Oriental Disco & Acid Arab (2012)

01 - the g*slamp killer - n*ssim (ft. amir yaghmai)

02 - adil el miloudi - track 2 (dj su-real club mix)

03 - ali hussan kuban - hanwil tanza (izzywise remix)

04 - ahmed fakroun - nisyan

05 - paris casablanca - dancing in cairo (dr. dread edit)

06 - senay - honki ponki

07 - figen han - pisi pisi

08 - senay - dalkavuk

09 - elias rahbani and his orchestra - liza... liza

10 - bebi dol - mustafa

11 - ahmed fakroun - love words

12 - badawi - final warning

13 - kai warner's oriental express - fly butterfly

14 - john berberian & rock east ensemble - iron maiden

15 - ouiness - zina (128 bitrate rip from soundcloud)

16 - orient express - abdullah's wedding

17 - sahara band – habibi

If you enjoyed Oriental Discotheque - Disco Not Disco (2012) from a few months ago - here is more for you! ''Oriental Disco & Acid Arab (2012)'': Oriental & Arab Disco, Disco Not Disco, No Wave, Leftfield, Edit, Balearic, Pop-Boogie-Electro, Cosmic & Italo Disco with an Oriental Theme...

Mister Guido Minisky, DJ, artistic director at the Chez Moune Club (Paris), responsible for the great Kid Creole compilation Going Places - The August Darnell Years 1974-1982 & most importantly ACID ARAB frontman, probably gave a better name to this musical movement - calling it ACID ARAB: ''The idea is to give a name to this musical movement, and to present ourselves not as "know-it-all geeks" but as 2 djs playing house & oriental music...'' For more info please visit & join ACID ARAB on facebook here and here. Lots of info & music shared there, tune recommendations via youtube, mixes & more... And its growing! Finally the ''Acid Arab Genie Is Out of the Bottle'' - sharing all those magic! Also check out the Acid Arab soundcloud page.

