Bodega Pop

Desert island-level LP up there with Slits Cut and Raincoats Odyshape: Mercenárias, Cadê As Armas? (Baratos Afins, 1986). Not as punk-y as their demos & live recordings from 83-85, but a god-tier all-timer record with no skips

The sudden release of Brazilian punk/hardcore in 82-83 is misleading, given that some of these bands were around in the late 70s, but wouldn't have been able to legally record then. Ripping this & other gems for next week's all-Brazilian, all-vinyl punk, post, new & no wave show

Ripping tracks from the first Brazilian new wave band on record: Gang 90 & Absurdettes, Essa Tal De ... (RCA, 1983). This is my 2nd listen and I am in love. Tune in next Wednesday for our all-vinyl Brazilian punk, post-punk, new wave, and no wave episode: wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Ripping tracks from this amaze-face 2-LP box set by the first Brazilian post-punk band on vinyl: Agentss, Agentss (Nada Nada Discos, 2023). God tier studio and live performances from 1982-83. Comes with beautifully designed full-color 64-page book and 3 posters.

Arabic Singles Going Steady 7-10 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... TONIGHT on #WFMU's @gtdradio.bsky.social we're spinning 45 RPM 7" singles from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. Join us, it's going to be amaze-face!

Fairouz, Habbaitek Bessaif (Pathe, date u/k), an impossibly gorgeous track from this 1970s EP. Spinning mostly rare, obscure 45s on tomorrow night's Arabic Singles Going Steady episode with a couple of notable exceptions, including this one. wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Ripping 45s from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, and Yemen for next week's show. Playing at least one side from this killer single from Morocco. Lemchaheb, Khayi b/w Daouini (Cleopatra, date UK). wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

So thrilled about this release I was afraid my expectations would eclipse the actual record. No, it's just incredible, a wide range of phenomenal sounds across 13 tracks plus super-detailed liner notes & terrific photos, an heroic LP. Mekong Shellac (Sublime Frequencies, 2026)

The GF I lived & worked at Tower Records with in the 80s was a massive Robyn Hitchcock fan; we saw him at the Fillmore in 1988. Had to ask Cory at Academy if Robyn was in fact in this band; he confirmed. First-ever listen, love love love it. The Soft Boys, A Can of Bees (Two Crabs, 1979)

BAD RUSSIANS | 7-10 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... TONIGHT on #WFMU's @gtdradio.bsky.social : An all-vinyl selection of Soviet-era Russian rock and jazz, including underground favorites, oddities, and lesser-known records, with documentation of their infractions. Join us!

Finally listening Aquarium's Radio Africa (1983) & sensing a Lou Reed vibe on "The Art of Being Quiet." Love the flitting thru stations concept & playful, at times bizarre, variety of styles on this. How would it have felt to have heard this in 83 on the unofficial reel-to-reel?

Continuing to rip tracks for tomorrow night's "Bad Russians" show. Can't really get away without playing Kino's "I Want Change" from the Assa soundtrack (1987, Melodiya). Happy to have finally found a copy of this terrific, Akvarium-heavy LP

"The smell of oil prevails in eternity." The 14-minute title track of Grazhdanskaya Oborona's bracing 1989 Russian Field of Experiments is Yegor Letov's masterpiece, here it is with lyrics translated into English: rutube.ru/video/f82349...

The most raw and emotionally riveting final track of any album I can think of, Придёт Вода (Water Will Come), from Yanka's posthumous Shame & Disgrace, is one of my favorite things ever recorded, anywhere. If you haven't heard it: youtu.be/Pcmo90xM3uk?...

The first "official" LP by my absolute favorite Soviet-era artist nearly 2 decades after his first magnitizdat releases of the ealy 70s. Yuri Morozov, Performance (Melodiya, 1988). It lacks the endless inventiveness of his earlier songs and synth soundscapes, but I still love it

The tapes for this legendary 2-LP, which some claim helped speed glasnost, were smuggled out of Russia by Joanna Stingray in her coat, the lyrics in her boots. Ripping some tracks for this week's show from the 1986 OG red & yellow discs version with lyric sheets. An all-time fave

Sailin' da South | 7-10 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... TONIGHT on #WFMU's @gtdradio.bsky.social : Pioneering, innovative, underground, and favorite hip-hop tracks from Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Memphis, and New Orleans. Join us! And take a moment to pledge! pledge.wfmu.org/donate?progr...

