Waldir Calmon - Airport Love Theme

One of the great joys I derive from hip-hop music is the comparison of a sample and the song in which that sample originated. For whatever reason (I am no expert) hip-hop breaks have become increasingly obscure throughout the years, moving away from the disco and funk cuts of the '80s to more recent samples of the most unusual, esoteric records. Crate-digging has gained huge traction as a hobby, while the internet has given way to 'digital crate-digging'. One example is wonderful Vinyl Archéologie community on Facebook, of which I am a member (although merely an observer). This blog is another example: I often trudge through internet archives, lists, videos and so on to find the stuff I post on here. Anyway this song by Waldir Calmon - Brazilian pianist and composer - was sampled by Madvillain on the track 'Curls'. It is a kinda easy-listening fusion on bossa-nova (or post-bossa nova) and funk. I'm really fond of how it juxtaposes the coldness of airports (and lounge music) with the emotion of a love song; it is, after all, the 'Airport Love Theme'.

Label: Copacabana
Year: 1970
Genre: MPB, Funk, Easy-Listening, Bossa-Nova

naran ratan - jam for bwengo

Tasty Morsels is one of the most finely curated libraries of sounds on the web, supplying numerous treats for free on their website. This year's wonderful trees etc. by naran ratan is a prime example: it has Tasty Morsels' stylised cover art, and a sound that slots it perfectly alongside the previous releases on the label, but is still distinctly its own entity. Comparisons are hard to draw but Mark Isham's 1983 solo debut Vapor Drawings or even Woo's ace When The Past Arrives from last year are about as close as I'll get. Trees etc. is only eleven minutes long, but the songs - or 'moments' - here blend seamlessly into one another, melding clarinet, synthesisers and samples of birdsong to create a warm, beautiful and memorable trip.

Label: Tasty Morsels
Year: 2015
Genre: Ambient, New-Age, Jazz, Electronica

Z-Rock Hawaii - I Get A Little Taste Of You

Z-Rock Hawaii is a collaborative effort between Japan's legendary noise group Boredoms and the unstoppable, indescribable, Ween. The latter are in some ways a perfect representation of Dig That Treasure!'s spirit; off-kilter pop, simultaneously esoteric and accessible, serious and tongue-in-cheek. Ween have, however, built such a reputation that they are now by no means obscure. Z-Rock Hawaii are, though. For some reason this project, bringing together the US and Japan's two masters of the underground, did not reach the same heights as either Ween or Boredom's non-collaborative works. Shame. This song, 'I Get A Little Taste Of You', is a sweet ditty with an infectious melody and bonkers passages of Yamantaka Eye's non-verbal yaps.

Label: Nipp Guitar
Year: 1996
Genre: Experimental Rock, Novelty, Noise Rock