I am starting this compilation with Nissim from The Gaslamp Killer. "Nissim" a song named after Gaslamp's late grandfather, who grew up in Istanbul, is a richly arranged Turkish soul groove with a break-beat bounce to it and a special catch: every instrument on it was played live. Here's Gaslamp with a few words: "I was listening to this old Turkish song over and over, and I said to myself, 'Lord, this is too good. I don't wanna just loop it like I used to. I should get with some musicians and recreate this. ' So I got (producer) Daedelus on bass, and Amir Yaghmai from Jogger on guitar and yiali tambur, and we just jammed. It sounded so good that Amir offered to bring in some Middle Eastern professionals he knew, and then they redid it while I sat in and directed the band." Track #2 is DJ Su-Real's Club Mix of an amazing tune by Tangiers phenomenon Adil El Miloudi who performs a contemporary version of traditional Moroccan music. This is what DJ Su-Real himself says about the original and his remix: ''I love the searing female vocals that enter in the second verse, and the sauntering rhythm is entrancing (...) I stuck a simple little 4×4 under the track and just let it ride, and now its ready to burn up the dancefloor…'' Read more about Adil El Miloudi here. Track #4 is Nisyan by Ahmed Fakroun, who was already featured twice on the first Oriental Discotheque compilation here on the blog. Ahmed Fakroun, born in Lybia, is an arabian disco and electro pioneer. In the 70's and 80's he spend a lot of time in England, France and Italy. ''According to Wikipedia, this song was arranged by Nicolas Vangelis (?) and Ahmed Fakroun, and recorded in Italy. I especially love the vocals on the second verse. Ahmed is breaking off lots more mp3s for your enjoyment over here. Also make the voyage to ahmedfakroun.com.'' (Art Decade) Track #5 is Paris Casablanca - Dancing In Cairo (dr. dread edit) - a superbly bizarre and little-known French disco production. The title track ''Dancing In Cairo'' is the most appealing to my ears. The lyrics start "Dancing in Cairo, Everywhere you go, Heavy perfume flows, In Cairo...". After 2 minutes the disco tune blends into a syncopated flute-driven middle-eastern sound, and then back out into an alto-sax solo, before returning to the main tune... For me the best part of the song is that 30 seconds of 'syncopated flute-driven middle-eastern sound' - anyone out there who could deliver a proper edit/extended version of that 30 seconds?! Track #6 is the Turkish disco delight Honki Ponki by Turkish singer and actress Senay. Taken from here 1980 album of the same name. There is also a funk’ed up version by edit master Baris K available. Track #7 Figen Han - Pisi Pisi is another great song from Turkey - a dirty, funky slow Disco groover with nice instrumentation & lots of moans. Not much more info available on this song - unless you can read Turkish. Track #8 is Dalkavuk by Senay - another good track from her above mentioned album. Real nice jam, mad synthesizers, the drummer's minimal sleeze style in perfect harmony with her vocal stylings. Google translate defines "dalkavuk" as "syncophant"... Track #9 - Liza...Liza by Elias Rahbani and his Orchestra takes you on an almost 8 minute Lebanese disco ride with lots fuzz. Wild! Track #10 is what ACID ARAB is all about - taking our love for the Orient in all its various form on to the dancefloor. Mustafa is a phenomenal 1981 track by Serbian Bebi Dol from former Yugoslavia. Almost industrial, raw 4AD-esque production, with some On-U Sound Dub influences, exotic or even oriental melodies, astonishing female vocal performances and whatever else the 1980's communism block was hidding. Very unique track. Read more here. Track #11 is yet another song by Ahmed Fakroun. Love Words + Soleil Soleil are my favourite two songs from his 1983 release Mots D'amour, a great record filled with oriental disco and electro. Track #12 Final Warning by Badawi is as ACID as ACID ARAB can get. Raz Mesinai's (aka Badawi) is an experimental music alchemist along the same lines as Muslimgauze (whom I unfortunately have neglected to give a proper listen yet). His music is usually highly rhythmic with a particular keen sense of microtonal sound - and a lot of middle eastern influences. He released his first album in 1994 as a 20 year old. Since then he has released almost 20 albums, EP's & 12inches under various pseudonyms, his last in 2011 under his moniker Badawi called Index ¹⁻² No Schnitzel. The next song - track #13 - Fly Butterfly, is some exotic slo mo funky disco courtesy of Kai Warner's Oriental Express. Originally released in 1976 on a Phillips 7inch. Thanks to Psychemagik for sharing this beauty on his blog (well worth checking out if you are looking for more ''Musical Treasures from The Cosmic Forest''). Track #14 Iron Maiden by John Berberian & His Rock East Ensemble has been a favourite of mine since I bought the original long-player Middle Eastern Rock (1969) as a teenager. John Berberian is an American-Armenian oud player who pioneered fusions of middle eastern music with modern psychedelic rock in the 1960's. The song "Iron Maiden" is an adaptation of another Armenian-American oudist by the name of Chick Ganimian's piece Welcome to the Casbah. Go here and here to read more on John Berberian. Mister Guido Minisky from ACID ARAB introduced me to track #15 - Ouiness – Zina on his soundcloud a while ago. Not much info available on this song from 1979, except that Ouiness probably was from Morocco. According to Radio Diffusion he apparently won a Special Mention at a International music competition in Paris. This is what Guido Minisky himself is saying about this song: ''What if Talking Heads were from Morocco? They would have recorded this song for their first album in 1977''. Yes! And we would probably have a great edit of this song by Greg Wilson in the tradition of his edit of Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads. Classic material! (The 'Ouiness - Zina' song unfortunately is only a 128 bitrate rip from soundcloud). Track #16 is Abdullah's Wedding by Orient Express. Taken from their 1978 album A Desert Fantasy, "Abdullah's wedding" is some proper Oriental/Arab Disco with catchy vocals, a wailing chorus, percussion - and the lyrics are supposedly also very funny. Early on in the song, the lyrics are: "Will you marry Abdullah, tell me my dear..." Eventually towards the end of the song, we finally get a reply: "Don't want Abdullah, I found another, I like his father better than him!" I am ending this compilation with track #17 Habibi by the Sahara Band, a 1983 Italo Disco song with some oriental influence, a catchy melody and some beautiful female vocals - which I don't understand a bit - but find really beautiful: sweeter than sugar! Also make sure to check out the instrumental Samba version of Habibi. Now let's go ACID ARAB...