SOUND ON: Finally getting to hear one of my favorite pop songs of all time, "Shaman's Drum," on the OG vinyl. Alla Pugacheva, Mirror of the Soul (Melodiya, 1977). If you've never heard the track or LP: youtu.be/Fp5WYXTTSDE?...

Bananas ex-Yugo post-punk LP I've been coveting for years scored today at a record fair a block away from my apt. Picked up w/a dozen+ Soviet-era Russian rock LPs. Disciplina Kičme, Dečija Pesma (PGP RTB, 1987). Crazy addicted to Love cover 2 years before Sonic Youth's. Thrills!

Switched-On Bodega 7-10 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... TONIGHT on #WFMU 's @gtdradio.bsky.social Electronic & experimental music on LPs from Algeria, Austria, Colombia, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal, Scotland, USA & Venezuela

Starting now on #WFMU's @gtdradio.bsky.social The Fall: Live! wfmu.org/playlists/sh... Live-in-concert tracks, rough mixes, radio sessions, an interview. Join us!

Absolutely thrilled to get a copy of this wonderfully pointed & bonkers compilation of songs by my all-time favorite Lebanese band. The Incompetents, A Temporary Convergence Of Interests [The Disgruntled Best Of] (Ruptured, 2026). So fucking great! Listen: theincompetents.bandcamp.com

Kino КИНО | 7-10 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... TONIGHT on #WFMU's @GTDRadio What remains of the legendary Soviet-era band tours North America this November. Our three-hour tribute features classic tracks, deep cuts, live performances, demos, covers, samples, and more. Join us!

First time hearing this pivotal Kino LP on vinyl. This Is Not Love... (Это Не Любовь...) (Machina, 2022 RE of OG 1985 Yanshiva Studio reel-to-reel). The more I listen to these guys, the more I feel like they're one of the top 10 (top 5? 3?) pop-rock bands worldwide of the 1980s

The Kino Kollection!(TM) Everything's here except for 1984's Начальник Камчатки. It can't elude me forever! Ripping tracks for the final set of this Wednesday's show, see you in 47 hours! wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

I was off last week, will be off this coming week, but am spending Labor Day weekend as the Lord intended: Putting together a 3-hour tribute to legendary Soviet-era Russian band Kino for our September 16th return. Bookmark the page and see you in a week & a half! wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Alphabetical Africa 7-10 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... TONIGHT on #WFMU's @gtdradio.bsky.social Electronic, funk, disco, experimental, field recordings and more from Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini ... you get the idea. Join us!

I picked this up the last time I was at the legendary Wall of Sound Records in Seattle. Various Artists, Pomegranates - Persian Pop, Funk, Folk And Psych Of The 60s And 70s (Finders Keepers, 2009). Both the store and the label are now things of the past.

I've heard tracks before; first time hearing the entire record. Incredible experience, even three decades after the fact. Cornelius, Fantasma (Matador 1998 RE of 1997 OG). He was listening to a lot of Os Mutantes & you can feel it. "Unabashed" is the adjective that comes to mind

Wild Minds 7-10 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... Polish folk, funk, rock & synth-pop. Iranian-American electronic. Portuguese breakbeat. Psychedelic folk from a Hungarian-French-German trio. Australian bedroom artists. A live set from the UK. 21st century US hip hop. Join us!

I've had this on CD for many years, but finally picked up a copy on vinyl at Paradise of Replica this afternoon. Kino, Blood Type (Russian Disc, 1991 RE of OG 1988 reel-to-reel).

Tapes (Several Different Ones) 7-10 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... Ear-bending tracks from rare & short-run cassettes. Iraqi folk & pop. Greek, Italian, & USAmerican avant-garde. Mexican & Polish post-punk. Russian metal & Chechen protest. Indonesian gambus & Vietnamese soul.

SOUND ON: Ripping a bunch of homemade & short-run cassettes compiled by Vietnamese-Americans in the 1970s-80s for this week's show and a separate project that may or may not come to fruition. Elvis Phương, "Vết Thương Sỏi Đá" (the blue homemade cassette in the middle)

Other than reggae, the first "international" music I consciously remember hearing was by this guy. King Sunny Adé and His African Beats, Original Syncro System Movement (African Songs Ltd., 1983 RE of 1974 OG on the same label).

SOUND ON: Ripping some rare gems from Iraq, Vietnam, Sudan, and Indonesia for next week's show. Seta Hagopian, "I'm Not Satisfied," from Volume 2 of a 3-volume best of compilation (yellow cassette in the middle).

Pânico na Zona Sul STARTING EARLY - 6:30 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... Four decades of Brazilian hip-hop on vinyl, 1984–2022, from the country's first rap record to a 21st century soundtrack of a documentary on pixo. Classics, rare gems, enduring personal favorites. Join us!

SOUND ON: One of the greatest hip hop records ever made. Racionais MC's, Sobrevivendo No Inferno (Três Selos Paralelo, Fatiado Discos, Cosa Nostra, 2025 RE of 1997 Cosa Nostra OG). Ripping for tomorrow night's all-Brazilian, all-vinyl hip hop episode: wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

SOUND ON: The first hip hop LP released in Brazil. Black Junior's, Break (Young, 1984). The group began life in 1982 as a dance group, Funk Junior's. Ripping for tomorrow night's special 3-1/2 hour all Brazilian hip-hop on vinyl show: wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

One of the most influential Brazilian rappers of all time, virtually unknown here. Sabotage, s/t (Somatória Do Barulho, 2017). This posthumous LP and 2001's Rap É Compromisso are well worth tracking down. Listen: youtu.be/GrptmMIg_Uc?...

SOUND ON: What could be more Brazilian than a hip hop track on the national motto. Ideologia Radical, Ordem e Progresso (Zamzebe Record's, 1995, the only known release on this label).

SOUND ON: This excerpt might not be doing it justice, but I love how this track slips into no wave-y dissonance & angularity. Black Soul, Tráfico, Morte, Corrupção (DJ King's, 1993). Ripping for this week's all-Brazilian hip-hop show wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Holy bananas this record is [series of fire icons]!!! Googoosh Dolls, A1000 (Drifting Boat Records, 2026). Check it out on Bandcamp: googooshdolls.bandcamp.com/album/a1000. Picked up today at Paradise of Records w/a sweaty handful of Brazilian hip-hop LPs from the 1980s-90s.

SOUND ON: Poet & DJ Marc Nasdor turned me on to this EP 10 years ago and I fell in love with Marietta Méhes's voice. Trabant, Eszkimó asszony fázik (Favorit, 1984, Hungary). First listen on vinyl. Purge.xxx compiled 2 LPs of their stuff in 2024 & 2025 (see Bandcamp)

SOUND ON: Got this 1987 CD for the Ahmed Adaweya & Mohamed Fouad tracks, but the big surprise is Sayed Darwish's grandson, Iman Al-Bahr Darwish, and this awesomely funky bit of nonsense, "Hatjin Ya Reit." Various Artists, no title (Sout El Hob/EMI, 1987).

CALTEX DIVAS | 7-10 PM EDT wfmu.org/playlists/sh... TONIGHT on #WFMU's @gtdradio.bsky.social we spin Persian pop, folk, rock & disco from the iconic female vocalists of Caltex Records. Tracks recorded in Iran + later sessions produced in the US for the legendary label founded in Los Angeles in 1980

Ripping dozens of Caltex Records CDs for this Wednesday's show featuring Googoosh, Homayra, Delkash, Ramesh, Leila Forouhar, Susan Roshan, Marzieh, and many others. Bookmark the page and see you Wednesday night at 7:00 PM EDT: wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Picked up this terrific 3-LP mid-eighties run on Sembol from trans Turkish diva Bülent Ersoy yesterday at Academy in Manhattan: Düşkünüm Sana (1983); Yaşamak İstiyorum (1984); Anılardan Bir Demet (1986)