Having a rough day? Spread some Baaba Maal on that.

Sublime Stuff
Baaba Maal (born 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. Since his father was a fisherman, Baaba Maal was expected to become a fisherman as well. However, under the influence of his life long friend Mansour Seck, Baaba Maal devoted himself to learning music from his mother and his school's headmaster. He went on to study music at the university in Dakar before leaving for postgraduate studies on a scholarship at Beaux-Arts in Paris. He has become quite famous in Africa and is also the most internationally famous musician from Senegal, with the possible exception of Youssou N'Dour.
Baaba sings primarily in Pulaar and is the foremost promoter of the traditions of the Pulaar-speaking peoples who live on either side of the Senegal River in the ancient Senegalese kingdom of Futa Tooro.




Remember the haunting opening credits from Black Hawk Down?

Charanjit Singh's 'Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat'

Charanjit Singh's 'Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat' is quite easily one of the maddest records we've ever had in stock. It was originally made in 1982 by a Bollywood soundtrack composer, intending to capitalise on the disco phenomenon with a combination of centuries-old classical Indian Ragas set to a disco backing. To achieve this Charanjit used a prototypical acid set-up of Roland TB303 bass melody sequencer and TR808 drum computer together with a Jupiter-8 keyboard. He basically created a sound which mirrored, and more importantly, pre-dated the first acid house record - Phuture's 'Acid Track' by five years, and even preceded Chip E's 'Jack Trax' in 1985. It's no throw-away novelty record either, instead capturing the hypnotic potential of acid music in the most ornate and scarily prescient fashion, making explicit the similarities of infinitely arpeggiated bass sequences and pure electronic pulses that would soundtrack dancefloors for the next 30 odd years. The more cynical among you will probably be thinking this is Ceephax or Aphex Twin delivering one of the most elaborate in-jokes of their career, but with the gatefold sleeve depicting the original sleeve and some in-depth liner notes from the label and Charanjit, our cynicism is waning in favour of absolute shock and awe. 'Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat' is vintage futurism of the highest calibre, and made all the more amazing by the fact it came from India, a place hardly renowned for its electronic output! This is a remarkable record and comes with our highest recommendation - AN ABSOLUTE FIND

Recorded in 1982 at HMV Studios In Bombay [sic], India
{Buy}

The Chordettes

The Chordettes were a female popular singing quartet, usually singing a cappella, and specializing in traditional popular music. The Chordettes were one of the longest lived vocal groups with beginnings in the mainstream pop and vocal harmonies of the 1940s and early 1950s. Although the arrangements owed more to The Andrews Sisters than doo-wop, they did, unlike many of their peers, prove fairly adaptable to the rock and roll era. First establishing themselves with the huge hit record, "Mr. Sandman" in 1954, they continued to chart in the last half of the 1950s and the early 1960s, often with cover versions of rock and R&B songs. Their No. 2 1958 success "Lollipop" was the biggest of these. Although their sound was among the most conventional of rock artists, they introduced enough rock style into their repertoire and production, to sound more contemporary than they had on records such as "Mr. Sandman." They had an enormous fan club base led by Jody Destefano, president of their International Fan Club, who organized thousands of Chordettes fans from her home in Union City, N. J. A monthly newsletter was sent to the many chapter presidents all over the world, keeping them informed of the upcoming appearances of the famous group. The Chordettes always gave the fan club their personal attention.  ~ wikipedia

The Chordettes

What did people do with their spare time before computers and the internet? ...let's say the 1960s.

Image via Wikipedia

That's easy: sex, drugs, and rock & roll.

And before that: wine, women, and song.

Before that: booze, wenches, and merryment.

Before that: mead, pillaged women and battle hymn.

Before that: plankton, blowfish and whale music.

Dance and drink and screw. Because there's nothing else to do.

Sex. Where do you think all those huge families came from?

Caspa & Rusko - What Was That Cockney Thing He Said?

Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt. It is so big. *scoff* She looks like...

“Just because you like Jimi Hendrix doesn't mean you can play like Jimi Hendrix.” ~ Anthony Bourdain