Burhan Öcal & The Trakya Allstars-Kirklarelï Ãl Siniri (Turkey)

Tom Zé-The Hips of Tradition.

Charanga Cakewalk-Loteria De La Cumbia Lounge

'..this is a lounge to step into if you need to chill after too much Latin passion or...

Chris Moss-BBC Review.

 2004

If recent fusions like Brazilian electronica, Mexican corridos and Tango Nuevo are the ur-sounds of cool, city-bound Latin Americans, cumbia is the cheesy, cheery bop of the semi-rural peasant class. Repetitive, tinny, unashamedly danceable, it harks from steamy Colombia and in various, often badly bastardised forms is possibly the most popular music in the sub-continent. All you have to do is sway a little and learn three basic steps, and then find a partner.

Charanga Cakewalk, aka Mexican American multi-instrumentalist Michael Ramos, has given this pop genre a loungey, filmic twist. Forget the chaos, bells, whistles and trumpets of the fiesta; this cumbia comes with the melancholy drag of tango, the indolent twang of steel guitar, and the dying heartbeat of the heavy tropical siesta.

Amazingly, it works. There is plenty of wit and irony here and, on the best tracks ("El Indio", "La Cumbia Lounge", "Charanga Cakewalk") something of the grit and gleeful messing and mixing of styles that characterises Manu Chao's 'faux latino' music. Accordion, quatro and bass are combined with clubby dubs and synths, and behind it all is the moronic beat of cumbia, which becomes almost trance like.

Argentina's shanty town cumbia ('cumbia villera' in Spanish) has more street, more front, more cojones, but this adaptation of the form has style and a more cosmoplitan feel - opening track "Belleza", for instance, reminds me of Axel Krygier and Barry Adamson, and there may even be a tribute to Morricone in here.

Occassionally the formula slips into pure atmosphere and unsubstantial blur, but on the bulk of the tracks this is a slow-swinging, quietly edgy experiment from a multi-talented fusioneer. Ramos, a seasoned session man (he has played with The BoDeans, The Rembrandts and Patty Griffin), is a whizz on the keyboards and in the studio, and when he doesn't play an instrument, he gets experts like Russell Scanlon (cavaquinho) and Brian Standefer (cello) to fill in.

Cumbia is too shallow - emotionally and texturally - to compete with the likes of tango or Cuban son, but Ramos is definitely onto something. Hard to pigeonhole, but easy to listen to, this is a lounge to step into if you need to chill after too much Latin passion or a demanding session at your weekly salsa class.

Beautiful.

Goran Bregovic with his Wedding and Funeral Band

Hamer Hall Melbourne

Thurs 18 Feb 2016

 

he puts on one incredible live show, seen him twice, don't miss him!

 

https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/world-jazz-folk/goran-bregovic

 

< Welcome to the party! Celebrated composer and Balkan rock star Goran Bregovic brings his raucous Balkan Party to Melbourne for a brand new, one-night-only celebration.

Get caught up in the mad whirl of Bregovic and his Wedding and Funeral Band with its wonderful and festive blend of Gypsy brass, traditional Bulgarian vocals, polyphonies and percussion, frantically blended with Bregovic’s electric guitar and synth.

Playing the best tunes from hit albums Champagne for Gypsies, Tales & Songs from Weddings..., and more, this Balkan hotpot of love, lust and the maddest of talent will have you up and dancing in the aisles. Capturing the true calamity of a Balkan celebration while conjuring the emotive and emblematic anthems of the Balkans, Goran Bregovic’s Balkan Party is a treat for the eyes, ears and heart. It’s an occasion to verify Goran's outcry – "if you don't go crazy, you're not normaaal". >

heard this cool remix on PBS a few days ago

Bonga - mona ki ngi xica (Synapson remix)

here's the original

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Bonga/dp/B002MR1LMK/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1441679958&sr=1-1&keywords=bonga

 

reminds me of Sodade by Cesaria Evora, in fact he made that song famous, he's originally from Angola.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonga_%28musician%29

http://www.amazon.com/Club-Sodade-Cesaria-Evora/dp/B00009YH0Z

Burhan Öcal & The Trakya Allstars-Kirklarelï Ãl Siniri (Turkey)

mate gave me a copy of this last year, if your taste in Turkish is a little more on psych/dub side grab a few Baba Zula albums, they toured Melbourne a few months back

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=baba+zula&sprefix=baba+zula%2Caps%2C400

remixes by the Mad Professor!

Theeb, great movie, great soundtrack, screened at recent MIFF (Melb film fest) sure to get a commercial release

 

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/16/theeb-review-timeless-arthouse-drama

https://itunes.apple.com/sa/album/dhyb-almwsyqy-altswyryt-lfylm/id979871203

 

you really need to see the movie to fully appreciate the evocative soundtrack

Goran Bregovic with his Wedding and Funeral Band

Hamer Hall Melbourne

Thurs 18 Feb 2016

he puts on one incredible live show, seen him twice, don't miss him!

https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/world-jazz-folk/goran-bregovic

< Welcome to the party! Celebrated composer and Balkan rock star Goran Bregovic brings his raucous Balkan Party to Melbourne for a brand new, one-night-only celebration.

Get caught up in the mad whirl of Bregovic and his Wedding and Funeral Band with its wonderful and festive blend of Gypsy brass, traditional Bulgarian vocals, polyphonies and percussion, frantically blended with Bregovic’s electric guitar and synth.

Playing the best tunes from hit albums Champagne for Gypsies, Tales & Songs from Weddings..., and more, this Balkan hotpot of love, lust and the maddest of talent will have you up and dancing in the aisles. Capturing the true calamity of a Balkan celebration while conjuring the emotive and emblematic anthems of the Balkans, Goran Bregovic’s Balkan Party is a treat for the eyes, ears and heart. It’s an occasion to verify Goran's outcry – "if you don't go crazy, you're not normaaal". >

He finished off proceedings at Womad a couple of years ago. A most enjoyable affair.

Taner Akyol-Birds of Passage (Göcmen Kuslar)

Radio Tarifa-Rumba Argelina.

Cesaria Evora:Anthology

She was mentioned upstream by @@Ian McP, so thought I would play this one. Sodade is first track on album.

Edited September 17, 201510 yr by soundfan

A good selection of tracks on that Anthology @@soundfan .Here's the Chateau Flight remix of one of those tracks.Petit Pays.

Paban Das Baul & Sam Mills-Real Sugar.

Les Negresses Vertes-Famille Nombreuse.

Yamandu Costa-Mafua.

SambaSunda-Rahwana's Cry. (Indonesia)

Kocani Orkestar-Alone At My Wedding

Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares Vol.1.Spine tingling.

Edited September 20, 201510 yr by mrbuzzardstubble

Equa.

Baaba Maal: Missing You

 

CD

 

I need to find more music from this wonderful Senegalese artist, this is great.

 

Firin' in Fouta is one of his best IMHO...you could do a lot worse than starting there...

Another fine Senegalese singer.

El Hadj N'Diaye-Geej.

Ali Farke Toure & Toumani Diabate: Ali & Toumani

 

What a brilliant album, two wonderful musicians from Mali. I'm sure the legacy of Ali Farke Toure will long live on.