Enjoy! DubMe

Sexy, Sophisticated & Melodic: Balearic Dreams - Your Mind is on Vacation (2012)

01 - azymuth - linha do horizonte

02 - jorge ben - oe oe faz o corro de boi na estrada

03 - jago - i'm going to go (instrumental)

04 - tullio de piscopo - primavera (stop bajon) (12inch version)

05 - rah band - float

06 - london aircraaft - rocket in my pocket (more info here!)

07 - pino daniele - yes i know my way (special 12inch version)

08 - prism - the white shadow (rare remix of risco connection version - 1980)

09 - salena jones - summertime (mark wayward edit)

10 - supermax - camillo

11 - kid creole and the coconuts - im wonderful thing baby (12'' mix - 1982)

12 - nohelani cypriano - lihue

13 - fleetwood mac - dreams (far away edit)

14 - the hollies - draggin my heels (special disco version)

15 - jimmie rowles - your mind is on vacation

''Its the undefinable that makes it almost like a secret society. You either get it or you don’t. In or out.''

I have finished compiling this selection of some Balearic favourites of mine a while ago, but I thought I ought to do some proper writing to accompany it. What is Balearic? As I can't put it any better - I will give the word/pen to Radio Jiro from the great website Panther Club:  

''First off you need to understand that Balearic isn’t just some kind of genre, it’s more about a vibe, a feeling and an attitude. This might sound like some hippie shit but that’s exactly what Balearic music is all about, it’s about being in Eivissa and listening to Alfredo while you dance naked during sunrise, it’s about that feeling of total euphoria, where there’s no problems just pure bliss (...) There aren’t really any rules as to what can and can’t be classed as Balearic as long as it feels right, but to me it’s usually something sexy, sophisticated and melodic that gets your body and mind feelin’ good.''

Next I am going to quote Apiento's What’s It All About? Balearic Beat In 2012 from Testpressing: 

''By definition, and harking back to it’s original origins, it means a musical style that means anything goes. To some it means a specific period in Ibizan clubbing history, as Terry Farley, DJ and producer, says when questioned. ''Its all about Alfredo - pure and simple. A South American kid in exile looking at the rich and fabulous slumming it at an after hours club off their rockers and thinking ‘I can play anything and they will dance’. The UK take on Balearic is totally shaped by what he played in those two summer seasons before 1988. By ’88 by and large he was playing HOUSE - using that logic Balearic lived for two beautiful years then died a death in ’88.''

But then again, it is also worth noting - as Bill Brewster, author and DJ, wrote in 2008 on djhistory.com: 

''In the 1980s, before the arrival of house music, almost all club DJs played an eclectic range of music that might incorporate disco, funk, soul, rare groove, go-go, electro, hip hop and even the occasional comedy record. Nobody billed these DJs as Balearic; a) because the term did not yet exist and; b) because everybody played in this style.

In New York, it was the same story, too. Larry Levan, with his wide ranging tastes that encompassed the classic disco and soul of his youth to bands like the Clash or Cat Stevens or even Nu Shooz, it could be argued (and is, frequently, by some ninnies) that Larry Levan was Balearic. The same could be said for Ron Hardy. And Frankie Knuckles. Oh and Tony Humphries, Shep Pettibone, David Mancuso, Nicky Siano and about a hundred others.''

Back to Apiento from the great Testpressing website: 

''So what does Alfredo, one of the Godfathers of the whole scene, think? “Originally, it was as simple as me trying to make a party with a very cosmopolitan and different crowd very late at night, or very early in the morning!!! A crowd that came from another places and was open to a special experience. This fact gave me the opportunity to play all kinds of styles and tempos of music, and not only English, also Italian, French, Spanish, Brasilian, African, South American… That was the beginning. In actual terms - a mixture of chill out, lounge and dance music. At that time in Ibiza I could play soul, reggae, rock, pop, Latin, and if I like it, the crowd would like it. They where kind of ready for that. And I think they where looking for that 'cos I was one of them!”

