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#11
11-10-2009, 09:57 AM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music i cant do a lot of videos, but the georgian ones look really interesting. african music i have been a fan of since high school and miriam makeba's early days. i had been sampling all the world's music and really appreciate greek music, traditional folk music i mean, never anything modern. of course zydeco was my favorite for a long time, clifton chenier and the red hot louisiana band (no psudo zydeco for me) then i thought i had found the absolute best ever when i discovered the portuguese fado. currently, since 1998, my favorite has been nusrat fateh ali khan and qawwali, the sufi devotional music. i have about 100 cd's of his and for some time i used to listen to it about 8 hours a day. he had fans worldwide (he died iabout six months before i discovered him) and his audience would be really crazy, depending on which country he was in that is. here in india and pakistan listeners would bang their heads on the wooden stage, and i probably would be following him all over the world today if he was still here, banging my brains out along with them. his music can send a person into a high exalted state of meditation even when one doesnt intend anything of the kind...if one is attuned to that sort of thing. and as far as evil, i noticed an interesting thing about the way they play drums here in india. i can see now why some people think music shouldnt be allowed-if you have any inkling of what being naughty is, and have sworn off all the hanky panky for life and you hear those drums you will be rethinking your decision very soon. after i had been celibate for some time and heard those drums, i began to feel very uneasy and have a whole new understanding of what they can do to a person's equilibrium and decorum. and they play this stuff in the temples! hindu concepts are not prudish and allow for all the natural human tendencies. i am joking about evil of course-music cant be evil. but it can really be primitive, and much of it is some of the best there is. it definitely reaches part of the brain that we have been trying to regulate...i guess maybe hearing it all the time it doesnt affect people so much-but i find it very stimulating to say the least. too much so in fact!  |
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#12
11-10-2009, 11:26 AM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music Quote:
I really must broaden my world music horizons to the southern hemisphere -- S America and Africa. I'll be checking out some of the music suggested in this thread. I'm in debt to Western artists who create what I call "hybrid" albums, a Western artist whom I know (and trust) performing world music, which sometimes leads me to more traditional performers of that music. So far, my only exposure to Latin or African music has been... OMG!!! YOU are BELGIAN!! YOU live in BELGIUM!! Do you know realize the implications?? YOU walk the same sacred soil, YOU breathe the same sacred air as .... HELMUT LOTTI!!! (gasp, swoon, faint, slide off chair to floor.) I'm OK now. I really do appreciate Lotti's versatility, especially his international albums. Here's three of his world music videos with songs from his African, Latin American and Russian albums. I realize this is not the pure style of these genres, but it's a start. At least Lotti can sing in other languages without sounding like he's coughing up a hairball. (When I attempt to even speak any language other than my native Americanized English, it's, well, sad.) I was disappointed that I couldn't find a video where Lotti sings "Qongqothwane" (from his Out of Africa album) in the Xhosa (click) language. Helmut Lotti singing Shosholoza from his Out of Africa album: Helmut Lotti singing Guantanamera: Helmut Lotti singing Lutshje Bulo (the "road trip" bonus documentary from Lotti's "From Russia With Love" DVD shows a member of the sound crew getting carried away when filming this song, lightly hopping and dancing while holding a large sound reflecting disc): You lucky Belgians. Sigh... rebecca |
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#13
11-10-2009, 12:27 PM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music Catchabula, That funny little video was a clever homage to Abbott & Costello as well as a little education about Japanese theatre. I was not familiar with Noh theatre. Thanks for the laugh. It must say something about music and life that all our movies have a musical score and soundtrack to help us feel the emotions of a moment or the grandeur of a far-flung vista or the energy and passion of a mass of people moving with grim determination toward confrontation as in a battle. My first experience with Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was in the animated movie Shrek and I still see the sad separated characters of that movie when I hear the song. It made their emptiness so touching. As an aside, I was looking at melonkali's submission of Helmut Lotti in Africa and, I may be wrong, but don't you think much of the camera work was done by a small child? Check out the vertical pitch and the roll on the images and the erratic motion of the camera, too heavy for small hands. I don't know that it's true, but I think it sweet that they appeared to have allowed a child to film some of it and used it in their video. Don't you? That would be just like Helmut Lotti who, by all repute, has a heart of gold as well as a voice of spun gold--and incredible range. Samm
__________________ One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes. |
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#14
