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World Music

Discussion in 'Music Forum' started by George, Mar 30, 2016.

  1. George

    Trusted Prestigious

    A thread to chat and share recommendations for "world" music. Now, obviously defining world music is a bit of a fruitless endeavour, but roughly it could encompass any music not from the "Western" (another useless phrase) world, and / or any music not sung in English and / or any music created using non-Western structures or instruments.

    It's next to impossible to define, and there's plenty of music that you could consider World Music. I don't want to be a stickler in this thread, so if you think it fits, please post it!
     
  2. George

    Trusted Prestigious

    Some artists that I like. By no means an all-encompassing or thorough list, I no doubt have gaps in my knowledge, so please post some of your favourites here too! The descriptions are crap, but should give you a general idea of the sound! Not embedding Youtube links because I don't want to slow things down, but the "Listen" button should take you to hear a song!

    Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
    A Pakistani Qawalli musician, with a voice like you wouldn't believe! Recommended Album; Musst Musst
    Listen

    Ravi Shankar
    An Indian sitarist, made what would be considered Hindu Classical Music. Recommended Album; Portrait of Genius
    Listen

    Ananda Shankar
    Ravi's nephew, and like his uncle a fantastic sitarist, but blended with a strong Western influence. Recommended Album; A Life in Music
    Listen

    Tinariwen
    A blues-y, rocky band from Mali. Fantastic guitar players. Recommended Album; Aman Iman: Water is Life
    Listen

    Jorge Ben
    A Brazilian samba/soul/funk/jazz musician. Recommended Album; Africa Brasil
    Listen

    Gal Costa
    A Brazilian soul/pop/psychedelic musician. Recommended Album; Gal Costa
    Listen

    Omar Souleyman
    A Syrian musician who plays music known as Dabke. Recommended Album; Bahdeni Nami
    Listen

    Ibeyi
    Two sisters from Cuba / France, who sing in a mixture of English and Yoruba. Recommended Album; Ibeyi
    Listen

    Ladysmith Black Mambazo
    A South African vocal group, famous in particular for working with Paul Simon on Graceland. Recommended Album; Shaka Zulu
    Listen

    Ahmed
    A group from the Maldives who blend their own traditional music with 60s/70s rock and psychedelia influences. Recommended Album; Dhaalu Raa
    Listen

    Fela Kuti
    An Afrobeat musician from Nigeria. His son, Femi Kuti, is also well worth a listen. Recommended Album; London Scene
    Listen
     
  3. cshadows2887

    Hailey, It Happens @haileyithappens Supporter

    Thread makes me miss Craig.

    Thread also makes me appreciate George.
     
  4. George

    Trusted Prestigious

    D'aww, thank you! Is there anybody you'd recommend that isn't on the list above? If you haven't heard it, I'd really recommend either Ibeyi or Nusrat for you if you haven't heard them yet, too!

    And I miss Craig too, I still hold out the tiniest bit of hope that he'll transfer over to this site. He'd absolutely boss this thread!
     
  5. cshadows2887

    Hailey, It Happens @haileyithappens Supporter

    I don't know if they're essential or anything but I might throw on Ali Farka Toure, Lokua Kanza or Os Mutantes

    And does French music count because Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour
     
  6. Meerkat

    human junk drawer Prestigious

    Excited to start checking out some of the artists mentioned. Thanks for the recs @George
     
    George likes this.
  7. atranslantic

    aka PeeDster

    The song from the movie Timbuktu. Good movie, song is amazing. (Fatouma Diawara is from Mali).


    and another lovely track by her:

     
  8. George

    Trusted Prestigious

    I don't know the bolded two, so excited to listen! Big fan of Jacques Brel as well, should maybe have included him above.

    Those songs are awesome, great find, PD!
     
    atranslantic likes this.
  9. George

    Trusted Prestigious

    So today I listened to a group called Lakou Mizik, from Haiti. An ensemble group that formed following the devastation of the earthquake in 2010, and it's utterly joyous and life-affirming. Their debut album is out tomorrow, named Wa Di Yo, but you can find several singles on Youtube or around elsewhere! Well worth hearing, for fans of happiness and joy.

