Les Electroniciens (FKR006) / Jiri Slitr & Jiri Sust - Girlies, Girlies (FKR013)

All Killer

Various Artists - The Sound Of Wonder (2009)

Commonly, ignorantly but understandably lumped in with its wealthy not-too-distant cousin, Bollywood, Lollywood was inspired by, but often overshadowed by its posh and well-traveled relative. Following the simplistic Bombay + Hollywood = Bollywood name game (that would in later years spawn Nollywood in Nigeria), Lollywood's Lahore based film industry was a profitable and vibrant one that found great success in the modest boundaries of its own country but was seldom savoured outside Pakistan. However, the hugely important musical business spawned a bi-product that was viewed as a potential earner for international entertainment industry, EMI, which allowed talented musicians to create ambitious music with world class mediums at there disposal, which throughout the 60s and 70s ranged from fuzz-guitars, space-echo machines and American and European synthesizers, but, due to the composers indigenous roots, rarely a drum-kit. Here you'll find fuzzy, scuzzy, twang-happy, spaced-out and funked up urdu-grooves complete with harmonium melodies and driven by some of the most random factor, freakish, finger-numbing, percussion that the South East Asian mainstream has ever had to offer. Above all, Lollywood soundtracks sound RAW! Re-imagine some of the most action packed Bollywood productions (which Lollywooders actively did) then fire the make-up department, take away the special effects budget and then improvise. The lack of gloss on a dusty Pakistani mini-LP makes for truly experimental Eastern Pop music.

So, it's time to meet the culprits. The names on the back of the records that'll keep you gambling on Ghazals and taking punts on Pakistani pulp-balladry. As an introduction, in place of R.D. Burman and Asha Bhole, we have Mr. M. Ashraf and his long-term female collaborator, Nahid Akhtar. This duo would provide Pakistan with it's Gainsbourg / Birkin or it's Morricone / Dell'Orso for over 20 years, recording squillions of cut-and-paste sonic collages and moog-fuelled desperate love / hate / chase / chill / kill / songs mixing onomatopoeic Urdu lyrics with unexpected bursts of user friendly English language (which often elongates the running time passed the 5 minute mark) and throwing in the odd motif from a Barry White or Donna Summer hit. We also have legends like Noor Jehan, a national treasure and household name in Pakistan whose discography of film songs have deprived the vaults of EMI Pakistan of floor space for half a century. (From the official B-Music press release)

The Sound of Wonder!

Jean-Pierre Massiera - Midnight Massiera - The B-Music Of Jean-Pierre Massiera (2009)

18 sacred psychedelic suppositories from the laboratory of Mad Scientist and scalpel happy Pop-mutilator Jean-Pierre Massiera. Including the rarest and most sought after fuzz-Funk, spooked-Surf and interplanetary-Prog from "The French Joe Meek" and all his schizoid split-personalities and freakish friends - The Maledictus Sound, Chico Magnetic Band, Visitors, Human Egg, The Pirhana Sound and Jesus himself. Bow down to the 9 headed monster as he mutates and shape-shifts back through time to his humble beginnings in a Buenos Aireian province ravaging and pillaging the music of the European people for his own twisted benediction along the way. Add sprinklings of schizophrenia, shock, mirth and macabre and you are on the way to a B-Movie broth with an acquired taste, that has, like all the best cheese, taken aver 30 years to mature to perfection. In the earlier part of his career he honed his sordid kraft amongst psychedelic circles in Nice and Quebec. From late 1972 onwards he moved to Antibes and started a Disco revolution and became an in demand cosmic record producer. For years Prog Rock obsessives and Disco aficionados have wondered if there was 2 unrelated freak merchants called Jean-Pierre Massiera, but, in this rare instance, exploito-maniacs from both sides of the cosmic coin are united by the work of this singular, single handed monstrous music manufactory! (amazon.com)

Midnight Massiera: The B-Music of Jean-Pierre Massiera

Various Artists - Finders Keepers (2009)

Finders Keepers is one of those comps that you know was languished over by the compiler - Andy Votel. You can sense the excitement Andy must have felt unearthing lps & '7's' from a crate or cardboard box hidden away in the basement of a second hand record shop. Followed by the discovery of finding one gem from ten albums of utter schlock. For anyone who gratefully stumbled across the 'Cherrystone' series and can't get enough Finders Keepers is for you. For anyone who wants to venture beyond the usual musical boundaries but doesn't know where or how to go this'll take you there. If it gets to weird, trust me you won't be locked into a 15 minute prog, kraut epic. For the seasoned traveller artists who might ring the recognition bell include Dorothy Ashby who as far as I know was the first jazz harpist, the trio Serge Gainsbourg, Brigitte Bardot & Sacha Distel who sung 'Hippies' on one of BB's TV Special that is available on DVD, Eddie Warner, a name synominous with French Library - a selection of his work is available on 'Le Jazz Beat Vol 2' & Nino Ferrer another French Pop hero who turned his back on Pop for darker realms. (amazon.co.uk)

1. Getting High - Eddie Warner
2. Dance Of The Vampires - The Vampires Of Dartmoor
3. Love, Love, Love, Love - Wool
4. Love - Rita
5. Turnround - Jack Hendrix' Tchick-Bams
6. Crying Bag - The Sounds Of Joy
7. Freak - Nino Ferrer
8. Fall-Out - The Advancement
9. Skit One - Andy Votel
10. Joyfull Grass & Grape - Dorothy Ashby
11. Karkadon - The Devils Anvil
12. Hippies - Brigitte Bardot, Sascha Distell & Serge Gainsbourg
13. Yesterday Folks - US69
14. Skit Two - Andy Votel
15. April Fool - Isis
16. English Sparrow - Paul Parrish

Andy Votel Presents Finders Keepers