Labels

Finders Keepers

  • 01. Bombarde Lamentation
    02. L’Ours Paresseux
    03. La Girafe Au Ballon
    04. Claquez Klaxons
    05. Saturnin Vaca Vaca
    06. L'Automne À Barbès Rochechouart
    07. Crocodiles
    08. La Douleur De L'Orchestre
    09. Theme 504
    10. Le Ballet Des Accoucheuses
    11. Road To Cuba
    12. Je M'Appelle Geraldine
    13. L’Éléphant Équilibriste
    14. Bombarde Lamentation (Reprise)
    cover

    JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER

    Electro Rapide

    [engl] To mark Finders Keepers Record's 50th release label heads Andy Votel, Dom Thomas and Doug Shipton return to where it all began in 2005 with a long overdue return to Jean-Claude Vannier's vaults! Electro Rapide is a collection of rare and unreleased archive material from the studio archives of legendary French orchestral pop composer Jean-Claude Vannier. Taken from the period before and during his revered creative relationship with Serge Gainsbourg (reaching their halcyon with 1971’s Histoire De Melody Nelson) these tracks reveal a rare glimpse of Vannier’s self-initiated instrumental projects that were crowbarred between an airtight studio diary as one of France’s most in demand arrangers and composers of the post Mai-68 generation... Alongside a handful of his contemporaries and collaborators such as Michel Colombier, Serge Gainsbourg, François de Roubaix, Brigitte Fontaine, Claude Nougaro and Gerard Manset, composer and orchestral arranger Jean-Claude Vannier is globally recognised as one of the key exponents of the Gallic pop cognoscenti to make the significant change from 60s yé-yé to the brooding con- ceptual pop which defined the following decade. His own masterworks, Histoire De Melody Nelson and L’Enfant Assassin Des Mouches (both of which benefited from the poetic prose of Serge Gainsbourg), are two such productions that con- tinue to inspire and challenge popular music as long as five decades since they were first released to moderate audiences in the early 1970s. Electro Rapide is a collection of similarly underexposed instrumental works that combine a mixture of Jean-Claude Vannier’s familiar trademark motifs and stylings from his coveted work for idiosyncratic French pop vocalists (such as Fontaine, Nougaro, Leonie and Anna St. Clair) with the seldom heard experimen- tal music for ballets, fashion shows as well as his infamous film music (such as the soundtracks for Cannabis and La Horse).
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    03.10.2011
    EAN
    EAN 5060099503337
     
  • 01. La bête noire (Intro)
    02. Chasser la bête noire
    03. Histoire de Daniel
    04. The Black Beast (Effets Cords)
    05. Rythme de la bête noire
    06. Danse de la bête noire
    07. Le dealer
    08. Karen/Antonia
    09. The Black Beast 2 (Effets Cords)
    10. The Writer/Yves
    11. Chasser bête noire (Revenir)
    12. The Juvenile Judge
    13. La bête noire (Generique)
    14. Paris n’existe pas (Opening Titles)
    15. Angela en ambré
    16. Télékinésie en turquoise
    17. Simon Slips
    18. La chambre rose
    19. Fantôme félicienne
    20. Le feu
    21. La tête
    22. Les chemins n’existent pas
    23. Fantôme soirée
    24. Le temps passe
    25. Flipbook
    26. Fantôme soiree (Outtake)
    27. Flipbook (Outtake)
    cover

    JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER

    La Bête Noire / Paris N'Existe Pas

    [engl] From deep in the vaults of the Parisian composer who arguably created the stylistic blueprint for decades of orchestral French funk and symphonic psychedelia, “the arranger’s arranger” Jean-Claude Vannier (Histoire de Melody Nelson/L’enfant assassin des mouches) finally liberates two previously unreleased and fabled film soundtracks that mark significant milestones in the career of this legendary composer and his close connection to the French free jazz scene. Comprised on this one vinyl disc you will find the only existing original historic recordings to his first ever 1968 collaboration with serge Gainsbourg as well as the entire lost musical score for Vannier’s first major star-studded solo film commission which followed the Gainsbourg years and a fruitful decade as one of France’s most in-demand arrangers and songwriters. These two scores, for Vannier’s oft type-cast commissions for “drugsploitation” dramas (Cannabis, La horse), are further united by their inclusion of sax player Philippe Maté and the early formation of Vannier’s own Insolitudes ensemble. As long-time custodians Finders Keepers Records are proud to present both the hallucinogenic orchestral music to Robert Benayoun’s Paris n’existe pas and the rhythmic onslaught and cyclic waltzes from Patrick Chaput’s La bête noire complete with an extensive booklet of essays, interviews, secrets and rare images from both of these mythical cinematic obscurities. LA BÊTE NOIRE From the furious pen of controversial author Jean-Pierre Bastid (Let The Corpses Tan/Massacre Of Pleasure) and directed by one-time realisateur Patrick Chaput the gritty street crime thriller precedes the likes of La haine. Revealing itself to be one of Jean-Claude Vannier’s most unique scores these previously unreleased studio master tapes capture self-styled batucadas and furious rhythm tracks next to frenzied carousel waltzes free from the stylistic time-stamp of their 1983 recording date. Having spent four decades trapped in muddy memories (and condemned to the phantom zone of a run of ultra-rare VHS cassettes) these experimental recordings remain independent from the pop and rock idiom and are both timeless as well as ground-breaking due to the deployment of key players from the French free jazz scene and the reunion of Vannier’s long standing Insolitudes (a unit that to some degree bears comparison to that of Ennio Morricone’s Gruppo D’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza). Showcasing a crack team of Palm/Futura/Actuel/Saravah label regulars such as saxophonist Philippe Maté (Acting Trio/Maté-Vallancien/Tacet) alongside drummer Bernard Lubat (Mad Ducks), legendary Arpadys/Voyage rhythm masters Marc Chantereau and Pierre-Alain Dahan (La Horse/Brutus Drums) and session legend Michel Zanlonghi (Ensemble De Percussion De Paris) this thunderous, tumultuous, four-headed rhythm hydra bridges an authentic gap between The Jef Gilson Group and France’s signature “cosmic” revolution. Naturally these previously unheard compositions, rhythms and sound design experiments are spearheaded by lead pianist and composer Vannier providing devotees of his 1972 concept album L’enfant assassin des mouches with much to admire and cross-reference. PARIS N’EXISTE PAS Previously the subject of biographical rock history, archival documentaries and cruel bootlegging opportunity, the official mastertapes to Jean-Claude Vannier’s first ever studio date with Serge Gainsbourg poetically mirrors the title of the film… They didn’t exist, until now. Culled from reference recordings, rehearsals, playback tapes and work-in-progress TV magazine features, all found in the darkest corners of Vannier’s tightly guarded sound library, Finders Keepers in close collaboration with Jean-Claude finally presents the genuine hallucinogenic orchestral and experimental sound design recordings that appeared on the 1968 film Paris n’existe pas. The darker experimental tones within the film’s (overly) cautionary tale (complete with ghost story eeriness) would require a future-proofed soundtrack to span the plot’s apparitional time-shifts. The brooding orchestrations and experimental music found on this record comes complete with interjections of modern jazz courtesy of French free jazz mainstays Philippe Maté (Jef Gilson/Acting Trio) and Jean-Louis Chautemps (Jef Gilson Group/Janko Nilovic’s Giant). With the help of an esteemed string ensemble Vannier also lays down an early orchestral blueprint for his own “approximately-Orient” signature sound in its earliest naked form just three years before Histoire de Melody Nelson would cause widespread controversy on its release. Complete with well documented forays into sound design as a young Jean Claude and Serge “explore” the carcass of a piano with screwdrivers and cigarette lighters this album captures the exact “eureka” moment that cemented this seminal partnership thus forcing an important kink in the natural course of European music for decades to come.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    14.09.2022
    EAN
    EAN 5060099507625
     
  • 01. L’Enfant la Mouche et les Allumettes
    02. L’Enfant au Royaume des Mouches
    03. Danse des Mouches Noires Gardes du Roi
    04. Danse de L’Enfant et du Roi des Mouches
    05. Le Roi des Mouches et la Confiture de Rose
    06. L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches
    07. Les Garde Volent au Secours du Roi
    08. Mort du Roi des Mouches
    09. Pattes de Mouches
    10. Le Papier tue Enfant
    11. Petite Agonie de L’Enfant Assassin
    cover

    JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER

    L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches

    [engl] To mark the ten years of Finders Keepers we present a lovingly remastered and repackaged release of the album where it all began. Within the last ten years the resurgence of sixties Gallic pop, once known as Ye-Ye music, has escalated beyond an inter-stellar dizzy height. What might have been a waning, embarrassing genre destined for a shelf life/death gathering dust amongst the Eurovisions of yesteryear, the ‘jerk-beat’ psychsploitation records of the latter day French disco had soon found new floor space in some of the most credible nightspots in London and Japan. Without a shadow of doubt, the flagship LP with best odds on becoming a discerning household object was Histoire de Melody Nelson by one Serge Gainsbourg. An inimitable, 45-minute concept LP handcrafted by a bass-driven psychedelic rock group and a heaven sent, 1001 piece orchestral and choral symphony. The album left hip hop producers alongside progressive rock aficionados crying out for more and more for years to come. This LP was in a league of its very own… or was it? The seldom-sung musical arranger for Melody Nelson has become one of the most enigmatic names in French-funk; lorded by many as the “French David Axelrod” Jean-Claude Vannier’s name is the lesser-spotted, tell-tale seal of sample-friendly quality when it comes to crate-digging ‘en Francais’. Suitably, when rumours amongst French record dealers claiming “the band who played Melody Nelson recorded a follow-up lp” became a legend of psychedelic folklore. Another unconfirmed rumour about JCV taking the remaining out-takes of the beloved Melody Nelson to create a promo-only experimental rock LP left sample hungry producers and DJs in turmoil… For those in the know the answers to these mysteries lay flat between the anonymous gatefold sleeve of an undiscovered conceptual album bizarrely entitled “L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches” by a custom-built avant-rock entourage called Insolitudes. The rocking-horse manure treasure hunt began. So here we have it. The mythical teen-tonic for all those suffering from Melody Nelson withdrawal symptoms. For record collectors looking for that special something, this LP contains the extra special EVERYTHING. Peruse the following genres: psychedelic, classical, soundtracks, jazz, hip hop, samples, avant-garde, funk. Then place a copy of L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches in each section. History denotes that when ‘our man in Paris’ Msr. Gainsbourg first heard the initial bones of this LP he took his poetic pencil to paper providing bizarre liner notes, thus consummating the most extraordinary concept album of all time. The story “The Child Assassin Of The Flies” was to be included as the only information to grace the LPs highly collectible, concertina gatefold sleeve. The story in full is reproduced in its native-tongue on this very special re-release package. DJs and Producers such as Jim O’Rourke, Stereolab’s Tim Gane and David Holmes have spent sleepless nights in perusal of original copies of this perfect release and now regard it as ‘One Of The Best’. Recent copies on eBay have commanded ridiculous price tags, and is now one of the most sought-after articles amongst the vinyl hungry hip-hop community.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    07.04.2005
    EAN
    EAN 5060099500015
     
  • 01. Indha Vennila - K.S. Chithra
    02. Yaaro Sonnaangalaam - K.S. Chithra
    03. Vandadhe - K.S. Chithra
    04. Chitthirai Maasatthu - K.S. Chithra feat. Malaysia Vasudevan
    05. Manjai Ndhi - K.S. Chithra feat. S.P. Balasubramaniyam
    06. Kaiyodu Ennai - K.S. Chithra
    07. Vaa Veliye - K.S. Chithra feat. S.P. Balasubramaniyam
    08. Oh My Love - K.S. Chithra feat. Malaysia Vasudevan
    09. Sikkunnu - K.S. Chithra feat. S.P. Balasubramaniyam
    10. Hey Maina - K.S. Chithra feat. Malaysia Vasudevan 11. Rathiri Thookkam - K.S. Chithra feat. S.P. Balasubramaniyam
    12. Oru Pooncholai - K.S. Chithra feat. S.P. Balasubramaniyam
    13. Pon Maaney - K.S. Chithra feat. Mano
    14. Poojaikettha - K.S. Chithra feat. Gangai Amaran
    15. Nethu Oruthara - K.S. Chithra feat. Ilaiyaraaja
    16. Kankaliley - K.S. Chithra feat. S.P. Balasubramaniyam
    17. Velli Kizhamai - K.S. Chithra feat. Ilaiyaraaja
    cover

    K. S. CHITHRA

    K. S. Chithra

    [engl] Known by adoring fans and devotees, throughout South India, as Chinna Kuyil (Little Nightingale) on account of her expansive vocal range and crystaline sweet voice, the uplifting and surprising sound of K.S. Chithra is, for many, best exemplified by the early plugged-in-pop she made in the 1980s with the man/machine who first introduced her to the Tamil film industry, Maestro Ilaiyaraaja. There are few records you will hear this year that combine the sounds of a child's choir, a DX7 bass line, three types of drum machine, a mariachi trumpet cry, a re- sampled forty-piece orchestra and an electronic bass line that takes the moog taurus by the horns and rides into the Indian summer. There is probably less chance of hearing a vocal performance so confusingly dazzling that it instantly detracts from the previously aforementioned wish list combination ofbizarre instruments but for those intrepid enough to dig a little deeper and take a detour due East, pick-axing right where Lollywood meets Bollywood - then prepare to be rewarded with a double, triple and quadruple whammy! For odd pop fans with bad concentration spans, no musical staying power, or com- mitment issues then perhaps these schizoid A.D.D. arrangements will push the right buttons and recharge your batteries. For some of you, records like this only existed in your dreams. Often locally discussed behind the limelight of her wider continental contemporaries such as Asha Bhosle and Noor Jehan it is almost impossible to find adequate com- parison to K.S. Chithra. Try taking the yearning vocal energy of Turkey's Selda and the falsetto range of Morricone's best Italian choirs, add the playful existentialism of Poland's Urszala Dudziak and the cinematic pedigree of Asha then sprinkle some saccharine Jane Birkinisms on top and set your turntable pitch at plus 8 while you dream of Dots And Loops era Stereolab or a Malayalam Mantronix - alternatively just buy this first-time compendium and press play. This compilation focuses on a small and select handful of Chithra and Ilaiyaraaja's developing collaborations from the formative years of their relationship between - 1986 and 1991- a vibrant time where analog recording techniques and digital tech- nology first overlapped and Chithra, as a developing vocalist, adapted to the the sounds and arrangements of a classic maverick composer pushing the boundaries. Following our previous compilation of the earlier Ilaiyaraaja film music with our Solla Solla compendiums Finders Keepers Records continue this relationship with the origi- nal rights holders, to bring these rare Tamil recordings the a wider global audience - never previously released on CD and considerably rare on their original vinyl pressings.
    Format
    DoLP
    Release-Datum
    27.02.2012
    EAN
    EAN 5060099503153
     
  • 01. Congresso al Terzo Mondo
    02. Disoccupazione
    03. Corteo Della Speranza
    04. Morte del Mediterraneo
    05. Desideri di Pace
    06. Riarmo Nucleare
    07. Sceicchi a Congresso
    08. Fame e Orgoglio
    09. Angoscia Universale
    10. Depurazione del Mare
    11. Soluzioni e Speranze
    cover

    LAMARTINE

    Reportage

    [engl] A genuine lost and unreleased full-length LP from one of the most mysterious figures of early Italian electronic sound and library music. A missing puzzle piece in the small discography of experimental tape and synthesiser music by the composer known only as Lamartine recorded (but never pressed) in 1974 by the archive that bought you the work of Daniela Casa and the wildest electronic experiments of Alessandroni, Giuliano Sorgini and Fabio Frizzi. Having sat in the can for over 40 years the similarities to the likes of Cluster, Tom Dissevelt and the Radiophonic workshop have yet to be recognised and celebrated. The name Lamartine was a true mystery of library history. In keeping with the habitual culture of library music the mononymous name Lamartine was very likely to be one of many creative nom de plumes designed to disguise the true identities of the artists – even the likes of Morricone and Bruno Nicolai had there own shrouded monikers (Leo Nichols and Leo Flag respectively). Having faded from the memories of the ex-employees of the defunct production music departments at CAM and RCA, the truth behind this uncelebrated electronic pioneer remained a mystery for over thirty years. As enthusiasts began to unravel the pseudonyms of other composers such as Tomassi and Alessandroni via cue sheets, invoices and interviews, suspicions around Lamartine being of non-Italian origin rose to the surface with rumours that he or she was most probably of German, Dutch or English decent due to his distinct similarities to artists like Kid Baltan from Holland, various electronic artists from the outskirts of the krautrock scene or British tape music composers such as Basil Kirchin or David Cain. All of whom had firm relationships with the international library music scene. Although most of the records made for the RCA 1000 series were also repackaged for syndication in France via the April Orchestra series, it was unusual that Cronache Dal Mondo didn’t benefit the same service, bringing into question the fact that Lamartine may have secretly been a big name artist legally contracted to exclusive territories or simply the author of music that was too challenging for wider consumption. Even searching for other unconfirmed aliases within the huge independent Italian library network, based of musical similarities or pure speculation, rendered little answers convincing unsatisfied fans that Lamartine had carefully covered his tracks or let the birds eat the breadcrumbs. It wasn’t until thirty years later that the Italian independent production music label Flipper – the parent company responsible for the imprints Union, Octopus, Flirt and Deneb amongst others – decided to digitise its catalogue that a gleam of hope via a sealed, misfiled master tape shone through the trees. While putting a small archive of back-up recordings through the baking (emulsifying) process the archiving team at Flipper found the name “Lamartine” written on a single tape box with the name Reportage and corresponding legal papers pertaining to a little known Italian conductor and composer for stage and popular song named Mr. Radicchi. Fabio Di Barri at Flipper accounts that throughout the extensive paperwork at Flipper the music of Radicchi or Lamartine was never licensed out for synchronisation and doesn’t appear on any of the associated labels discographies. “The music was never even pressed on to vinyl and the master tape remained in our store room for all these years,” he told Finders Keepers in 2013. “It’s lucky that it was stored correctly because many lost magnetic tapes are prone to damage or separation.” After cross-referencing track times and titles Fabio could also reveal the full name of the artist to be that of Odoardo (aka Eduardo) Radicchi – a senior member of the Italian music scene from the same generation as Nino Rota, Giorgio Gaslini and Gian Piero Reverberi. The common occurrence of the elder statesmen of Italian popular music coming out of retirement to make experimental music for library labels and film companies would be the basis of a handful of unsolved mysteries in Italian cinema. Even middle aged composers like Remigio Ducros and Vince Tempera had enjoyed commercial success in the pop world before finding more freedom working within film music or television. Composers such as Coriolano Gori and Giampiero Boneschi were other examples of Italian composers who would revitalise their careers in later life under the production/film music system. The late discovery of Reportage by Lamartine provides vintage electronic music enthusiasts with a wider vista of the development of the genre in Italy. The aforementioned names make up a small but closely associated and like-minded family of pioneers exploring a new direction with solo recordings in a very unique industrial capacity. Rendered in the hinterland between Italian cinema’s penchant for psychedelic rock and the onset of the synthesiser music and Italo disco movements later in the decade, these artists and their records represent the laboratory projects that researched the capacity of electronic music before it swept the nation’s media quite unlike anywhere else in the world. Lamartine – once an anonymous, dubious, genius in the library micro-genre – can now be named and recognised as a unique artist with a distinctive sound, adding new colours to the vibrant palette of Italian studio artists and painting a wider sonic picture of the evolution of Italian pop and film music and we believe to understand it. The Italian library liberation front keeps growing – the genre that keeps on giving. It’s time for artists like Lamartine to name and claim their places in electronic music history.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    03.10.2015
     
