viktors lapčenoks

here's nice track taken from ultradiskopanorama youtube channel. popstar Viktors Lapčenoks from Latvia is touching groovy prog-pop land. he was collaborating a lot with all big Latvian composers, including Raimonds Pauls, and was involved in many of Pauls' solo author albums with Nora Bumbiere. i have featured track from duo's earlier LP on my blog too, which kind of continues same theme.

devcata

Девчата - Опаздывает поезд

Devcata was girl power group from Moscow, they had quite few records in 70s, but I found first their ep from 1981. Obviously it has great picture sleeve, all girl group with cool instruments - neat looking guitar, heavy Eastern European organ and some weird box on top of it. It's tape delay, for a moment I hoped it's something from USSR, but inspecting closely, it's English-built Watkins Copicat; pretty cool!
Now to the music... unfortunately it's pretty poor, but full of dreamy effects, haha! I put up first track off 7", which has less unbearable parts and is more upbeat.

mobile

Mobile - Kvartett (J. Schaffer)

Mobile on ansambel, mis muutus natuke hiljem Muusik Seifiks või midagi taolist, sest samas ilmus see plaat, kui Musik-Seif oli üle Venemaa kuulus bänd. see on nende ainus vinüülplaat, singlile mahtus neli lugu, lindistatud 1978-1983. eesti muusika sõbrad leiavad siit varajase Anne Veski lauldud "Ootan sind" või ka vähe plaadistatud Ahti Nurmise, nt hiti "Troika". rare groove sõprasid ootab plaadi lõpus aga instrumentaal "Kvartett", mille autoriks on Janne Schaffer, tuntud rootsi kitarrist, nii nõutud stuudiomuusik kui ka mõned sooloplaadid välja andnud.
EDIT Tänu targemale lugejale sain teada, et originaallugu on "Dr Abraham", Janne Schafferi teiselt sooloalbumilt "Andra"

here's a little 7" single by Estonian group Mobile, it's their only record, released in 1984 and recorded 1978-1983. most musicians went to cooler groups, this record also features young future star Anne Veski and unrecognized talent Ahti Nurmis. most tracks here are cool only for hardcore Estonian music fans, but rare groove people will find here instrumental "Kvartett", which is credited to famous Swedish guitarist Janne Schaffer. this track was discovered by my mate Aku at Redhill Records, which is place to visit for Eastern European records in Helsinki, Finland.
PS Thanks to our reader we know that original version is "Dr Abraham" from Janne Schaffer's second LP "Andra".

veselõi roman

selle gruusia flexi ostsin ma suvel uuest plaadikauplusest Tallinnas, Raamatukoi filiaal Grammofon, põhimõtteliselt on nüüd üks tõeline kasutatud plaatide pood ka tallinnas olemas, kus on olemas haruldused, plaadid jaotatud teemade järgi ja asjatundjast müüja. enamik plaate on kohalikku päritolu, nii et huvitav värskele ida-euroopa muusika huvilisele. kauplus asub Voorimehe tänaval maja nr 9.
nii et kui ma äsja avatud poodi läksin teadis müüja, mis mind huvitab ja tõi kuskilt välja gruusia tähestikuga flexi plaadid. kahjuks jäid enamik kuskile ooperi ja estraadi vahepeale, kõige huvitam oli see filmimuusika plaat, mis samuti Tbilisi tehases valmis tehtud. muud ei oskagi öelda.

if you're lucky to visit Tallinn, there's now even more reasons to be happy - we have the real kind of second hand vinyl store in Old Town, Tallinn. address Voorimehe 9. some of you know that Raamatukoi used book store sold records before, now they opened new store only for collectibles and mainly records. they have everything - mostly Eastern European records, some expensive rares and some bargains, records divided by genres, a lot of classical, and knowledgeable seller. they are only missing new arrivals crate though. take a lot of money with and listen to interesting looking record - you might have nice score! or not.
bought this flexi this summer in same store; seller handed me pack of Melodiya flexis with Georgian letters - he knew what gets me excited. even though they looked funky and unreadable, they sounded more like hybrid of opera and pop. best flexi was this film music one, also from Tbilisi. nice jazz instrumental, other side has jazzy pop songs.

