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

o re piya

when people ask me what makes me so happy i usually smile and say things like "sunshine" and "flowers"... but i think people ask because they think i'm a perpetually, boundlessly happy person.

let me dispel this myth and then share a little secret.

life is never easy. truthfully, it's tough to appreciate happiness without comparing it to its opposite, so i'm grateful even for sadness (there's a little hint in here by the way...).

now, onto the secret!

averaged out, i grew up in a happy home. and of all the reasons, i can point to one very musical one: every morning, without fail, my dad sang. you'd hear him in the kitchen making our lunch and just singing. like no one was listening.

(thankfully he has a great voice)

in fact, when we kids were little, he and my mom would pile us into the car like kittens at the crack of dawn and the requisite sing-along would promptly begin. unless my mom was driving, you'd never hear duran duran or tears for fears in our car, no. it was always the same: we'd clear the driveway and devotional songs from the mosque would fill the crisp morning air. wishing i was still in pyjamas, nodding off like a bobblehead toy stuck to the dashboard, with voice barely there, i'd have to sing. how annoying. how uncool.

truth is, i catch myself doing it now... on my own, in the shower, in the car driving to work, without prompting. and guess what? i believe it keeps me happy. so there's the secret: sing. pick something melodic, something sweet, lovely, uplifting. sing your heart out! do it first thing in the morning. wake up with music filling you up inside so much that you just gotta let it out.

so for you dad, i'm posting some indian soundtrack-ghazal music. the best. rahat fateh ali khan, nephew of ustad nusrat fateh ali khan, legendary qawwali singers. let it warm up, because i just know you will sing along and do your finger tapping thing at the wheel!

rahat fateh ali khan - o re piya:


related:

• ghalla gurian - punjabi mc
  
• shiva lounge
  
• live qawwali at fatehpur sikri mughal castle

get this at amazon.com

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:


related to this...

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

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
  

live qawwali at fatehpur sikri

ahhh if only i'd gone there on this day...
i might have taken a better qawwality video
(sorry guys couldn't help the pun!)
enjoy....

live qawwali at fatehpur sikri - mughal castle:

mama afrika forever

miriam makeba - malaika

she lived an incredible life, fighting aparthied, lost access to her homeland but instead through her spirit and passion to fight for what she valued, became a true great citizen of planet earth.

few women have this type of unwavering grace... this is a beautiful song, sung by a beautiful soul. we'll miss you miriam. our angel.

ladies and gentlemen this next song comes from tanzania.
it's a song in swahili, a love song

it simply says, "malaika, na cupenda malaika"

which simply means, "i love you my angel".

miriam makeba - malaika:


*dedicated to my mother*
more info about miriam makeba.
get miriam's music on amazon

related to this...

• 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

une rose noire

so i'm driving along the road heading into work one spring morning, tuned into toronto's few french music radio station and i hear the end of this song...

...and i can't get it outta my head for the rest of the day.

i search around and can't figure out what it is, until a friend finally calls the station for me and finds out (by the way, thanks, this one's for you!).

"une rose noire" is short, upbeat, happy-go-lucky song on an all french album - a first for cargnello, an anglo montrealer who has been described as an acoustic folk-punker. the simple, optimistic tune and lyrics along with the catchy harmonica and guitar riffs make it one of those unpretentious but lovable songs that you suddenly find yourself whistling as you walk down the sidewalk on a sunny day. and i hope you will!

so here's to plenty of sunny days ahead...

paul cargnello - une rose noire:


available at: amazon.

related:

• salty kisses
  
• l'ascenceur pour le ghetto
  
• mission apollo

salty kisses...

dobacaracol - baiser salé

just back from almost a month in africa and didn't once jump into the ocean... i did, however, spend a glorious and magical two days on the nile river...

thanks to measha b for introducing me to these two ladies - who charmed me with their beautiful melodic voices. despite the familiarity of their french accent, the bell like guitar and tumbling drum rhythms led me to dream they were from west africa. i was so wrong.

