G'Day - Some Aussie World Music...

ooops. posted in wrong forum. apologies. adam can you please move.

Hi Lontano

Thanks for the detailed & interesting post.
This sounds great, so I've ordered my copy.
I saw Yothu Yindi a couple of times in the 1990s, & they were really good!

Are you in Australia at the moment?


Cheers - John

P.S. I think your thread is in the right place.

555,

Glad you have ordered. Have been living in Sydney for the last four years which has been a great experience but may be on the move again soon.

Hope you enjoy the CD. I am pretty certain this will be close to the top of my top 10 list at the end of this year.

Cheers
Adrian

From the Brisbane Times

Aboriginal music gets an angelic new voice
March 31, 2008
INTERVIEWING Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu is very, very different. He speaks little English. He lives on Elcho Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land. He has been blind from birth and he is very shy. So we agree that emails, translated and transported by the musician Michael Hohnen, the producer of Yunupingu's extraordinary new album, Gurrumul, might be a workable strategy.

This is not some foolishly self-imposed obstacle course. Yunupingu's new album is the most beautiful recording ever made by an Aboriginal musician. He has a voice of transcendental emotional power that is reminiscent of the great Aaron Neville and his mix of gospel, soul and folk is a compelling new sound on an Aboriginal music scene that has been dominated in recent years by pub rock, reggae, rapping and country.

Most importantly, he is a traditional Aborigine who, for most of his life, has been aware of, but largely untouched by, modern pop music. Ask Yunupingu, who has played with Yothu Yindi and is a nephew of the Yothu Yindi Yunupingus, about his first memories of music and he says: "My family singing a lot of ceremony music … and also the radio and the church music. I used to go to church a lot. That is how I learnt to play the guitar. I heard the guitar in church and people gave me one to play and I just started to learn it. Later everyone told me I played upside down."

This intermingling of music is hardly surprising. No one, not even people as isolated as residents of Elcho Island, is immune to the influences of the modern world. The question always is how those influences are absorbed and transformed.

When I ask whether his blindness has made him more sensitive to music, Yunupingu offers an insight into the forces that have created his music. "I just hear all the sounds. The birds. People talking. The waves. Everything. Sometimes at home I listen to the bungul djama [ceremony], or the old people talking, and I learn from that way. I listen to radio and CD all the time. I listen to things 'cos I can't see them. That helps me understand what's going on."

And those CDs? And those musical influences? "Yo, yeah, the clan songs. We have lots of clans on Elcho, so I heard all the clans' music but I concentrated on my clan's songs. Then there were the old men. They sing strong and sweet. Apart from the traditional music, I remember Soft Sands, the first rock and roll band from Elcho. They sang sweet country music. Also there was Elvis, Neil Diamond and a lot of the gospel music in the church."

Although he listened to Elvis and Neil Diamond, Yunupingu sings in his native language. There are only two songs with English lyrics on Gurrumul, and he explains that in the case of the song Gurrumul History "I just sang in English to help people understand about my history".

He sings in Yolngu, he says, because "I feel uncomfortable with English a lot of the time … It is hard because the meanings of the words in Yolngu are different because we have different things in our life … I write songs that are part of my clan or my name, my country, my totem or traditional stories that are connected to me. I like singing about the story properly, singing all the right names of land, and ancestors, because I have to give out the right story. It is like a celebration."

The result is real revolution in Aboriginal music and it could not have happened without Hohnen's inspiration and support. Yunupingu says: "We met in 1996 and I adopted him as my wawa - brother. He and I joke around together a lot, but he also takes my music very seriously. He came to Elcho to run a music course, and I went along with the boys from the Saltwater Band. It was very exciting for me because I knew straight away that Michael took Yolngu music seriously. He encouraged us to be serious about our music and to think more like serious musicians."

Do not underestimate the historic importance of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. Before he came along traditional Aboriginal music was characterised mostly by simple and repetitive chanting. It had little interest outside ceremonies and dances in Aboriginal communities.

Yunupingu has the potential to be to indigenous music what painters such as Rover Thomas were to indigenous art. He is using a modern medium - in his case an angelic voice and the musical styles of gospel, soul and folk - to tell the traditional stories of his people and his culture. The result is authentically traditional Aboriginal music that is instantly accessible to Western audiences.

Gurrumul is available now.

Hi Adrian

Thanks for posting the Brisbane Times interview with Geoffrey; now I'm doubly excited!
You are lucky living in Sydney. I've visited Australia four times & loved it on each occasion. I hope your potential move is good news for you?

BTW for anyone else tempted, the best deal I could find (in the UK) was at ...

skinnyfishmusic dot com dot au

Thanks again Adrian!

Cheers - John

Lontano,

I was just catching up with my Morning Herald and read the review. I was hoping that they would announce some tour dates but no such luck so far.

Cheers ... Oliver

Bloody Hell, this is good!

quote:

Originally posted by MilesSmiles:
Lontano,

I was just catching up with my Morning Herald and read the review. I was hoping that they would announce some tour dates but no such luck so far.

Cheers ... Oliver

Oliver - I think we just missed him in Sydney - sure he will be back soon.

quote:

Originally posted by Lontano:

quote:

Originally posted by MilesSmiles:
Lontano,

I was just catching up with my Morning Herald and read the review. I was hoping that they would announce some tour dates but no such luck so far.

Cheers ... Oliver

Oliver - I think we just missed him in Sydney - sure he will be back soon.

Oliver - his myspace page says 12th July Sydney Opera House.

Lontano

quote:

Originally posted by Lontano:

quote:

Originally posted by Lontano:

quote:

Originally posted by MilesSmiles:
Lontano,

I was just catching up with my Morning Herald and read the review. I was hoping that they would announce some tour dates but no such luck so far.

Cheers ... Oliver

Oliver - I think we just missed him in Sydney - sure he will be back soon.

Oliver - his myspace page says 12th July Sydney Opera House.

Lontano

What are we waiting for - let's get the tickets!

quote:

Originally posted by MilesSmiles:
What are we waiting for - let's get the tickets!

Not on sale yet. Will be watching out for on sale date.

Adrian, if your out there, thanks for this, it really is a wonderful album.

Cheers.

quote:

Originally posted by Mario:
Adrian, if your out there, thanks for this, it really is a wonderful album.

Cheers.

Pleasure mate.

I have been to many shows here and it depends what you see and where you sit.

Classical concerts tend to be better - in fact every classical concert I have been to has been excellent. Rock concerts can be bad. A couple of weeks ago I saw Air at the Opera House, row 4 near the speakers. Sound was awesome. The review in the paper said the sound was bad - not where I was sitting.

They know they have a problem with rock as they have been trying out new setups with curtains etc to try and improve it.

I went with Miles Smiles to see Dave Holland - we sat halfway back near the sound man and I thought the sound was dreadful. I could not hear his bass.

When we saw PJ the other week, we were close and again the sound was good.

So mixed in summary dependent on where you sit.

quote:

They got the outside of the building right at least.

My understanding was the architect was not allowed/project run out of money to do the inside as designed!

Hi Adrian

My copy arrived yesterday, & it's no exaggeration to declare it completely excellent!

This guy is some talent;
great song writing, beautiful voice & extremely hot instrument skills.
I really like the translations being provided where necessary in the accompanying booklet,
& the sound quality is top-notch.

I put it on the Hi-Fi last night without saying anything to Mrs 555.
After a minute or so she asked "who is this?"
I told her, & she said "This is really lovely!
It's the best music I've heard in a very long time."
For once I didn't get told off for buying a record.

Thanks again for taking the time to share this with us Adrian.

Cheers - John

Had a listen but he doesn't float my boat.

On the other hand your recommendation for Cesaria Evora is stunningly beautiful (my wife likes too) and I will be purchasing. Heartbreaking vocalisations with quite a masculine voice and very emotional. Gorgeous.

Thanks

quote:

On the other hand your recommendation for Cesaria Evora is stunningly beautiful (my wife likes too) and I will be purchasing. Heartbreaking vocalisations with quite a masculine voice and very emotional. Gorgeous.

Wrong thread Diccus!

quote:

Originally posted by 555:

quote:

On the other hand your recommendation for Cesaria Evora is stunningly beautiful (my wife likes too) and I will be purchasing. Heartbreaking vocalisations with quite a masculine voice and very emotional. Gorgeous.

Wrong thread Diccus!

I debated whether to put it in this one as i'd just listened to Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu and wasn't my bag but wanted to balance it with the pleasure of Evora that Lontano/MilesofSmiles mentioned on the other thread. Please forgive me

555 - Glad you like the CD and that Mrs 555 approved. When I first played it at home Mrs
Lontano came running in to ask what it was. She rarely does that.

Diccus - MilesSmiles took me to see Cesaria a few weeks back and she was very good. I had never heard of her before that but she has quite a catalogue of albums for you to try.

Cheers

I wanted to forgive your transgression Diccus,
but when I look at the right thread you've not posted there re: Cesaria Evora.
I wanted to believe you, & how do you thank me?
Out of the goodness of my heart I try to help, & you disrespect me.
You think I'm the ... oh sorry, I just had one of my turns.
Mumsy tells me I take after dear Papa ...

Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Diccus?
If you think triple five is done,
He is the boy who will stop your little game,
He is the boy who will make you think again.
'Cus who do you think you are kidding Mr. Diccus?
If you think triple five is done.



GURRUMUL HISTORY (I WAS BORN BLIND) - (Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu)

I was born blind, and I don't know why
God knows why, because he loves me so
as I grew up, my spirit knew
then I learnt to read the world of destruction
united we stand, divided we fall
together we'll stand, in solidarity

Is that really not sad & miserable enough for you Diccus?

quote:

Originally posted by Diccus62:

.... very fitting for ANZAC day here in Oz today.

quote:

I was born blind, and I don't know why
God knows why, because he loves me so
as I grew up, my spirit knew
then I learnt to read the world of destruction
united we stand, divided we fall
together we'll stand, in solidarity

Sounds rather uplifting, he seems to have strength from his love of a higher spirit