MetaFilter posts tagged with worldmusic

Around the World Circuit

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:20:34 -0800

An effortless melding of Malian and western styles topped off by the gorgeously smoky voice of Fatoumata Diawara. The infectiously brisk tempo, chiming guitar artistry and tight, rapid fire harmonies of Shirati Jazz. The warmly grounded choral expression of South Africa's Black Umfolosi. The delicate, calmly unfolding wellspring of melody (starting off with a classic Morricone spaghetti-western quote!) of kora master Toumani Diabate. The loping, balafon-driven groove over which the majestic, declamatory voice of Oumou Sangare soars. The classic, Cuban-inspired rhumba (but with the distinctively African feel and sound) of Orchestra Baobab... all these modern treasures of African music and much, much more from Africa and beyond at the World Circuit Soundcloud page. Enjoy the ride!

Psybient

jeffburdges — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 02:23:46 -0800

Psybient or psychill is an chillout genre that combines elements of ambient with psytrance and world music, along with some glitch and dub sounds. Excellent examples are Land Switcher (more), Solar Fields (site), Euphorica, and Entheogenic. For more, check out r/psybient or the psybient tags on souncloud.com or last.fm, or check out mixes on youtube. Infected Mushroom's recent work has many similar qualities overall but lacks the chillout aspect.

Que estando triste, cantava

winna — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 22:56:20 -0800

Fado is a Portuguese musical genre which originated in the 1820’s in Lisbon. It has been enjoying a revival over the last twenty years, one of the most prominent recent voices being that of Mariza. In 2006 Simon Broughton did a documentary exploring the roots of the music. Via youtube, here is Mariza and the Story of Fado. The current historiography suggests that it was part of the cultural exchange between Brazil and Portugal which occurred when the Portuguese court fled Napoleon to Brazil in 1807. Fado was extremely popular in Portugal through the early twentieth century, but its popularity declined after the fall of the corporatist military regime in 1974 due to the way the regime had used the music to push their social agenda. Its revival is associated with a number of singers, among them Mísia, Cristina Branco, and of course Mariza herself. Men sing fado as well (of the two schools of fado, Lisbon and Coimbra, that of Coimbra is traditionally sung by men) - some of the men currently singing fado (both of Lisbon and Coimbra) are António Zambujo, Camané, Fernando Machado Soares (who is one of the great exponents of the Coimbra tradition) and Marco Rodrigues.

It Is Accomplished: Peter Gabriel's 'Passion', live

prinado — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 23:58:32 -0800

The Francesco Albano Open Ensemble performs selections from Peter Gabriel's Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ [All Music/Discogs] at Castel dell'Ovo, a 6th-century seaside castle in Naples Italy. Track list and instrumentation inside. Released in 1989 as a musical collage for the Martin Scorsese film, Passion fused ancient and modern rhythms inspired by field recordings captured in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Southeastern Europe; as well as western choral, and modern ambient touches. The album introduced many listeners to such artists as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N'Dour, L. Shankar, and Baaba Maal. Performed live in 2008, Francesco Albano Open Ensemble faithfully recreated the textures of the original recording using many of the same instruments. Playlist Tracks: Passion Of These, Hope > Lazarus Raised > Of These, Hope (reprise) A Different Drum Zaar Troubled Stigmata Finale: Disturbed > It is Accomplished > Bread and Wine Francecso Albano Open Ensemble: Francesco Albano: Keyboards, Guitars, Programming Riccardo Veno: Duduk, Bansuri, Chalumeau, Flagealet, Ciaramelia (piffero), Sipsi, Soprano Sax Antionio Fraioli: Violin Salvio Vassallo: Drum kit Paolo Cimmino: Frame drums, Riq, Darbouka, Djembe, Bendir, Daf, Gatham Francesca Del Duca: Riq, Darbouka, Djembe, Bodhran, Caxini Bruno Sacci: voice Valentia Gaudini: voice DIY String Quartet

Try Not To Think Of Christopher Cross

timsteil — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:42:17 -0800

While best remembered for his starring role in a horrible movie, once upon a time, the man had some chops. A surprising mix of world-tinged fusion and straight ahead jazz from 1969, I give you:

"The Dudley Moore Trio"

Sephardic Music: A Century of Recordings

OmieWise — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 07:41:49 -0800

Sephardic Music: A Century of Recordings is a discographic website charting the recording of Sephardic secular and liturgical songs. It includes great sections on 78 rpm recordings, early repertory, and modern recordings. Samples of songs are littered throughout, but many can be found in the Appendix section on 78 labels (at the bottom of the page) and the Songs section of the Appendix. There are many other parts of the site to explore, but the Bibiliography deserves a special mention, as does this page providing samples of 125! different recordings of the popular song A la una over the past 100 years.

