As you may or may not have noticed, Christmas is approaching. Santa Claus will soon be coming to town.
The story has it that the figure of Santa Claus is based on the real life St Nicholas of Myra, known for his supposed habit of secret gift-giving (and for being the patron saint of - deep breath - Russia, Greece, charitable fraternities and guilds, children, sailors, unmarried girls, pawnbrokers, merchants and the city of Fribourg in Switzerland). He's a busy fellow.
St Nicholas is believed to have been born in what is now the Antalya Province in Turkey, and of course many of you may be tucking into the bird that shares its name with that country for Christmas lunch.
So clearly we need to share some music from Turkey to suit the season. Specifically we need some sounds from hairy Anatolian rockers Bunalim, whose name ('frustration' in Turkish) perfectly fits the mood of those of you hosting the family Christmas when the most irritating relatives just won't take a hint and leave.
Bunalim's only recordings were six singles released between 1970 and 1972. Those twelve tracks have been compiled in album form at least twice but as far as I can find out none of the compilations are currently in stock (although there are a few second-hand copies knocking about).
Last night I was listening to Bill Callahan's "Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle" album for the first time in ages, and I thought to myself "This is very good, I should post a couple of tracks".
There you have it folks - a unique insight into the blogging process.
There will be a brief break in our African tour until after Xmas, but only because Ghana is next and its a biggie. I have roughly 50,000 square feet of funkiness to work my way through before settling on the final selections, which will take more time than I have available just now.
That doesn't mean we are staying at home though. Perish the thought. No, we are going on an exciting trip through space and time to Thailand in the 1970s.
Our travel agents for the trip are Soundway Records, and the itinerary is set out on their compilation album "The Sound of Siam Volume 2: Molam and Luk Thung from North-East Thailand 1970-1982". Here are just a few of the highlights from the tour. If this entices you to sign up for the full package it can be booked via Bandcamp.
Two bus-themed posts in two days. I thought about asking this post to park up somewhere for a bit to regulate the service, but really we all just want to get home don't we?
Be warned, there are some abrupt mood changes en route, especially between the last two stops. If standing make sure you are holding on to a stanchion for your own safety.
There is no Mandatory Reggae today, but Poser has stepped in to provide a Replacement Soca Service for that part of the route.
"On A Bus To St. Cloud" was always going to feature somewhere in this series, the only question being whether it would be the Jimmy LaFave or Gretchen Peters version. Then I thought "why choose when you can have them both?" - hence the first video (which also features Mr Tom Russell as the gooseberry).
As for the second video, I disagree strongly with the sentiments but the song is too good to leave out. And the third one is especially for George. We know he's a fan.
This series has now reached its last stop. Please remember to take all your belongings with you and enjoy a safe onwards journey.
Last week's post about the humble omnibus attracted a fair amount of interest, so here is another one. I have just about enough material left to squeeze out a third post, which would be appropriate as the common wisdom has it that you don't get any posts about buses for ages and then three come along at once. So watch this space.
Last time out I was critical of those who look down on buses as a means of transport (I am legally required to state at this juncture that Charity Chic is not one of them). But it is also possible to be too enthusiastic about buses.
Way back in the early 1990s I worked with a bus spotter. He had never mentioned his secret shame at work, but one Saturday morning I was on my normal bus route and he boarded along with a group of his fellow bus fanciers. Apparently this was the first day on which this particular route was using buses made by the Alexander Works of Falkirk and they had come over to join the party.
Having been outed like that it was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he never stopped banging on about buses after that. He even persuaded me to take some photos of local buses for him when I went on holiday to Norway a few months later.
This was before we had phones with cameras in so there was no way to disguise what you were doing. The knowledge that everyone else in the Trondheim bus station was staring at me thinking "Hvorfor fotograferer den idioten busser?" induced an embarrassment I will never forget.
After that rambling introduction, here are today's selection of tunes praising not just buses of different types but depots and drivers as well.
The song in the video was mentioned by Charity Chic in the comments on the previous post. Once again I am legally obliged to point out that no inference should be made that the title of the song reflects his own views.
