Wednesday, December 26, 2007

African Popular Music: The Voice of the Past, Archives 1926-1952


African Popular Music. The Voice of the Past, Archives 1926-1952
320kbps, 127mb on zshare, megaupload
01. Francis Boloyyi & Shangaan Band - Flore Lakusaseka-Mozambique 2:34
02. Francis Boloyyi & Shangaan Band - Miyelo Bebe-Mozambique 2:35
03. Abugu Kisukwe & Bamba Men - Lusunga Bakali-Ouganda 2:38
04. Abugu Kisukwe & Bamba Men - Mauwa-Ouganda 2:43
05. Tobo Eitel - Ndol'a Jomba-Cameroun 2:53
06. Tobo Eitel - Ndol'a Bwam-Cameroun 2:52
07. Wendo K. Ngoma - Bokilo-Congo Zaire 3:07
08. Wendo K. Ngoma - Napessi Yo Mbongo-Congo Zaire 3:04
09. Manuel D'oliveira & Les San Salvador - Cherie Bondowe-Ghana 3:03
10. Jack Dawudu - Ifabanke-Ghana 2:55
11. Ben Simmons - Osofu Da Banim-Ghana 3:02
12. Ben Simmons - Ohse Nta Ma Qua-Ghana 2:57
13. Domingo Justus - Bi Ina La Ku Fi Eru Loju-Ghana 3:17
14. Georges Williams Aingo - Fine Fine Sha't Are-Ghana 2:53
15. Tunde King & His Group Jùjù - Aronke Macaulay-Nigeria 2:54
16. Irewolede Denge - Orin Asape Eko-Nigeria 3:00
17. Jolly Orchestra - Abonsa-Nigeria 2:48
18. Cuasgo & Gouama - Kikiriga Poco-Nigeria 2:59

Bollywood Brass Band - Rahmania: Music of AR Rahman

Another album from the great brass band, here's the first one.
Reviews: one, two.


Bollywood Brass Band - Rahmania: Music of AR Rahman
320kbps on shareonall or megaupload.
01 - Mere Yaara Dildara
02 - Ishq Bina
03 - Main Albeli
04 - Kehta Hai Mera Dil
05 - Urvashi Urvashi
06 - Ramta Jogi
07 - Ishq Bina Ishq Bina
08 - Rangeela Medley
09 - Ek Tu Hi Bharosa
10 - Dola Dola
11 - Injarango
12 - Kismat Se Tum Hum Ko Mile
13 - Ishq Bina Ishq Bina (Groove Road Remix)
14 - Rangeela's Non-Stop Go-Go Lounge (Kamel Nitrate Remix)
15 - Kismat Se Tum Hum Ko Mile (Transglobal Underground Remix)
16 - Rangeela (King Normal Remix)

Links

Rockin’ Bones! 4 CDs of 1950’s Punk & Rockabilly
review, download

Another interesting find is Tinariwen - a band of nomadic touareg warriors from Southern Sahara who recently decided to have a career change and go into music. They play what they call "desert blues" - several electric guitars playing simple pentatonic riffs over handclaps, footstomps and ululations. Their last album made it onto the Pitchfork's list of 50 greatest albums of 2007 at number 50, and it's the only one I heard on that list.
The band's name means "empty places" which certainly reflects their desert homeland. Forced from their nomadic life in the Sahara, they were fighters in the Touareg insurgency against the Malian government. So, the band formed in 1982 in Colonel Ghadaffi's rebel camps.
The Libyan leader recruited this nation-less and disenfranchised people with promises to help them in their cause. Ghadaffi implied that he would train the Kel Tamashek and provide weapons to fight for their independence from the Malian government, but eventually the stateless rebels slowly realized that Ghadaffi's only intention was to use these fierce fighters in his own wars...
They have combined traditional musical forms with a modern rebellious and radical rock sensibility -- traditional instruments such as the teherdent lute and shepherd flute were discarded in favor of the electric guitar, electric bass and drums.
Their Music is loosely based on traditional Touareg music and the harsh melodies of the one-stringed Touareg violin, but also incorporates influences such as Bob Marley together with the other disparate influences, both western and middle eastern, which managed to penetrate that far into the desert.

An interview

The Radio Tisdas Sessions, 2000: rapidshare, 74mb; rapidshare, 99mb.

Amassakoul ("Traveller"), 2004: rapidshare 98mb; filesend, 58mb; rapidshare, 67mb; badongo, 67mb.