Rebel Radio '98

mannequito — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:52:45 -0800

In April 1998, Ninja Tune duo Up Bustle & Out traveled from Bristol to Havana. They were greeted by legendary flautist Richard Egües, who would be their guide to meeting and recording a number of Cuban musicians over the next two months. The result was the two-volume Rebel Radio: The Master Sessions, an adventurous meeting point between 'the smokeyness of Bristol and the coolness of Havana'. UB&O's Rupert Mould kept a journal which he would later publish as The Rebel Radio Diaries.

The bandura (або, «Яка в бісу арфа, янголи грають на бандурах!»).

Nomyte — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:41:53 -0800

Paparazzi by Lady Gaga. OF HISTORICAL INTEREST Known since at least medieval times, the bandura is the iconic instrument of Ukraine's folk music, resembling the lute and the oud. Some also see a connection to the Russian psaltery-like gusli, which is, however, strummed rather than plucked. In more modern times, it has diverged from its close relative, the more lute-like kobza, although in earlier times the terminology was doubtless more fluid. Copper has long since replaced the original's sinew strings. The bandura's master, the kobzar-bandurist, occupies a central place in Ukrainian culture. The image of the blind minstrel who sings lays, recitative laments, and folk epics, his instrument in hand, provided the title and imagery to the cornerstone of Ukrainian literature, Taras Shevchenko's Kobzar. For centuries, bandurists had entertained the royal courts of Poland, Germany, and Russia. Here are some short biographies of historical bandurists, including concert bandurists, folk kobzars (both blind and sighted), and early ethnomusicologists, many of whom suffered under both Imperial and Soviet regimes. This page (UKR, click on thumbnails) shows some examples of historical variation in the instrument's design. Here is an older-style instrument being played. By the 20th century, the kobza had fallen into relative obscurity and two main schools of bandura design had come to dominate. The standard or Kyiv-style bandura is the larger instrument. In the Kyiv style of play, the dominant hand plucks the shorter body strings (the prystrunky) and the other hand plays the low strings located on the bridge. This instrument appears in prima and concert varieties. The prima has 55 to 58 strings and is tuned in G major, while the concert bandura is strung with 61 to 65 strings and has a special machanism for changing key quickly (the shestok). By comparison, the so-called Kharkiv-style bandura is smaller, allowing both hands to pluck the strings on the instrument's body. Unlike the Kyiv-style, it is a chromatic instrument. It is also more popular with the Ukrainian diaspora, although it also appears to be making inroads in Ukraine. A quick summary is available here and a demonstration of the Kharkiv playing style is here (sadly without sound). Both types of bandura are, paradoxically, produced by two factories in Lviv and Chernyhiv, following two historical models (see the historical note). An amateur instrument-maker's blog details the process of creating one of these instruments. This post explains the bandura's tuning mechanism. The blog's author provides additional details with more photos here. There are professional bandura makers in North America as well. Here is Hnat Khotkevych, a bandura scholar from the turn of 20th century, playing the bandura in a scene from the 1936 film version of a historical play by Shevchenko. BANDURA PERFORMANCE In recent years, young performers have become media darlings by covering popular favorites. Two of the most prominent such performers are the Kyiv native Yaroslav Dzhus and young Odessite Georgiy Matviyiv (site). Mr. Dzhus (b. 1988) began with the accordion and wanted to play the harp, but was told that it is an instrument played strictly by women. His bandurist training began in ninth grade. He eventually completed a course of musical education at a local bandura academy, training in performance, composition, and musical direction. Mr. Dzhus's big break came in 2010 with his appearance on the second season of Ukraine's Got Talent, where he reached the semifinals (tryouts, semifinal). Instead of entering the compatition himself the following year, Mr. Dzhus presented the panel of judges with a novelty bandura sextet of young "alternative" performers (tryouts). More interestingly, Mr. Dzhus also appeared at the 2010 commemoration of the Ukrainian famine of 1932–1933 in Toronto (1 | 2 | 3, just the Carol of the Bells from part 3). While there, he also played a small house concert: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4. More recently, Mr. Dzhus has also appeared with the Roman Archakov jazz project and various guests (1 | 2 | 3) and performed with the Japanese Ukraine-o-phile and bandurist Charlie Sakuma. Mr. Matviyiv (b. 1987) tends to describe his music as "jazz" and has appeared extensively at national and region festivals of jazz and folk music. Thus far he has released three albums, here listed with sample tracks:

Exit (2007): Submergence | Silver Moon, Evening Quayside Blues, Improvisation on a Folk Theme
On the Edge (2009): Improvisation on a Folk Theme #2 | My Angel
New View (2011): New View | Wild West Jazz | Summertime

Here are some concert and festival appearances: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4. He also covers some classics: The House of the Rising Sun, Super Mario Theme, Monti's Csárdás. Of course, there are plenty of accomplished contemporary bandurists other than young hotshots like Dzhus and Matiyiv. Take, for instance, accomplished concert musician Dmytro Hubyak, who plays concert pieces (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5) as well as modern arrangements of folk songs (1 | 2). Oh, and he's covered Ennio Morricone. The bandura is no stranger to Ukrainian folk rock, either. Here's Kobza, a band that has included a bandurist (with an amplified bandura, no less!) since its inception in 1971: Три трембіти, Зайчик, Впали двi зiрницi, Зачекай. The substantial Ukrainian community in Canada has preserved the bandura tradition and maintains ongoing ties with the homeland. The Greater Toronto area is home to the Canadian Bandurist Capella, an all-male choir that performs and records a variety of historical and sacred music under the musical direction of Victor Mishalow. Some concert pieces: Тарасова Ніч / Гайдамацька пісня | Розпрягайте, хлопці, коні / Бандуристе, орле сизий | Гoмiн Степів / Грай, кобзарю! Also, here's a sample of their Canon in D and a lovely home recording by one of their younger bandurists. The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, which is also all male and is based in Michigan, has existed in some form since 1918: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4. Here is an interview with some members: 1 | 2. And in case you haven't had enough bandura pop covers: bandurist triplets cover Robert Miles (who?), Metallica, Linkin Park, Evanescence, and more. And some more random bits and bobs:

The Kyiv Kobzar Workshop (UKR site) is on YouTube and has a channel full of cool stuff.
SvitBandur.com (i.e., "Bandura World") has a big audio gallery with MP3 recordings of bandurists past and present (click on portraits to get to each artist's page with audio clips).
Olijnyk, Concerto for Two Banduras and Orchestra: 2 | 3. This may be an older recording of the first movement.
An interview with Julian Kytasty, the son of Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus founder Hrihori Kytasty: 1 | 2; an improvisation for bandura and soprano sax; high-brow New York multimedia bandura experience: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Bandura electronica?
Bandura Tico-Tico?
Google Schemer wants you to "take on the Ukrainian bandura."
This super-hammy street performer kept showing up in my search results, so I guess here he is: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4. His name is Stepan Shcherbak.
Before you think that all young Ukrainians are bandura-playing angels who wear colorful folk outfits, here's some authentic Ukrainian youth culture.
Uh, if you wanted to improve your Ukrainian by reading fan-translated manga, I guess you could?

Enjoy!

In darkness my heart was won

Mezentian — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 07:04:19 -0800

After more than 15 years on hiatus, the punk-spawned, world-music-defining Dead Can Dance released their eighth album Anastasis one month ago. The reunited act are on a world tour. Words are not sufficient for Dead Can Dance, so why not sample the new album, live? Children of the Sun Anabasis Agape Amnesia Kiko Opium Return of the She-King All in Good Time (B/W The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove) Bonuses: Song to the Siren (Brendan singing). The Host of Seraphim The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove (Live 2005) Black Sun Severance In Power We Entrust the Love Advocated Toward The Within (Previously) Bonus bonuses: True Love (Marching Girls, Brendan Perry's previous band, from Dogs In Space) Severance (covered by Bauhaus) The Human Game - Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke

78 78s

carter — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:00:29 -0800

78 78s - In Search Of Lost Time - is a streaming mix of beautiful 78s from around the world, collected and curated by Ian Nagoski. "I started sifting through boxes of junky old 78s that no one else wanted about 15 years ago, and almost right away, I made a rule: Anything that wasn't in English, buy it." Ian's projects have been discussed here before.