turns out the duo doriane fabreg (aka 'doba') and carole facal (aka 'caracol') and their entourage are from montreal, quebec.

so i've returned home with the gorgeous memory of my last days in africa, surrounded by wild animals, serenaded by two seemingly african mermaids swimming and singing along the nile river.

in my dreams, the nile bears salty kisses...

dobacaracol - baiser salé:


thanks to paul at aurgasm for the posting. available at amazon.

related:

• l'ascenceur pour le ghetto
  
• une rose noire
  
• mission apollo

go go golem

les edits du golem

"he came to protect you. he's growing every day. he's made out of mud and letters. he uses scissors to edit obscure tracks. no one, except his master, could destroy him... the time has come for the world to experience the power of the golem."

...word for word what it says on the record album. no lie. deep, in the dark french vinyl grooves past these riddles on the album cover are some solid edits fashioned by romain bno, ready to be discovered... 'pyramide' for example is a light and airy take on the 1985 arabic 'disco/balearic' track by multitalented libyan ahmed fakroun... and then comes the heavy, the big sound... 'klout' features golem's golden scissors on 'sunshine baby', a 1979 track by a south african all-girl band called clout, this time sans voix. worth a good booty shake!

les edits du golem - pyramide:

les edits du golem - klout:

...check out the clout's original 'sunshine baby', complete with vocals:


big thanks to jez (innersounds) and neil (music like dirt).

get les edits du golem at vinyl france.

related to this....

• lights out
  
• yamasuki singers, black blood - aieoa
  
• bill cosby and quincy jones - hicky burr
  
• arabo-cuban improvisation

more mulatu...

just because i can't get enough, here's more mulatu for me and you...

this time accompanied by the dancing stylees of mike long. no matter where he is in the world, you can see him dance... his way, every day.

mulatu astatke - kasalèfkut hulu ("from all the time i have passed"):


apologies... some time after this was posted, the mike long youtube account was deactivated and is no longer! all things good and bad change, right?

related to this...

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

mmm.... mulatu

my colleague has been stuck on standby in addis ababa, ethiopia for four days now following a business trip. on a brighter note - who knew that ethiopian airlines has duty free music?!

specially packaged and available inflight, is a recording by prolific ethio-jazz icon, mulatu astatke. schooled in europe and north america, astatke returned to his native ethiopia in 1969 to pioneer a wave of ethiopian jazz music that blended african, latin, modern jazz and ethiopian instrumentation. a highly addictive brew filled with infectious energy.

i'm sure my colleague could use some of that until she finds a flight home.

so in the meantime...

mulatu astatke - yegelle tezeta ("my own memories"):


thanks to jim jaramusch's film, broken flowers for getting this into my head. and for making me want to get my hands on astatke's work.

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

drum thing in the air tonight

i've always loved phil collins' in the air tonight. mostly its tom tom drum - the dark, ominous beating heart that explodes a good three minutes deep into the track in an angry face off against cowardice and evil.

it's this sound that floats me back in history to when the first people of this land used drums that sound like this to communicate, to signal, to pow-wow, to live by. a skin, broad diameter, pounded steadily with a mallet.

and i can only guess that it's this sound that also caught the ear of house music guru and ifá priest, osunlade. the yoruba records boss polished up the sound and layered polyrhythms over top in his remix release, the backside of which is an instrumental dub.

thanks to jez proctor and his project innersounds, for weaving side b over a with a surprise horn, piano and cymbal-laden crescendo that pours back into to collins' original backbeat before it flies off.

i smile and think that eshu - yoruba god of spiritual justice - should be pleased...

phil collins - in the air tonight (yoruba soul mix) side a/b edit:

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

spirit dance

in life there are circumstances, situations and phenomena that simply cannot be explained.

