Tak Shindo fans ?

I'm very curious about Tak Shindo's music . Any fans out there in Tikiland ? If yes fill me in .

I have a chance to pick up two of his albums . One is " Far East Goes Western " , and the other is " Brass and Bamboo " .

I have Accent on Bamboo and Mganga.

Good stuff, nice percussion, but not super-mandatory Exotica.

Sent you a PM, sushiman.

I like Tak Shindo personally. Far East Goes Western is western standards with an oriental flair. Brass and Bamboo is jazz and exotica with an oriental flair. Good stuff in my opinion.
Read more about him here:
http://www.echo.ucla.edu/volume6-issue2/sheppard/sheppard1.html
Far East Goes Western can be found here:
http://www.spaceagepop.com/shindo.htmhttp://mrjevil.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2007-06-30T12%3A00%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7
Brass and Bamboo is here:
http://konotiki.blogspot.com/2006/12/tak-shindo-brass-and-bamboo.html
Mganga is also very good:
http://www.blognow.com.au/XtabaysWorld/56151/Tak_Shindo_-_Mganga.html
Hope this helps.

On 2007-07-11 18:06, sushiman wrote:
I'm very curious about Tak Shindo's music . Any fans out there in Tikiland ? If yes fill me in .

I have a chance to pick up two of his albums . One is " Far East Goes Western " , and the other is " Brass and Bamboo " .

If it's not an arm and a leg, pick up Far East Goes Western. My pale Quince_at_Danny's just picked it up and it's very interesting -- very creative, recording western songs with an asian vibe. Brass and Bamboo is a great record as well, and more in line with exotica.

~glen

On 2007-07-11 19:42, Mashuka wrote:
I like Tak Shindo personally. Far East Goes Western is western standards with an oriental flair. Brass and Bamboo is jazz and exotica with an oriental flair. Good stuff in my opinion.
Read more about him here:
http://www.echo.ucla.edu/volume6-issue2/sheppard/sheppard1.html
Far East Goes Western can be found here:
http://www.spaceagepop.com/shindo.htmhttp://mrjevil.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2007-06-30T12%3A00%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7
Brass and Bamboo is here:
http://konotiki.blogspot.com/2006/12/tak-shindo-brass-and-bamboo.html
Mganga is also very good:
http://www.blognow.com.au/XtabaysWorld/56151/Tak_Shindo_-_Mganga.html
Hope this helps.

Arigato gozaimashita!

On 2007-07-11 20:43, I, Zombie wrote:

On 2007-07-11 18:06, sushiman wrote:
I'm very curious about Tak Shindo's music . Any fans out there in Tikiland ? If yes fill me in .

I have a chance to pick up two of his albums . One is " Far East Goes Western " , and the other is " Brass and Bamboo " .

If it's not an arm and a leg, pick up Far East Goes Western. My pale Quince_at_Danny's just picked it up and it's very interesting -- very creative, recording western songs with an asian vibe. Brass and Bamboo is a great record as well, and more in line with exotica.

~glen

Far East Goes Western is roughly $ 25 and in EXC++ condition . Fair price ? B & B in VG and $ 10 ,

Personally, I would pick up EVERYTHING by Tak Shindo. I have been happy with everything I have ever heard by him. All the albums mentioned in this thread (4) are all that I know about except for some exclusive tracks on a compilation album called "The Yellow Unicorn." It's a beatnik type record with various artists on it. It was released on Imperial Records back in the sixties. It is definitely worth seeking out as well.

I wouldn't pay more than $25 for the "Goes Western" album. Make sure you get STEREO!!!

I would pass on any album that is only VG. This is a pretty beat up record. Definitely not worth the $10 asking price.

Hope this helps!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Oh, thanks for posting that Tak Shindo link Mashuka. Very interesting and very well written!!

Awesome!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

On 2007-07-12 07:43, Jeff Central wrote:
Personally, I would pick up EVERYTHING by Tak Shindo. ...

I wouldn't pay more than $25 for the "Goes Western" album. Make sure you get STEREO!!!

I would pass on any album that is only VG. This is a pretty beat up record. Definitely not worth the $10 asking price.

Hope this helps!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

I think Jeff is right on with this advice. All of it is worth picking up, but VG IS kinda lousy usually, so hold off on that, and $25 seems a bit steep for the Western record. If it's $25 plus another 5 or 6 for shipping, well I would probably wait until I get another shot at it. That said, Jeff and I both live in the midwest, and I won't speak for him, but I know that where I am the record picking is still (somewhat) less difficult and fruitful. Sounds like your situation might be different and you're relying on ebay or the like to get this stuff. If that's the case, you'll be forced to pay a premium for stuff.

Good luck. I hope it works out.

glen

Not to be contrary, but of the four Tak Shindo albums I'm aware of, the Western album is the most dispensible and overtly gimmicky. I've unloaded every copy I've ever picked up. I wouldn't pay more than a dollar for it, but that's just me.

Mganga is the best, and I think the hardest to find. Parts of it are very similar to Les Baxter circa Tamboo and Ritual.

The Capitol albums are nice, especially Brass and Bamboo. Be sure to get the mono versions of these; they have much more presence and dynamics.

Also, if using strict standards, a VG album should be very clean. I sell albums to Dustygroove, and when I tell 'em an album is VG, it's very clean with no audible pops or deep marks.

