All reviews by subcom

I found this two years ago in Bangkok and bought it because of the cover and the name of the band. I was positively suprised when I first listened to it at home. While the two songs on side a of the 7″ are quite cheesy side b offers 2 great interpretations of well known [...]

Die Laumäckse – Jazz geht’s los

“Die Laumäckse” was a school band from the small german town named Koblenz. I picked this album up at a local flea market. Although I had never heard of the record I gave it a try as one of the cover versions they do on there is a interpretation of a Mombasa song (German afro-funk [...]

Duo Ouro Negro – Pata Pata

During my recent travel to Portugal I had quite some records of this group in my hands. I usually checked them out because of their cover art but most of the times the musical content was disappointing. After I already filed them in the don’t bother with section I gave two more 45s which I [...]

Ersen – Cakmagi Cak

Before I went to Istanbul in 2007 to study there for half a year I did some research about record stores in Istanbul. One Ebay seller from Turkey who I asked for info just moved from Istanbul to Ankara so he was so kind to share his knowledge of good spots with me. While some [...]

Fuesuen Oenal – Alo Ben

Fuesun was a well known turkish pop star back in the seventies. Most of her music might not appeal to many nowadays but this album has the great funk track “Ayyy Kacma” on it. While digging in Turkey ain’t that easy unless you want to spend serious money i found this LP for cheap in [...]

Poly Rythmo De Cotonou – Zero + Zero = Zero

I think Frank’s (http://www.voodoofunk.blogspot.com) travel and digging reports played quite a role for my growing interest in West African music. I always liked the mixes he put online but at the same time I was not too confident to ever find any of these records as I don’t live in Western Africa and I don’t [...]

The Exotic – Title Unknown

The Exotic is one of my favorite finds I ever made in Asia. Except one track it’s mainly a Thai pop album with some obscure and even psychedelic moments that unlike many other Thai albums you can listen to all the way through. The stand out track though is a raw funk track with Thai [...]

The Impossibles – Stage show

“Stage Show” is a great funk album by the well known Thai band The Impossibles who recorded the classic “Hot Pepper” album in Sweden. This album includes various interpretations of classic American funk tunes done in a Thai style. The recording is super low budget and the sound quality might remind you of your last [...]

Various Artists: Made in Leverkusen

I was born in Cologne/Germany. Although Cologne is widely in peace with the cities surrounding it, there is however a strong rivalry with the neighbouring city of Leverkusen. Naturally, as a loyal citizen of my hometown I share this sentiment. This is fairly easy since Leverkusen is indeed a pretty boring city mainly consisting of the infrastructure of the Bayer drug company.

I had to pay my dues to the city though after finding the private pressed record “Made in Leverkusen” that reflects the musical scene of Leverkusen in the mid seventies. This scene might have been limited but was great nevertheless. Be it the most famous artist on the record Wolfram Brunke with his Gary Pacific Orchestra Outfit and some solid funk music, the equally funky inFormation Media Band, or the psych guitars of Quasimodo. Well, in the end Cologne won again. We had Can during this time, but “Made in Leverkusen” saves Leverkusen a well deserved second rank.

Ximo & Judy – Via Brasil

I quite often go to flea markets, in the summer even as often as once a week. Nevertheless I never seem to find any good records on flea markets. Don’t ask me why. This record is a exception to this rule though. It was released on the tiny German Rillenschlange label in 1982. I heard [...]