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A couple of months ago, Damon & Naomi's International Sad Hits, Volume One: Altaic Language Group was released. Four songs from four male singer/songwriters they've learnt about while touring is on it. They're all quite melancholic with a sense for poetry. The artists also have in common that guitar is their main instrument and that they (at least compared to what I usually listen to) are fairly old.


Fikret Kızılok (Fikret Kizilok):

Yeter ki (Just as Long)
Güzel Ne Güzel Olmuşsun (Beautiful, How Beautiful You Have Become)
Farketmeden (Without Noticing)
Anadolu'yum (I'm Anatolia)

Considering how much I enjoy hearing Turkish, it's strange that I so rarely listen to Turkish music. Fikret Kızılok has got a smooth voice and there's a soft feeling to all of these songs that I really like. All songs are just beautiful. And I can only wish there was more. I'd appreciate any recommendations for albums of his ^^


김두수 (Kim Doo Soo):

보헤미안 (Bohemian)
산 (Mountain)
해당화 (Sweet Briar)
들꽃 (Wild Flower)

The Bob Dylan comparison is something that would usually shy me away, but then some review I read said something like listening to this album, every song float into the other so you can't really tell which of the four artists it is singing this time. Since I already have two of Kim Doo Soo's albums, including his 4th which these songs are taken from, and like both a lot I went for it. I don't think that reviewer was totally right though. The other three artists do have much of what I like about Kim Doo Soo, but after hearing them once it's not difficult to tell them apart the next time. As for Kim Doo Soo's songs on here, Sweet Briar would not have made my top 4 and I would have preferred the 3rd album version of Bohemian, but they're all very nice.


友川かずき (Tomokawa Kazuki/Kazuki Tomokawa):

風の深夜 (Storms in the Dead of Night)
ここはどこなんだ (What Is This Place?)
葛西善蔵 (Kasai Zenzo)
坊や (My Boy)

Kazuki Tomokawa appears to have the widest range of the men on here. He too does the melancholic modern folk singer with brave, but he can get away with putting more force into it (though I do think he's sometimes too dramatic, especially in Kasai Zenzo) and My Boy is a beautiful song that with just a slight change in production could've been one of the most gorgeous Asian pop ballads of the 80s.


三上寛 (Mikami Kan):

未だ (Never Before)
好きなことならそのまま続けてりゃいいさ (Why Stop If You Like It?)
真っ赤な絨毯 (Scarlet Rug)
波止場の猿股 (At the Harbor in My Shorts)

While I thought Kazuki Tomokawa was too dramatic on occasion, Mikami Kan is too dramatic in all of his songs. His singing is fragmented and I don't really like his voice. As for song material, it would've been easier to tell if his singing had been more melodic. At times his songs are too repetitive, but with the translated lyrics at least I know that all this repetition has a meaning.


Besides presenting these artists to a bigger audience, the best thing about this album is the booklet. Damon & Naomi have taken the time to write about this compilation themselves and every artist is introduced on two pages. In addition there are English translations to all the lyrics - they're beautiful.