Hallo! It’s time for another double installment of Rare Charm track IDs. On deck are February’s Blue Valentine Special—equipped with more listener-submitted voicemail confessions of love so if you enjoyed last year’s mix, then you’re in for another treat— and March’s spotlight on one of my favorite record labels, Bungalow from Germany.
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February 25, 2023 - Blue Valentine Special 2023
If this is your first time learning about Rare Charm’s Blue Valentine Specials, I’ll give ya a quick rundown!
First I send out a prompt in advance of the broadcast calling for listeners or friends of listeners (anyone who is game, really!) to call the Blue Valentine hotline (just a Google Voice number) and spill their guts anonymously.
Participants are encouraged to profess their love for their crush, vent about an ex, gush about their current relationship, etc, etc— no limits, as long as messages aren’t wildly hateful. I download all the messages and then incorporate them into the mix of music in a way that I hope is funny, cathartic, and beautiful. Et voilà!
The second annual Rare Charm Blue Valentine Special didn’t go hard with the glitchy IDM this time, mostly went with straightforward love songs or telephone-themed songs. The mix truly speaks for itself, so I’ll let you listen back and make up your own mind about it.
And thank you HEAPS if you submitted a voice message. I’m always afraid I’m never going to have enough to fill out the whole two hours, but the people delivered and I’ll never be able to thank everyone enough for being brave enough and open to participate. <3333
March 29, 2023 - Bungalow Special
Bungalow Records, the innovative German pop + electronica label, was founded in Berlin in the 90s by dj duo Holger Beier and Marcus Leisenfeld aka Le Hammond Inferno. The label offered listeners a refreshing departure from the apathy they perceived in the German music scene at the time. One of the ways they accomplished this was by traveling and sourcing music from around the world, as well as hidden corners of their homeland, to bring a renewed sense of humor and playful spirit to the dancefloor.
March’s show features a survey of artists they signed and licensed from other countries across various releases, compilations, and mixes, including the beloved Sushi 3003 + 4004 comps which played a significant role in introducing Shibuya-kei/Happy Charm Fool Dance Music (HCFDM) to an international audience. Listen back for a global blend of indie clubpop, electroclash, and big beat infused with elements of hip hop, chanson, lounge, space-age pop, and disco beats from Mexico to Japan back to Germany and beyond.
I was already familiar with quite a few releases on the label’s roster (big fan of Le Hammond Inferno and the Sushi compilations, of course!), but putting this mix together afforded me the opportunity to dig even deeper into their catalog. One of my favorite discoveries is Manos Arriba!, a compilation of tracks from Mexico’s electro scene during the early 2000s. It was hard for me to decide which track I wanted to use off the comp before deciding on Natos’ “Danzón-era”, a bombastic and brass-heavy banger with a squiggly liquid bassline.
My other favorite was Stereo De Luxe’s Glam-O-Rama. Although I featured the track “Lipstick”, a groovy little number with big HCFDM spirit, I had been laughing my head off for weeks over “Lincoln Continental” and its roast of American politics, cuisine, and capitalism. Kind of regret I didn’t go with that one, but you can listen to it here:
I also cannot fail to mention how much I love Dauerfisch’s “Bitte gehen Sie Weiter” which somehow manages to convey a wistfulness along with an upbeat sense of resolve without the tinges of melancholy taking over.
Along my trawl, I came across a zip file of the label’s 100th release, RISIKO 100, on archive.org, but no need to download it as a kind YouTuber uploaded it all last year.
RISIKO 100 was a giant compilation of greatest hits. It was pressed as a 12” and also released in a CD + DVD bundle featuring music videos from artists on the label which you can watch above. Included is a very sweet ‘Making of RISIKO 100’ featurette around the 1:47:23 mark which lets us peer into Bungalow HQ, the creation of the comp’s cover art, and some of the faces behind the label.
I don’t care if it’s a faux pas to share this because it meant a lot to me that Holger Beier was supportive of the mix. I really admire what Beier and Leisenfeld achieved through Bungalow. Their legacy lives on in all of the beautiful, bonkers music they created and championed.
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Enjoy the music. ✤
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Rare Charm airs every last Wednesday of the month at 8pm PT on particle.fm ♪
🪩 LIL LOCAL GIG ANNOUNCEMENTS 🪩
I don’t have any flyers available yet but I will use this space to plug that I will be going b2b with my partner, Aaron Pretty, with an all-vinyl set at Part Time Lover on Friday, June 2—expect international electronica. Then on June 25 we are hosting ⓢⓞⓐⓟ, San Diego’s premier blissed-out night of chill-out, lounge pop, and cyberdelic grooves, at Whistle Stop with special guest dj Atrevido*, who tells me he’s going to bring out some UKG and pop remixes. 🤫
Guess you’ll just have to show up on the dance floor to find out for sure!
*If you’re in Seattle, be sure to catch Atrevido tearing it up at Kremwerk with JENNGREEN on Friday, May 19.