Raamatukoi Grammofon
Raamatukoi

goloshchekin

C60 05753-54

after long hiatus i try to be more active for a while. also i have some exciting news to share with you soon.
now let's start with nicest jazz record i found about year ago. it started as usual - fellow record collector had been to that lonely record crate at street fair before me and pulled out cool-looking record. just month later i found excellent copy from reusing center, that's how karma works. i knew Goloshchekin, but didn't know this record. he was main figure in Leningrad jazz scene. in 1979 released LP where he plays alone up to 10 instruments, thankfully not at same time. it is nice breezy album, but sounds too polished. here's earlier LP with modern jazz and bossanovas, also some vocal jazz tracks, with lovely Elvira Trafova, if i'm not wrong, husband of David. i don't like english language evergreens, but this wordless vocal track is super, long track with all kinds of emotions, keeps interesting during all the track.
there's earlier LP with same orchestra, also 7", which i hope to hear one day.

nerija

well, i'll try to post some Estonian tracks in February, but before i have to do something with my promise to post more Lithuanian tracks. so as today is Lithuanian independence day, I'll post one.
Nerija seemed to be pretty famous group in Soviet Lithuania, they released many albums during all their years, even one 2LP. what's sad, every album has only 1 good track, though usually it's awesome one.
so in future there will be more Nerija posted here, but today i'll post my find from last summer when I was in Kaunas and Vilnius. picked up some Nerija records, but this one was new to me. i guess it's their 1st album. B-side starts with psychedelic pop song, which you need to listen all the way to finish.

nerija @discogs

estradines_melodijos

Estradinės Melodijos - Sveikas, Bendraamži!

i found this record in Lithuania this summer. i didn't know exactly what it could be. it looked to be LP by typical soviet vocal instrumental group, which it exactly is. except it starts with instrumental, which is cool flute funk track. it has been featured in other blogs, so i have nothing else to say! it's good one and obviously soviet track, which amuses more listeners. i'll continue posting some lithuanian tracks on new year.

käisin sel suvel Leedus, otsisin plaate ka Kaunases ja Vilniuses, näiteks Vilniuses oli kaks vinüülplaadipoodi, kust võis leida huvitavaid ja vähelevivaid asju, lisaks veel leedu kohalikud plaadid. muidugi olid ka hinnad poodidele vastavad, kuid oli ka häid leide. prahipoodides olid aga plaadid tavaliselt halvas korras.
leedu estraadiansambleid tasub uurida, tõenäoliselt saksa mõjudel lisati ka funki ja gruuvi oma lugudesse, päris mitmel plaadil on vähemalt üks funky instrumentaallugu. näiteks ka vokaal instrumentaalsansambli Estradinės Melodijos 1977. aasta albumil. plaat algab Venemaalt pärit instrumentaaliga, mille leedukad on seadnud kiiresse funk rütmi, flöödimängijale on ka palju voli antud, mis alati hea.
püüan järgmisena veel Leedu lugusid üles panna.

Estradinės Melodijos LP @discogs

jaan kuman ja trompet

Jaan Kuman "Trompet kuldsetest seitsmekümnendatest"