these are the magical moments of life. sometimes we are amazed. other times, bewildered. we stop in our tracks. disarmed. we get goosebumps. we cry.

this magic, this shimmering mystery that eludes us, always leaves a mark.

moments in time when we are altered. forever changed.

it was cold winter night in 1994 when i first heard this song.
and i have never been the same since.

dead can dance - yulunga [the spirit dance]:

shiva's lounge

tony estrada - shiva lounge mix

i sometimes wonder how different life would have been if i was born in east africa like my parents or in india like my grandparents. i may have had a completely different musical palate, for one thing.

i've grown to appreciate the incredible vocal ranges, sophisticated scales and intricate instrumentation that are all part of classical indian music. but the pop stuff only made sense to me when i travelled to india the first time last year.

indian electronica, though, has been a great bridge for me. similar to indian cuisine, where spices are simmered together at the exact right time, indian music and electronica must be carefully combined to elicit an undeniable yet dramatic flavour. sometimes the results are disastrous. and at other times the results are incredible - and very addictive.

today's post features a podcast by chicago-based progressive house/trance producer and dj, tony estrada. this came to me courtesy of qasim virjee - also known in dj circles as abdul smooth, and his baby: www.indianelectronica.com.

the set starts off a bit bland. with track names like "lost in reflection" and "pink elephant" i wondered if tony's track selection resulted from too many india pale ales... but halfway through the mix i heard it: nomadix's beautiful remix of asha bhosle's cinematic classic 'chura liya'. this was immediately followed by meme's 2001 nights mix of shakira's 'ojos asi'.

seriously.

these were followed by some infectious electric-cairo-disco, including a must-hear version of "walk like an egyptian' by cleopatra + hakim, and tony's own rhythmic remix of dead can dance's 'saldek', topped by 'haram aleyk' by the yalla-chant queen herself, natacha atlas... some great hip shaking tunes.

i suddenly want to jet to mumbai... and if i did, i'd be lucky to check out qasim's mumbai instalment of the indian electronica music festival.

in the meantime, tony estrada's 2006 shiva lounge mix:


related to this:

• gigi shibabaw - gela

rokia traore - 98 (timmy regisford & quentin harris mix)

so yes, i've been quiet for a little while. it's been hectic and i usually get a bit quiet in november because of my birthday. and although i try not to, i always end up thinking about what i've accomplished and what i still want to accomplish. and sometimes i get a bit ambitious.

what sound-tracks this reflective process?

over the last week or so i've been plugged into a mix by louie 'lou' gorbea. especially one track by 33-year old malian rokia traoré (as remixed by timmy regisford and quentin harris).

besides hypnotizing me with her voice, traoré - who happens to be born the same year as me - has accomplished a lot. she has pushed the boundaries of malian traditional music by combining distinct traditions to come up with her own signature sound. she's defied her 'place' as a malian noble woman by performing. she's won BBC music awards. and she's performed in the presence of ali farka touré, salif keïta, youssou n'dour, manu dibango, khaled, baaba maal, peter gabriel, gilberto gil, and neneh cherry. to name a few.

98 is a beautiful, lush track featuring multilayered african drums, gorgeous west african string arrangements, all laid up against a classic house key. timmy regisford and quentin harris are outstanding. the jewel of this track, though, is traoré's voice. soft and buttery, but with so much soul. zero pretentiousness. true: you never really know exactly what she's singing about. but really, with a voice like her's, who cares.

all i can say is... 1974 was a good year.

without further ado, rokia traore - mancipera (quentin harris & timmy regisford mix):


rokia's unmixed music is incredible. check it out - visit rokia traoré's official website: www.rokiatraoré.net

related to this...

• nelly furtado - say it right (quentin harris mix)
  
• osunlade feat. divine essence - my reflection
  
• mmm... mulatu
  
• more mulatu
  
• mama afrika forever
  
• yamasuki singers, black blood.. a.i.e.o.a
  
• gigi shibabaw
  

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

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