Noor 77

I found a tape amongst a pile of rubbish on the Ely Trail the other day.

Is this gonna be some Ringu shit? Last tape I found had an Eastern European sounding guy reciting nursery rhymes before cutting to Alphaville's Forever Young 😱📼😱📼😱

A post shared by Sammyfax (@ceefaxoflife) on Dec 5, 2017 at 4:19am PST

I originally left it there. Ringu and rain put me off. And I reported the fly-tipping to Cardiff Council. Yet it was still there today. So why not pick it up?

Research time...

The cassette is a Super C-60LN. Someone from Volgograd is selling one that's "in a sorry state", and it can be yours for just 35 rubles, approximately 50p. All other search results for that tape are Russian pages too.

The markings on the tape are "Noor Karaan" on both sides and "77" scratched into the plastic in four locations. A quick google suggest Noor Karaan is an American tween.

The person speaking on the tape is definitely not an American tween.

If I had to hazard a guess, through the fuzz and flutter, the person speaking is an older male, possibly Middle Eastern and reciting a text, perhaps praying.

However it seems Super Cassettes are an Indian company and Karaan (well Karan) is derived from the Kayasth caste of Hindus originating in India. So the signs point to Bengal rather than Baghdad or Balaklava.

Returning to 77, it seems to have some religious significance, predominately in Islam but also in Christianity (the Gospel of Luke lists 77 generations from Adam to Jesus). Now I mentioned the Kayasth caste as being Hindu. However there are Muslim Kayasths and they're mainly from the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. And Uttar Pradesh happens to be the state that Super Cassette Industries are based in (Noida to be exact).

So now I'm slightly worried I've committed a hate crime by sampling some of the cassette to make a track...



Still if it was that big a deal, they wouldn't have dumped it where I walk my dog.

Related post: Found Tape - Gypsy Curses and Synth Pop (from when I found a cassette by Heath Low Level in 2009)

110% PASHUN

Anyone for some manufactured Hi-NRG disco from early 80s NYC?

The Flirts were a carousel of beautiful on-stage models and faceless off-stage singers, constantly being spun by electronic disco pioneer Bobby Orlando. Bobby O wrote the songs, played all the instruments, and picked the line-up. That's definitely in the Svengali / mogul area of pop production.

I've gone for the 12" Mix of Passion today as the longer version gives time for Orlando's magic to spin out, pushes the nondescript vocals aside and allows the A-ha! moment of 4:11 to happen. For me that's when I finally clocked the sample... it's the melody of Felix Da Housecat's superb Silver Screen (Shower Scene)!

Apparently The Flirts are still a going concern as a live act, though I'm not sure how much Bobby Orlando is still involved. His Wikipedia page, which I do have an inkling he's still involved with, says he is releasing music even now. Bonus Bobby O fact - he originally produced West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys.

Finally, there are quite a few different versions of Passion by The Flirts up on that YouTube, so if 9 minutes of pumping disco bliss is too much, then have a go on this proto-Eurotrash video instead...

Original Image: By City of Orlando (http://www.cityoforlando.net/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I Like Lectric Motors

I also like petrol ones as the Celica has just gone through her MOT and is now purring.

So who is Patrick D. Martin? Beats me. Beats the beeb too. Left and to the Back has a stab, however they can't uncover much either. It seems that Martin rode the New Wave in 1979, smashing Sparks, Ian Dury, Giorgio Moroder and Plastic Bertrand together and then disappeared. He left behind a series of odd yet prescient singles that focused on technology and on the future.

And that's that.

Original image: See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Floating Fridays

Happy Friday everyone! Here's 19 minutes of pulsating, driving, heady electronic music...

I could watch the trippy visuals of Floating Points' Ratio for ages. And as I ain't got much on ATM that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Quick Q - what programming language should a n00b learn? PHP? Ruby? JavaScript. Asking for a friend*.

Before I forget, I gotta wedge in this car crash of a link. From Ratio by Floating Points to radio by Floating Points, check out Sam Shepherd's monthly show on NTS, Four Tet and Caribou are frequent guests like. Jeez.

Original Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

* That friend is me.

Carharrack: Hard At Work Since 1290

My mum is moving to Carharrack. Of course there's an Aphex Twin link...

Aphex Twin - Ventolin (Carharrack Mix) is not elite AFX but it has a loping trip hop charm and is definitely less grating than the original.

Original Image: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons