So I pulled out my C Cat Trance recordsf rom the 80's...

[shadowplay]

...and found they sounded really good, thought that you never see them mentioned, probably even less then properly obscure stuff and thought it worth sharing.

My second youngest is a cat enthusiast,was browsing the C's and asked me what C Cat Trance were like. I told her they were like Khidja crossed with Hulaand kinda post 23 Skidoo and since she likes Khidja we started listening and while every track doesn't fly they sour more than they crash.

I was thinking that there's a bit of an Arabic niche occurring in western available music at the moment, both with the rediscovery of Anatolian psyche and pop curios like Selda and in modernist purveyors like Khidja,Baris K, Red Axes, (I think their collab with CAR is a year highlight), Autarkic Imarhan (with slick geetar playing), Insanlarand Moscoman who runs the brilliant Disco Halal who have put outamazing re-edit 12's..

So I got to thinking how this 'scene' for want of a better word is perhaps distantly related to the raft of faux Arabic influenced bands just after the post punk boom, some of who came out of synthpop, post punk funk and even fez wearing session cats like TCP. Think everything from Jhalib, through 23 Skidoo (like Maghrebi), through Ofra Haza, through Invaders of the Heart and even on to Jaz Coleman and Anne Dudley.

I'd semi forgot about C Car Trance, I kept meaning to play them every time I saw Medium Medium mentioned but somehow I never got back to them. John Rees Lewis was the singer and sax player in Medium Medium and also in C Cat Trance.

I guess some folk might regard this as appropriation but I don't really care about that and in these bigoted times it's nice to celebrate a great sound.

So some examples I hope someone enjoys and uses as a buying spring board.

Some really nice guitar playing on some of these and also hot saxy skronk, that 's hopefully someone's cup of mint tea.

I'm going to just draw from three alums on Ink Records and the Red Flame debut for the moment. I'm a bit restricted by what's on youtube, I'd have picked Cold of PMC for example;

C Cat Trance (when they are much more in the Hula zone)

Railway Magazine

Let Me Sleep

Khamu (She Sleep Walks) getting more exotic

Miss Manners

The New Hassan

(Screaming) to be With you

Single

She Steals Cars

Zouvae (only one song on youtube)

Shake the Mind

Play Masenka Combo

Dalbouka

They Made Them Up

I Looked For You

Thoughts, musings, answers on a post card...

D

[nanamour]

I'm whirling like a dervish! Scratches the Khidja itch and then some.

Re: whether or not the rediscovery, (emphasis on the disco!) of Middle Eastern-influenced sounds in spheres ranging from fuzz ripping psych to oud-tinged minimalwave is appropriation--to me it's a moot point: it's clearly born of a deep reverence for the source material and it's reapplication, never snideness or parody which is more than can be said for some particularly whitewashed takes on reggae, Latin music, etc I've been subjected to.

Moscoman speaks truth in an 'About Disco Halal' blurb:

A celebration of a world without frontiers, and a dreamscape ruled by love, Disco Halal is the cosmic vibration of forever unity.

Anyway, big thanks! The records seem hard to come by stateside, but I found Zouave for a pittance and immediately snatched it up.

[shadowplay]

Glad this tickles your fancy, sometimes it seems like the less obscure stuff in period has become less known than really obscure limited releases.

I totally get what you say regarding appropriation, I think it's just roping in interesting sounds wherever they can be found and I also think in this current climate it's good to hear these quite joyous Arabic flavours.

That's a great quote from moscoman.

D

[shadowplay]

btw anyone who wanted the really good remix 12's on Malka Tuti might want to pop to Juno where the first one is a mere 99p in their sale.

I did alright got three records for £3.

D

[nanamour]

btw anyone who wanted the really good remix 12's on Malka Tuti might want to pop to Juno where the first one is a mere 99p in their sale.

I did alright got three records for £3.

D

Thanks for the hot tip; grabbed the C Cat Trance remixes and a handful of random £1 cover art chances and came out for under $20 with shipping to the Republic of Texas.