  • 01. Dust To Dust
    02. Matching Mirrors/Morgiana's Prowl 03. Swan Steps
    04. Klara & Viktorie
    05. Prospective Suitor Marek
    06. Red Ghost
    07. Quinine
    08. I Don't Want Any Flowers
    09. Viktorie's Darkest Moment
    10. Message From Marek
    11. Klara's Thirst
    12. Lost In The Tavern
    13. The Cards
    14. Blood Red Roses
    15. Crimson Elixir
    16. Alžbeta behind The Curtain
    17. Kučera Steps
    18. Dust Settles
    19. Morgiana (Opening Titles)
    cover

    LUBOS FISER

    Morgiana

    [engl] Galvanising our ongoing commitment to the lost music of the Czech New Wave cinema movement from the late 1960s and 1970s, Finders Keepers Records follow up our series of previously unreleased music to Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders, Daisies, Saxana and The Little Mermaid with a short series of soundtracks for films by the country’s master of the macabre and the nation’s first point of call for freakish fairytales and hallucinogenic horror, Mr. Juraj Herz. Regarded as the final ever film of the Czech New Wave, Juraj Herz's Morgiana (alongside Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders) was made after the Prague Spring during Czech cinema’s most scrutinised censorship era, deep in the throws of communism. Spearheading a micro-cosmic sub-genre of hor- ror fantasy or scary/fairytales alongside Karel Kachyňa's Malá Mořská Víla (The Little Mermaid), these directors built a handful of subversive, flamboyant and experimental new films based around classical communist approved sur- realist literature; sidestepping creative compromise and uniting some of the leading lights of the FAMU founded film movement for the last time. Both musical scores courtesy of Luboš Fišer unite Valerie and Morgiana; sharing doppelgänger production and compositional ideas presented by Finders Keepers Records for the first time ever outside of the original context of the film. It is easy to hear why the music for both films could easily be confused as part of the same score, or as very close twin sisters, having been recorded just 18 months apart in 1970 and 1972. Revealing tiny shards of identical melodic phrasing, the Morgiana score visits darker hallucinogenic corners for this tale of two sisters seen through the perspective of giallo-esque “cat’s eye” cam- era work (filmed by Jaroslav Kučera) revealing poison induced hysteria fuelled by sibling rivalry and desperately twisted jealousy. Adopting his mys- teriously macabre musical persona, the versatile Fišer interweaves chimes, harps and harpsichord with echoing flutes, lutes and piano, applying his sig- nature orchestral tension and experimental percussion traits in the form of treated pianos, vibra-slaps, tape samples of striking matches and spring reverbs to this oblique heady selection. Revered in similar esteem to that of Czech film legend Zdeněk Liška, Fišer’s unreleased filmography of forward-thinking Czech scores is slowly reaching a wider global audience through his first-ever dedicated commercial soundtrack releases which should, in time, win him the same votes of confidence that we now award the likes of Komeda, Korzyński, Roubaix and Nicolai, amongst other European soundtrack luminaries.
    Format
    10''
    Release-Datum
    30.09.2013
    EAN
    EAN 5060099504501
     
  • 01. The Magic Yard
    02. Talk With Grandmother
    03. The Letter
    04. The Sermon
    05. Losing The Way
    06. The Visit
    07. The Work Of Death
    08. Dinner
    09. Dense Smoke
    10. The Contract / The Wedding
    11. The Punishment
    12. Disquiet
    13. Awakening
    14. Brother And Sister
    15. Sacrice
    16. The Letter 2 / Friends
    17. In Flames
    18. Puppets
    19. Homeless
    20. Questions And Answers
    21. Confession
    22. Forgiveness
    23. And The Last
    cover

    LUBOS FISER

    Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders

    [engl] It has been exactly ten years since Finders Keepers Records first liberated Luboš Fišer’s immaculate soundtrack music for Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders (Valerie A Týden Divu) from the vaults of the Barrandov Studio in Prague. As the inaugural release of an ongoing discography of previously unreleased scores from the hugely creative “Film Miracle” that occurred during and after the Czech New Wave (CNW), this score will always retain a special place in the heart of the label as well as our listeners who consistently request an updated repress of this significant vinyl milestone. Having grown in status from an obscure and misunderstood socialist-era art house oddity, via the hands of risqué foreign fluff merchants, to finally find its rightful audience as a bonafide surrealist cinematic masterpiece of world class standards, this 1970 film adaptation of Vítezslav Nezval’s 1935 avant-garde novella (a film that literally cross-pollinated Max Ernst’s A Week Of Kindness and Lewis Carols Alice In Wonderland) has garnered widespread critical acclaim. Inspiring ongoing generations of visual artists, musicians, writers and filmmakers – all of whom regard this truly individualistic and inimitable surrealist film poem to be an indelible influence – Valerie continues to impregnate their daily artistic referential fabric. Commonly considered to be the swansong of the CNW, following a huge paranoia fuelled government lm cull in 1969, owing to the fact it is last government approved feature film of the post-Prague Spring era to combine the efforts of controversial filmmakers from the FAMU (Filmová A Televizní Fakulta Akademie Múzických Umení) film school, Valerie would also be the first of an exciting and essential new fertile strain of Czech made cinema fantastique. Successfully condensing the final drops of CNW lifeblood through a series of presumed apolitical scary/fairy tales, directors like Jaromil Jireš and Juraj Herz used surrealism, traditionalism and fantasy to rejuvenate the creative energy of apathetic fillmmakers evading government scrutiny via creatively coded artistic allegories. By strategically choosing to adapt a pre-war surrealist melodrama written by a communist convert author called Vítezslav Nezval and based in a non-specific traditional era, the previously censored filmmaker Jaromil Jireš was able to craft what many consider his nest filmic hour and what would later become his most universally received achievement. Enlisting the individual talent of some of the CNW’s most formidable stalwarts, in what might have been their most creatively challenging roles, Jireš managed to unintentionally establish a new genre format that was both stylistically and sonically tuned to the trends of the impending decade thus future-proofing his career and providing a woozy gateway drug to an otherwise time-locked lost movement.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    21.09.2018
    EAN
    EAN 5060099506604
     
  • 01. The Poor Neighborhood
    02. Supermarket
    03. The Port
    04. Courtyards Citizens
    05. Power Station
    06. Luna Park
    07. Traffic
    08. Between Town And Country
    09. Public Gardens
    10. Modern Residential Complex
    11. Marshalling Yard
    12. International Airport
    13. Sunday In Town
    cover

