week 3 - link to playlist
monday-
orchestra poly-rhythmo de cotonou - noude ma gnin tche de me
andres landero y su conjunto - la pava congona
augustus pablo - cassava piece (79 style)
the petch phin thong band - soul lam plearn
algote oho & his sounds of joy - yu ya yumma
shina williams & his african percussionists, mr. bongo - agboji logun / mr. bongo
tuesday-
bosq, kaleta, the ibibio horns - song for ehi (disco dub)
บรรเจิด ทองแท้ ชุด ยินดีรับเดน [full album]
waipot petsuwan - mia chaa (my darling)
boobpa saichol - seng rabird
douglas wood - moon nightclub
johnny guitar - mon du dow
onuma singsri - lam plearn maeng tub tao
the hygrades - rough rider
denis mpunga & paul k. - criola
wednesday-
鄒娟娟 - 展翅飛翔飛翔
wild fire - rebels
ศักดิ์สยาม เพชรชมพู - นักร้องกลัวเมีย
philippe chany - cairo connection
andre williams - mozelle
billy fury - wondrous place
thursday-
celeste legaspi - bulung-bulungan
the boyfriends - sa tuwing ako’y nag-lisa
willie colón - she don’t know i’m alive
manny corchado & his orchestra - pow pow (feat tito jiménez)
charanga 76 - no nos pararan
friday-
nico gomez and his afro percussion inc - eso el amor
golden hands - take me back
aay jays - dachi waliya
nahid akhtar - o my love
kalyanji anandji - dharmatma theme 5 (instrumental)
sharada - leja leja leja mera dil
saturday-
pibes chorros - la colcha sucia
nazan şoray - hal hal
shahram shabpareh - deyar (disco version)
marumo - khomo tsaka deile kae?
greg henderson - dreamin’
sunday-
o terno, xenobi - bielzinho/bielzinho (xenobi extended remix)
david k, trip do, rolando faria - mas que nada
delvon lamarr organ trio - fried soul
omara portuondo - ¿dónde estabas tú?
welcome to noise ordinance’s most consistent week yet! if you’re new here, i’ll recap the rules: every day, i find a minimum of 3 songs i’ve never heard before. at the end of the week, i recap my finds and talk about my favorites. let’s dive into this week. it’s basically all funk and disco.
i think i’ve hit the wall where i’m tired of winter. i’ve become a little desperate for warm nights, showing skin, that omnipresent sheen of sweat from a humid climate, the smell of the air when everything is covered in dew. all of these songs conjure that kind of mood for me, a soundtrack to a summer night. i’ll be playing it all summer long, that’s for damn sure.
i love cumbias. there are several on this week’s playlist. the irresistible sway, accordion and bright brass, i think it conjures a hidden ability in anyone to dance. if you can’t dance to this, maybe there’s no hope for you. it could incite the rhythm in anything. “la pava congona” is made for dancing, lights strung up and twinkling, connecting, dancing together, clapping along, dressed to the nines. i have to limit my use of assigning these songs “summer party” status but let’s be honest. if you put this on at the function, no one is sitting still.
the petch phin thong band’s “soul lam plearn” feels like being surrounded by sound- instrumentation comes at you from every corner. this is a funky, electric take on khrueang sai, a genre of classical thai music that involves large bands with wall-to-wall instrumentation. the melody in “soul lam plearn” is provided by an electric phin, a three-stringed lute often used in northeastern thai folk music.
the petch phin thong band
thailand in the 60s and 70s produced numerous, brilliant electric adaptations of khrueang sai and other forms of classical music, many of which have been compiled into collections such as sound of siam and shadow music of thailand.
tuesday saw a lot of thai music as well, including this album by บรรเจิด ทองแท้, featuring reggae and afro-cuban beats with khrueang sai instrumentation, punchy 80s drum machine and the perfect amount of vinyl crackle. waipot petsuwan’s “mia chaa” is a dancey pop ballad, reminiscent of 50s and early 60s pop like the shangri-las or the tammys. boobpa saichol’s “seng rabird” is a brassy, fuzzy mix of psychedelic guitar and cha-cha brass and hand drums, enhanced by boobpa’s bratty (in the best possible way) vocals that at times veer into whimpering.
it’s no accident that thailand, china, and vietnam have produced some of the most incredible vocalists you’ll ever hear, with unique, captivating styles of singing. a study from the university of california at san diego found that speakers of tonal languages are more capable of achieving perfect pitch, as speakers of these languages are able to identify notes more precisely. it shows.
philippe chany’s “cairo connection” from wednesday is a funky, groovy synth driven track, one of several tracks from this week that i affectionately refer to as “neon noir” music, along with “wondrous place” and “moon nightclub.” it would fit in perfectly on the soundtrack of a hammy 70s exploitation film, in some urban setting with a protagonist who’s never seen out of leather. picture it: our protagonist has names to take and asses to kick. they’re walking through crowded, graffiti tagged alleyways with fires burning in trash cans and runoff from ACs from the dilapidated high rises above. they’re heading to a dive lounge where the enemy is hiding out. they’re being followed, they’re surrounded, but they don’t give a shit. they have the coolest revolver style pistol you’ve ever seen, and they’re about to use it, and use it well. that’s the image this song conjures. makes me want to buy a leather trench coat.