Abney Park

jeffburdges — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:51:31 -0800

Abney Park has evolved from their goth beginnings into the "quintessential" steampunk band, complete with industrial dance and world music influences. Also, they created a pen & paper role playing games Airship Pirates based upon their song Airship Pirates .. .. to accommodate their identities that accompanied their music transition. Their Æther Shanties album has several more pirate themed songs. Abney Park was a nonconformist village that became Abney Park Cemetery

World Folk Music

OmieWise — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:03:15 -0800

Root Hog or Die has an extensive collection of links to world folk music repositories. There are over 60, with days and days of music to listen to. Some are comprised of field recordings, some are from old 78s, and some are from more contemporary sources, so you'll have to use your judgement about which you're comfortable visiting. The sites cover everything from Hmong music to Ossetian music to Northwest Fiddle Field Recordings.

Worrying is praying for what you don't want

hippybear — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:26:02 -0800

I asked what he had in mind, and he explained that he was taking a friend and embarking on a round-the-world trip, from the jungles of Africa to the streets of New York by way of India and Australasia, and planning to record any musicians he could find on the way into his Apple Powerbook, using it as a fully fledged multitrack recording studio. His intention thereby, he claimed, was to create a CD, DVD, and documentary film, all three of which would provide a snapshot of mankind at the turn of the new Millennium, and form a vast multimedia project designed to, as he put it, "celebrate the unity and the diversity of humanity". 1 Giant Leap is a multimedia project by Duncan Bridgeman (ex-Tribal Drift) and Jamie Catto (ex-Faithless). Armed with a laptop and recording equipment (and a video camera), they traveled around the world for six months recording musicians and filming interviews with thinkers ranging from Dennis Hopper and Tom Robbins to Ram Dass and Rabbi Yosef Kantor, one of two rabbis in Thailand. The resulting CD and DVD project was 2002's 1 Giant Leap: Unity Through Diversity. [NPR review, RealAudio link 4m37s]

Music: Dunya Salam (featuring Baaba Maal) My Culture [official music video] (featuring Robbie Williams and Maxi Jazz) [bonus live performance from Later] The Way You Dream (featuring Michael Stipe and Asha Bhosle) Ma' Africa (featuring The Mahotella Queens and Ulali, poem by Moseo) Braided Hair [official music video] (featuring Speech and Neneh Cherry and Ulali) Ta Moko [extended instrumental mix, original unavailable online] (featuring Whirimako Black) Bushes (featuring Baaba Maal) [unavailable online] Passion (featuring Michael Franti) Daphne (featuring Eddi Reader and The Mahotella Queens and Revetti Sakalkar) All Alone (On Eilean Shona) Racing Away (featuring Grant-Lee Phillips and Horace Andy) Ghosts (featuring Eddi Reader) Video: [excerpted segments from the DVD] Masks & Roles [9m7s] (featuring Ram Dass, Linton Kwese Johnson, Revetti and Dr. Sakalkar, Dennis Hopper, Lynne Franks) Confrontation [9m56s] (featuring Fred Reid, David Oldfield, George Nuku) God: Unity [10m45s] (featuring Jerry Sadowitz, Linesh Shesh, Tom Robbins, Gabrielle Roth, Dennis Hopper, Speech, Hilda Buthelezi, Rabbi Yosef Kantor) Inspiration [11m1s] (featuring T.O. Jazz, Kaolin Thompson, Ram Dass, Baaba Maal, Maxi Jazz, Kurt Vonnegut, Dennis Hopper, Tom Robbins, George Nuku) Happiness [9m34s] (featuring Gabrielle Roth, Tom Robbins, Elders of the Tachi Reservation, Kurt Vonnegut) behind the scenes [8m18s]

In 2004, the duo set out into the world again for a second project. This time their travels lasted for four years instead of six months, and they doubled the number of people they interviewed and musicians they recorded. The result was the double-CD and double DVD project, 2009's 1 Giant Leap: What About Me?

