The world music thread

Ok,
I listen to a lot of music coming from different places and, honestly is where I find the more interesting stuff, I mostly dig african music, where the cuban influence kicked back and gave birth to all sorts of interesting hybrids, but there's cool stuff all over the place, from berber music to javanese gamelan, and when you enter the field of world fusion things get even more interesting.

right,
talking about gamelan, Sambasunda are an amazing quintet, that re-elaborate traditional gamelan infusing it with african influences, but those are so well merged that you wouldn't notice normally, it's just plain beautiful music
Gamelan music has been so influential in the west, think about the minimalist antics of Steve Reich and co. or some Bjork of the vesper tine era...



Juju is Justin Adams and Gambian ritti player Juldeh Camara, they play a mix of african and western music, they are incredible and they've written some of my favourite trance music ever, their last album "in Trance" is great



The tightness of it all...

Tinariwen are a berber-beduin band that writes songs mostly guitar driven, Tuareg melodies that cross pollinate with bluesy influences, they are very cool and proper legends.So you don't need to go ask the Doors when you need desert music. By the way most of the songs are about the desert.
Their last album "tassel" is very good and you want to listen it.




I am not the biggest fan of Shye ben, who has been dealing with qawwali (Sufi devotional music) for a while, but this single is just addictive.




Another great album from last year was "Fatou" by Fatoumata Diawara, A Malian singer now living in France, a mix of hypnotic guitars and african percussions, feel good on the surface but in contrast with the lyrics, often dealing with some serious issues (female circumcision for example). very soothing tho, and she is gorgeous and she has a lovely voice.


I'll post some others later

Sweet - I look forward to checking some of that stuff out. The name Tinariwen rings a bell. Have they played in London recently? Maybe the roundhouse?

This gamelan business sounds intriguing, I think I've got an album somewhere of Balinese religious music - not sure if that's the same but I can definitely see the Steve Reich connection. I'll see if I can dig it out and find some youtube clips at some point.

Mali seems like a bit of a musical hotbed - I don't think I've heard Fatoumata Diawara before (which is amazing, btw), but it sounds not a million miles from Rokia Traore. Very African at heart but a big dose of Europe in there as well.

World music is not really my area as a rule, however top shout on Tinariwen. They're great. Very hypnotic.

More on the West African front (Guinea, Ghana, Senegal etc.) are the traditional artists I got to know a little when I was in my old drumming band. The two that spring to mind are Nansady Keita and Mamady Keita (no relation); the former is someone I sporadically studied with as he's now based in the UK, the second is someone a few of my friends sought out in Africa for workshops and is a biggie in the world drumming scene. They both have CD releases, a couple of which I have, though it may not be to everybody's taste as it's primarily rhythmical with little or no tonal elements, e.g. other instruments or singing, and anyway, it's meant to be a 'live' experience so djembe/dhun bands don't always translate well in recordings. I'm familiar with it but still have to be in the mood myself, but when I am, it's very trancey (repetitive with benefits innit).

Can't find any studio samples of Nansady, but here's a live one. I prefer his style of soloing to Mamady's - he's no less frenetic, but it has more 'feel' in my opinion...his drum 'sings' more...and it all sounds absolutely effortless, which is how it should be. Lovely bloke as well.


Djole by Mamady. I have played this myself, though slightly slower, with different breaks (common in African rhythms), and we never got round to using the song thankfully.


Other stuff coming up.

This is from one of the most beautiful albums I have ever heard, though again, really have to be in the mood for it. Until I clicked on that YouTube link, I had no idea it was a hit in the West though - I was given a CDR burn-off by a friend many years ago, and that was it really, other than to say that I soon discovered the original release is a BUGGER to get hold of.



Also don't mind a bit of fusion stuff, i.e. West + other, so various Suns Of Arqa tunes and/or albums would fall into this category, as would Baka Beyond's Spirit Of The Forest. Perhaps the one I listen to most often though is Afrocelts, aka Afro Celt Sound System. Does what they say on the tin - blend of contemporary pop, African and Celtic folk influences. Good fun.

Maybe my fave of the Whirly versions (there are three or four I think).


Beautiful!


The middle of this sounds very psy to my ears. Mental!

OOoh, and these guys absolutely rock my funky socks off!

Out of the world acts I have seen.....these are the ones that are truelly outstanding:

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa_Dingding
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staff_Benda_Bilili
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntu_Valdo

Enjoy

Greg Hunter....

Greg Hunter & Kalahari Surfers




Greg Hunter & Amir Abdel Magid


... the guy is feckin gold!!!

An interview surrounding the M.E.L.T.2000 record label

Pt. 1


Pt. 3

Hey! Why can't I 'like' your post? Is that what happened with site modz last night? Damn they were good for my ego.. Hehe.

Yeah LOVE Tinariwen.. My dad is well into his 'world' music (surely the broadest term for any musical genre ever?!)

Ali Farka Toure and Ry Cooder do an album called 'Talking Timbuktu' which is start to finish stunning, desert blues kinda thing..

Found this dude recently too, check the lyrical skillz post 2:00

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Great stuff, here's a traditional Greek song fused with jazz.

Strange combo, interesting though! Any recs for some traditional Greek music?

Located that Balinese CD I was talking about, which as it turns out was actually Sundanese (West Java), and is what's called "Gamelan Degung", which according to the wikipedians is a "Sundanese musical ensemble that uses a subset of modified gamelan instruments with a particular mode of pelog scale."

It sounds like the music from the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time

Yeah they use some tricky sound signatures. That's actually my drums teacher playing, hehe what a legend
I'll get a few vids up re:greek traditional music, when I get home later Glad you like it man, it's not everyone's cup of tea heh.

Really good vibes (and some beautiful female dancers ) on this one from Madagascar

This is a traditional folk song from the north of Greece. It is called Amaranth.These kind of songs are played at big feasts that take place in open public space (eg. town square) in towns and villages in Greece; in big cities not so often.



It translates (roughly) to this:

Oh look at amaranth on what mountain it grows
It grows in all the steep places, among stone and rock
Oh never, I say never does it get watered or pruned
Oh while the deer eat it and die the wild beasts turn tamed

This is another style of traditional music, from a different era. This style of music was played out in small 'venues' where people would smoke weed and listen to songs about everyday troubles and whatnot. It was illegal and the cops would always be on the lookout for this kind of joints ( excuse the pun).
The (tiiiiny bit NSFW) video is from a film so please ignore the beginning


I can translate this too if you are curious let me know.


This particular one has musical influences from the eastern part of Greece. (What eastern part, I hear you say )

Like wise for translating.

Aye, I meant the CD, which until this morning, I have never seen for less than £25-£30ish. Got some on Amazon now for under a tenner second-hand. Weird! Don't mind if I do, yesh. Ten years is a long wait.

Yeah, you and I have discussed this album before. Have you heard Music Of The Rivers? Hariprasad again, but with fused with more Western elements, e.g. guitars. In truth, it doesn't always work for me, but the first track, Water Poems, is absolutely gorgeous.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/alb...industani_Instrumental/10695-Music_Of_Rivers/

The more traditional-sounding Meditative Romance has some good moments on it too.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/alb...ustani_Instrumental/10715-Meditative_Romance/