Aman Iman: Water is Life, 2007: megaupload, 65mb; zshare, 73mb; badongo, 51mb.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Los Zafiros - Bossa Cubana

World Circuit's newest release is a look back to the 1960s, into the world of Cuban pop doo-wop - the music of Los Zafiros ("the sapphires"), on Bossa Cubana. A vocal quartet formed in Havana in 1962 by two singers ("Kike" Morúa and "Miguelito" Cancio), Los Zafiros combined the sweet harmonies popularized by American doo-wop groups like The Platters and The Ink Spots, and the unique arrangements used by The Flamingos and others with the craze for rhythms of South American origins, including the bossa nova and the calypso. With two other singers - Eduardo Elio "El Chino" Hernandéz and Ignacio Elejalde, the latter's high, silky-smooth ultra-tenor voice dominating the ballads - and a guitarist, Manuel Galbán, Los Zafiros produced a string of pop hits in Cuba. These alternated between doo-wop infused with rhythmic and harmonic complexities and with slow love songs featuring Elejalde's vocal cord-defying range. Fusing a variety of musical ideas, Bossa Cubana surprises the listener: be ready for a unique experience. @
Read more

Y Sabes Bien on Youtube


Los Zafiros - Bossa Cubana
REUP 2/8/2014: 224kbps, 76 mb on 4shared
1. Bossa Cubana
2. La Luna en Tu Mirada
3. Mirame Fijo
4. Dichoso Mar
5. Por No Comprenderte
6. Y Sabes Bien
7. Cancion de Orfeo
8. Mi Amor, Perdoname
9. Cuando Yo la Conoci
10. La Caminadora
11. He Venido
12. Puchunguita Ven
13. Herido de Sombras
14. Si Corazón
15. Mi Corazon
16. Un Nombre de Mujer
17. Canta la Sentimental

Doob Doob O'Rama 2: More Filmsongs From Bollywood

By request.

Doob Doob O'Rama 2: More Filmsongs From Bollywood
256kbps, 102mb on megaupload or sendspace
1. S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vijayalakshmi Sarma - China Daani Chirunavvulu
2. Geeta Dutt - Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu
3. Sulakshana Pandit, Shailendra Singh, Alka Yagnik, NItin Mukesh - Seth Ke Ghar Mein Aayo Beto
4. Asha Bhosle - Saiyan Re Saiyan
5. Asha Bhosle - Ankhen Meri Maikhana
6. P. Susheela, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam - Gulaabi Puvu
7. Nitnin Mukesh, Sharda - Tum Pyar Se Dekho
8. Kishore Kumar - Ina Mina Dika
9. K.J. Yesudas - Champakapushpa
10. Asha Bhosle, Mohamed Rafi - Gulabi Raat Gulabi
11. Lata Mangeshkar - Sayonara
12. Vanijairam - Thanimayil
13. S. Janaki, Brahmanandan - Ezhupaalam Kadamnu
14. Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar - Dhak Dhak Dhak
15. Manhar, Alka Yagnik, Bhavna Shah - Chandan Ki Chachi Ko
16. Kishore Kumar - Hum The Woh Thi
17. Suman Kalyanpur - Chale Ja Chale Ja
18. Asha Bhosle, R.D. Burman - O Meri Jaan Main Ne Kaha
19. Asha Bhosle - Maine Dil Abhi Diya Nahin
20. P. Susheela, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam - Intinti Ramayanam
21. Chitra - Rajani Parayu

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Asha Bhosle with Kronos Quartet - You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood

The omnipresent and omnivorous Kronos Quartet takes on the music from Bollywood soundtracks, and they recruit the real heavyweight - Asha Bhosle herself, "the most recorded artist in the world". I think she must be over 70 by now.
I cannot say this is a runaway success. The covers here stick pretty close to the originals - a little less of the thundering disco abandon, a bit more of the subtly textured backing... on the other hand, thundering disco is what makes the originals appealing, so I don't know whether it's an improvement. I need a few more spins of this to make up my mind.


Asha Bhosle with Kronos Quartet - You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood
REUP: 320kbps, 150 mb on 4shared
1. Dum Maro Dum - Take Another Toke
2. Rishte Bante Hain - Relationships Grow Slowly
3. Mehbooba Mehbooba - Beloved, O Beloved
4. Ekta Deshlai Kathi Jwalao - Light a Match
5. Nodir Pare Utthchhe Dhnoa - Smoke Rises across the River
6. Koi Aaya Aane Bhi De - If People Come
7. Mera Kuchh Saaman - Some of My Things
8. Saajan Kahan Jaoongi Main - Beloved, Where Would I Go?
9. Piya Tu Ab To Aaja - Lover, Come to Me Now
10. Dhanno Ki Aankhon - In Dhanno's Eyes
11. Chura Liya Hai Tum Ne - You've Stolen My Heart
12. Saiyan Re Saiyan - My Lover Came Silently

Gente de Choro + Choro é Isto

My policy of downloading and listening to random stuff paid off once again. I recently dicovered choro - a delicate, sublime style of instrumental music that is sometimes called Brazilian Dixieland. It was popular in the late XIXth - early-to-mid XXth century, and later developed into samba and other modern brazilian styles. It also had a resurgence in popularity since 70s. Choro is played by a small combo with saxophone and/or flute, guitar, cavaquinho (small ukulele-like instrument), bandolim (Brazilian mandolin), and percussion.
Two excellent articles on choro could be found at Marilynn Mair's website: History of Choro and What is Choro?