Music: Come To The Edge (featuring Lila Downs and Huun Huur Tu) Each Step Moves Us On (featuring Zap Mama and Speech) How Can I Be A Better Friend To You? (featuring Jhelisa Anderson [autoplay music] and Maxi Jazz) There's Nothing Wrong With Me (featuring Jhelisa Anderson and Oumou Sangaré) Are You My Love? (featuring Daniel Lanois and Eddi Reader) Wounded In All The Right Places (featuring k.d. lang) I Have Seen Trouble (featuring Aluta and Michael Stipe) Solita Sin Solidad (featuring Lila Downs and Carlos Santana) Serenity Prayer (featuring Huun Huur Tu, MXO and Eddi Reader) 1 Small Step (featuring Baaba Maal and Nana Tsiboe) Why Must I Feel Like This Today? (featuring Baaba Maal, Michael Franti, Ulali, Radio Active, and Krishna Das) Under A Stormy Sky / I've Been Away (featuring Haale, Michael Franti, Maxi Jazz, Eddi Reader and Daniel Lanois) What I Need Is Something Different (featuring Speech and Boots Riley) Mothers, Don't Cry (featuring Miss Honda, Ramata Diakite and Miles Solay) The Truth Is Changing (featuring Will Young and Amampondo) Freedom (featuring Nana Tsiboe and African Show Boys) Arrival (featuring Alanis Morissette, Eugene Hütz, El Tanbura and Aida Samb) Forgive Me (featuring Sharon Lewis, Suzue and Amjad Ali Khan) Set Me Free (featuring Yungchen Lhamo, Rokia Traore, Sussan Deyhim and Joseph Arthur) What I Need Is Something Different (Dub) (featuring Speech and Boots Riley) Video: [excerpted segments from the What About Me? DVD] Trailer for What About Me? [8m31s] Bombardment Part 1 [6m59s] Part 2 [6m48s] Loss (extract) [8m5s] The 12-chapter film can be seen online in its entirety. [85minutes] A follow-up Q&A session with Duncan and Jamie after a showing of What About Me? Part 1 [9m7s] Part 2 [7m54s] What About Me? was also a seven part television series which documented Duncan and Jamie's travels around the planet making the series. It aired in several countries around the world. (YouTube page for television series -- videos not available in USA, cannot determine where they can be viewed.) These episodes are on the second DVD in the What About Me? DVD set. Chapter 1 Trailer "Bombardment" [1m43s] Chapter 2 Trailer "Wounded" [1m47s] Chapter 3 Trailer "Men & Women" [1m30s] Chapter 4 Trailer "Love and Need" [1m27s] Chapter 5 Trailer "The Wanting & The Freedom" [1m33s] Chapter 6 Trailer "Grace" [1m28s] Chapter 7 Trailer "The Journey" [2m10s]

Bonus video footage: Duncan Bridgeman interviewed on NibbanaTV Part 1 [9m47s] Part 2 [10m] Part 3 [10m] Painting Duncan Bridgeman [7m10s] Interview with Duncan Bridgeman [10m8s]

"I soon learned that if I was asked to play something over again, it meant that they didn't understand it, not that they liked it."

No-sword — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:15:22 -0800

"But this wasn't quite enough and so then I got the idea of having all thirteen of the lowest tones of the piano played together... In other words, I was inventing a new musical sound later to be called 'tone clusters'... Anyway, this was my professional debut as a composer." Henry Cowell's musical autobiography. Cowell was one of the most important figures in 20th-century American music, described by John Cage as "the open sesame for new music in America." In this hour-long program recorded four years before his death in 1965, compositions from every stage in Cowell's career are contextualized and discussed by the man himself.

Charlie Gillet; b. 20 Feb. 1942; d. 17 March 2010

adamvasco — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:52:36 -0800

Musicologist, Writer, Radio Presenter, and Record Producer.
Charlie Gillett who died yesterday was the author of The Sound of the City (1970), which has been described as "the first comprehensive history of rock and roll". Gillett was also among the first DJs to champion Graham Parker, Ian Dury (whom he briefly managed) and Elvis Costello. However he is probably best known for sharing his passion for world music.

I just love this music for its own sake,’ he says. 'I don’t have any other agenda in presenting it. I genuinely believe it’s the best music there is.

Thank you for introducing me to so much good music. .

Horse Fiddles

clarknova — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:41:06 -0800

The etheric, tectonic tones of Tuvan throat signing are familiar to every world music aficionado. While the singing style itself is captures the spotlight, the Igil, a sort of half-violin, half-banjo , is the traditional accompaniment of the steppe musician.

John Pascuzzi of A Single Thread combines the finger-and-bow work of a classical violinist with electronica and a traditional Igil to produce haunting, dark, gripping, arrangements that really rock.