    MARIA TERESA LUCIANI

    Sounds of the city

    [engl] Welcome to the parallel musical universe of Miss Maria Teresa Luciani, a landscape of sonic architecture and theoretical composition constructed by a family of engineers that reinvented the wheel before the vehicle even began the journey. Imagine, if you will, the musical equivalent of Peter Cook’s Archigram group or the soundtrack to Charles and Ray Eames’ private sketchbooks, hinting at a new municipal, utopian metropolis just hours before the blueprints are suspiciously misplaced by the courier and mainstream pop building regulations piss on our asbestos bonfire. These 1972 constructions of progressive, cyclic, proto-industrial colour music were never intended for public habitation. These are the Sounds Of The City in a galaxy far, far beneath our radar and above your expectations that was never built. Pseudo-futurist pop music? Cubic folk? Tape-op-art? Sì, grazie! Before the needle hits the first groove, the story of Maria Teresa Luciani reads like an Alphaville caper full of foreign intrigue, low intensity identification fraud, secret codes, family bonds, mistrust and wanderlust… Naturally, you are holding a genuine Finders Keepers article. To say this rare Italian concept album is “unbelievable” is justified on multiple levels. This multi-storey storage facility of found sounds, radiophonic samples, tape loops, early electronic music experiments, mechanical folk, cinematic vision, sound design, educated music theory, political pop and high concept art-as-noise successfully layers more musical ideas within its unique structure than one would think possible for a solo artist within any musical genre. This is why Sounds Of The City presents us with a brand new genre defying compositional framework, pre-dating sampling culture, cut ‘n’ paste plunderism and industrial music in the process. Pre-digital, indefinable and genuinely unbelievable. But who is Maria Teresa Luciani? On hearing this record respected collectors and enthusiasts have suggested “the female answer to Basil Kirchin,” or “the Italian Daphne Oram”. Both with justified cause. Mystery, myth, legend, teacher, artist, inventor, author, musician, psychologist, daughter, and (possibly most importantly) sister.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    17.11.2017
    EAN
    EAN 50600999506628
     
  • 01. All Sorts Of Heroes
    02. Scandinavian Wastes
    cover

    MARTIN HANNETT & STEVE HOPKINS

    All Sorts Of Heroes

    [engl] From the shrapnel of the unlikely collision point where Mancunian post-punk royalty collides with sci- cinema and art house animation, this obscure diamond in the rough shines a new light on the Northern DIY era providing disc detectives with a whole new punk funk perspective. Recorded in 1976 by Invisible Girls’ Steve Hopkins and Martin Hannett for a truly bizarre stop-motion animation called All Sorts OF Heroes, this hard edged funk instrumental theme reveals another side to this versatile production team joining the hidden dots between Hannett’s own discoid experiments with ESG, Gyro, A Certain Ratio and the mythical Afro Express recordings from the same year. Embodying as much in common with 1970’s bass heavy European funk soundtracks by bands like Goblin and Placebo, as the expected parallels with John-Cooper Clarke’s backing tracks or early Happy Mondays, this early 1976 session is the perfect example of Hannett and Hopkins’ under-the-radar artistic commissions working to a storyboard brief in what has now become recognised as a fertile arena for lost lmic funk. Drawing historic parallels with Leeds-based Graeme Miller and Steve Shill’s home recorded DIY soundtracks for The Moomins animation and accentuating the connection between Manchester based animation house Cosgrove Hall (Dangermouse/Chorlton And The Wheelies) and its employees Bernard Sumner, John Squire and members of Gerry And The Holograms, this lost recording adds kudos to a quirky micro-niche and reveals another dimension to Northern anti- pop’s snarky personality. Pressed here by Finders Keepers for the first time on vinyl, in close accordance with the wishes of Steve Hopkins himself, this custom-composed track originally appeared on the short lm by Rick Megginson and Steve Hughes which was shown at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in 1976 where it might have otherwise remained, preserved in an 8mm lm box up until now. As relevant today as it was then, this closely recorded, cosmic cartoon, slappy funk theme provided the films backdrop for a workshop montage scene where an aardvarkian spaceman constructs a giant metal face robot which might well leave fans of Madlib and MF Doom fans pondering time travel?! Like much of the lost and unreleased projects that stalled on the peripheries of early proto-Madchester, including the disco-pogo music of Spider King, Gerry And The Holograms, The 48 Chairs, Naf and The Mothmen, this record has been frozen in time waiting for the wider marathon of independent pop to catch up! Presented here faithful the 45 format of choice, this 7” might well be another missing link between your Rabid, Absurd and Factory records, backed with another lesser- known Invisible girls recording Scandinavian Wastes which has also been begging for its first vinyl outing since its recording in the early 1980’s. Another historical bucket list release for Finders Keepers Records outernational discography, leaving zero stones unturned, even the ones under our own doorstep.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    20.04.2018
    EAN
    EAN 5060099506765
     
  • 01. Andy Warhol
    02. Belladoona
    03. Valle Incantata
    04. The Notice Is Notice
    05. Mr. London
    06. Little Flower
    07. Funny Feeling
    08. TBSF
    09. Take It Easy
    cover

    MASAHIKO SATO

    Belladonna

    [engl] An unholy grail of near mythical status finally joins the Finders Keepers Records discography in the form of this first-ever reissue of Masahiko Sato’s elusive sensual psychedelic free jazz score to the stunning Japanese witchcraft animation Belladonna Of Sadness (Kanashimi no Belladonna) directed by anime screenwriter Eiichi Yamamoto in 1973. An early feature-length example of a micro-genre in which Japanese anime producers collaborated with the “pink” film genre, Belladonna’s challenging occult, sexual and political subject matter was the cause of the film’s notoriety for many years, earning Yamamoto’s work a critical platform amongst some of the best counterculture animation films of the era such as La Planète Sauvage ( René Laloux/Roland T poor, France 1973), Marie Mathématique (Jean-Claude Forest, France 1967), Wizards (Ralph Bakshi, US 1977), Heavy Metal (Gerald Potterton, Canada 1980) and Time Masters (René Laloux/Moebius, France 1982). Drawing further stylistic similarities with Shuji Terayama/Tenjo Sajiki associated poster artist Aquirax Uno and the Hara-Kiri magazine cartoon strips Pravda/Jodelle by French artist Guy Peellaert, as well as the early flamboyant Klimtesque imagery of Jean Rollin collaborators Philippe Druillet and Nicolas Devil, Belladonna Of Sadness brought a strong European flavour to its sophisticated and stylish Japanese application which accentuated the French origins of the plot loosely based on accounts taken from the 1862 book La Sorcière (The Witch) by French historian Jules Michelet. Over the last decade Belladonna Of Sadness has risen from the ashes and now shines brighter than ever. Now on the eve of its third or fourth global DVD release, fans no longer have to wait four months for third generation VHS telecine rubs from “that guy” in the States, or stuff their ambitious wish lists into the hands of any lucky friends visiting Tokyo in the summer. Belladonna has been used as nightclub projections by clued-up VJs and been restored by discerning feminist folk singers and improv bands while influencing illustrators, fashion designers and other creative types along the way. Original copies of the soundtrack, however, are much less likely to rear their heads on a weekly basis, with prices literally doubling each time the original stock copies swap hands amongst the same Italian dealers at central European record fairs. Italian soundtracks are expensive anyway, but this one, as I’m sure you’ll agree, has got extra credentials. Finders Keepers Records, in direct collaboration with Sato himself, agree that this record should finally be liberated amongst those who know the magic words. With our decision to keep this album “strictly Sato” we removed a track – the main orchestral love theme by Asei Kobayashi and Mayumi Tachibana, which in all honesty is very much detached from Sato’s psychedelic soundtrack. Kept intact, however, are the songs sung and penned by Sato’s then wife Chinatsu Nakayama, including the track entitled TBFS (answers on a postcard?) that only appears on the master tapes and never actually made it to the theatrical cut of the film (although the theme is briefly alluded to, in different instrumentation, in a cut-scene available on the German DVD). This reissue project also marks the beginning of a longer intended relationship between Finders Keepers and Masahiko Sato, exploring his recorded work in both film music, jazz and avant garde composition.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    21.12.2015
     
  • 01. Tu E Leu
    02. I A De Sers
    03. Me Demandes Pas
    04. Lo Baranguet
    05. La Targa
    06. Palunaia
    07. Les Colonies
    08. Lei Filairas
    09. De Bon Matin
    10. Magali
    11. Retorn
    cover

    MIQUELA

    I A Des Sers

    [engl] Weaving a fragile thread through collectible outsider genres such as acid folk, French jazz, Braziliana and world music it is virtually incomprehensible that this incredible one-off solo album by mononymous Occitan language singer, songwriter and activist Miquela has managed to evade notoriety and wider affection zover five decades. Captured via a humble makeshift studio set-up in a classroom in 1977, this startlingly crystalline recording is one of the best examples you are likely to hear, not shying from ambitious small string arrangements and intimate Gallic jazz infusions this LP represents the quiet storm erupting from the pride and protection of the ancient “romance” language known as Occitan, as spoken by less than 1.5 million people in Southern France (as well as parts of Italy and Spain). Naturally combining a wide range of influences, and fuelled by the same impassioned fervour found in privately pressed minority language records from Britanny, Catalonia and Wales, Miquela’s first and only solo record was recorded by request of poet Ives Roqueta for his exclusively Occitan language label Ventadorn. Including players from Miquela’s surrounding area of Toulon the album also enlisted arrangements from important musicians such as co-author Jean-Michel Mariou, jazz contrabass player Didier Capeille (later affiliate of Marseilles’ Etron Fou Leloublan), and guitarist Gilles Cardon, who would regularly play for Britanny based label Nevenoe (knotting the ties between both French language rehabilitation movements). Released and well-received by a supportive and emotional Occitan fan base, this would be Miquela’s only ever solo LP (preceded by a 7? picture sleeve EP, drawing similarities to Welsh label Sain) and laid the foundations for future releases with her folk rock girl group Lei Chapacans (The Vagabonds) which led to tours as far as Sardinia, Yemen and Moscow. As a vital forerunner of a maligned genre of Occitan femme-folk singers such as Estela, Nicòla, Jacmelina, Rosina De Peira E Martina and Claudia Galibert, this LP marks the start of a journey that would eventually find its beloved protagonist at the heart of the galvanised Occitan language media.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    01.12.2019
    EAN
    EAN 5060099507298
     