Jaan Kuman on olnud tähtis tegelane siin blogis, ka Eesti jazzmuusikale oluline trompetist, arranžeerija, bändi liider ja helilooja. tema seitsmekümnendate vinüülplaadid ja muusika on armastatud, kuid vanu plaate on endiselt raske kätte saada. nüüd on Jaan Kuman ise välja andnud cd kogumiku tema 70ndate salvestistega Eesti Raadio arhiivist. plaadil on nüüd kõigile lihtsalt kätte saadavad paljud suurepärased lood, mis ilmunud varem vinüülplaatidel (estraadipalu singel, tantsurütme seeria, Valter Ojakääru ja Uno Naissoo autorialbumid), lisaks varem avaldamata muusikat, ka erilisi haruldusi, näiteks "Väike tüdruk", mis oli stuudios lihtsalt vahepalana mängitud ja juhuslikult lindile jäänud. plaat on täielikult instrumentaalmuusika, jazz funkist easy listeningini.
plaadi ostmine on ka viis toetada hra Kumanit isiklikult. plaadi saab osta Biit poest, äärmisel juhul ka Laseringist, Rahva Raamatust, Kaubamajast jm.

Jaan Kuman is Estonian trumpeter, who has been featured in my blog many times and gathered a lot of fans all over the world. unfortunately his records are really rare and expensive, so his amazing music has been mostly unavailable to wider audience. now he has self-released cd compilation of some best work from 70s with his ensemble. from wonderful jazz funk to masterful easy listening. you get tracks from 1st 7" "Estraadipalu", best from Uno Naissoo and Tantsurütme records and some unreleased stuff. he was great arranger and musician, which you can hear on this compilation. i suppose it would be cool to buy this comp to support him.
i don't think it's available through any international mail order yet, but if you want it, send me email, i'll help you with buying it. it costs around 10-11 euros in local stores. i have nothing to do with this release, just helping to spread the word and share good music.

jaan kuman @heliplaadistuudio
trompet kuldsetest 70ndatest @discogs

jazz komfort

that's one curious single. for example, how many jazz singles is there. there isn't many on melodiya, though we have Kuman and Tammik singles. also it's interesting they were also pressed in Riga. and that group, who are they? i hope someone else will make better blog post.
i mean, first time i saw their name was on compilation "Keep on Playing" (check last post), they were backing Estonian singer Tõnis Mägi on nice disco song in Russian. what's more interesting that Estonian version "Peegel" is actually credited to Muusik Seif. so who actually made it? it is bit suspicious why jazz group is backing pop singer.
then you can see their name on 1st volume of Leningrad Jazz Festival 83 LP (C60 21537 000). and then there's this 7" single. all tracks are not originals, but have new arrangements. they are credited to some D. Sampl and R. Brown. more mysteries. anyway it's quite groovy single, even if there's not breaks or any other fancy stuff. nice electric piano, nice guitars. first side is slower groovy downtempo jazz. other side starts with so called ballad and second track is 2 minutes short groovy jazz funk. which you can hear here. other tracks will be hopefully available at soviet groove blog.

modo

I wonder why I haven't featured Modo records in my blog, even though it's one of my favorite Latvian group. I got their two EPs early in my Melodiya collecting history. At first they were led by Raimonds Pauls, they are also featured on R. Pauls "Naktsputni" LP, later they were led by Zigmars Liepins, another keyboard wizard from Latvia. Modo first EP should be known through blogs, it's good fusion single with two good tracks. Bonus is great picture sleeve, which features also someone shredding on organ.
My big favorite is Modo disco hit "Spele Vel", I know two local DJ's who have been rocking it for a while. There's scarce 7", but it's also on common Melodiya compilation "Igraj Eshhjo". Then there's single with blue cover, I haven't listened to it for a while, but I think it was pretty boring. So I had impression their later stuff isn't good, including that Modo 7" (C62-11841-2). And I totally ignored it at Riga's flea market this summer.
Recently I bought box of seven inch singles, because it contained infamous Disko orkestra 7" with cover of "For What It's Worth", known from expensive LP. This box had also great copy of Modo single. I was surprised to find 3 good disco tracks out of 4 songs. That's good. You get honest soviet disco "Stress" and slow burner "Romeo" by my fave Mirdza Zivere, and atmospheric cosmic funk "Kustiba", all full of strings, wonderful vocals and cool keyboards.
I have uploaded "Kustiba", best track on EP.