The third installment in Music For Dreams` Collector Series arrives care of Growing Bin`s Basso. Proper Sunburn finds the German musical maestro plundering obscurities, primarily from his homeland. Rifling through dusty cut-outs and cast-offs, and of course coming up with gold.
More than half of the thirteen tracks were recorded in the 80s. Taking in 12s, 45s, and LP pieces. Gentle percussive ethno-fusions full of harp-like glissando. Damsels in distress singing sparse New Wave ballads. Between whistling refrains and skeleton bone xylophone. Cosmic dubs with Asian-timbred synths, bamboo hits. Cafe Del Mar sunset candidates flush with flutes and fancy fretwork. Duelling basses, electric and electronic. Spanish-leaning guitar. Gothic skanks and fuzzed rock solos. Sample-tastic cartoon freestyle. Funky drummers. Hammond B3-led jazzy steppers. A keyboard freakout from Jean Phillipe Rykeil. The French virtuoso who collaborated with Tim Blake, Leonard Cohen, Jon Hassell, Steve Hillage, Salif Keita, Yousou N`dour, and Vangelis.
From the 90s there are thumb-slapped b-lines and chiming six-string arcs. Ninjas on tabla. Mapping an African-influenced overlap between Malcolm McLaren / Trevor Horn and Bill Laswell / Herbie Hancock. Its bottom-end booming.
Bang up to date and there`s a lift from RVDS` 2016 Shadows. Minuet De Vampire`s sleepy Juno-60-esque heartbeat topped by treated guitar and steel pan tones.
Back to the `70s and there`s Massimo Stella’s dance-floor jazz-funk. Its circuits whirring like UFOs taking off. Its frug, phased and spiraling towards the stars.
Pièce de résistance though, perhaps, is the super schlager of Hans Hass` Welche Farbe Hat Der Wind. Recorded by the Austrian singer in 1974, prior to his move to Ibiza. Four and a half minutes of eccentric beat-pop. Its dramatic drums, easy-listening Brazilian harmonies and flamenco flourishes dissolving into sound effects and studio trickery. Stopping for flights of seabirds. Closing with a clap of thunder.
Proper Sunburn, complied by Basso, is released by Music For Dreams on August 30th.
Citing references in compilation reviews is confusing I know but if your interest needs to be further piqued then in my humble opinion the selections on Basso`s Proper Sunburn sit smartly alongside already cherished classics by….
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