It’s certainly true that Alfredo was the original DJ and there are those like Farley who believe his playlist in those two years is where it began and ended, but there are thousands more around the world that picked the baton up and ran with it, loving the anything goes spirit of the genre that allowed DJs and producers to take in folk, ambient, house, R&B and whatever suits the mood.

Manchester duo Moonboots and Jason Boardman of the Aficionado club probably have a better take than most on the overall sound of the modern balearic beat. “Its all about playing anything good outside of the four-four mainstream for minds and feet with a balearic edge. Referencing the multi-tempo playlist of Ku , Shoom and the Cafe Del Mar, disco has been added to the mix alongside electronic and folky oddities.” Bill Brewster shows the extremities of the genre, ''Balearic Beat in 2012 is the same as it was in 2011, 1999 and 1984. It’s shit pop records and brilliant EBM records. It’s everything and nothing.'' We disagree on the shit pop records but then we like The Blow Monkeys. Mark from International Feel, the label behind DJ Harvey’s recent releases amongst many others, also goes for the anything goes angle. ''Balearic Beat is anything I want it to be… Anything you want it to be. In a world of digital noise, black sausage waveforms and ringtone pop music, its pure atmosphere and melody, the last bastion of real emotion in music.'' (...) (Balearic) means the beautiful sounds of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra with their fusion of world and classical music in the 80s. It means finding strange records no-one has ever heard or hoping to find a B side on an Italian pop record with 'that' sound. It could be any of the host of new producers and DJs bringing the sound full circle to the current day and starting to bend its edges into new shapes. It’s getting a new mix (...) and marvelling at the amount of music that fits our world. It’s not just music. Anything can be balearic. The art-house film Bagdad Cafe is very balearic for example, and on the subject of video, if you want to watch the most balearic thing ever then check the Ku Tourist clip Look De Ibiza (...) from the mid-80s with its amazing soundtrack. To summarise, to us its an attitude.

We’ll give the final word to Alfredo. A don and Ibizan legend. ''My definition of Balearic; its a music mostly, eclectic, happy , sexy, not cheesy, that gets its roots in the origins of dance music and flourishes on the dancefloor, as a sound that makes you forget genres, or categories and you just enjoy it, listen to it, dancing and sharing it. Beat poetic, but real!'' 

Here a little selection how the term "Balearic" has been discussed on djhistory.com which pretty much sums up what I wrote/quoted above:

1. Balearic is whatever was in Alfredo's record box back in Ibiza in the mid-'80s and cannot be anything else, or replicated. (It was a time and a place.)

2. Balearic is radio-friendly pop music, but played at *that* moment in the night transforms into a thing of dancefloor magic. (Can be any DJ at any time.)

3. Balearic is a mindset, not a record or a musical style, which understands the first principle and is capable of pulling off the second.

More Balearic Niceness coming in the future! Until then enjoy this first selection of some Balearic favourites of mine.  

DubMe

Original links, videos & some mixes I enjoyed listening to on soundcloud:

1. Amnesia Closing Party With Alfredo DJing in 1989 on youtube.

2. What’s it all about? Balearic Beat in 2012 (Apiento / February 2012)

3. In Search of Balearic (Bill Brewster / 2008)

4. Balearic Beat on Wikipedia.

5. One March Morning by Moonboots on soundcloud. Quite a few new Balearic classis  on here. Beautiful mix! 

6. Autumn by Wonderfulsound. Deep Balearic stuff for some long Autumn evenings!

Beatz & Carrots Anniversary Special #4

01 - palov ft lady faye - the dude

02 - street boys - some folks.