Heeeeeeeeere's Jacey

mannequito — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:12:04 -0800

Jace Clayton, better known as DJ /Rupture (previously on mefi), interviewed last month for the avclub. He discusses his use of Colombian cumbia music, collaborating with Dutch guitarist Andy Moor of The Ex, and a concept record with his Spanish electro-string quartet Nettle. The concept? Stephen King's The Shining transported to an abandoned luxury hotel in Dubai.

Radiodiffusion Internasionaal -- popular world music of the 60's and 70's

cog_nate — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:51:05 -0800

"Radiodiffusion Internasionaal is devoted to the evolution of popular music from Africa, the Middle East, India and Asia and the proliferation of Western influences on these non-Western cultures. The focus is primarily the music from the mid 60's to the mid 70's." (Description from the front page of the site.) Slightly differently formatted version of the website here. Nice set of links, too (scroll down to the Words and Pictures section).

World Passport Music Downloads

algreer — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:16:28 -0800

World Passport Music – 75 hours of free world music in mp3/podcast format. Afrobeat, Cuban Diaspora, Haitian Kompa, Salsa, Highlife, Rumba Congolaise, Kinshasa-Nairobi Sounds, Afrijazz, Calypso, Hawaiian, American Jazz Roots, Yoruban Ejeki Jo... Let’s Dance!

Ai que saudade d'ocê

St Urbain's Horseman — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:33:29 -0800

Badi Assad has some incredible technique goin' on (YouTube) and charisma to burn. The 41-year-old Brazilian singer and guitarist comes from a musical family and has been signed to a pretty prestigious North-American record label. Of course these days there is the obligatory Wikipedia entry and her MySpace page. Here's an interview (from ten years ago) wherein she discusses her music. So far as I can see those hips and those lips and those fingertips don't lie. [Much more Badi Assad on YouTube]

An orchestra of clown horns!

geos — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 06:16:43 -0800

Por Por: Squeeze-bulb horn music of Ghana[pdf].

History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man

klangklangston — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:22:13 -0800

OH NO! THERE GOES TOKYO! GO GO GODZILLA! (Nearly) every Godzilla soundtrack. (Thanks to my girlfriend for hipping me to this)

Farewell, Hamza

digaman — Tue, 23 May 2006 13:38:15 -0800

Hamza el Din, hailed as "the father of Nubian music," has died. El Din's death has not yet been reported in the news, but I'm told he passed away from complications of brain surgery. It's a great loss for music lovers all over the world. "Escalay," performed on oud with the Kronos Quartet on their album Pieces of Africa, is probably his best-known work, but "Ollin Arageed," his haunting piece for handclaps and tar -- a goatskin drum -- was played numerous times onstage with the Grateful Dead, who championed el Din's music and jammed with him at the Great Pyramid in 1978. Eclipse provides an excellent introduction to his work, the ethereal sounds of one of the oldest continuously-inhabited regions on the planet. In the 1960s, el Din's own home village in Egypt was drowned underwater by the construction of the Aswan Dam, as archeologists tried to save what they could.

Congotronics

Robot Johnny — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 20:55:03 -0800

Congotronics! Mawangu Mingiedi, 72, a musician and truck driver from Kinshasa, was simply trying to allow the music of his street band, Konono No. 1, be heard over the traffic and street noise, but when he fashioned home-made amplifiers out of junkyard parts he created something raw and distorted with a sound all its own (quicktime). (via MonkeySARS, where an MP3 awaits you)

The Dark Continent

klangklangston — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:17:06 -0800

No Condition is Permanent. World music, and African music in particular, often falls into two categories: pleasant and inoccuous, or the fetishized other. Even speaking of "African" music is misleading. Senegalese mbalax doesn't sound that much like Camaroonian makossa. And I don't say this as some great authority; I'm still just at the beginning of the learning curve. So come along with me. There's the broad Benne Loxo du Taccu, the sidebar of Mudd Up!, the great (and self-explanitory) African Hiphop, Stern's Music (this link going to a more accessible Thione Seck), Aduna (for Francophones— my middle-school French gets me by, but I'm really there for the music), Du Bruit (more Francophones, with an emphasis on vinyl sharities), and Worldly Disorientation (which covers all sorts of world music, but has some excellent African stuff). Have I missed anything great? Recommend it in the thread. I tend to prefer the psychedelic and dubby stuff more than straight folk styles, but that's me.