We have arrived in The Gambia - possibly prematurely for those of you who think it should be listed under T rather than G. We are also now exactly 40% of the way through our African tour. We kicked the series off back in May, so at this rate our bandwagon is unlikely to be rolling into Harare until November next year.
The Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa and, except for the 30 miles of coastline, is completely surrounded by Senegal. This is unusual but not unique. There is one African country that is completely contained within the borders of another country. There may be a prize for the first person to name it.
I've never visited The Gambia myself but my dear old Dad worked there for about a year in the mid-1960s, helping to build parts of the Trans-Gambia Highway. He had some great stories about his time there, like how he and his crew spent two days pretending to be hotel staff for the benefit of a French honeymooning couple who had been taken in by the hand-drawn 'Club Med' sign someone had put up outside their remote camp.
A group called Super Eagles were just getting started around about the time my Dad was working there. If you happen to own Volume 3 of the Luaka Bop "World Psychedelic Classics" series you will be familiar with them. They were a very good soul band, and nearly featured here in that incarnation, but in the mid 1970s they mutated into Ifang Bondi. With the name change came a change of style, with much greater use of indigenous rhythms and instruments. Today's choice is taken from their excellent 1978 album "Saraba".
Ifang Bondi's new style (known as 'afro-manding') inspired a wave of other bands. Foremost among them were Guelewar, or The Guelewar Band of Banjul to give them their full name, who set the local scene alight in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were also very popular over the border in Senegal, and the great Youssou N'Dour has evidently cited them as an early influence. I've opted for the title track of their 1979 album "Sama Yaye Demna Ndar".
Ifang Bondi's influence continues to be felt in many ways and in many places. Take the example of their former percussionist Musa Mboob who dedicates his life to promoting Gambian culture from his home in the remote village of (checks notes) Brighton. He also continues to make some cracking music in his own right, as demonstrated by this track from his 2010 album "Haral".
Our fourth act have also been around since the early 1980s, ploughing a similar furrow to the others, and are also still very much active today. They are the Juffureh Band, named after the town that was a major slaving post (and the fictional birthplace of Kunte Kinte in the novel "Roots"). Today's track comes from their 2018 EP, "Abarake Bake". Very good it is indeed.
We round off the audio with some Mandatory African Reggae courtesy of Masta Lion. Hailing from Birikama in The Gambia but now based in Finland, this track comes from his 2021 album "Tribute To Mama". Masta Lion managed to enlist the help of well-known Jamaican singers like Sizzla and Anthony B on the album, so he is clearly a well-connected man.
In the world of the creative arts, there is a case for declaring 2023 to be the Year of Gina Birch. Releasing her first solo album, the excellent "I Play My Bass Loud", playing a series of barnstorming gigs, and being the face of the 'Women In Revolt!' exhibition at the Tate Britain - she truly has bestrode the scene like a colossus.
Now she is rounding off the year with a new art exhibition. Titled 'No One's Little Girl' after the song by her old band The Raincoats, it is being held at Gallery 46 in London's swinging Whitechapel (as was her previous exhibition last year). This one closes on Friday (16 December) so you'll need to get a move on if you want to go along.
I popped in yesterday afternoon to view the art and to listen to Gina in conversation with the art critic Louisa Buck. It was a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion which covered Gina's artistic influences and origins, her Catholic education, shoplifting with Palmolive (The Slits's drummer, not the soap) and much more besides.
As you can see in the background, one part of the exhibition consists of portraits of musicians and artists who have inspired Gina; from left to right Ari Up, Kim Gordon and Ana Mendieta (there is also a very good one of Yoko Ono). The other main themes are sexual abuse - including some pretty graphic paintings - and a set of smaller icon-style portraits of female saints. I'll leave you to pick the pieces out of that lot.
If you are interested in seeing Gina's paintings I have put a selection on Flickr for those of you unable to make it to the exhibition in person - a poor substitute admittedly. As for the music, the first track comes from Gina's album (click on the album title above to find it on Bandcamp). If you have been following the clues, the second will come as no surprise.
Links stay up for a month or so. If you are an artist or copyright holder and want me to remove the link, or if you want to get in touch for any other reason, e-mail me on leggies27@hotmail.co.uk.
