I have come to love traditional music, so getting to meet this gracious man, Mr. Sridas, was a real treat. I chanced upon him at the Tamil Pavilion during the Folklorama in Winnipeg (and decided I needed to remember this link to his site).

He plays the veena, a modified guitar. He's also really good with the flute. Mr. Sridas specializes in Carnatic music. He has some samples on his site: http://sridas.com/audioclips.html

I enjoy his music which has a hypnotic quality to it. I bought his 3-CD set of him playing the veena. I was psyched that his CDs contained the traditional versions of Manasuloni and Sarasa, which I'd only heard "modernized" by Susheela Raman.

About the veena: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veena

This makes me wanna go an dance. It conjures up images of summer! And it has that nostalgic feel to it ...

Being Filipino, I thought it but right to put one of my favorite Filipino artists here. He uses traditional instruments, builds on traditional sounds, and all in a poetic form. You can go read more about Joey on his site: www.joeyayala.com. Or catch him at Conspiracy, the cafe-bar he hangs out (and part owns) in Quezon City. You may just get to talk to him ... he's a really down-to-earth guy!




I find this song really funny. Listen and laugh. This is a song of the mundane - about walking down the street and experiencing the sites and sounds of the countryside.

Translation of the Tagalog lyrics:
got nothing to do
tired of hanging around
that’s what happens
when you’re stuck inside all day

it’s not enough to daydream
no use scratching your belly
no cure for boredom but to

walk around, walk around out in the street
walk around there’s a lot to see when you
walk around move those feet
walk down the street

put on your shoes your slippers or clogs
and if you’re up to it you can walk on your bare feet
and walk real slow no need to rush
you’ve got all the time in the world take it easy

walk and look around animals of every kind
chickens crossing the street dogs in heat
cats out to sun carabaos bathing
goats ruminating and so much more

walk and look around people of all kinds
grandmas with cigars and others picking lice
grandpas with their walking canes and children all bare-arsed
and those sashaying maidens and so much more

walk down the street start all over again
drive your boredom away give your mind a break

walk around walk around out in the street
walk around so many things to see
walk aroundtake your time
time is all yours
take it easy…

Note: This is copyrighted, so I am setting this up for a limited period only. I know Joey personally and IPRs are a huge issue!

Since I am on an Ojos de Brujo streak, here's the direct link to this Barcelona-based group's official site. Get all the info you you want! It's one of the most visually appealing sites I've been to! True artists!

"Our music is possible because we are possible" - Silvia Calado Olivo of Ojos de Brujo, Madrid, November 2002

Ojos de Brujo. ODB. (insert fanatic scream lasting about ten whole seconds here)

I don’t have any of their albums (yet), but I was an instant fan. I think this group is absolutely brilliant!

Translated as “Eyes of the Warlock,” Ojos de Brujo is a collective of young (and radical) Spanish musicians based in Barcelona. They use flamenco as a foundation for their cross-genre experimentation - infusing elements of hip-hop, funk, salsa, and reggae. Then throw in some electronica and Barcelona street sounds too. Sound impossible? Listen here and tell me that it doesn’t work. Because it DOES work, and surprisingly well.

They’re called noveau flamenco by some. But ODB calls their brand of music "Jip Jop Flamenkillo" which they claim is “a sound that catapults flamenco into the 21st century without losing any of the power or passion of the music's roots.”

Oh so true. There is a dynamism there – the intricate guitarwork, the percussions, the impassioned vocals - so infectious that you want to jump up and dance! Or at the least, sing along! When I first downloaded Tiempo de Solea, I couldn’t get enough of it and played it for at least five times straight. In our iPOD, it got its major long play treatment in the car when we were stuck in horrendous traffic to watch New Year fireworks. It’s pretty difficult to remain crabby for 3 hours when you hear ODB!

I’ve been semi-singing-humming the song Tiempo de Solea for a few days, and Dui has been going “tio-tio VAN, tio-tio VAN VAN VAN” during her morning showers too that its becoming silly!

As in all my dabblings in world music, I got my first taste of Ojos de Brujo from Putumayo. Vacileo (“A Good Time”) is a danceable song that has strong Latin flavors and declares that: “Oh, I am cured by rumba / That’s how I have a good time …”

Tesoro (“Treasure”), meanwhile, is slower and quite subdued in comparison. It has romantic introductory guitarwork. The lyrics are quite bizarre (“Your face is a fish when you have fun” – err, romantic?) and incorporates local slang (“Donderei donerara”). These aside, you could fall in love to this song. Hubby and I dance this sometimes during our “feeling Latin dancers” moods.

As a sidebar, Ojos de Brujo has a grassroots and anti-corporate philosophy. While the music is in the forefront, ODB is not merely about music. They are a loose collective of various artists - graffiti, multimedia, designers, filmers, among others. "I don't want to say we belong to a political party," says Xavi, the group’s percussionist. "We don't like those kind of associations. We do believe in doing things for ourselves, in controlling our own productions, in being free and having a social commitment, trying to do something to make this a better world… and in this sense we maybe also a little political, since politics are also social." In fact, they released their album overseas through their own production company, La Fábrica de Colores (now Diquela Records).

