moonrise

in light of tonight's full moon...

harnessing the creative energy coursing through me - i'd like to interpret one of my favourite tracks from one of my favourite producers.... here's my loose lyrical adaptation of nitin sawhney's slow-moving boundary-crossing love letter, "moonrise", vocals courtesy of rai singer, cheb mami and brazilian vocalist, nina rocha miranda.

don't feel sadness
when my light fades away
you'll leave the dark life
when you see the moon play
taking its place
you'll find waves of sadness
for your grace

and so one day
a story of peace
after the storm washes the pain
and a future that couldn't be
calm after the rain
with eyes that even in the dark, still see

and no, i don't speak brazilian portugese... if anyone can take on the arabic i'd be impressed...

nitin sawhney - moonrise (featuring cheb mami and nina rocha miranda):


related:

• hanine y son cubano - arabo-cuban improvisation
  
• la nina de la puebla - la zagala
  
• gigi shibabaw - gela
  
• anjelika akbar - orkide I + II

catch nitin sawhney in toronto this summer at the luminaTO festival.

get this at amazon

phoenix

and now for a little fun! i'm about to traverse mexico with no set schedule.

first stop: phoenix, arizona.
so i propose: how's a little phoenix for phoenix?

the band is a brilliant french alterna-rock foursome, with four releases to date. the first two here appear on their debut album, united. the last is a pretty remix of a track on their 2009 wolfgang amadeus mozart. and i have yet to hear their live in mexico bonus tracks on the mexican release of their third album, but perhaps i'll pick it up down south.

until then...

phoenix - too young:


phoenix - if i ever feel better:


related or unrelated to this:

• the black keys - busted
  
• payolas - eyes of a stranger
  
• andre désilets - mission apollo
  
• amadou + miriam feat manu chao - senegal fast food

get this at amazon

nneka

on first look, in her baggy jeans and hoodie, a haze of coils almost hiding her trademark scowl... you'd think she's just some pretty teenage girl from philly or atlanta... but on first listen, it's clear: she's got the melodies of the universe flowing through her body.

with two albums under her belt already, twenty-eight year old nigerian/german nneka egbuna is a study in contrasts, betraying that youthful look with messages of truth, all conveyed through that signature soft voice, fine and melodic like a flute.

while often compared to fellow nigerian sade or hip hop maven lauryn hill, nneka is still young in her career. she weaves through traditions and styles, having been influenced by anita baker, marvin gaye, fela kuti, bob marley, afrobeat and hip hop, singing in both her native igbo and english. on her first two genre-defying releases, victim of truth and no longer at ease, it's clear the continuity is her voice, which floats through like a butterfly and yes, stings like a bee.

already having dazzled nigeria and europe, her first US record, concrete jungle, is set to release in february 2010. she's going to take the place by storm.

nneka - africans:


nneka - beautiful:



related to this:

• nina simone - sinnerman
  
• marie queenie lyons - see and don't see
  
• derek vincent smith/etta james - finally moving
  
• little brother - atari 2600

oh and big thanks to cam at giantstep for tipping me off to the pounding, rhythmic nneka and j.period collaboration "the madness" (onye-ala) mixtape released yesterday. download here

get this at amazon

thankful n thoughtful

today i give thanks and thoughts...

a little while ago k and i were indulging in a chocoholics' dream at SOMA, when suddenly i heard this. too funky. no doubt sly. the sultry basslines and horns backed up against sly's soulful voice floating over chocolate almost took me over the edge. when i got home the backup singers were still beckoning so i put it on and listened again. and again.

and when i listen, ev-ery-thing-in-side-me-is-mov-ing-to-this.
ev-ery-thing. jangling bones held together by happy ligaments connected to those involuntarily twitching muscles and corpuscles... the jelly in my eyes, even.

so on the brink of american thanksgiving i present to you a funk track about being saved from the perils of addiction. and no! this does not mean i'm giving up chocolate, so please... keep it coming! i'd be ever so thankful for you being so thoughtful...

sly + the family stone - thankful n thoughtful:


related to this:

• ted taylor - houston town
  
• nina simone - sinnerman
  
• marie queenie lyons - see and don't see
  
• derek vincent smith/etta james - finally moving

happy thanksgiving to my american amigos!! get this at amazon

magic sound fabric

in my waking life i found i've started to appreciate the tonal, the nonverbal and the silences in between conversations - finding that most conversation is a means-to-an-end rather than the end. 'talk is cheap,' i say, 'show me some action!'

enter magic sound fabric. cameron akhunaton (the name self-styled after the ancient egyptian sun-worshipping pharaoh) is a veritable empresario of formless mind-expanding ambient music. on uplift drift, however, he goes out on a limb, picking up percussion and rhythm, and blending the electronic with the acoustic, the profound with the carefree. what he's created is utterly clean, gently disciplined, undeniably infectious.

electronic voice-over, sultry basslines, surprise waves of wah-peddling electric guitar, trumpeting horns, poignant piano riffs, hints of celebratory hand-claps and a pensive tabla solo give 'my thoughts have become visible' its delicious and unexpected flavours.