Gente do Choro
192kbps, 50mb on zshare or rapidshare
1. Waldir Azevedo - Brasileirinho
2. Paulinho da Viola - Cinco Companheiros
3. Deo Rian - Mistura e Manda
4. Abel Ferreira - Saxofone Porque Choras
5. Paulinho da Viola - Segura Ele
6. Abel Ferreira - Doce Mentira
7. Os Choroes - Pe na Tabua
8. Deo Rian - Noites Cariocas
9. Waldir Azevedo - Chorinho Antigo
10. Abel Ferreira - Chorando Baixinho
11. Paulinho da Viola - Beliscando
12. Waldir Azevedo - Atrevido
13. Waldir Azevedo - Lamento
14. Os Choroes - Bentevi Atrevido


Choro é Isto
REUP: 24 mb at sharebee.
96kbps (yes I know, but the music is worth it)
01. Carinhoso - Manezinho da Flauta
02. Sai da Frente - Abel Ferreira
03. Na Glória - Raul de Barros
04. Apanhei-te Cavaquinho - Arthur Moreira Lima
05. Diplomata/Altamiro Carrilho - Carlos Poyares
06. Meu Sabiá - Carlos Poyares
07. Ingênuo - Evandro do Bandolim e Seu Regional
08. André de Sapato Novo - Abel Ferreira / Raul de Barros
09. Picadinho à Baiana - Luperce Miranda
10. Sempre - Quinteto Villa-Lobos
11. Tua Imagem - Canhoto da Paraíba
12. Brejeiro - Evandro do Bandolim e Seu Regional

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Shanghai Jazz: Musical Seductions From China's Age Of Decadence

John Huie is an Australian musician and arranger that has spent some considerable time in Hong Kong and China researching various world music styles, including fi lm soundtracks for Golden Harvest and also a commemorative piece for the 1997 handover. Now based in Shanghai, he has put together a crack band of local musicians to recreate many of the 1930’s jazz songs that were the soundtrack to the city in its pre-war heyday. "Shanghai Jazz – Musical Seductions From China’s Age of Decadence" is the sublime result.
Putting together a band from todays top jazz venues, including sourcing and drinking down at Mao Ming Lu, Huie’s state of the art production and modern recording techniques – not to mention a crack band comprising some of Shanghais best young musicians on bass, clarinet, bass clarinet, drums, guitar, piano, tenor sax, trombone, trumpet, pipa, violin and the lovely singing trio of Coco, Carrie and Ginger, the band run through a selection of some of Shanghai's top tunes of the period. Jazz was banned by communists after the revolution, and is only now making a comeback – as are some of the standards of the day – including the notorious "Prostitute Song (The Love You Can’t Get)" that was high on the list of the governments most undesirable music and one of the best known songs of the dance hall era. With the CD’s packaging in English and Chinese (with lyric translations of the Shanghai classics), this is an ideal and very welcome exploration into the world of big band jazz, Shanghai style, and hopefully marks the beginning of a return for one of the more exotic blends of jazz ever to come out of the horn of a blues trumpet. Superb and thoroughly recommended. @

Also, http://www.shjazz.com/ - a website for this project, with song annotations and the musicians' bios.

A review from JazzNews

Note: Coco Zhao, who sings on some selections here, was featured on this blog before.


Shanghai Jazz: Musical Seductions From China's Age Of Decadence
VBR, 66mb
REUP: depositfiles
1. The Love You Can Not Get (Ginger Zheng Zhi Xiao)
2. Give Me A Kiss (Coco Zhao Ke)
3. The Cocktail Song (Carrie Zhang Le)
4. The Song You Are Hearing (Rebecca Tu)
5. It Is Not Too Late (Rebecca Tu)
6. Magic Love (Coco Zhao Ke)
7. Avalon (Instro)
8. Let Us Love Tonight (Coco Zhao Ke)
9. Night In Shanghai (Instro)
10. Jasmine Flower (Carrie Zhang Le)
11. I Want Your Love (Coco Zhao Ke)
12. Lovers Tears (Carrie Zhang Le)