03 - the bas lexter ensample - celias baile

04 - mato - mary jane

06 - mario biondi - my girl

06 - nicki minaj - did it on em (soulforce rmx)

07 - pliers (bonner productions) - im your man dub

08 - the instigators - instigators five o

09 - joao gilberto - discussao

10 - galt macdermot - farmland

11 - jazzy jens - guarapera

12 - os chicos altos - palante (original mix)

13 - elvis crespo - suavemente (busy signal remix)

14 - uproot andy - odb vs uproot andy - brooklyn cumbia

15 - dialect trio - cumbiarus dialect trio version

16 - ocote soul sounds and adrian quesada - el diablo y el nau nau (grant phabao remix)

17 - group inerane - tamidit in aicha (ahmed)

18 - bjork - crystalline (omar souleyman remix)

19 - jamie xx - far nearer

20 - unknown - pussy outro

Here is part 4, the final Beatz & Carrots 1 Year Anniversary Special. I did this compilation in July 2011, a few months before I started this blog... Now that I shared all my pre-blog Beatz & Carrots selections - everything you will find here in the future will be selected live & fresh ;-)

I will be back in a few days with a first selection of some Balearic favourites of mine - a musical idea & feeling that has been growing strong on me during the last year. I have known of the term ''Balearic'' for a long time - but only began to have an understanding of it after reading Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - The History Of The Disc Jockey by Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton last summer... I will try to link to some great articles in my next post talking about Balearic music - until then I will leave you with this quote by Balearic legend Alfredo: “My definition of Balearic; its a music mostly, eclectic, happy, sexy, not cheesy, that gets its roots in the origins of dance music and flourishes on the dancefloor, as a sound that makes you forget genres, or categories and you just enjoy it, listen to it, dancing and sharing it. Beat poetic, but real!“

DubMe

Beatz & Carrots Anniversary Special #3

01 - orlando julius - disco hi-life (2009 edit)

02 - amadou balake - taximen

03 - rhythmagic orchestra - fish market dance

04 - cyril diaz & his orchestra - taboo

05 - playmo'bill - billatoo

06 - lucho bermudez - danza negra (dj mohan remix)

07 - chakachas - stories

08 - scooby doo - christmas time.

09 - souleance - one step

10 - philadelphia international allstars - lets clean up the ghetto (12inch version - 1977)

11 - nickodemus - conmigo (es e remix)

12 - quantic - sol clap

13 - johnny cash - personal jesus (rayko edit)

14 - the revolution of st. vincent - the little you say

15 - uproot andy & anthony santos - vete (uproot andy rmx - 2011)

16 - alpheus - far away

17 - slim smith & friends - jahmons conversation

Here is part 3 of the Beatz & Carrots 1 Year Anniversary special. Another early compilation of favourites from March 2011. Some nice songs on here. Check the tracklist...

Enjoy! DubMe

Beatz & Carrots Anniversary Special #2

01 - fat freddy's drop - ernie

02 - brassroots - good life

03 - joe lutcher - ojai

04 - quantic & his combo barbaro - un canto a mi tierra

05 - quantic & his combo barbaro - un canto a mi tierra (j-boogie remix)

06 - hossam ramzy - sehr oyounik (john newell nu cumbia rmx).

07 - unknown - douga

08 - kottarashky - opa hey

09 - owiny sigoma band - nabed nade e piny ka (rework)

10 - dedy dread & dj rebel - swing

11 - qwiny sigoma band - wires

12 - skit - riddim full of culture

13 - malente - sweet soul music

14 - quantic & his combo barbaro - mas pan

15 - quantic & his combo barbaro - mas pan (dj day remix)

16 - wildcookie - serious drug

17 - renato carosone - caravan petrol

18 - dotmatic - look around

19 - outro

Here is another Beatz & Carrots compilation I did in February 2011. The cover I used for this compilation is a picture from a Tibetan New Year family gathering. In 2007 I was visiting an English friend who was working as an English teacher in a small Tibetan village. It was around late January, and I was lucky to be invited to stay with a family of Tibetan nomads for a few days - while they were celebrating their traditional Tibetan New Year. It was fun & I definitely had a good time. An those super cool dudes on the photo were looking much more friendly after we started drinking Baijiu...

Enjoy! DubMe