Sunday at Bob's #48 - La moitié d’une pomme, c’est bien de la pomme

 Hello everyone and welcome back for another fabulous hour on this sunday, at Bob's! I hope you are well, I myself am a wee bit sick due to the fact I tried to postponed as much as possible the activation of the heating in my apartment. I have been going swimming in the lake in an attempt to build an immunity against the cold and thus push a bit futher the moment I'd press the heating button. But I guess nature is stronger and when it gets cold you get sick. Regardless I stil have it in me to present you a new playlist full of cool vibes and discoveries. Let us begin.

The introducing song I found on a compilation about French jazz. A very diverse compilation which included musicians as varied as Claude Nougaro and Manut Katché or Oxmo Puccino. I thought it could be pleasant to begin with this very chill song from Marie Laforêt about Saint-Tropez, a place I've never been personally. She passed away in 2019 leaving behind her a discography composed of albums in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German (on top of the French speaking works). Inspiring.

After that comes a very exciting Japanese band. Apsaras is one of these bands where it seems there are more infos about in the YouTube comment section than anywhere else. To illustrate:

The first time I heard this group was on a vinyl called Atmospheras about 32 years ago, with the participation in the recording of Andreas Vollenweider, Osamu Kitajima, Oblique, Sky and Apsaras. Until today I find this complete vinyl of the Japanese group Apsaras. Thank you Steve Vokuchan.
Esteban Roseyó, 3 years ago

Thank You!!!! Owned this album in the 80's, loved it , lost it, couldn't remember the name...remained haunted by this first track but gave up hope of ever finding it or hearing it again.....was searching YT for 'Apsaras' by Alio Die....it was like meeting an old friend when I heard the first 2-notes!....beautiful - Thanks
Song Sabai, 4 years ago

(source)

We continue with a jazzy piece by the New York City band formed in 1997 Topaz, on an album called Listen! released in 2000. Again I will quote an anonymous internet superhero on a blog to share some info about the band, here wondering if  it is faire to classify Topaz as an acid-jazz band:

I'm a bit of a fan of the jazz band Topaz for awhile now. They're a very obscure band that not many people have heard of, so  I scoured the internet looking for info on them. Every site or information outlet I've come across lists them as being 'acid jazz', which if I'm familiar is a descriptor for jazz that mixes itself with club music, turntabalism, and other DJ-isms of electronic music. I've collected two of Topaz' most "popular" albums and listen to them both in full several times (Listen! (2000) and The Zone (2002)) and neither of them contain such a sound. Instead, to me, it's much more jazz-funk oriented, something you'd see from 1970's Donald Byrd or Herbie Hancock. I am aware that the band got more into the afro-dub scene the longer their career went on, but regardless I don't believe these two albums fit in the acid jazz category. (source)

After that comes one of the songs I've been listening to the most in the past two week (there is always on isn't there?). However I couldn't even find one other song from that band, if you know about No.1 De No.1 please enlighten me, ther must be more.

We go on with a very intense (in a cool-cycling-super-fast-down-a-city-center-at-sunset way) song by the trio Electro Bamako. The group is composed of Paul Sidibé, Marc Minelli et Damien Traïni, and proposes a surprising encounter between music from Mali and New York's electricity, to paraphrase their Faceboo page description. Idjo is followed by another song based on a similar principle but much more recent as the abum is not yet -or just has been- released as I write these words. I am refering to the UK band Pigeon and their song War, on their album called Yagana.

The two following songs I doubt I have to introduce, they are from artists we talked about here before and who are on top of that rather famous. Moebius with Das Ende from the-

-I'm sorry I was halfway through this article and couldn't go on, we are tuesday and I am getting back at it-

So we have the great Moebius with Das Ende, a song from the original motion picture soundtrack of  Blue Moon. And we have the immense Larry Heard with a song from his album Alien, which I would often play at the reception.

We go on with the Croatian classical guitar prodigy Ana Vidović and a piece from her album Gitara. I came accross her music while searching for interpretations of Bach at the guitar and I must say it was quite an amazing discovery. And we end with a song from French composer Joël Fajerman from his 1981 album L’Aventure des plantes and the song that gave its name to today's playlist La Moitié D'Une Pomme by Enzo Enzo.

Half of an apple, it is still apple. Half of a train, it looks like a train. But half the truth is already a lie.

That is it for this week, sorry for the delay I hope you enjoyed and I see you in two weeks!
Don't forget to check out before 10h30.

The receptionist

Playlist:

1. Marie Laforêt - Saint-Tropez Blues
2. Apsaras - Aruhi No Kaze
3. Topaz - The Emperor
4. No.1 De No.1 - Guajira Van
5. Electro Bamako - Idjo
6. Pigeon - War (Jam)
7. Moebius - Das Ende
8. Larry Hears - The Dance of Planet X
9. Ana Vidović - Varijacije Na Mozartovu Temu
10. Joël Fajerman - Rose des sables
11. Enzo Enzo - La Moitié D'Une Pomme

Sunday at Bob's #47 - Marcher toute la nuit

 Hello everyone and welcome back for yet another episode of Sunday at Bob's! I hope you and your loved ones are well, what a time we are living in. Anyway, this bi-weekly hour is also meant as an escape. My keyboard is still sick so please be indulgent if some letters are missing. Alright let's see what we have today.