expertly sequenced, the tracks on this album flow effortlessly with a perpetuum that exudes the very motion, the very relentlessness of life, the drama of nature unraveling with birth, death and everything that happens in between. without words. expect the unexpected.

but i digress. yes talk is cheap, let me listen-you the music.

magic sound fabric - my thoughts have become visible:


magic sound fabric - galaxy rise:


magic sound fabric - space traffic control:


can't wait to lay my hands on this year's release, observer. listen to this or get the release at www.magicsoundfabric.com or amazon.com

related to this:

• four tet - as serious as your life
  
• yonderboi - riders on the storm
  
• bruknahm project - siba dub plate
  
• heliocentrics - once upon a time

makambo

geoffrey oryema - makambo

it was the summer of '98 that i took my first-ever business trip: a 2-hour thursday night meeting in washington, d.c.

with the rest of the weekend i explored the city... monuments, sights, georgetown u, record shops, 18th street lounge (where i met rob and eric from thievery corporation, before they became famous. definitely a highlight). one evening i wandered into a high-end persian rug and artifact shop.

inside, time stopped. hypnotized by a nostalgic melody, sensing that i was far away from home, i became drawn to the african masks, ancient giant pots and urns, beautifully crafted rugs... totally lost in time and space. suddenly, i heard a man calling me from above. i looked up. it was the shop owner. he had been watching me from the loft space above.

he had a friendly smile so i went up the steps to his loft office. he was a fascinating and engaging man. we spent a few hours engrossed in conversation over tea and music. i was falling in love.

as i was leaving, he insisted on giving me one of his gorgeous persian rugs as a gift. i couldn't accept.

instead, i asked him for a copy of the cd he was playing. yes, he said but it would cost me my phone number.

totally worth it.

the cd? the ugandan musical genius, geoffrey oryema's exile.

and here's the track that i fell in love with that night.

ps - who knew that ten years later i'd be taking work trips to uganda? funny where life leads you...

and - to answer the questions! i fell in love with this song, not the man!

find geoffrey oryema's exile at amazon

related to this...

• mama afrika forever
  
• yamasuki singers, black blood.. a.i.e.o.a
  
• mmm... mulatu
  
• more mulatu
  
• rokia traore
  
• gigi shibabaw
  

mission apollo

taking a break from reading resumés and this guy has been singing to me en francais for the last hour or so. and i feel so lucky and spaced out.

first heard him on cbc this afternoon in the car over. there is such a subtle joy in taking in new music in a self contained mobile machine made of black glistening metal as the sun shines down on a crisp fall afternoon. the music plays, the car accellerates, the tires spin faster, the wind catches in the slivers of open windows, and the world outside passes by: people going about their business, pushing carts on the sidewalk, opening doors for elderly people, waiting with their hot coffee for the street lights to change, then there's a girl bouncing along holding her boyfriends hand, he feeling so lucky and slightly embarrassed, watching as i zoom by lost in sound as i tap tap tap on my steering wheel inside and full steam ahead outside.

'mission apollo' was the track that got me. a trip-hopped-up electrically acoustic guitar radio-headded french vocal track that seized my being enough to make me pause and note the time and place so i could look up the track on a playlist just to relive it, remember what the world was like at that moment, perhaps capture it with words like i'm doing now.... as i procrastinate making decisions about who i'm going to spend 40 hours with each week.

one thing's for sure, it won't be the talented alexandre désilets - mission appollo:



available at: itunes.

related:

• une rose noire
  
• salty kisses
  
• l'ascenceur pour le ghetto

16.0 la niña de la puebla - la zagala

one chilly fall night in the late 90s, tucked away in toronto's tiny tranzac club, eight flamenco dancers spent the evening furiously stomping and snapping to the accompaniment of live tablas. i was lucky to be invited to see that show. it was my introduction to live flamenco and it was mind blowing. i went to several of these shows and even tried a lesson myself.

for me, flamenco music is the sound of passion. it's bright red. it's the image of a dancer with her back arched and a flower in her hair. thick-heeled mary janes pounding the floor. arms out, castinets clanking. frilly skirts flying. men in white shirts and black vests. pointy-shoes time-tapping on the barstool rung. eyebrows knitted in full concentration. fingers violently abusing the classical guitar. then comes the wailing voice. the rapid guitar strum, finger snaps, hand-clapping, box-smacking, heel stomping, the instinctive olé!

flamenco is as much sight to me as it is sound.

la niña de la puebla challenged me. i first heard her standout track 'zagala' on putumayo's "the story of flamenco" compilation. everything else on the cd instantly dulled in comparison.

la niña de la puebla was not just any flamenco singer. born in 1909, the daughter of a singing barber, dolores jiménez alcántara began singing professionally at age 8. she took to the stage at 14. married at 20. had 5 children and continued to sing and tour all her life. she passed away at 90, one week before the spanish king would present her with the nation's gold medal for the arts. probably at the same time that i was sitting in the tranzac club, completely transfixed at my first flamenco show.

this musical post is a song from one of the most gifted vocalists of all time: the blind girl from sevilla who makes me dream in full colour.

la niña de la puebla - la zagala