Saigon Rock & Soul: Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968-1974
Various Artists
World
| Mar 2013
Reviews
Sadie O.
Reviewed 2013-03-01
Reviewed 2013-03-01
Saigon Rock & Soul
Reviewed by Sadie O., 3/1/13
AMAZING treasure trove of Vietnamese garage-psych from during the War. Why oh why don’t we get serviced with everything Sublime Frequencies puts out? The original issue of this was two years ago, and that’s two years I’ve had to live without some of the most startlingly ginchy tracks I’ve ever encountered. Eat this the hell up! (BTW, check out the booklet centerfold for the meanings of the lyrics. Gosh!)
1. 3:54 ***groovy syncopated trap drum intro, then twangy garage rock. Switches to somewhat uptempo 4/4 and very disturbing vocals. Yay!
2. 3:50 ***garage rock par excellence. Uptempo, psychy.
3. 4:35 ****bass and fuzz, cool syncopation – sounds a bit like spy movie music. Alto female vocals. Nice farfisa, too. Oooh, percussion break – funky!
4. 4:42 ***twangy guitar, rather soulful music, pretty female vocals. Very slow bits with psychedelic keyboards. Is sad. Whaaaaaa…
5. 3:55 ****FUNKY psych. Pretty female vocals, frantic sax, noodly farfisa, absolutely grotty guitar solo. Whee!
6. 3:49 ****Wow! Uptempo, fully crazed psych, gnarly vocals. Ape crazy guitar solo! I’m dumbfounded!
7. 4:41 ***slow, kinda soulful, with some of the most disturbed guitar noises I’ve ever heard – but extremely pretty female vocals.
8. 4:54 ***slow and dark, very pretty vocals with distinctly southeast Asian inflection.
9. 3:03 ****fuzzy garage psych – a bit muddy, but you can’t have everything. Still fucking awesome.
10. 4:34 *****great pop – midtempo, and completely suitable for doing the frug. Jolly vocals completely belie the apparent theme of the lyrics.
11. 3:50 ***downtempo, fuzzy, garagey, cool.
12. 4:41 ***tweety birds and extremely twangy guitars, very folksy rhythm, interesting stuff with disturbing lyrics.
13. 2:50 ***jaunty 60’s folk-rock sound, male vocals. Happy happy joy joy!
14. 4:13 ***sort of minimal cute pop with lots of noodly horn and keyboards behind very sweet female vocals. Some rather nice lounge-y elements. Unexpected wah-wah guitar at end.
15. 3:24 ****swingy chimey music, highly inflected vocal duet.
16. 4:54 ***groovy midtempo wiggle with a bit of march in the drums, cool horns.
17. 4:04 ****gnarly guitar sound (rather like ancient blues records), very very slow, interesting vocal stylings. Very deep stuff! Turns into a wah-wah mambo for last minute. Gosh…
Reviewed by Sadie O., 3/1/13
AMAZING treasure trove of Vietnamese garage-psych from during the War. Why oh why don’t we get serviced with everything Sublime Frequencies puts out? The original issue of this was two years ago, and that’s two years I’ve had to live without some of the most startlingly ginchy tracks I’ve ever encountered. Eat this the hell up! (BTW, check out the booklet centerfold for the meanings of the lyrics. Gosh!)
1. 3:54 ***groovy syncopated trap drum intro, then twangy garage rock. Switches to somewhat uptempo 4/4 and very disturbing vocals. Yay!
2. 3:50 ***garage rock par excellence. Uptempo, psychy.
3. 4:35 ****bass and fuzz, cool syncopation – sounds a bit like spy movie music. Alto female vocals. Nice farfisa, too. Oooh, percussion break – funky!
4. 4:42 ***twangy guitar, rather soulful music, pretty female vocals. Very slow bits with psychedelic keyboards. Is sad. Whaaaaaa…
5. 3:55 ****FUNKY psych. Pretty female vocals, frantic sax, noodly farfisa, absolutely grotty guitar solo. Whee!
6. 3:49 ****Wow! Uptempo, fully crazed psych, gnarly vocals. Ape crazy guitar solo! I’m dumbfounded!
7. 4:41 ***slow, kinda soulful, with some of the most disturbed guitar noises I’ve ever heard – but extremely pretty female vocals.
8. 4:54 ***slow and dark, very pretty vocals with distinctly southeast Asian inflection.
9. 3:03 ****fuzzy garage psych – a bit muddy, but you can’t have everything. Still fucking awesome.
10. 4:34 *****great pop – midtempo, and completely suitable for doing the frug. Jolly vocals completely belie the apparent theme of the lyrics.
11. 3:50 ***downtempo, fuzzy, garagey, cool.
12. 4:41 ***tweety birds and extremely twangy guitars, very folksy rhythm, interesting stuff with disturbing lyrics.
13. 2:50 ***jaunty 60’s folk-rock sound, male vocals. Happy happy joy joy!
14. 4:13 ***sort of minimal cute pop with lots of noodly horn and keyboards behind very sweet female vocals. Some rather nice lounge-y elements. Unexpected wah-wah guitar at end.
15. 3:24 ****swingy chimey music, highly inflected vocal duet.
16. 4:54 ***groovy midtempo wiggle with a bit of march in the drums, cool horns.
17. 4:04 ****gnarly guitar sound (rather like ancient blues records), very very slow, interesting vocal stylings. Very deep stuff! Turns into a wah-wah mambo for last minute. Gosh…
Recent airplay
(Dawn)
Daydream Disaster (rebroadcast from Mar 14, 2013) — Feb 10, 2022
(A Girl's Destiny)
Sublime Frequencies 10 Year Anniversary — Mar 26, 2014
(The Sadness Of Being A Girl)
KZSU Top 100 of 2013 — Jan 02, 2014
(The Sadness Of Being A Girl)
New World Disorder — Aug 04, 2013
(The Greatest Love)
The Songsmith Show — May 03, 2013
(Long, Uneven Hair)
The Sunset Life — May 02, 2013
Charting
2013-03-02 — 2013-05-05
Reggae/World
| Week Ending | Airplays |
|---|---|
| May 5 | 3 |
| Apr 28 | 1 |
| Apr 21 | 3 |
| Apr 14 | 3 |
| Apr 7 | 5 |
| Mar 31 | 4 |
| Mar 24 | 1 |
| Mar 17 | 6 |
Track listing
| 1. | (The Greatest Love) | ||
| 2. | [The Crazy Song] | ||
| 3. | [Your Hair Clip] | ||
| 4. | (Long, Uneven Hair) | ||
| 5. | (The Sadness Of Being A Girl) | ||
| 6. | (Heart And Tears) | ||
| 7. | (Magical Night) | ||
| 8. | (Etoile Des Neiges) (Starfish) | ||
| 9. | (Black Sun) | ||
| 10. | (Dawn) | ||
| 11. | (Fireballs) | ||
| 12. | (A Love Story From Sau Ri) | ||
| 13. | (Our Treasures) | ||
| 14. | (Autumn Memory) | ||
| 15. | (Jealousy) | ||
| 16. | (A Girl's Destiny) | ||
| 17. | (Riddles) |