Today we have two songs taken from a compilation that will be released this month. Amor En El Cielo by Beni Life, and Puente de Esperanza by Marengo. I haven't found much informations about these two songs so I will ust paste the description of the compiation given on bandcamp. An idea for christmas gift maybe? (10% of proceeds will be donated to National AIDS Trust UK in honour of Yves Uro's estate.)

The 21 track selection curated by Trujillo, a Venezuelan producer, DJ and record collector based in Berlin, explores the forgotten corners of the 1980s and early 90s Spanish music scene. Veering through early bleep and hip house, electro, boogie, Iberian pop and much more, it has broad appeal to both Balearic heads and diggers alike. Serendipitously, the cover art for the compilation is an original work by Yves Uro, a figurehead of Ibiza’s party scene from the 70s and 80s and whose visionary poster artwork became representative of the white isle. (source)

Then we have a song that carries away with an impressive easyness by the Lyon based calypso band Commandant Coustou. It is directly followed by a magnificent piece by a great musician who is, as were some of our last playlist as well, of Puerto Rican heritage and born in the US. Call me uncultured but I had no idea about this generation of musicians playing mostly South American rythms and songs while having a strong jazz background. I still don't now much but I get more and more excited as I discover this area of music that is new to me. Anyhow Parisian Thoroughfare by Ricardo Rey is one of the very cool songs I was introduced to recently and I cannot get enough.

We go on with Peter Walker, an American folk guitarist noted for dexterous instrumental pieces that reference the Indian classical and Spanish flamenco traditions. (source) who is a perfect musician to link our South American-ish chapter with the coming moroccan classics. Just a word on Peter Walker I would like to say is that while I doubt he classifies as a "primitive guitar" player like John Fahey who we heard here at least once (many times in the reception) I think it is interesting to build a bridge between the two and also adding Robbie Basho to the reflexion.

And then we enter fifteen minutes of a music that I reckon lies under my skin, I feel I cannot talk about it as my knowledge of it is rather physical, they are memories. I am not sure if I "like" or not these songs. If I have the impression I cannot understand music (which is one of the reasons I try to write about it once in a while) I think it is even more the case about music I have grown up with. I remember once showing a song from Renaud to a friend from Poland who immidiately classified it as "French country music" and she couldn't have been more right. However to me Renaud is Renaud. Jadwane is Jadwane. Pinhass Cohen is Pinhass Cohen and they are the smell of a burning hot car at full speed on the highway between Salé and Marrakesh, the thick smoke coming out of butchers restaurants by the road, the attempts to replicate the complex rythms on an empty bottle of Oulmès. Zine Li Atak Allah!

Then we have a song I received in a e-mail from a dear friend a few minutes before recording this playlist. I have no idea who Donovan is, Tangier is the first and only song I have heard from them but I find it interesting and I think it makes an interesting bridge out of Morocco.

Sarah Makem (18 October 1900 – 20 April 1983) a native of Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a traditional Irish singer. (...) Sarah Makem would not consider herself a musician; however, she had an extensive musical career. She was a ballad singer who had over five hundred songs in memory. These songs she describes as life stories of murder and love and emigration songs. Makem recorded many of her songs, mostly for collection purposes^. One of those songs, "As I Roved Out" was used to open a BBC radio program featuring Irish folk music named after Makem's ballad. Makem did not intend to use this recording as such, and was very embarrassed to know her voice would be heard everyday across Ireland. (source)

Sometimes I think that what I am trying to do in painting is something that ressembles these acapella folk songs. I think I am rather far from it but working.

Oh and then we have such an exciting band! Lilly Drop, also a very recent discovery. Browsing through blogs mentionning them was very moving as there are a couple of comments mentionning how big of an impact the band had on their lifes eventhough they are almost forgotten (at least by their labels) nowadays. I strongly recommend the very floating Sur ma Mob that you can find on YouTube. And we close with a song I the same spirit called Launderette, it is by Vivien Goldman.

That is all for this Sunday, I hope you enoyed and I wish you magnificent two weeks!
Don't forget to check out before 10h30, I will never forget.

The receptionist

Playlist:

1. Beni Life - Amor En El Cielo
2. Marengo - Puente de Esperanza
3. Commandant Coustou - Cochon st.Antoine
4. Ricardo Ray - Parisian Thoroughfare
5. Peter Walker - Mellowtime
6. Jadwane - Moul Enniya Kairbe7 - Echafi3 Fina - Hezzit Yedi Lessma
7. Pinhass Cohen - Zine Li Atak Allah
8. Donovan - Tangier
9. Mrs Sarah Makem - The Factory Girl
10. Lili Drop - Paulo/T’oublier
11. Vivien Goldman - Launderette