Attack of the beards...

I've been hanging out in places on the net recently where the buzz is all about the Cosmic/ Balearic/ Beardo/ New Disco/ Edit revival. It's already been pointed out by at least one person that the 'scene' is pretty similar in nature to the electro revival that began back at the beginning of the noughties. That revival seemed to come to a crescendo last year with punk/disco going mainstream and LCD Soundsystem releasing what could probably be considered as Punk Funk's defining statement. The interesting thing is that Beardo (my favourite name for it so far) seems to have grown out of Punk Funk. There seemed to be a bit of a debate awhile ago about what would be the next big thing after Punk Funk. Some thought, and probably still think, that Noise will make a comeback. It definitely seemed as if the DFA people were totally behind that idea. From what I could gather Noise bands were invading Williamsburg in numbers. But then something strange began to happen. More and more people seemed to take to the notion that reviving smooth seventies rock and slow chilled out disco from the late seventies and early eighties seemed to be the way forward. And then, in the true spirit of zeitgeist, people started popping up everywhere. Like lost tribes the fans of the original Baia degli Angeli Sound (later to evolve into the Cosmic and Afro sounds), the people who had lived through the great Balearic era, and dudes out on the West Coast who had there own version of it all called Pacifica (I mean like, even Harvey lives there, y'know). So all these forces came together and realized that they hella complimented each other. It seems that we might be getting freal all over again.

The Sorcerer (his secret identity) is from Oakland and according to his myspace page he has some pretty eclectic influences. He seems to enjoy jamming with his friend Hatchback, who is actually from San Frandisco (sic) itself. He has pictures of really cools synths on his myspace page. I think he is implying that he owns those synths, and I'm trying not to be jealous. Together The Sorcerer and Hatchback did a song called White Soweto. It supposed to have been a "feel good" track about a white guy in Africa, I presume in Soweto, in the eighties. The Sorcerer notes on his webpage that the jam took an unexpected turn and ended up sounding like a soundtrack to an italian horror flick or "to what's really going down in the motherland". Well yeah, Soweto in the eighties certainly was pretty much like a horror film, just much scarier. The next track is called Pocket Check, which is also a jam with Hatchback. I like this one the most, it has Lindstrom-like qualities. Popsicle Orange rounds out the triple play. On the D J History forum Sorcerer did hint that he considered these to be possibly unpolished versions of his ultimate capabilities. I would like to encourage him in his endeavors.

Next up is some trippy Finnish classical music from Einojuhani Rautavaaru. He wrote Cantcus Articus for the degree ceremony for the University of Oulu. The recorded bird sounds come from birds in the Arctic. Rautavaaru is known for mixing up styles, using Romantic and Modern idioms like textures. This is the third and last part of Cantus Articus, and it's some pretty dramatic stuff.

Lastly we have a tune from Soweto. This group of guys were like a whirlwind back in the mid-nineties. They started a revolution called Kwaito. It was a revolution of being laidback. The title means something like "we are dancing to the music" (I just went and asked someone and they were unsure as to how it should be translated). The other thing that they keep shouting in the song is "Ubize moyeni" which means "we are shouting at the sky", and it's one of the few Zulu phrases that I actually know, which is pretty lame of me.

The picture is of Chi-Chi from DBZ, when she was little. By the looks of things, she's on her way to the Rollerink in 1983.


Sorcerer - White Soweto

Sorcerer - Pocket Check

Sorcerer - Popsicle Orange

Einojuhani Rautavaara - Joutsenet muuttavat (Swans Migrating)

Trompies - Sigiya Ngengoma