5.15.2007
Taedo Record Co. STLK-7111
"Taedo Record Co. STLK-7111" LP (Taedo, 1970)
DId I buy this because of the record cover and nothing else? Damn right! Did I know anything about this record before I bought it, other than I had no idea what the hell it was? I plead ignorance! With more guts than brains, I marched this up to the clerk behind the thrift store cash register and said, "Ring me up! I am feeling dangerous today!"
Really, though, look at the cover for a second: Would you not pick this up if you saw it? The young man on the chair is hugging three saxophones and two of them are huge. The guy with the guitar not only has a cool Fender but those specs, that 'do, and the 'stache are total bait. Then there is the pink back drop and the odd colors. I might not be able to read what the words on the cover say, but I don't need a weatherman to tell me that it says "BUY ME NOW!"
Now, I would have been a happy man had this record not lived up to the front cover and all the odds in the world told me that it was not going to come close. Luckily, I am not only a Man of Action but I am a gambler. I don't care if the odds are 5,000 to 3 that a record is gonna blow, if the package is pretty and the price is right, I ain't gonna hold them, I ain't gonna fold them, I ain't gonna walk away, and I sure as fuck ain't gonna run. I'm gonna slap my dollar right down there on the table and walk the hell out of the thrift store and know that I've won and that before fate deals the final hand in the form of needle dropping into the groove.
When I marched Taedo Record Co.'s STLK-7111 into the house, I didn't even take off my coat before I dropped needle. I slapped 7111 on the turntable and let it spin away. I certainly was not disappointed. In fact, I was fucking thrilled. Through the speakers came the haunting sounds of noir instrumentals, one of my favorite styles of pop music. Cool horns, very exacting strings, smooth vibes, and a great twangy guitar, all done exactly how this stuff needs to be done - with enough space to make the songs sound like they were meant only for you and production that is dark without being oppressive.
That this comes from South Korea might seem like a curiosity at first. But expose yourself to enough Asian pop of the Sixties and early Seventies and you know that the noir sound was pretty strong, especially in Japan, where the great singing duo The Peanuts brought Asian noir pop to its highest highs. I am not sure why the fascination, why, of all American pop sounds noir had a bigger impact than rockabilly or bubblegum or glam, but it did. Perhaps being the Twentieth Century's main war zone (Sino-Russian War, WWII, Korean War, Chinese Revolution, Vietnam...) made the area prime of noir's cynical (yet romantic) sound. Maybe the structure lends itself to different Asian folk melodies, some of which you hear in STLK-7111. I really don't know, but I have picked up that this is a style of the time and place in which this record was made.
As I do not read Korean, I have no idea what the proper name of this LP is. Nor do I know who the two men on the cover are. I also do not know the song titles. I have run searches for the matrix number and the record label but have failed to find any useful information.
# posted by Scott Soriano : 19:16
Comments:
<< Home
The blue writing looks like Kanji to me and the red and yellow looks Korean.
That doesn't mean that Taedo wasn't in Korea, as they were. But Taedo also released Pink Floyd and MC5, both not Korean. Sounds a lot like music from a Yakuza film. Hajime Kaburagi's style.
It sounds like what a warm bath feels like.
A warm bath with a moll, a handgun, and a cigarette. I love it.
That doesn't mean that Taedo wasn't in Korea, as they were. But Taedo also released Pink Floyd and MC5, both not Korean. Sounds a lot like music from a Yakuza film. Hajime Kaburagi's style.
It sounds like what a warm bath feels like.
A warm bath with a moll, a handgun, and a cigarette. I love it.
# posted by 
: 14:01
: 14:01
Yeah, I knew the front wasn't in all Korean. However the back is. And it says South Korea next to Taedo Record Co.
It is still common for Koreans to use chinese characters (kanji) for stuff like names, titles, headlines in newspapers and the like. So the kanji doesn't detract from the South Korean origin of this gem.
Ah, the beauty. On the cover is a bass sax, baritone sax and a soprano sax. Being a bari sax player myself, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second in picking this one up. It totally delivers. Thanks for the post, I'm diggin' it.
Dan
Dan
# posted by : 12:45
: 12:45
Ive heard a version of the second song on a strange Brazilian compilation i picked up recently -- great to here another version from the whole other side of the world
# posted by : 23:18
: 23:18
hey scott...
just stumbled upon your site from a link from idolator.com, and kept reading. excellent content, sir.
i was literally laughing out loud at the narrative of this post...read it again while listening to the tunes, and the story took on a very david lynch-ian quality! nicely done.
i'll be adding you to my rss reader and linking you from radiohypno.com.
Post a Comment
just stumbled upon your site from a link from idolator.com, and kept reading. excellent content, sir.
i was literally laughing out loud at the narrative of this post...read it again while listening to the tunes, and the story took on a very david lynch-ian quality! nicely done.
i'll be adding you to my rss reader and linking you from radiohypno.com.
<< Home