  • 01. Au jardin
    02. Siau pas poeta
    03. Play
    04. Seek
    05. Tu e leu
    06. A cantar
    07. Dizco rural
    08. Basta (Naima)
    09. La pub
    10. Tais-toi
    11. Dialogue
    12. Airplane
    13. Leberon
    14. Me demandes pa
    15. A la guerra
    cover

    MIQUELA E LEI CHAPACANS

    s/t

    [engl] The first progressive girl group of the French Occitan language pop scene bring you folk funk, sun-baked bossa, Coltrane jazz and their own brand of punky Dizco rural against an untouched French Balearic backdrop spanning the late 70s and 80s. If even the most assiduous of European record collectors consider the Occitan language music scene to be France’s best-kept secret then it’s as fair to say that the incredible multifaceted recordings of langue d’oc prog girl group Lei Chapacans has spent the last four decades hiding in plain sight. In all fairness this overlooked treasure chest of minority language excursions into folk funk, Balearic, bossa, John Coltrane penned jazz, baroque psych, Palestinian poetry, comedic synth skits (and even the rawest form of femme-fronted multiingual punky disco) has been stowed away in inconspicuous photographic record sleeves, falsely evoking something closer to contemporary C&W while oft-misplaced in record shop cassette racks alongside “traditional” spoken-word and scholastic albums. So for the uninitiated, don’t be too hard on yourself. The fun starts here. For those who are familiar with the rare and sought-after one-off solo album by Occitan singer Miquela and have craved for more, then you’ve come to exactly the right place. Lei Chapacans (a name that roughly translates to The Vagabonds) is the all-girl vocal group assembled by Miquela herself just two years after her debut release, having toured the word and snubbed major label record deal offers with a steadfast allegiance to the protection of the Occitan language in which this album is primarily penned and performed (minus a small amount of German and sarcastic English in one rebellious instance). For European collectors with a penchant for French savoir faire, but have further yearnings for folkloric femme funk, then it’s time to look towards the Occitan sunset where you will meet Lolo, Miquela, Sophie, Irena and Denise. These amazing, and undeniably culturally important recordings might have taken some time to find a wider audience, but for music lovers, crate diggers and vinyl vultures alike there are still a lot of tasty morsels out there to be scavenged and devoured, ask any self-respecting Chapacan and they’ll concur wholeheartedly.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    14.10.2022
    EAN
    EAN 060099507830
     
  • 01. Badami Nainon Wale
    02. Naughty Boy
    03. Aesi Chalo Na
    04. I Am Black Beauty
    05. Karye Pyar
    06. Yeh Aaj Mujhko Kya Huwa
    07. Good News For You
    08. Some Say I Am Sweety
    09. What Can I Do
    10. Sheeshe Ki Botal
    cover

    NAHID AKHTAR

    I am black beauty

    [engl] “I am black beauty… love me!” A forthright enough request, one would think, from an artist whose music was indeed loved, revered and which played a hugely influential and omnipresent role in Lahore’s vibrant cinematic patchwork that covered the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, until now, it seems that this lost love letter to a potential global audience of millions of sonic suitors has been caught up in the pesky Pakistani postal system. Nahid Akhtar needs a connection. Don’t blame the Khyber Mail. In a neat and tidy career that spanned exactly ten years, Nahid Akhtar came, saw and conquered, then relatively disappeared without even thinking about buying the t-shirt. Disrobing the vibrant finery that interweaved textures of Ghazals, classical music, Punjabi folk songs and Qawwalis (not forgetting a wide range of progressive pop music penned for the Pakistani picture house) from which this records track list is lovingly gathered. It is virtually unfathomable that the multifarious music of Nahid Akhtar, combining textures, tempos, technologies, global influences and multi-cultural languages (and all this within the opening seconds of a song!), didn’t open the door to international stardom to match that of Asha Bhosle or Lata Mangeshkar from India. In the last few years the music of Lollywood’s golden era has enjoyed a marked resurgence amongst outernational music fans, with labels like Finders Keepers remastering and compiling the work of the Tafo Brothers and M. Ashraf for a global market with wide critical acclaim. Hopefully, with this collection as a sturdy stepping stone to a widely rewarding expanse of further listening, the music of Nahid Akhtar can find a place alongside your favourite international songbirds and her original love letters to the world of music will command a much justified RSVP.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    17.11.2017
     
  • 01. Music Box
    02. Did you Wake
    03. Daisies
    04. William
    05. I Dreamt You More Than Ever
    06. Black Oak Tree
    07. Golden Ships
    08. The Town
    09. Icestorm
    10. Moon
    cover

    PAPER DOLLHOUSE

    A Box Painted Black

    [engl] Paper Dollhouse is the work of Astrud Steehouder; dark minimal gothic folk which comprises haunting vocals, acoustic guitar, effects pedals, found sounds, slide projector and minimal electronic atmospherics. Her debut album ‘A Box Painted Black’ is set for release this winter on Bird Records, the femme-folk off shoot of the Finders Keepers family. Inspired by early 60s electronic pioneers Delia Derbyshire and Eliane Radique, bleak British television soundtracks, minimal dark electronica, Scott Walker, Arthur Russell, Christine Harwood and France Galle, the music combines simple folk songs with environmental and electronic tex- tural sounds and visuals to create a pared down, beautiful experience. Named after the 1988 cult horror film Paperhouse “I watched the film when I was about 10 and was really drawn in by it. Something about the quality and tone of it, the psychology and aesthetic of that struck a chord and been with me ever since. I'm into actual dollhouses and models of things as well. I used to make these little viewfinder boxes containing lit- tle scenes in them as a child for fun, I found them magical.” Steehouder has created a new kind of (black) magic on her debut release. ‘A Box Painted Black’ was recorded entirely in the kitchen and garden of her London home amongst the incidental sounds of trains passing, children playing, door slams and running water. The songs retain the ambience of the place they were recorded. Often first takes and recorded as soon as the songs had been penned, they combine an immediacy and raw quality which fills the work with a naivety and emotive dark tonality. Dense in simplicity and thick with silence the songs are restrained, intense, lingering and decorated with white noise. Steehouder names “bewildering post nuclear landscapes, bleak fields, forests, thunderstorms and archaic industrial objects in the middle of nowhere” as influences, rather than the listing the much and over cited normal singer-songwriter fare. The songs possess a folk pop sensibility rich in mysterious hooks that creep up on you from around a dark alleyway, following you on the all the way home at night. Steehouder has recently been working with photographer and writer Nina Bosnic in a live capacity using a variety of sonic and visual techniques including an old slide projector, a dictaphone and prismatic imagery, to create a live show which is as haunting as it is bare. There is a raw completeness to the work, the body of which is clearly a deep and evolving spectrum. Hypnotic, meditative and a midnight look through the keyhole of Paper Dollhouse’s secret garden “the album’s like a Pandora's box of messages. It was kind of a dark solace for me, the slight way the album happened. Almost hidden.”
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    05.12.2011
    EAN
    EAN 5060099503603
     
  • 01. Thème De Myriam
    02. The Truth/The Locket
    cover

    PIERRE HENRY/ALEX NORTH

    Maléfices/The Bad Seed

    [engl] For the third installment in our Finders Kreepers dedicated vin- tage horror soundtrack series we begin with an obscure French witch flick which pulls together stylistic echoes of both Bell Book And Candle and Czech gothic thriller Morgiana then feeds them through the musical mind of one the true pioneers of electronic composition for this little known OST by a well known sonic mav- erick. Often evading the composer’s discography lists Pierre Henry’s rare score to Malefices (aka The Hex or Where The Truth Lies) hears our bonefide musique concrète originator at what is perhaps his most melodic and fragile (especially for the formative era) layering vocal tape loops and gossamer feminine voice treat- ments with plucked strings, white noise wind and brooding indus- trial piano textures for this intoxicated poison peon which stands as the perfect opener to an intense soundtrack for those lucky enough to find the original record (or film for that matter). The second cut on this limited edition 45 is a classic piece of unnerving horror composition that adopts the same child-like vocal/brooding undercurrent that has earned scores like The Innocents, Night Of The Hunter and Profondo Rosso an indelible place in our nostalgic nervous systems. Creating a major stir as a novel and stage play before benefitting a celluloid adaptation The Bad Seed shocked audiences with the first cinematic killer kid in mainstream cinema following a did she/didn't she plot set to innocent nursery rhymes played in fragile minor keys against paranoid orchestral restraint. Mirroring the theatrical mother’s worst fears and accentuating the lead roles split personality The Bad Seed earned composer Alex North continued plaudits for his classy, conceptual realisation of this milestone in horror cinema soundtracking.
    Format
    7''
    Release-Datum
    25.11.2013
    EAN
    EAN 5060099504860
     