11-10-2009, 05:58 PM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music Looooooooooool Rebecca, that really made my day! Yes, I'm from that small beer- and chocolate-loving country called Belgium (also known for its waffles and its "french" fries). There is something peculiar with out little nation, and that is our natural way of looking beyond our own borders (it could have historical reasons but I will not try to give an explanation here). It is expressed in our knowledge of languages (most belgians speak three or four languages) and also, obviously in the international repertoire of many of our singers and performers. Helmut Lotti is definitely one of our most well-known cultural ambassadors and has an incredibly versatile repertoire, ranging from opera to world music. Though he sings a lot of "popular" songs he is highly esteemed by the influential music magazines, like my favourite "Humo". Hey we also have things of our own, you know ;-) . Our old flemish folk-songs are very beautiful and perhaps I will post an english translation of a few of them. Here's another of my heroes, west-flemish folksinger Willem Vermandere, with his incredibly poetic parlando "Thousand Soldiers". Remembering the Great War, the flemish soil is drenched with blood... Samm, it is indeed possible that the camera was handled by a child or by some other bystander during the african tour of Helmut Lotti. It gives a simple and sympathetic mood to the vid, as if you yourself were one of the bystanders. Lotti is not the kind of star surrounded by body guards who knock you down when you come too close. I wonder if he would even like to be called a "star" at all, being pretty modest by nature. Perhaps these guys are the only true "stars" around... Salima, I have to check out that artist you mentioned, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I never really listened to Sufi music (blush blush) and what I know -or suppose to know- of the Sufi way of thinking makes it very promising. I'll see what I can find on Youtube etc. and I will report. Adding another vid to this cosy thread. A joyful song from my own hometown Ghent, Walter de Buck with "my paper kite" ("mijne vlieger"). A song that is a little bawdy, and that is best served with a fresh belgian beer... |
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#15
11-11-2009, 09:57 PM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music Samm, A problem with the camerawork on Lotti's Africa video? Oh. I guess I just presumed that many Africans are out-of-focus, tilted or headless... Salima, I love the sound of cajun and zydeco music, although I don't really know the difference between the two styles, much less the difference between "real" and "pseudo" zydeco. Care to enlighten me? Re: music as evil. I'm one of those "right brained" people who is hypersensitive to music and aesthetics in general. If I'm trying to focus on something cognitive or productive, I have to be careful about any kind of aesthetic interruption, or "elvis has left the building..." But evil? "Naughty" thoughts? Hmmm. I'll have to listen to some of the Indian music and see what happens. Thus far my response repertoire ranges from sorrow, "spacing out" into a trance-like state, or imaginative daydreaming, or a stunned feeling of awe, sometimes ethereal; then in the middle ranges I'll start to play air guitar or passionately sing along; then in the more manic or rhythmic ranges I usually feel compelled to move, to dance, in a kind of clumsy hippy-hoppy spinning around the room fashion. Of course, my frenetic dancing might be regarded as evil, since anyone who gets too close to me is in danger of bodily injury. As for pure sensuality, maybe I'm deficient in that regard. I've always had to have "romance" as an intermediary step. But I'll listen to some "sensuous" music and see what happens. Catchebula, The Flemish language is very beautiful -- I wonder what other languages it is related to. I'd love to have a translation or synopsis of that lovely remembrance of the fallen. But as for beer drinking songs, I wonder if the Irish-Americans perfected that art when they came over to this continent. The lyrics to the songs are often tragic, speaking of horrible oppression and loss, yet the songs themselves are usually sung in a rollicking, exuberant sing-a-long style. For example, I offer Irish-American comedian Denis Leary's Irish drinking song spoof: To all: When it comes to music that compels one to move/dance, one genre that I have a love/hate relationship with is some of the Karelian music of Finland (the true Finns, NOT the Nordic-Swedish peoples in parts of Western Finland). Karelian music is apparently more related to Hungarian than to Norse. Some of it is so dance-compelling but so hyper-cheery that one might find oneself uncontrollably hopping and spinning around the room towards the firearms cabinet... Before I present a happy Karelian song, let me note that in the Norse/Viking recreation camp there has been quite a bit of confusion about what constitutes true Norse/Viking traditional music -- everything from Viking Death Metal to American folk style has been tried. But the final straw, for me, was reading a Norse recreationist recommending the Finnish Karelian band Varttina for that "Viking" sound. Just picture this scenario: a small English coastal village in the 10th century AD. Suddenly terror overwhelms the innocent villagers as they hear the distance sound of this Viking war chant (Varttina's "Marilaulu"): Another really fun Varttina "compels you to dance" number is their brilliant instrumental Tantsukolena. However, the musicians cleverly add/subtract a half beat here and there -- so one minute you're ecstatically hopping and spinning around the room, the next minute you're stumbling and end up falling on your face -- unless you happen to have five legs! Varttina's "Tantsukolena" -- even at this lightspeed, you can hear the Hungarian sound of the violin. Happy hopping! Now to go check out some of the suggestions in this rich thread. rebecca |
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#16
