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Unu = one in Rumanian, daou = two in Breton, tri = three in Serbian and Breton, chtar = four in Rom.
1 2 3 4 is the whispered beginning of many tunes, and represents four of the languages used by the musicians of this quartet : Erik Marchand, from Poullaouen, is a singer. Costica Olan, is a taragot and soprano sax player, his native language is Rom, he also use Romanian in his daily life. Viorel Tajkuna is Serbian and belongs to the Rom minority of the Serbian Banat, as a result he is trilingual. He is an accordionist and organist for weddings. Jacky Molard from Saint Malo, has been living in Spezet, central Brittany, for many years. He’s a composer, arranger and violin player, using a large range of musical languages.
Erik Marchand is a leading figure of Breton song. He has adopted a very strong Breton identity while remaining completely open to other cultures in which he immerses himself, then he searches deep in the popular music of Brittany for the resources to establish or recreate a dialogue with them.
01. Kened Eros Kened Eros
02. Kened Eros Olani
03. Speied
04. Lunca
05. Jaures
06. Marcel
07. Suita Moldovaneasca Stefaneti 1
08. Suita Moldovaneasca Stefaneti 2
09. Draghicesca Umblu Noapte Ca-Si Un Lotru Prin Padure Si Prin Codru
10. Draghicesca Draghicesca
11. Sopsteveni Raspored
12. Jaures
Link
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With a history of bizarre and dramatic destiny, Tales Forest been a long and unpredictable way - from rabid hooligan punk, a hardcore, psychedelic with a touch of shamanism and Irish folk, before these disparate components formed her own very unique style.
1. So far at Ladoga
2. Undead
3. Hey, the spirit
4. Vorojeya
5. Ulyatay
6. How nice
7. Jolta Ku
8. Ladoga
9. Kalyaki-Maliaka
Andrei Figa – vocal, accordion (music composer)
Pavlik Vlasov “Egypt” – shaman-drummer (poet)
Roma Tentler – contrabass
Petya Sergeev “Jaguar” – percussion
Volodya Molodcov “Professor” – flutes and bagpipes
Sergey Kirianov “Korotishka” – guitar
Dimarik Shihardin – fiddle
Link
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"Deolinda combines Portuguese fado and Brazilian music brilliantly.
Without a doubt, one of the freshest, most charming and beguiling releases I've heard in quite some time comes from the Portuguese group Deolinda, named for the fictitious female created by guitarist/songwriter Pedro da Silva Martins.
Within 22 weeks of its release, the disc went platinum in Portugal. Fronted by Lisbon singer Ana Bacalhau, a jazz singer by trade, the acoustic quartet takes a cue from traditional Portuguese fado and Brazilian music. It also trades on the stunning success of Portuguese singer Mariza although Deolinda is decidedly more folk. .
While you won't necessarily know it from listening unless you're fluent in Portuguese. , Deolinda's lyrics tell stories that are incisive slices of everyday life. In "Mal Por Mal," Deolinda explains to her lover that "I'm the person you've always wanted me to be/I have a job and a normal life/but when I get up and don't know who I am who I've become/I start going crazy/Your good is my bad."
Highly recommended!"
01. Mal Por Mal
02. Fado Toninho
03. Nao Sei Falar De Amor
04. Contado Ninguém Acredita
05. Eu Tenho Um Melro
06. Movimento Perpétuo Associativo
07. O Fado Nao É Mau
08. Lisboa Nao É A Cidade Perfeita
09. Fon-Fon-Fon
10. Fado Castigo
11. Ai Rapaz
12. Cançao Ao Lado
13. Garçonete Da Casa De Fado
14. Clandestino
Ana Bacalhau: vocals
Luís José Martins: classical guitar, ukulele, cavaquinho, guitalele, viola braguesa and vocals
Pedro da Silva Martins: composition, lyrics, classical guitar and vocals
Zé Pedro Leitao: double bass and vocals
Link
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Well known Hungarian folk and jazz musicians play sophisticated, intelligent world music. One can realise that the musicians are well trained and have solid roots in jazz music. World famous singer Irén LOVÁSZ is also featured on the album. (Her most famous release is called: WORLD TREE.) She and her music-mates can be found on albums of MAKÁM too.
1. 1999
2. Én felkelék - I Get Up
3. Iniciálé - Initial
4. Pókháló - Cobweb
5. Lélekbál - Ball of Soul
6. Szeszélyes - Caprice
7. Szárnyak - Wings
8. Időcsepp - Drop of Time
9. Szemek - Eyes
Bárány Péter - acoustic guitar, bass
Gavodi Zoltán - clarinet
Gyulai Csaba - violin, viola, viola da gamba, percussion
Koós László - guitar
Mizsei Zoltán - keyboards, piano, psalterium, percussion
Guests:
Lovász Irén - vocal
Váczi Dániel - sax
Kőszegi Péter - bass
Dés András - percussion
Link
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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!
Nikolay Oorzhak was born in December 1949, in the small village Khorum-Dag in western Tuva. After graduating from high school in 1964, he worked for four years as a shepherd, herding horses, sheep, and cows. There on the steppes, alone with his herds, he started producing sounds like his father and grandfather used to sing. This was Khoomei, or throat-singing. At that time, his only audiences were the horses, sheep, and cows.
