What else is happening out there?
Posted by: Nathaniel on 06 February 2011
Raga Rasa: That Which Colors the Mind - Kartik Seshadr
Soro - Salif Keita
Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares
Try this. IMO it's ruddy marvellous.
Cheers
Flettster
Madman Of God is a superb album of Iranian Devotional Love Songs (believe me it sounds better than my description) made in a traditional style
Shy Angels is Madman Of God recontructed by Bill Laswell and is equally good and rendered in a very different and modern way. They complement each other beautifully.
This link is to the (legal) Grooveshark streaming site which has songs from both albums, which should allow you to
http://listen.grooveshark.com/...ng?q=sussan%20deyhim
Raga Surdasi Mulhar
THis is a Youtube link to a section of the above album
This Youtube clip of Kese Kese is from the Sri Durga album.
This one of Alkher Illa Doffor is from the La Kahena album
I love Indian Classical, and jugalbandi (duetting) is just amazing. On Samwad, Purbayan Chatterjee (sitar) & Kala Ramnath (violin) weave in out out of each other and twist about like a stream running under a bridge. The instruments complement each other perfectly too.
This link takes you to Music India Online.
The whole of the Samwad album is there. I'd start with the compressed raga Bageshri, which will tell you what you're in for, then if you like that try the three movements of raga Kedar, which takes you from the lovely alap (sounds like tuning up at first) and into the faster two compositional sections where they truly smoulder in a way that many guitar rock bands would die for.
'Afrocubism' is fairly unthreatening mainstream world music but still pretty good, Mali meets Buena Vista Social Club. It has some of the feel of the classic 'Talking Timbuktu'.
I note your interest in 'music with some of the structural complexities typically associated with classical music' and therefore here are two old RealWorld discs from my collection that you may enjoy. The first is by an artist that everybody should try out at some point; Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was IMHO a musical genius. Musst Musst perhaps the best but some of the more traditional works can still get me inspired. The second is a beautiful Raga called 'Sampradaya' played on lovely shimmering hammerred dulcimers that explodes into quite a climax by Pandit Shiv Kumar. Enjoy.
Bruce
(PS Try Sterns Muisc website for great stock and also low quality samples to try, not just African music either)
Buying CDs by Shiv Kumar Sharma can be tricky, as he's has a bit of a tendency to make hybrid Westernised music, that usually just sounds like cheese. But when he points in the right direction he's amazing.
This album is one such occasion. Recorded live with Zakir Hussain on tabla it's an astonishing virtuosic tour-de-force - just when you thing his mallets must fly apart he ups the pace once again, without even losing the melodic content. One minor warning - during the alap there's a child in the audience clearly dying from consumption, but some kind person removes him after a while...
This is a Spotify link to a part of that Raga Rageshri, though from a different, slightly less electric performance
And this is the best place to buy it
This one isn't recent and it is East meets West but it is a beautiful album, especially on 45rpm vinyl.
Steve
The mighty (and sadly late) Fela Kuti, a bona fide third world superstar and a thorn in the side of the Nigerian government in the 1970s and 80s. Some awesome music to be found on these albums:
Music from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and, most especially Uzbekistan), is fantastic. This is a goodie I picked up in France(!) some years ago:
Mongolian music, especially that played on the horse-head fiddle is also really interesting.
Javanese Gamelan music, which was a huge influence on Western music, beginning with Debussy and running through to Steve Reich:
from Zimbabwe The Bhundu Boys , Shed sessions .. possibly some of the finest guitar playing i have ever heard .
This was heavily endorsed and played by John Peel , I have Peely to thank for opening my ears to more than just "white boy indie guitar" bands in the eightes.
this is very simular to the Bhundu Boys and is again briliant melodic guitar playing.
and if you fancy some Ukranian folk , try this by the Wedding Present , John Peel session very energetic album ( you can probably tell i spent a lot of time listening to John Peel ) Davni Chasy on you tube is a good starter
for a more traditional Ukranian feel,, the Ukranians formed after the Peel session and still touring occasioanlly , a reccomended live experience
non are recent but well worth a listen !
Here is something from these part of the world which might be interesting for some of you (this is the newest but the whole back catalogue is worth of listening)
Värttinä, Utu (Rockadillo Records, 2012)
... and a small sample
"Manattu (Conjured By a Seer)"
New York's Newsday described their music as “A gale-force musical attack... beautifully poignant tunes... exotic but accessible, complex but exciting” and from Billboard magazine: “Exquisite beauty... groundbreaking yet steeped in tradition, definitely Finnish, yet worldly.”
Mercan Dede : Breath.
Otherworldly.