11-12-2009, 12:37 PM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music Hi Rebecca. Yes, that is the simple paradox of folk music, and this has often been noticed before. In spite of its varying outward form folk music expresses our common human nature and its motives and themes are the same everywhere. This kind of music does not separate but unites people from all over the globe, in joy and in sorrow, in life and in death. As Willem Vermandere sings (but of course this translation is very "rough") : Als ge van ze leven in de westhoek passeert Deur regen en noorderwinden Keert omme den tijd als g' alhier passeert Den oorlog ga j' hier were vinden Ja 't is den oorlog da 'j hier were vindt En 't graf van duizend soldaten Altijd iemands vader altijd iemands kind nu doodstil en godverlaten Laat de bomen nu maar zwijgen En dat 't gras niets vertelt En de wind moet 't ook maar nie zingen Dat julder'n dood tot niets hè geteld Dat waren al te schrik'lijke dingen ... If you ever pass through our western land, Through rain and the northern wind, Reverse time when you pass here, And it's the war that you will find. Yes, it's the war that you will find here, And the graves of a thousand soldiers. All someone's father, all someone's child, Now alone and united in death. May the trees be silent, And may the grass don't tell, And may the winds not sing That your death counted for nothing, That would be a too terrible thing ... Like the english we belgians still make a great fuzz about the 11th of November, the Armistice of the Great War (1914-1918), in which so many flemish soldiers died along with the british ànd the germans. Did you notice their monument in the beginning of Vermandere's vid? Perhaps you have heard the poem "In Flanders' Fields the Poppies grow"? Did you know that almost everybody in England is wearing a paper poppy on his vest around this time of the year? I hope I can find a vid... Yes! But of course war, cruelty and bloodshed are a constant in the folk-songs of many countries, while it is also a constant in their history. The flemish people were culturally and politically oppressed for about the last two thousand years (I once posted Laïs' "Kanneken" as an illustration of this). The dramatic mix of laugh and tears you noticed in the irish song may be typical for the folk music of many small cultures, trampled under foot so many times. Folk-songs are also the expression of a people's cultural identity and pride and as such they can be politically abused by nationalist and seperatist tendencies. We may be proud of our own culture but we may never be blind for that of others. One more thing, and the finnish songs made me think of that. There is also "popular poetry", that is related with folk music and that is often totally intertwined with it. I'm thinking of the finnish epic Kalevala for example, of which the discovery by the schoolmaster Elias Löhnrot is a romantic story on itself . And of course there is the frequent influence of folk music on "cultural music" (composed by a single person), like in the compositions of Jean Sibelius, Bela Bartok and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Folk music can easily convey its vitality and drama to classical music... I guess we could go on about this forever. I'm a bit too old to danse and swing with my body, but my soul will always laugh and weep with those songs and sounds of yore. Something flemish to end my posting. Kadril, with a modern adaptation of a song dating from 1544: . Last edited by Catchabula; 11-12-2009 at 08:43 PM. |
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#17
11-12-2009, 05:50 PM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music I've spent the morning listening to every suggestions in this wonderful thread. I wish I could post them all, but here are a few favorites: The first was a soft and beautiful song from African singer Rokia Traore: The second, African drumming from Mali: The third, tasavvufi sufic music -- BTW, I had no idea there were SOOO many varieties of Sufi music! The fourth, Portuguese fado music: And finally, some Hindu music. At the Youtube site for this, the contributor has links to much more Hindu music, which I will further explore: I'll check all the links after this posts to be sure they're OK. Thanks for so many wonderful suggestions. rebecca |
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#18
11-13-2009, 12:50 AM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music hi melon- basically cajun is white and zydeco is black-more african and blues influence. good examples of cajun are these: the king of zydeco: and this is what i call pseudozydeco because it is too polished, produced and manufactured to be acceptable mainstream, ergo in my mind not genuine: mind you i havent listened to any of these, hope they work, but i am well familiar with the artists. for anyone who doesnt know, i am on dialup and have to download anything i want to hear, which can take up to 30 minutes for a short song. i really wish i could hear them all, but will have to wait until real broadband comes to my little town. but you wont find any drums like i am referring to unless some backpacker has recorded and posted on the internet. if i had a videocam i would try and get something, but i dont have any of those modern things. maybe my brother will come to india one day and bring one... |
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#19
11-14-2009, 11:50 AM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music Fascinating capt'n. It's a bit surprising to hear those guys sing in french, or at least in a pretty peculiar french, that may still be alive in and around New Orleans. Isn't there something special about the cuisine of the Deep South too (spicy if I remember well)? Great songs, with "soul". Thanks Salima. |
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#20
11-14-2009, 12:41 PM
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| Re: Traditional Ethnic or World Music Quote:
Samm
__________________ One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes. |
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