Back to basics

Panda Bear - Person Pitch

Show playlist is here.

I have a really great apreciation for artists and especially musicians that can keep things simple. Take Panda Bear for example. His solo record Person Pitch uses really simple ideas, like pretty major  guitar chords, a bit of reverb, and some basic loops to create a semi-magical experience. I don’t know what you call this. Dream pop? Psychedelic folk? No idea, and I guess it doesn’t matter. This stuff is just really really good.

What else is good around these days at KZSU? We have an excellent reissue (Flood Bank) of the first couple of records of this British post-punk band called The Lines. Excellent dark disco-punk of the same variety as Gang Of Four and A Certain Ratio. Definitely check it out. Speaking of post-punk, I also played a song by a band which has been a personal obsession of mine for a while: The Sound. They are another underrated band from that era that I believe deserves much more attention. Finally make sure to check out the Religious Knives, with their strange revivalist taste of 60s experimental rock.

Not much more to talk about this week. I am finding it increasingly difficult to keep this blog updated. First of all it feels a bit like talking to myself, since not many people are actually reading it. Second, I have been really busy recently with work.

Greek-Turkish relations

Check out my playlist here.

One of the standard cliche things I like to do is to play Greek and Turkish songs together. There is a reason for that. Our music shares a lot with Turkish music. We were after all part of the same empire for about 400 years. This week the two acts I mixed together were Θανάσσης Παπακωνσταντίνου (Thanassis Papakonstantinou) and Baba Zula.

Thanassis is probably one of the most creative singer/songwriters currently active in the Greek scene. His music takes a lot from traditional Greek music, as well as genres such as jazz, post-rock, and maybe even some noise. Probably one of his best records is Αγρύπνια (Agrypnia), but his other stuff is excellent too.

Baba Zula in concert, Pesaro, Italy, 2007

Baba Zula play a brand of music they call “Anatolian Dub”. I had the great pleasure of seeing them perform this year in Istanbul. They are really incredible. Not only is their main guy a massive legend and a great saz player, but they generally tend to have very lively shows, including belly dancers and even live drawing! Their latest album kokler (roots) is a pretty incredible piece of musicianship. Definitely look into them if you like eastern-style music.

Any more good things today? Let’s see… I recently got this reissue of the second Loop record Fade Out. Excellent 80s style space-psychedelic rock. What else? I really like this Greek band I recently discovered called Interestellar Overdrive. Indie-rock but at least of good taste. That’s about it for this week…