So it’s no wonder then that in my quest to own my own ODB record, I have come up dry. I have found nada in all the music bars here in the Philippines. So I have had to settle for the smattering of songs in the Putumayo albums.

It seems that ODB is making waves in the UK market, generating an almost fanatical bunch of groupies. Makes me wonder if I may be a lone fan in the Philippines. I hope not, because if you have a full ODB album, I would probably scratch your eyes out to at least borrow it!

My next project is to learn some more Spanish so I can at least sing along to them and not feel like an oaf.

Mini-research from:
Ojos de Brujo website
Calabash Music
Liner notes of Putumayo Presents Rumba Flamenco

I was hunting for the lyrics of Susheela Raman's songs (most of which are sung in Indian), particulalry Sarasa ... and I came across this site. Spent hours going through the "regional" section - where songs are arranged according to area in India; and "devotional" and "carnatic" sections because Susheela's songs are adaptations of traditional chants. I got so engrossed that I never ended up finding what I was looking for, but didn't feel bad about it!

An impressive site as it covers everything from old to new, from lyrics to the latest news on artists, and even Bollywood movie reviews. Go visit!

An independent record label of Greek CDs. Haven't heard anything personally, but it looks like something I can follow up in my next trip to the music bar. The specific artists are listed too, and few tidbits about your next trip to Greece!

In their words:

"The choices of LIBRA MUSIC define its profile, which should be described with the following:

* Reveals the new Greek sound, which without forgetting its bonding to the tradition, can be included in the modern music currents.
* Draws up the new music gathering-place, where the cultures of the Balkans, Near East, and the Mediterranean are met.
* It is a meeting place for musicians from the whole world, by promoting international collaborations with musicians from different cultures

Who doesn't like free stuff? Not me!

It started off with Calabash. Now I run into this site ... calling latin music fanatics, quick, log on and download these MP3s before they change the line-up!

(Note especially to: Louie, Diane, Nola!)

Great resource for world music fanatics. Good introduction to popular world music - for those who aren't afraid of dipping in. Oh, and a free download twice a week! Interestingly, even free trade is something associated with music.

My latest download: 'Impukane.' A song that's a product of great combination of Kunene, a legendary guitarist from South Africa, and Swiss guitar viruoso Max Laesser.

Try it, you may like it!

I just put this site up - lyrics to world music songs that I enjoy. Really for me - as its just mainly lyrics to songs I've been singing (in my head, in the shower, wherever). But of course want to share with anyone else out there who might happen to like world music too.

Would like to acknowledge the beautiful theme I used. Credits in the new site.

“Is it rhythm, merely rhythm, that moves my heart? Is it merely the rhythm of the words, the cadence of falling notes that floods me with longing, calling to me?

Does rhythm have memory, can it travel through time and make the old forever new? Can it tell us of other nights, caress us? Does it have a feeling, to make us dance alive in our skin?” – Susana Baca, in her introduction to her self-titled album

I immediately fell in love with her voice – a beguiling voice with a plaintiveness, expressiveness, soulfulness that comes only with a deep attachment to what she is singing.

Heard two of her songs on two separate Putumayo albums, I didn’t immediately recognize that the same voice sang two of my favorites – Maria Lando and Valentin – until I sat down to read the liner notes.  

Maria Lando got Susana noticed. She appeared in the 1955 Luaka Bop album “The Black Soul of Peru” produced by David Byrne. The song is a lando, a mournful Afro-Peruvian rhythm that’s a cross between the samba and cha cha. Susana’s voice aptly captures the “sufferation” of a working woman in the big city.

Valentin, meanwhile, is an Afro-Peruvian classic. Sung from the point of view of a man about to fight Valentin, he complains because his foe is armed with a stick.

These two songs led me to search for her albums and I finally decided upon her self-titled album. (Well, there were only two albums available, wasn’t really a tough choice! And I have put the other in my “must buys.”)

The album is a beautiful selection of traditional (Molino Molero, Zamba Malato, Enciendete Candela), ballads (Negra Presuntuosa, Heces, Tu Mirada y Mi Voz), and even the pasyon-like song Señor de los Milagros. The themes are varied yet are very Filipino! Quite a few deal with love – a hidden love, unrequited love! You can’t get bored, wondering what’s next in her line-up.

But behind the voice is an activist at heart. Recognized as one of the greatest divas in South America, Susana is a dedicated researcher, working tirelessly to revive many forms of Afro-Peruvian folklore (song and dance). She and her husband have set up a cultural center and school dedicated to preserving Afro-Peruvian traditions.

“Our greatest challenge is to find the one true rhythm of freedom – something like the wind that allows a bird to fly, or a new language more powerful than speech, that holds you.”

         
Valentin
Maria Lando

Go buy Susana Baca's album's online!

[to Del.icio.us]

With a growing obsession for the un-mainstream, I’ve graduated from simply selecting from the Putumayo section, to scouring the shelves for specific artists. Favorites among the favorites, the creme dela creme.