Music from Other Worlds (subtitle: 'listen to an idiot)
The Bayan Mongol Variety Group - Жалам хар (A Black Horse) (Mongolia) (Rock) (Jazz) (Pop) (1980)
"...so you can stick to your own and listen to Peruvian groups with bagpipes that only 4 cats listen to and that not even their relatives buy!" (quote)
HERE I AM! PRESENT! I, the arrogant know-it-all, patron of the most foul-smelling and hidden niches, who "will never be part of a majority," as that guy said in that movie...I propose that you listen to some of the most unimaginable stuff that has crossed my hands and ears over the years. You, listen to an idiot, take 5 minutes to indulge in something different instead of always listening (reading, watching, eating, smelling...) to the same things you already know how they are; if you don't take risks, your brain simply atrophies.
1) The Bayan Mongol Variety Group
Blessed be Light in the Attic! In the '70s and '80s, there were tales of absurd groups beyond the Iron Curtain producing music that blended lost ethnic sounds with funk grooves and jazzy spices, managing to circumvent the suffocating controls of the Soviet authorities that we thought were in place. The name of The Bayan Mongol Variety Group slipped through the cracks surrounded by an aura of legend. The absurd thing is that it was actually the fall of the Wall that dealt the decisive blow to the group, which vanished right after the end of the USSR. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of some fans and Light in the Attic, those records have been unearthed, and now that mix of funk, jazz-rock, prog rock, and psychedelic rock infused with local ethnic spices has been reissued in collaboration with the band.
Imagine Blood, Sweat and Tears rearranging pieces of Romagnolo "liscio" and music from old western films (and all mixed in the same piece!), and then, check out the cover! The moment I saw it, I knew that record had to be mine!