  • 01. Gilda And Gunshots
    02. Jeunes Filles Impudiques
    03. An Intimate Relationship
    04. Jewel Thieves
    05. Schoolgirl Hitchhikers

    PIERRE RAPH

    Jeunes Filles Impudiques

    [engl] This long lost Parisian skin flick Jeunes Filles Impudiques (aka Schoolgirl Hitchhikers) marks a particularly vulnerable period in the career of one of the most underrated and misunderstood directors to emerge from the rising smoke of the 1968 Parisian social explosion. From a director with early links with the Paris underground, The Letterists, The surrealists, improv theatre and the free-press comes the reclaimed audio tracks from one of his rarest celluloid moments – but lets not confuse this for high-art. Finders Keepers make no bones, this is Jean Rollin’s maiden voyage into adult entertainment, dIrected under the pseudonym of Miche Gentil with a flimsy plot, questionable acting skills and an awesome little schizophrenic soundtrack. The Brutus Drums percussion workout, the acidic folk pastoral movements, the Cul-De-Sac-esque jazz theme and the UK library sound-alike tile-tune all make up this 5 track veritable banquet of Gallic sleaze and second-class sound providing fans of cult cinema and b-music with an unexpected glimpse into the No-No generation at its most candid. The interests of good taste have ensured that this long-lost movie has been buried for some 40 odd years with a musical score bursting to jump out of the can and down your tone arm which has now been made possible by a recently renovated negative print and new source material. These original Pierre Raph (of Requiem For A Vampire infamy) compositions from the publishing Library of Paris’ Musicale Editions Dellamarre (of Acanthus/Unity fame) come straight from Rollin himself as an introduction to Finders Keepers’ long-running Rollinade series documenting some of the finest musical moments of the director’s career as an avant-gardener, counter-culture vulture and Gallic vamp-tramp all housed in their original hand-painted promotional artwork.
    Format
    7''
    Release-Datum
    09.09.2019
     
  • 01. Les Esclaves
    02. Poursuite
    03. Batman
    04. Aurore Cosmic
    05. L.S.D.
    06. Quelle Audace
    07. Philadelphie Story
    08. La Chanson Du Liévre De Mars
    09. Etreinte Métronomique
    10. Monsieur Noel
    11. Filmore
    12. Metropolitain
    13. Ambiance
    14. Indicatif
    cover

    POPERA COSMIC

    Les Esclaves

    [engl] For the few people lucky enough to have heard the entire album in the five decades since its release, the mythical Popera Cosmic LP is now considered to be France’s first dedicated psychedelic album and the shrouded blueprint for the hugely influential Gallic concept album phenomenon that followed – including Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire De Melody Nelson and Gérard Manset’s La Mort D’Orion. Spearheaded by François Wertheimer (songwriter for Vangelis, Barbara and BYG Records), composed with future Jodorowsky soundtracked and genius all-rounder Guy Skornik, and based on an embryonic concept co-conspired by a teenage Jean Michel-Jarre, this instantly deleted 1969 recording is a true essential for any outernationalradicalised record collection. With credentials that mark the birth of the cosmic funk (later disco) that helped shape the influential sound of France today, this LP also includes the first pressed instrumentals by members of Space Art, some of the best orch rock arrangements by William Sheller (Lux Aeterna, Eriotissimo) and orchestrator Paul Piot (Jean Rollin), as well as sitar psych benchmarks courtesy of uber legend Serge Franklin – all pinned down by the rhythm section that would later be known to prog aficionados as Alice. Subtitled Les Esclaves (The Slaves), this street theatre/rock opera (influenced by the work of Julien Beck’s Living Theatre) now celebrates its 50th birth-day standing firmly as a sonic tome to the birth of the no-no era (that rebuked France’s yé-yé hamster wheel) leading directly to the thematic progressive network of Wakhévitch, Manset and Magma while comprising an inter-Gallic intergalactic super group from the early annals of France’s pop psych revolution. Imagine a rock opera where the cast of Mister Freedom perform Clash Of The Titans at the foot of The Holy Mountain – then pinch yourself…
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    21.09.2018
    EAN
    EAN 5060099506949
     
  • 01. MS28
    02. Water World
    03. MS9
    04. Swamp
    05. Sunken Ship 2
    06. World As One
    07. Cosmetic 2
    08. Electric Texas
    09. MS11
    10. Ringo
    11. Frog Spawn
    12. MS1
    13. The Searcher
    14. Sylvia
    15. Ice Glaze
    16. MS13
    17. Flying Low
    18. MS25
    19. Psycho 2
    20. MS15
    21. Wie Ein Blitz
    22. MS22
    23. The Net
    24. Industrial Science
    25. Psycho 1
    26. Sunken Ship
    cover

    SAM SPENCE

    Sam Spence Sound

    [engl] Born in San Francisco in 1927 Samuel Lloyd Spence is a peculiar piece in the komplicated krautrock puzzle. As an American expat working in a community of German rock musicians in the early 70s Spence shared his alien status with the likes of David Johnson and Malcolm Mooney (Can), Carole Muriel (Brainticket), Maria Archer (Embryo), Bill Barone (Wallenstein) and the band Sweet Smoke, but in Spence’s case it wasn’t the free-love and communal living that attracted him to Germanic pastures – Spence’s European travel plan was academic. Over a decade earlier Spence had travelled from California to Paris to study “serious music” composition at the Ecole Normale de Musique with the great composers Arthur Honegger and Francis Poulenc where he conducted alongside Jean Fournier. After settling in Europe he would later make his way to Austria and later Germany in search of a supportive community of symphony orchestras to help him develop music for film and television. Due to Communism it became difficult for Spence to enter the classical epicentre of Eastern Berlin so he settled for Munich. Throughout the mid 60s Spence kept his hand in popular music via his US connections. His original roots playing clarinet and sax in Californian swing bands had lead to paid work sending compositions to commercial Hollywood groups which lead to a part time interest in electronic instruments and the development of the synthesiser. To balance his classical composition Spence was able to use his Hollywood credentials to score German TV commissions making dozens of groovy symphonic scores with electronic flourishes and towards the end of the decade, with the help of a long term contract composing motivational music for the National Football League, Spence had raised enough capital to bring one of the very first Moog sythesisers to Germany. While in Munich Spence met an American disc jockey called Mal Sondock who had recently struck a production deal with a new German pop music label called Kuckuck. Sondock introduced Spence to a 24 year old Eckart Rahn who owned the record company and after an initial agreement to release a single of Spence’s soundtrack to the Francis Durbridge thriller series entitled ‘WIE EIN BLITZ’ (‘Like Lightning’) the pair discussed the idea of recording an LP of electronic music which would appeal to ambient and experimental enthusiasts who were searching for cosmic sounds after the rise of krautrock bands like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. After the release of two moog-fuelled singles including a cover version of Focus’ 1972 hit single ‘Sylvia’ Rahn agreed to release Spence’s debut LP of synthesiser based pop music which would sit amongst his eclectic Kuckuck roster including the minimal electronic pulses of Deuter, the experimental field recordings of Ernst Schultz and the avant-garde releases of Peter Michael Hamel and Terry Riley. Signed exclusively to Kuckuck in Germany Rahn recognised the potential in Spence’s synthesiser music amongst production music circles and television advertising companies so he struck up deals throughout Europe with library labels such as Brull and Dewolfe who would distribute Spence’s LPs and sublicense new Sam Spence recordings from Kuckuck for potential commercial usage. This included a whole LP of entirely electronic tracks entitled ‘The Art Of The Sythesiser’ on which he used a Moog 55 to stunning effect creating melodic pastoral pop music, freakish suspense themes and a selection of short bursts of bubbling ‘Moog Shots’ which would soon find their way into crime thrillers and action films (such as Taylor Wong’s Kung Fu fantasy film “Ru Lai Shen Zhang”) Having continued to expand his successful career in symphonic music Sam would, by the end of the 1970s, return to orchestral film music seizing further opportunities to work as a composer recording over 500 cues for films made by the NFL back in his native USA. For vinyl junkies Spence’s American Football music existed on a series Library records manufactured by NFL until it was finally commercially released in the mid-90s. Still residing in Germany, the country where he can find the best orchestras, Spence continues to make theme music. In recent years he has been heard on shows like The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond, King Of Queens, Saturday Night Live, FBI’s Most Wanted, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Sponge Bob and several TV and radio commercials.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    21.12.2015
     
  • 01. The End Of A Robot
    02. Monster On Saturn 1
    03. Visitors Of A.D. 2022
    04. Galactic Adventures Of The Outer Space Fleet -Hope-
    05. Hit Parade In The Light Year 25
    06. The Whistling Astronaut
    07. Murder In The Space Station
    08. Flirtation On Venus
    09. Dance On Mars
    10. Man Out Of A Test Tube
    11. Just Walking On The Moon
    12. Death Rays Out Of The Universe
    cover

