novalima

a few weeks ago i did something i don't do enough of and checked out a little-known band at a local music venue.

novalima is a multi-member outfit based in peru. my friend jc returned from a visit to lima in 2007 with novalima's eponymous (and rare, to my dismay) debut cd. it quickly fell on heavy rotation, bringing some heat and spice into the dying days of my winter... i've lost the cd and long to hear novalima again...

their first toronto gig was not something i wanted to pass up.

the latin-loving lula lounge was a hot, packed, sweating room throbbing with the deep polyrhythmic syncopations of this talented crew... and a whole lot of boogy-ing fans. the stage was almost too small but no lie, they made some big sound. the best way i can describe it is a groove-salsa-meets-conscious-electronic-dub-pounding-hop.

i had fun.

and until i get my hands on their first cd (rafael - if you're reading, send it on!), this will have to do...

novalima - ruperta/puede ser:


novalima - africa landó:

PS - i got them... thank you rafael...

related to this:

• up, bustle + out - all out king
  
• amadou + miriam feat. manu chao - senegal fast food
  
• hanine y son cubano - arabo-cuban improvisation

you can find this at www.novalima.net

arabo cuban improvisation

fusion never sounded this sweet. or if it did, this track has made me forget.

this is cuban lounge in all its decadence. except for one very striking thing: you're never sure if it's from cuba or lebanon.

hanine's opening arabic invocation starts us off under tall date palms and into a centuries-old mosque, the sun beating down and the sweat dripping into our eyes. but a moment's pause and a tap-tap later, we've been led through a curtain and find ourselves late at night inside an old-school havana dance hall.

the musicians play without a care in the world. slow, sultry... distinctly cuban. the tempo suddenly lights a shade higher as the instruments converse like old neighbours. and then as if recalling a dream, hanine re-enters the room and starts to sing...

here everything seems effortless. hanine wails her undulating notes, the bongos play out in time, the lazy piano keys seem to just play themselves. the trumpet echoes hanine's calls and the room begins to widen and spin. a swirling sea of drunken sound.

and the pace quickens. the room is under a spell. it gets hot, the ceiling fans giving out high above the dance floor. we dance anyway, skirts flying, cigarillos dangling on the lips. everything is sticky, even the ice cubes in the drinks are on fire. and she keeps singing...

this is the last track on the album 10908 km (the distance between lebanon and havana), which ironically brings the two places together so tightly, you sometimes can't figure out where one ends and the other begins. even the classic arabic songs hanine sings replicate the heart-wrenching tristessa of a cuban salsa epic.

the arabo cuban improvisation is a warm, thick, sweet syrup. i could happily drown to this.

hanine y son cubano - arabo cuban improvisation:


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• madrid de los austrias - un mensaje
  
• go go golem
  
• mmm... mulatu
  
• more mulatu
  
• rokia traore
  
• gigi shibabaw
  

l'ascenseur pour le ghetto

amadou + miriam feat manu chao - senegal fast food

freshly back from a driving trip from paris to dakar, i'm re-living the sights and sounds of senegal through this track. and i so ache to go back.

this song by malian amadou + miriam (featuring manu chao and his infectious guitar) recalls our travel: choo-chooing train whistles, gearshifting between french and wolof, soulful harmonica and west african guitar.

watching this makes me feel like that's my family i've left behind. brilliant art direction visually bringing lyrics to life: local joints with western names like 'le paris' cinema or 'manhattan fast food' ('over 2,000 served'!) show how eager senegal's people are to leave their country in search for a better life elsewhere... but where? bamako, mopti, algeria, tunisia, italy - pas de problème - anywhere but here! amadou + miriam respond: 'you may leave but never forget your family, your home'.

yes it's midnite in tokyo. it's 5am in mali. but 'what time is it' in the paradise of a rich country? yes we have health care, education and porcelain toilets. but do we have each other?

almost a lyrical-satirical play on 'stairway to heaven' is 'l'ascenseur pour le ghetto': inevitably, most refugees to rich countries land in the heart of the ghetto. so why leave the sun and the beach for the cold and the hustle? funny, my travel partner alexis theorized a country's gross national product is inversely related to its 'human happiness' product. could he be right?

the video gives us a glimpse. yes a west african life is tough. 'family' means a dozen people in the house, grandparents, grandchildren, but it's also all the more love...

