Blog Country 143 - Afghanistan

 

I anticipated that Afghanistan would be tricky and so it proved. Kudos goes to the individual or individuals who managed to defy the Taliban and visit my humble blog.

It appears that in addition to having no time for human rights, women and education that the Taliban have no time for music. It just goes to prove that they are a dodgy lot.

To my surprise I was able to find a lot of Afghan music on You Tube. I was unable to convert the videos to MP3's which is my usual method for this series but fortunately I am able to share the videos.

Unfortunately, but perhaps understandably, I was unable to find any female singers

Farhad Darya is an Afghan singer, composer, music producer, and philanthropist. Active since the 1980s, Darya has been one of the most renowned and influential Afghan pop musicians of the modern era, contributing to establishing new wave in Afghanistan and blending urban and rural styles. Probably sensibly he left the country in 1990 and now lives in Hamburg, Germany.

Here he is with Hamesha Tanhaa

Ahmad Wali is an Afghan Ghazal singer. He began his career in the 1970s, becoming popular in his native country before he was forced to flee by political upheaval in Afghanistan. He continued his work after resettling in Germany, performing throughout Europe and North America.

Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Fitrat, born Sadiq Fitrat Habibi, known professionally as Nashenas, is one of the oldest surviving musicians from Afghanistan. His fame began in the late 1950s, and since then he has produced many albums consisting of Pashto, Persian, and Urdu songs. He is known as "the Afghan Saigal".

Jawad Ghaziyar is a popular Afghan singer. He is one of the 1980s era singers who took refuge in United States after the fall of Afghanistan government in 1992. Jawad was also a special judge in Season 8 of Afghan Star.

Again - apologies for the slightly different format and the lack of information and  MP3s. I blame the Taliban. 

We are off to the North Atlantic Ocean next time round.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

 

It may have escaped your attention but it's rather hot out there.And it's only May!

Us Scots find it hard to cope with this sort of weather. We start of blue, then go white before ending up red. It's definitely Tapps Aff weather.

It does make you worry a bit about Global Warning 

Anyway before the planet turns into a fire ball here are a few songs while we are still here.

Brian Setzer - Red Hot

The Specials - Too Hot

The Soul Lifters - Hot, Funky & Sweaty

The Fall - British People in Hot Weather

James Edwyn & the Borrowed Band

 

James Edwyn & the Borrowed Band were an act which first came to my attention with the release of  their album Highlights of Low Nights on Last Night From Glasgow in 2022. It wasn't on my allocated bunch of albums but it was one that I took a punt on.

It seems that this was their third album. I was suitably impressed enought to track down their secend album High Fences released by Dead Records Collective from 2017. This label also released their debut album The Tower back in 2014

Americana UK describe Highlights as a record that single handedly destroys the myth of the difficult third album;possibly forever and the blog Blabber'n' Smoke also waxes lyrical about this album.

Sadly I  can find nothing new about the band since 2022 so I suspect the they may have faded into the ether which is a shame.

I would be delighted if anyone could tell me differently.

James Edwyn & the Borrowed Band - Buy Me a Ticket

James Edwyn & the Borrowed Band - Because of You

If it Ain't Stiff -2

 

I once wrote to Bloodshot Records proclaiming that they were the best label in the world. They replied thanking me and saying that Tamla Motown, Chess and Stiff Records were better

By way of proof here are the next four tracks on the compilation album If It Ain't Stiff...

We start with the Welsh legend that is Dave Edmunds. At 82 years of age he has now retired from the songwriting , guitar playing and record producing game. His contribution to the compilation(try saying that without you teeth in) is a cover of the Chuck Berry song Jo Jo Gunne.

Next up is actress cum comedian cum singer Tracey Ullman with the song My Guy a cover of the Madness song My Girl with suitably altered lyrics.

Who will you always find in the kitchen at paries? Yup Jona Lewie is up next!

The final contribution this week comes from Theatre of Hate with the brilliant Do You Believe In The Westworld?

Another fine foursome for you next Monday.

Dave Edmunds - Jo Jo Gunne

Tracey Ullman - My Guy

Jona Lewie - You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties

Theatre of Hate - Do You Believe In The Westworld?

Americana 2004

 

Welcome to the 35th Sunday Americana compilation. We shall easily achieve 40 but 50 may prove to be a bit of a stretch.We shall see.

As you can see from the picture above this compilation came courtesy of Uncut magazine from August 2004.

The tracklist gives you details of the 15 tracks and if they float your boat you can probably pick it up for just over a quid should you be so inclined.

For me Americana was beginning to peak around then.There are still plenty of songs and artists on it that I like but there is a sense that the guards are changing.

Jim White had long been a favourite of mine with Static On The Radio being taken from his 2004 album Drill a Hole in the Substrate and Tell Me What You See a title that trips lightly off the tongue!

Richmond Fontaine were another favourite but I don't have the album Winnemucca from where the song Western Skyline is taken .

I do however have the 2004 album Oh ,My Girl by Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter on the Fargo label from which the haunting The Dreaming Dead is taken

I'm afraid that you are too late to receive a fantastic CD by The Cure which was on offer to anyone subscribing to the magazine for  £9.99 every 3 months. A single monthly magazine would now set you back 11 quid!

Jim White - Static On The Radio

Richmond Fontaine -Western Skyline

Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter - The Dreaming Dead

Saturday Shuffle 145

 

A cornucopia of genres for you today to ease you into the weekend

We start with some Glam Rock with Coz I Luv You courtesy of Wolverhampton's finest Slade.There music may be good which is more than you can say about their spelling. I only ever saw them once at the Glasgow Apollo  but sadly that was during their later rock phase.

Gregg Allman's entire career could probably be described as rock although Wiki lists Blues/Rock/Southern Rock/Gospel/Country to name but 6. All bases covered there I think, He was married 7 times, one being to Cher ,and had 5 kids. Midnight Rider seems an accurate descriptor.

To conclude we have the great Billie Holiday who effortlessly straddled the Jazz/Blues divide with songs such as Lover Man

More Glam Lovermen and Midnight Riders next Saturday.

Slade - Coz I Luv You

Gregg Allman - Midnight Rider

Billie Holiday -Lover Man (Where Can You Be ?)

The Boxing Mirror

 

The other day I pulled out The Boxing Mirror by Alejandro Escovedo for a long overdue listen.

I have a promo copy with a different cover (below), and I noticed that the release date for the album was 1st May 2006. That makes it just over 20 years old. How did that happen?

On the Back Porch label it was produced by John Cale who also contributes with guitar and keyboard.This might explain why Alejandro delves into the worlds of avant guard and post punk with only shades of Americana. Rest assured, however, that this in no way detracts from the quality of the album.

It was the last of his albums that I bought although I do have a couple of burns/downloads from later albums

Alejandro has experienced some significant health issues over the years including Hepatitis C and I'm happy to report that he appears to be going strong at the age of 75.

Alejandro Escovedo - Arizona

Alejandro Escovedo - Deer Head On The Wall

Alejandro Escovedo - Sacremento & Polk