    SCIENCE FICTION CORPORATION

    Science Fiction Dance Party

    [engl] From deep in the heart of Moominvalley, frozen in time for many midwinters passed, comes a genuine treasure chest of never heard Moomin melodies and instrumental comet songs composed for the continued animated adventures of our Fuzzy-Felt freak folk friends who disappeared from UK TV pastures in the mid-1980s. From the top of the Hobgoblin’s hat and the bottom of Snufkin’s satchel, original Moomin’s composer Graeme Miller (The Carrier Frequency) kindly shares this patchwork selection of spellbinding sound poems and percussive peons made using the very same selection of ocarinas, kalimbas, miniature squeak boxes, Waspy synths, cornflake box shakers and a seemingly endless array of talent and lo-fi home studio trickery. Regarded as one of the most enigmatic, beguiling and haunting imported children’s programmes to ever grace UK TV screens, The Moomins was one of the first-ever commissions by Anne Wood (The Teletubbies) who ingeniously replaced the original Polish/Austrian/Finnish soundtrack with homemade music experiments by unknown post-punk theatre students Graeme Miller and Steve Shill (aka The Commies From Mars) who after the screening of two unforgettable series in 1983 and 1985 were left in eager anticipation of rescoring further Moomin adventures with new melodies, arrangements and sound designs which then lingered in the ether waiting until the Groke awoke and Snorkmaiden sang once more. With future felt adventures screened exclusively in Poland and Germany for many years (often as feature films) these unheard recordings are the only genuine musical sequel to the bizarre UK version of The Moomins and stand as important inclusions the Graeme Miller’s own portfolio of theatrical theme music and sound installations as part of The Impact Theatre Cooperative including collaborations with artists and writers such as Russell Hoban. Witnessed in fragmented form during a short run of incredible rare live screenings at The Barbican Theatre and various film festival this record marks the first time this music has been heard in its original full-length form, free from sound effects, dialog and whimpers of euphoric joy and nostalgia from those who have continued to crave the company of our Moomintrolls and their mysterious music over the last five decades. After a long unintentional hibernation Finders Keepers return this summer with the first in a series of limited special editions of previously unreleased archival recordings and who better to kick off the festivities than the maestro behind the music of our faithful felt folk friends from Moominvalley. Here you will find totally unheard proposals for an unreleased third UK specific series of 1980’s The Moomins TV series and unheard comet songs expertly recorded for potential cinematic sequels from the heart of Graeme Miller’s very own original musical micro laboratory, housed in unique collectable packaging, hand-made in Finders Keepers inimitable bespoke style. These two variants both come in sturdy book bound sleeves with stitched seams and two colour screen-printed illustrative artwork which is absolutely unique to his release. The Comet Flame Red edition comes in two tone grained leatherette with black line-art and gold Comet Insignia detail, while alternatively the Hot Sand edition comes in a porous crushed velvet featuring a black line-art and amber Comet detail. Both hand made editions are limited to less than 50 copies each and include inserts and the black vinyl pressing of these latter day recordings before their official 2022 reawakening.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    01.04.2022
    EAN
    EAN 5060099507816
     
  • 01. Meydan Sizindir
    02. Yaz Gazeteci Yaz
    03. Mehmet Emmi
    04. Nasirli Eller
    05. Ince Ince
    06. Gine Haber Gelmis
    07. Yaylalar
    08. Dam Ustune Cul Serer
    09. Dost Uyan
    10. Gitme
    11. Niye Cattin Kaslarini
    12. Kizil Dere
    13. Utan Utan
    14. Karaoglan
    cover

    SELDA

    Selda

    [engl] The music you are about to hear defies categorisation. But for all intents and multi-purposes, this record is a folk album. Embodying all the aesthetic watermarks of a private press country LP, Selda Bağcan’s debut long player from 1976 has masqueraded as lamb dressed as mutton, throw- ing many a discerning wolf from the gourmet scent. Behold! Space age, Anatolian, electronic, progressive protest psych folk funk rock from the Middle East! All of the above ingredients are presented immaculately with utmost authenticity and conviction to create a delectable hybrid con- coction that has never been replicated or equalled in the three mutant decades since it’s record- ing. When Selda first released her long-awaited LP (the first of two confusingly eponymous titles in the same year), she was enduring/enjoying her halcyon as one of the most politically outspoken pop- ular folk singers to hail from Turkey. In the previous decade she had made a household name for herself as a traditional Anadolu protest singer with a spectacular emotive vocal capacity (for idle argument's sake, begging comparison to a Turkish Joan Baez). A figurehead and poetic driving force for a radical generation of politically motivated creative revolutionaries, her raw, stripped- down folk songs yearned for political change with heart-wrenching earnestness; embodying a uni- fying traditional sound which mainlined the veins of a free-thinking, united Turkey. Selda had, and still has, a reputation as an individual omnipresent strength who was willing to brave grave con- sequences in the name of change and humanity which would later see her serve time in prison on account of her vociferous attitudes on behalf of her like-minded but seldom outspoken peers. Until now, Selda played the role of musical martyr in a lonely void, but by early 1975 (when Ms. Bağcan was given an unexpected opportunity to commit a collection of ten new songs to an LP for the for- ward-thinking Türküola label) the silent free-thinking cognoscenti of musical Istanbul came to her aid in droves, thus creating one of the most extraordinary hybrid folk albums you are ever likely to hear. Fusing Selda's radical prose with equally radical musical gestures from some of the most lauded musical mavericks was a match made in psychedelic heaven. Artists such as Anadolu beat combo Moğollar (also known to a growing French audience as Les Mogol) had previously recorded a run of singles with the singer in a traditional folk style but in recent years had enjoyed critical acclaim after releasing two progressive albums fusing jazz, funk and electronically treated instruments with typical Anatolian styles. Selda would also utilise the talents of popular backing band Dadaşlar under the guidance of Anatolian rock stalwart Arif Sağ and master electronic producer and pioneer Zafer Dilek (who would later gain critical acclaim amongst collectors of Turkish library music such as the TRT releases that he recorded alongside Okay Temiz). The bands were assembled at mul- tiple sessions at both Yeni Studios and the über legendary Studio Elektronik where the record was finally completed and mastered. Released in 1976 to huge critical acclaim and skepticism in equal parts, the album smashed new boundaries both lyrically and musically. Sonically the LP begs comparison to the second LP by post folk, sibling three-piece Üç Hürel who used a balance of electronically treated saz and proto- polyphonic synthesisers to similar effect (exemplified here on tracks such as Gitme and Yaz Gazeteci Yaz). However, the fact that Selda was one of the few female voices to adopt the use of such cutting edge techniques put the LP in a league of its very own. Frowned on by the paranoid Turkish authorities, songs like Meydan Sizindir and Ince Ince were viewed as a call to arms for the working classes - little did Selda know that now her songwriting was available to a wider market (and soon to be available to an unlimited audience via the introduction of the compact cassette) she would face the threat of imprisonment due to her unwaning desire for freedom of speech and demands for a better quality of life. Selda would face future jail sentences and travel restrictions as her popularity spread amongst Turkish communities in Europe and America. Luckily Türküola arranged the immediate release of a second album that was released in late 1976 (some songs recorded in the same sessions are presented on this release as bonus tracks). Selda's second LP retained some of the psychedelic touches found on her debut but the passing phase of Turkish electronica (which began to manifest in popular music such as disco and pop) was less prevalent. Selda still performs songs from her extensive repertoire all over the world with many cassettes and CDs released under her singular name. Each of the artists involved in the recording of this LP continued to record radical and experimental music and are considered the cream of the crop among Eastern psych aficionados. In recent years the legacy of Anatolian progressive rock has gone from strength to strength, gaining popularity amongst DJs, producers and record collectors as an unrivalled source for unique sounds rarely found in other genres of international music and, until now, rarely heard outside their native environment Thirty years down the line, the Anatolian Invasion is on its way to a record store near you.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    25.11.2013
    EAN
    EAN 5060099500213
     
  • 01. Les Chemins De Katmandou (Opening Titles)
    02. The Pleasure Pit
    03. Colin-Maillard
    04. Le Roi Des Phlébotomes
    05. Flower Child
    06. Cache Cache
    07. Opium Den
    08. Overdose
    09. Oliver
    10. Fallen Rainbow
    11. Colin Maillard (Vocal Version)
    12. Les Chemins De Katmandou
    cover

