Random Czech Goodness

So, I've been bopping around the Czech countryside recently, including a road-trip to Karlovy Vary (North Bohemia) and Mikulov (South Moravia) and last weekend, my girlfriend and I visited Moravsky Krumlov and Perlstejn Castle.

Puts me in the mood to share some Czech-ish tunes with my expanding fan-base.

Warning - this is a pretty random selection, but groovy.

We've got Cechomor, formerly the CeskoMoravska Hudebni Spolecnost (Czech-Moravian Musical Society), a folk-rock act, doing "Vcelin" (The Beehive), from their album Mezi Horami (In the Mountains). 1998.

Updated to add: Cechomor perform in Atlanta tonight (Friday 3 Nov), NYC tomorrow (4 Nov) and Boston on Sunday (5 Nov). http://www.czechomorustour.com/

Then we've got Karel Gott with "Lady Carneval" from the LP of the same name. At an office Christmas party last year, a colleague who I never would have guessed could sing, tore the roof off this at Karaoke. Cheesy late 60s pop, but roof-tearable nonetheless. 1968.

Updated to add - Gott will be playing Sazka Arena in Prague on Monday 13 Nov.

And Plastic People of the Universe, famous dissident jazz-rock outfit, were joined by a chap named Paul Wilson for a nearly unlistenable album of mostly Velvet Underground covers called Trouble Everyday. From this I share "Some Kinda Love". You may not thank me for it. 1971/1977.

Fatty Lumpkin are an interesting crew. Guitarist Ladi Kolsky is Czech, the singer is British, the bassist Canadian, and the drummer from somewhere else. Mostly funky, I share with you "Black Tie and Caviar" from their 2005 release, Fatty Lumpkin.

Alas FL's website is not up and if one performs a google search on Fatty Lumpkin Prague, this blog entry is in the first page of returns.

Jan Werich (1905-1980) was an actor/singer/writer of extensive talents. His tunes primarily fall into the pop/musical theater category. This is certainly true of those on the 1997 collection, Tmavomodry Svet (Dark Blue World). I share with you "Nerymovana" (Rhymeless), recorded in 1952.

Lucien Zell is a poet from California who has lived in Prague for several years. He often performs with an interesting bellows-like instrument. I share "God Is In Orbit" from the CD included in his volume Eden's Midnight Playground. He's also a really neat guy.

And finally, Ondrej Havelka and his Melody Makers performing "Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar". These guys are an unrepentent swing crew who thoroughly have their act together. This comes from their compilation Nejlepsi Kusy z Repertoiru (The Best Pieces from Our Repertoire). If you're in Prague, their shows tomorrow and Thursday are sold out, but the 3rd December show is not.

Get it all at http://rapidshare.com/files/1390051/__CzechTunes.zip