    Wa Di Yo, by Lakou Mizik

    Big bio below, if you're interested.

     
    cshadows2887 likes this.
  10. George

    Trusted Prestigious


    Seeing as you mentioned Charles Aznavour, do you have a recommendation for a decent place to start with him? His discography is pretty unwieldy, to say the least. Is there a compilation, or a "real" album that you like particularly?
     
  11. cshadows2887

    Hailey, It Happens @haileyithappens Supporter

    I've only heard Aznavour 2000 officially but I like it quite a bit.
     
  12. George Apr 19, 2016
    (Last edited: Apr 19, 2016)
    George

    Trusted Prestigious

    Listened to this today;

    [​IMG]

    Compilation of Nigerian "rock" music from 1972 - 1977. Rock isn't a particularly great term for it, it's plenty soulful and funky. It's a pretty fascinating listen, some of the artists are clearly hugely indebted to 60s Psychedelia and Garage Rock, but they're putting their own slant on it. Sometimes it's pretty raw stuff, but there's a lot of joy here and experimentation.

    I've tried Googling a few of the artists and there's not a lot out there about them, so it's pretty rare / obscure stuff!





    You can purchase the MP3s here; Rappcats » Wake Up You! The Rise and Fall of Nigerian Rock, 1972-1977 Vol. 1

    Or you can send me a PM for free.
     
  13. George Apr 20, 2016
    (Last edited: Apr 20, 2016)
    George

    Trusted Prestigious



    Blues-y stuff, and he fucking kills it on guitar. Lush production too. Hugely recommended!

    Listen to it on Spotify here; Review: Bombino, 'Azel'

    You can also listen to his previous album, Nomad, on youtube;

     
  14. George

    Trusted Prestigious



    Tony Allen is a highly-regarded Nigerian drummer, and one of the pioneers of afrobeat with his work with Fela Kuti in the 70s. He's had a long career since then, spanning 50 years. This album above is from 2009 and it is the first solo thing I've heard of his, though I like Fela Kuti's stuff, which he played on.

    Like a lot of afrobeat, it's a joyous lively affair, full of energy and soul throughout. My knowledge of drumming is minimal but I think @Meerkat might find a lot to enjoy here!
     
  15. Chaplain Tappman

    Trusted Prestigious

    The growing convergence of afrobeat and American hip hop makes me very excited.



     
  16. Meerkat

    human junk drawer Prestigious

    @George Gonna check this out tonight!!
     
    George likes this.
  17. George

    Trusted Prestigious



    Victor Deme was a blues musician from Burkino Faso, who sadly died last year of malaria. He released two albums, the self-titled one above, and one called Delli.

    He has an exceptional voice, full of power and emotion. The guitar work is hugely impressive, and there is some really cool percussion elements to it. He straddles a few genres, blues isn't exactly the best description, there's bits of flamenco and soul and jazz in there too. I would recommend it, it's a lovely listen!
     
  18. brandon_260

    Trusted Prestigious

  19. cshadows2887

    Hailey, It Happens @haileyithappens Supporter

    Added to the radar. For all my intended musical open-mindedness, I still always do poorly with world music
     
  20. brandon_260

    Trusted Prestigious

    I feel like you'll be blown away as well. Let me know your thoughts whenever you get around to it!
     
  21. cshadows2887

    Hailey, It Happens @haileyithappens Supporter

    Heard Caetano Veloso's debut. I can't say I like it as much as Jorge Ben or the Gal Costa album I've heard, but it's pretty excellent. It's also fascinating to read about the cultural baggage around it
     
  22. cshadows2887

    Hailey, It Happens @haileyithappens Supporter

    [​IMG]

    I need so many more albums like this. Jesus.
     
  23. brandon_260

    Trusted Prestigious

    Has anyone heard Księżyc? They're a Polish band that mix music with A-G theatre. Hard to really define their music, it's somewhere between traditional songs, choral music, horror soundtrack, and highly experimental. I saw them play an Unsound event with GAS last night and they blew me away. Totally stole the show.



    Also seeing Ibeyi on Tuesday and pretty excited about that. Still haven't heard their first album, but the new one is great.
     
  24. brandon_260

    Trusted Prestigious

    Whoa, Ibeyi is wicked live!
     
  25. Joel

    Trusted Prestigious

    posting to remember to check this shit out