    SERGE GAINSBOURG & JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER

    Les Chemins De Katmandou

    [engl] After decades in the making Finders Keepers Records are proud to present the first-ever pressing of Serge Gainsbourg’s most elusive and coveted soundtrack studio recordings – co-written, arranged and orchestrated by the genius Jean-Claude Vannier (Histoire De Melody Nelson) during what many consider to be the dynamic duo’s most definitive creative period. Believed to have been lost in a studio fire by Gainsbourg enthusiasts for over forty years (a myth that also shrouds Morricone’s lost Danger Diabolik soundtrack) the misplaced master-tapes for the drug-fuelled/Mai 68 cash-in/road-movie Les Chemins De Katmandou have been widely considered the final audio jigsaw piece in an immaculate discography/filmography thus earning this soundtrack bone-fide Holy Grail status amongst the most avid disc detectives. Featuring the original crack team of Paris based players now recognised as French library music royalty, this LP epitomises the inimitable musical direction and expert psychedelic pop musicianship that graced classic Gainsbourg/Vannier soundtracks like La Horse, Cannabis and Sex Shop. Laying the stylistic, future-proof foundations for subsequent decades of forward-thinking Gallic funk mastery. Comprising Vannier’s signature recipe of thick plucked bass lines, close-micced drums, biting Clavinet and Eastern influenced strings and percussion (and a sprinkling of subtle traditional French instrumentation) the soundtrack to Les Chemins De Katmandou (aka The Road To Katmandu or The Pleasure Pit) captures Vannier and Gainsbourg in the first year of their creative partnership capturing their unique embryonic energy.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    17.11.2017
    EAN
    EAN 5060099506642
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    17.11.2017
    EAN
    EAN 5060099506642
     
  • 01. Khyber Mail
    02. Al-Vida
    03. Saat Maatray (Seven Beats)
    04. Soul Sitar
    05. Harvest Time
    06. Cobra Sway
    07. Indus Waves
    08. Chandni Aur Tum (Moonlight and You)
    09.Alladin
    10. Shabaz Qalandar (Sound of Wonder)
    cover

    SOHAIL RANA

    Khyber Mail

    [engl] "Sohail Rana, versatile maestro of film and pop composition, and leading force in pioneering the cultural landscape of modern Pakistan. His longplay masterpiece, Khyber Mail is stocked with groovy eastern moods, electric organ, sitar soul and surf guitar." Alan Bishop (Sublime Frequencies / Sun City Girls) Khyber Mail is a concept album designed to invoke images and sounds of a high speed Pakistani freight train travelling from Karachi to Peshawar, was dominated by Sohail's whining and addictive electric keyboard and a motoric rhythm section of beaty percussion and sitars introducing a form of radical patchwork pop and mechanical music to a warm receptive audience. By combining the folk music of the Sindh and the Punjab with maverick sounds, signatures and rhythms, Khyber Mail marks a landmark shift in the Pakistani pop industry kick-starting a lengthy career for one of its best loved musical patrons while setting a challenging new standard for the "plugged-in" Lollywood pop scene that would explode at the turn of the decade. All aboard and full steam ahead for the Khyber Mail Twist. The newest instalment in our critically acclaimed Sound Of Wonder series, 2011 will also see the release our Life Is Dance – our second compilation of plugged in Pakistani pop Original vinyl copies command prices in excess of £300 on certain internet auction sites – if you’re lucky enough to come across one.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    18.04.2011
    EAN
    EAN 5060099502927
     
  • 01. Pange Lingua (strum.)
    02. Alleluja
    03. Inferno
    04. Coro Dei Penitenti
    05. Gli Occhi Di Tutti
    06. Roma Nobilis
    07. Rendete Grazie
    08. Pange Lingua (vocale)
    cover

    STEFANO MARCUCCI

    Tempo Di Demoni, Papi, Angioli, Incensi E Cilici

    [engl] The mythical, mysterious and misfiled transcription disc of a lost Italian demonic religious rock opera recorded at Pierre Umiliani’s Sound Workshop by Stefano Marcucci - beat group veteran, Fernando Arrabal collaborator and Libra affiliate. Featuring members of the wider Casa/Ducros family and future Federico Fellini collaborators, this previously commercially unavailable mini-LP features embryonic Minimoog, ecclesiastical organs and chorus alongside a tight psych funk rhythm section from Italian library music’s golden era. Imagine Jean Pierre Massiera’s Visitors restoring a scene from Juliette Of The Spirits, backed by a skeleton staff from Jean-Claude Vannier’s Chorale des Jeunesses Musicales de France on a foreign exchange program; on Halloween, in the Vatican… Continuing our mission to shine light on the genuine anomalies of 70’s Italian production music, Finders Keepers Records resurrects another unlikely transcription disc from the vaults of one of Rome’s most esoteric library music archives. This bizarre one-off theatrical project, composed and recorded at Umiliani’s studio, was commissioned for a short-run demonic religious performance entitled Tempo Di Demoni, Papi, Angioli, Incensi E Cilici under the musical direction of former Italian psychedelic beat-group member Stefano Marcucci. Instantly recognised by Flower Records founder Romano Di Bari as having commercial potential beyond its handful of church and small theatre performances in the early months of 1975, Marcucci agreed that they should commit these bizarre recordings to vinyl as a form of preservation with hope of attracting a wider commercial audience through Di Bari’s Television and Films synchronisation contacts. Sitting slightly ajar to the custom-made projects of its label bedfellows (swapping schedules with experimental theme-music by Alessandro Alessandroni, Gerardo Iacoucci and Anthonio Ricardo Luciani) and confusingly sharing an identical catalog number to another collectable Flower release called Ritimico by (close friend) Paolo Ferrara (LEW 0551) this album has slipped under the radar of many Library label completists over the years attracting confusion, scepticism, polarised opinion but nothing short of astonishment at the bizarre hidden synth-ridden psychedelic concept pop found behind some of the most striking duo-tone artwork to come out of Italy’s most experimental era.
    Format
    10''
    Release-Datum
    04.04.2017
     
  • 01. Rainy Day
    02. Paint A Lady
    03. For The Love Of A Soldier
    04. Ghost Riders In The Sky
    05. Yesterday, Where’s My Mind?
    06. Echo In Your Mind
    07. When Love Comes
    08. No One Can Hear You Cry
    cover

    SUSAN CHRISTIE

    Paint A Lady

    [engl] A mythical and misplaced masterpiece of lost soft rock and acidic folk funk by a one-hit wonderer lost in the wilderness for four decades. From the producer of Margo Guryan, writer behind Wool, Gerry Mulligan collaborator, Tarantino soundtracker and Wendy & Bonnie confidant, Paint A Lady now emerges from folkloric obscurity, to bring a wash of soft psychedelic colour to your vinyl collection and quench the repeat requests of a thirsty new found audience waiting for the rain. Within certain record collecting circles, especially those who gather under the umbrella that covers fragile niches like “acid folk” and “soft rock”, it’s difficult to imagine a time when the legendary Susan Christie album didn’t exist. When Finders Keepers Records first shared the unheard 60’s songs like Paint A Lady, For The Love Of A Soldier and Echoes In Your Mind with a wide-eyed audience thirsty for organic soul and festival friendly acoustic funk, Susan’s new found fan base instantly felt like they had known these songs all of their lives, and with a single needle drop we saw the birth of what could rightfully be described as an “instant classic”. Which is why it’s hard to believe that the music on this lost 60s acetate was only pressed 12 years ago. As our lucky seventh release in an international discography that now surpasses the 100 mark (and one of a small clutch of English language recordings on the label) Paint A Lady has slowly become one of our most requested re-releases, and with this 2018 edition it is technically accurate to say that this pressing is the first-ever reissue of this elusive and essential LP. The oft over used term mythical applies to this album on many levels. Perhaps it’s the woozy nostalgia found within the pop craft of Paint A Lady that has led to false rumours that original 1960’s copies used to exist on the collectors market, or the bizarre claim that songs like the head-nodding title track, and the acid-drenched sound effects on Yesterday Where’s My Mind were just a product of a contemporary studio band trying to create a fake folk funk red herring. As a result Susan Christie and her producer and husband of 40 years, John Hill have happily taken the repeat phrase “unbelievable” as a compliment to their songwriting skills and foresight. In all fairness, with a decade to ponder, the original 1969 song titles alone do seem custom-built for the nostalgia market… No One Can Hear You Cry might lament the unrequited yearning for a record deal which never quite followed Susan’s won one-hit wonder novelty hit I Love Onions; similarly When Love Comes might allude to the subsequent 35 year wait for the right label to eventually come along. Echoes In Your Mind and the aforementioned Yesterday… could easily allude to the haunting melodies that sat in the can on John Hill’s studio shelf while his projects for Margo Guryan, Wool and Pacific Gas & Electric sat proudly in record racks before benefitting successful French cover versions or making their way on to Quentin Tarantino soundtracks. The track Paint A lady itself, complete with it’s future-proofed sample-worthy rhythm section, seems like the perfect title for a mock rock pseudo psych contender – at which point you eventually step back and see the bigger picture. These guys were simply one drop too far ahead of their time; a family force of experimental pop perfection that late 60’s America simply wasn’t ready for. It is just over 12 years since champion record rustler Keith D’Arcy (who you’ll meet on the inside sleeve) stumbled upon one of the original acetates that led to the final release of Paint A Lady, and it’s almost a longer 50 years since Susan and John added their final touches to these recordings which tragically went into hibernation for over four decades. Whether this album has been on your wish-list for what seems like a lifetime, or you are taking a plunge into this deep puddle for the first time, when the needle drops on the first track you’ll find that Susan Christie, John Hill and Finders Keepers have been saving up for a very rainy day
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    05.03.2019
    EAN
    EAN 5060099507045