[ Edited by: OnyaBirri 2007-07-12 16:49 ]

On 2007-07-12 16:46, OnyaBirri wrote:
Not to be contrary, but of the four Tak Shindo albums I'm aware of, the Western album is the most dispensible and overtly gimmicky. I've unloaded every copy I've ever picked up. I wouldn't pay more than a dollar for it, but that's just me.

Onya,

Hell, I'll pay ya 2 bucks for the next time you pick up that western LP! ;>)

Honestly, I thought it was an interesting LP and I hope to score a copy for myself one of these days. But I agree that Mganga is pretty special, and possibly the best. Also, that's cool that you follow the guidelines about VG LPs, but unfortunately a LOT of record dealers do not. In my experience, even VG+ is a crap shoot with some of these online guys.

~glen

On 2007-07-12 16:46, OnyaBirri wrote:
Not to be contrary, but of the four Tak Shindo albums I'm aware of, the Western album is the most dispensible and overtly gimmicky. I've unloaded every copy I've ever picked up. I wouldn't pay more than a dollar for it, but that's just me.

Mganga is the best, and I think the hardest to find. Parts of it are very similar to Les Baxter circa Tamboo and Ritual.

The Capitol albums are nice, especially Brass and Bamboo. Be sure to get the mono versions of these; they have much more presence and dynamics.

Also, if using strict standards, a VG album should be very clean. I sell albums to Dustygroove, and when I tell 'em an album is VG, it's very clean with no audible pops or deep marks.

[ Edited by: OnyaBirri 2007-07-12 16:49 ]

You make a good point about picking up the mono vs. stereo. The quality of Capitols mono (aka High Fidelity) recordings is often a topic of discussion between I Zombie and myself. We've both noticed that the Capitol High Fidelity stuff is some of the best sounding vinyl you can get, while their Stereo mixes are frequently a little off. Far East Goes West is a Mercury release, the stereo mix is quite a bit better. (I recently picked up a mint copy of it--I love it but I like gimmicky records :)

Capitol was the king of Mono, but RCA was the king of stereo--I would never hesitate to pick up an RCA stereo release, they were always far superior to mono and other labels' stereo.

Correct about some eBay dealers who exaggerate the condition of vinyl. I was simply going by strict Goldmine standards, which are followed by reputable dealers.

Wasn't trying to knock "Far East Goes West." I'm clearly in the minority on this one!

And yes, Capitol mono LPs right up through mid to late 60s are among the very best sounding and pressed vinyl you'll ever come across. What a sound.

I'm sure you hipsters already know this, but mono LPs sound way better when played back in mono. If your amp doesn't have a mono button, you can use a Y adapter patch cord from Radio Shack for five bucks to do the job. You'll especially notice the improvement on the inner grooves.

On 2007-07-13 05:09, OnyaBirri wrote:

And yes, Capitol mono LPs right up through mid to late 60s are among the very best sounding and pressed vinyl you'll ever come across. What a sound.

Agreed! The really nice High-Fidelity (mono) recordings are all about extreme depth of range. In some ways it's analogous to stereo, but instead of left and right, it's front and back. The Capitol ones are great. You can hear way down into the mix. Just really nice.

However, I've been running into trouble with early 60s Capitol Stereo LPs. Often, I find distortion on those records, usually coming through one channel. The vinyl will look shiny and almost new, but I'll get weird distortion. It's a specific problem with some Capitol stereo LPs from about 1961-63 or somewhere in there. Doesn't happen every time, but enough times that I've noticed it. Onya, is there any discussion of that in vinyl circles that you know of?

~glen

Not aware of this. Stereo LPs in general are more prone to distortion than a mono LP played in mono. Could also be that the records were played with too much weight and/or a less-than-ideal stylus (stereo was pretty new then, and lord knows what turntables folks were using).

Great discussion guys!

In my experience I find it necessary to own both the mono and stereo copies of albums that I really like. Sometimes the mono copy is sounds better, sometimes the stereo. It all depends on how it was mixed.

Sometimes they are totally different recording sessions with different instrumentation. One for instance is the "Space Escapade" album by Les Baxter. The mono copy has a really cool electronic instrument playing on some tracks while the stereo copy does not. Another album by Les Baxter is "Ports of Pleasure." The mono version actually has two tracks that do not appear on the stereo copy. Sometimes even the chronological order of the songs have been changed.

I have yet to compare the Tak Shindo albums.

God I love vinyl!!!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

"Ports of Pleasure," I believe, was the first stereo album Capitol issued. In the early days of stereo, the mono was not mixed from stereo or multitracks; they utilized two sets of microphones and engineers. So, the mic placement and overall mix on albums like "Ports" and "Escapade" is completely different.

In addition, both of those albums contain overdubs on the mono that are not on the stereo. On "Ports" there is a piano solo over "Pearls of Ceylon," choir on "Harem Silks of Bombay" and additional piano and percussion on "Spice Island Sea Birds." Agree, if you love Les Baxter, you need these two albums in mono and stereo.

Much as I love Capitol mono LPs, "Ports of Pleasure" is one of the best stereo albums I ever heard, hands down. I haven't heard the Cherry Red CD, but the "Exotic Moods" collection really botched the sound on the tracks from "Ports of Pleasure." "Tahiti" especially sounded bad on "Exotic Moods."