i especially treasure how real the video is - endless fishing boats on the coast, sweet tea served in little glasses, donkeys pulling carts, shell-casting by the roadside... if any of this makes you want to get in a car and drive to africa, pas de problème: call me and i may just join you.

amadou + miriam featuring manu chao - senegal fast food:

related:

• salty kisses
  
• une rose noire
  
• mission apollo

all out king

being halloween i'm posting something to represent.

no worries, i'm not about to lay down "thriller", "the monster mash" or "ghostbusters" theme song...

rather, i'd like to ride the wave of the masquerade. to celebrate the night before the day of the dead, i used to outfit myself as the dead (nefertiti, cleopatra...) but recently i've had more of a musical bent in my masquerade, preferring madonna and sade. this year i went out on a limb and dressed as radio-active raggedy ann.

can you picture it?
what, no?

i was a vision in a slim fitting floor length bright purple and multicoloured patterned gown and radioactive coloured hair extensions to match, along with a pink floor length fur lined overcoat. i emerged from a store on bloor street before heading to a halloween art party saturday night, and a woman stuck her head out the side of a slow moving black SUV and yelled, "OH MY GOD!! THAT IS NUTS!!". she was pointing at me.

so in the spirit of the masquerade, i'm bringing out up, bustle and out. UBO are a duo from bristol, england. but you would never know by listening to their music. diverse doesn't come close to describing their 'style'. the first UBO album i picked up was rebel radio master sessons 1, followed by master sessions 2 calle 23. both were recorded in havana, cuba, by flautist richard egues and have an unmistakable cuban sound. but their one colour just reflects another is more diverse, featuring a house track called "an african friendship", complete with french vocals and live recordings from the streets in huancayo, peru. their compared to what relase is pure classical indian music fused with trip hop. and then there's the upcoming istanbul's secrets, with floating eastern vibes.

tonight's track is a party song called "all out king", taken from UBO's latest release, mexican sessions. this track itself is a hybrid, mixing romanowski's "yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah" emcee commentary, dub, heavy bass, bongo mania and of course a lot of mexican flavours. it's the kind of track you play at a house party and people start clearing the furniture. or dancing on it.

so in the spirit of the masquerade, i bring to you
up, bustle & out- all out king:


get this at upbustleandout.co.uk

7.1 oddiofile - costa del sol

thought it may be so very sweet of myself to include oddiofile's costa del sol playlist for you true audiophiles out there...

et voilà!

ODDIOFILE - COSTA DEL SOL - JULY 16, 2006

Gotan Project-La Cruz Del Sur-Ya Basta
Shawn Ward-Alma Jazz-Dance Wicked
Freddy Fresh feat. Boricua All Stars-Flamenco-Howlin
Truby Trio feat. Concha Buika-Jaleo (Cuica Remix)-Compost
Lanu-Mosquito Coast-Freestyle
Scuba-Te Quiero-Work White
Matthias Heilbronn with The Candela All-Stars-Brobombique-Candela
Javi P3z Orchestra-Futbolin (Watch TVs Broken Rumba Mix)-HiTop
Mojo Project-La Tristeza (Alex Acosta Mix)-Love Monk
Jazztronik-Madrugada (Club Mix)-Especial
Julius Papp-A Flower Blossoms-Loveslap
Malone-Musica-Kosmic
Wahoo-Holding You (Full Version)-Sonar Kollektiv
Madrid de los Austrias-Un Mensaje (Extended Take)-Sunshine Enterprises

7.0 madrid de los austrias - un mensaje

today it got cold. i was in montreal walking around the sidewalks and noticed folks breaking out the down vests, the mufflers and the hats.

there were a few sun worshippers about.. you know who you are. you who refuse to allow summer to get away so quick, wearing your tanks and skirts and sandals despite the chill in the air... and i applaud you.

today's musical note is dedicated to you.

here's something from a duo from austria, who make music that sounds like it was from madrid. possibly explaining why they are called madrid de los austrias. their first release was called amor. the follow up? mas amor. these guys don't mess around. my favourite is a throaty vocal flamenco chillout track, which i heard at the very end of a sultry end-of-summer costa del sol podcast by oddio... so don't put away the tanks, the skirts the sandals just yet.

madrid de los austrias - un mensaje:


related to this...
costa del sol