thursday saw some brilliant filipino funk and soul with “bulung-bulungan” and “sa tuwing ako’y nag-lisa.” tracks like this often get labeled as “[insert country] city pop”, which i find a little reductive. i’ve sung the praises of japanese music many times on noise ordinance, but there are several other countries who are standing just as strong as japan with their adaptations of what began as soul and motown, and they shouldn’t be regarded as imitations. “sa tuwing ako’y nag-lisa” is an synth-y funk track falsetto grouped vocals, a dancey bassline, and some brilliant disco hand drums. it stands on its own.
to compare “sa tuwing ako’y nag-lisa” to the bee-gees may make it more relatable to the anglo audience, but it would be an insult to the boyfriends. maybe now isn’t the time to get into a rant about the global success and ubiquitous status achieved by western acts while outside of the anglosphere, there is no shortage of artists who would have their anglo comparisons busking on the street were they given the same consideration and prestige. maybe not now, but certainly someday.
where can i begin with manny corchado & his orchestra’s “pow pow”? from the moment the drums begin, you know you’re in for the ride of your life. this beat is taking you with it come hell or high water, and when the instrumentation breaks forth at 1:18, it sweeps you up like a parade you’ve just mistakenly walked into. in fact, it reminds me a lot of the ever present parades in new orleans, hundreds of people taking to the streets and dancing, jazz music blasting, whole neighborhoods bursting into celebration. that’s what this song feels like. to call it euphoric would fall short. this song is just fucking good.
kalyanji anandji embodies psychedelic bollywood instrumentals. his track “dance music” is one he’s most known for among crate diggers and fellow pretentious music snobs. “dharmatma theme 5” is a blend of fuzzy, distorted guitar and lilting vocals floating over the gritty instrumentation. it’s another perfect “neon noir” song. a fight scene, a title sequence, an end credit sequence in warm 70s technicolor and an ornate font.
saturday saw another cumbia, and of course disco. greg henderson’s “dreamin’” is a mellow, sunny track with jangly percussives, elastic bass, bright but unobtrusive brass, and sweet, floaty vocals. it’s a kind of daytime disco song, perfect for dancing around while cooking or cleaning, driving down the highway with the sun high in the sky and the windows down, time spent with friends outside.
“mas que nada” from sunday is a chill house track with a vocal melody that gives it a funky edge. it’s a calm kind of groove for a quiet night, the end of the night, or the moments in between.
the week concludes with omara portuondo’s “¿dónde estabas tú?” a slinky cuban jazz track with bright brass, hypnotic hand drums, and grouped vocals following omara’s smooth alto. the brass section can only be described as hot, with a kind of palpable sizzle. the song has a seductive quality to it, something to dance to with a stranger, something to accompany the excitement of that initial spark of fascination.
overall, as i said in the beginning, this has been the most consistent week yet. normally my taste floats all over the place, bouncing from genre to genre, but this week stayed mostly within the same theme. maybe i am just missing the warmth. maybe i’ve been fixating on the line from henry nilsson’s “everybody’s talkin’” from midnight cowboy, “i’m going where the sun keeps shining through the pouring rain / going where the weather suits my clothes.” it’s been a long time since i was able to dance, let loose and hand myself over to a pulsating, sweating crowd. it’s something i miss.
let’s jump into my favorites from this week.
willie colón - she don’t know i’m alive
this song is a blast. i’ll say that first. it’s a lo-fi 80s disco track with all the wabi-sabi of what sounds like very low budget production. it glitches in some places, the drum machine and synths are tinny, the vocals are surrounded by reverb that sounds as if it were recorded in an airplane hangar. the mixing is imperfect, the levels are a little strange. but i wouldn’t change a thing about it. to “fix” any of these things would take away the soul of the track. it’s better how it is- trust me.
this track is full of different types of synths. funky, twinkly, early techno, 80s keyboard, and even washes of ambient sounds. this is laid experimentally over a pretty standard, consistent drum machine beat, a trumpet solo, and accompanied by duet and grouped vocals. above all else, it’s fun to listen to. you never know what direction it’s going to take next, what synths willie is going to pull out, what vocals are going to follow.
it’s a perfect example of perfection through imperfection. every idiosyncrasy only adds to its charm.
nico gomez and his afro percussion inc - eso el amor
neon noir or neon western, this song has it covered. it’s funky, psychedelic, beginning with a slinky and seductive opening, slow and hypnotic. the chorus shifts into a key change, speeding up and taking on a more dancey, rock quality. “la luna y el sol”, the song shifts back and forth between fast and slow, between rock and funk, between excited and sultry. it’s enough to give you whiplash, but it works. there’s a synastry established between the two sides of the song, a perfect balance between two opposites. i couldn’t stop playing it on repeat.
o terno, xenobi - bielzinho/bielzinho (xenobi extended remix)
i’ve listened to this song so much since i found it on sunday that it’s been showing up in my dreams. i almost skipped it at first, as it starts out like the kind of upbeat but chill disco house that i’m not particularly crazy about. and my god, am i glad i stayed.
the vocal melodies carry this song. if you’re like me and are not wild about this type of disco house, let me change your mind with this song. once the vocals set in, the track is completely transformed. the grouped vocals, the beat that takes over to accompany it, everything converges to form something bright, atmospheric, even a little nostalgic. it’s not so jubilant that it insists upon your participation, like a lot of disco does. (and i love it, i love a track that forces you to dance) it sets a comfortable mood that surrounds you and urges you to pull yourself up. it could be a full 45 minutes long and i’d listen to it all the way through without noticing how much time had passed. everything seems to fall away with this song, leaving only a present moment that is blissful, warm and enveloping. it’s something i think we could all use these days.