In 1982, Nikolay caught the attention of the local authorities, who supported his bid for a professional education. So, in 1983 Nikolay began attending the Ulan-Ude cultural institute in Buryatia, where he also became Director for Public Theaters. This was also an opportunity to finally open his hidden talent of throat-singing.
In 1989 the First International Festival of Throat-Singing was held in the Tuvan capital of Kyzyl. Nikolay was awarded First Prize for Kargyraa style. At that time he already brilliantly performs in all the overtone singing (xorekteer) styles: khoomei, kargyraa, sygyt, borbangnadyr, ezengileer and became a Khoomeiji (Recognized Master of Khoomei) in his country. The same year he and fellow throat-singer Boris Kherly and scientist Zoya Kyrgys founded Ensemble Tuva. Meeting with great success, they toured internationally, including Norway, Sweden, Turkey and Mongolia.
In those days, it was common for such ensembles to include a dramatization of a shamanic ritual, and in addition to singing and playing with Ensemble Tuva, Nikolay portrayed the shaman. Elders often commented that he appeared authentic and suited for this role, and that perhaps he was meant to be a real shaman. Sometimes, after these performances, he felt dizzy and suffered headaches. He sought help from Oleg Toiduk, a well-known shaman. Oleg told him that Nikolay was destined to be a shaman, and was suffering the effects of energies sand talents that he needed to share with others for healing.
In Tuva, shamans often inherit their abilities, and Nikolay was no exception. There were shamans on his mother's side, and her father was a famous shaman in the Sut-Khol region of Tuva. On this basis, Nikolay started his healing way. Observing his progress, in 1998 the pre-eminent Tuvan shamanism scholar Prof. Mongush Kenin-Lopsan invited Nikolay to work for his shamanic society Dungur.
In 1995 Nikolay was invited to India to celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 60 birthday. He got the Dalai Lama's blessing, which enables him to increase his healing singing abilities.
In 1999 Nikolay was elected Chairman of Tuvan shaman society Tos-Deer, and that same year visited Vienna, Austria, with Prof. Mongush for the Shamanic Congress. He also toured Italy and Switzerland. Back in Tuva in December 1999 German television filmed a documentary on his outstanding technique of shamanism and throat singing. In 2000 he was invited to return to Germany for that year's Shamanic Congress.
In 2002 he made a successful three-month tour in Canada and USA on invitation of Mr. Steeve Sklar (International Association for Harmonic Singing) and Canadian Shaman's Society. During the tour, he had a meeting with Dr. Michael Harner, a famous founder of Foundation for Shamanic Studies, who has highly evaluated Nikolay's abilities.
Nikolay regularly gives a seminars in different towns of Russia, Ukraine and Europe, teaching the shamanism, throat singing and using the overtones in healing practice and self-development. He also is a welcomed and honorary guest at local and international music festivals.
01. Appeals
02. Kargyraa
03. Khomus And Sygyt Together
04. Khomus Solo
05. Sygyt
06. Shamans Song
07. Bowling
08. Trio 1
09. Trio 2
10. Moscow Mix (With Mikhail Zukov, 2000)
11. Improvising (With Vladimir Solyanik)
Link
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Majid Bekkas, oud and guembri virtuoso, guitar professor and singer, has long been a star in his home country Morocco. Over the last few years, he has found his way into the European jazz scene through his collaborations with Archie Shepp, Louis Sclavis, Flavio Boltro or Klaus Doldinger. Abdelmajid Bekkas was born and still lives in Salé, Morocco. He studied classical guitar and oud at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Rabat and learnt Gnawa music through the teachings of the master Ba Houmane. Gnawa appeared in the 16th century. During the conquest of Sudan, Ahmed El Mansour Dahbi set up the first trading and cultural links between Timbuktu, near Zagora where Bekkas comes from, and Marrakech.
The secular music is still considered the "healer of souls" from Essaouira to Marrakech, easily
understandable when you listen to the spellbinding sound of Bekkas´ voice, guembri and guitar.
Like a watermark, the mystery of Africa can be felt in the backround, alongside the blues. Gnawa´s intact purity is the essence of the authenticity. By claiming to be part of Africa, the mother of the blues and ist numerous offspring such as funk, Bekkas is placing Gnawa in its primary dimension. By opening the spectrum (including elements of contemporary western music), Bekkas attains a universal status that is nurtured by the path he travelled. These include: jazz, alongside pioneers such as Peter Brötzmann, Archie Shepp, Flavio Boltro, Louis Sclavis.
Bekkas´ openness and ability to balance modernism and memory with a rare talent that knews no compromise, frees the music from the stamp of time. The memory is that of pain and wisdom, of songs that come from the slaves of Africa.
01.African Blues
02.Mrhaba
03.Hamdouchi
04.Youbadi
05.Balini
06.Daymallah
07.Sandiye
08.Galou
09.Soudani Manayou
10.Mawama
Link
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Melech Mechaya is a festive journey through klezmer music, with a contagious sound of arabian flavours, gypsy rythms and the yiddish tradition. From Hungary to Israel, from the Balcans to New York, those are parties and celebrations with standing audiences and empty chairs. Between laughter and dancing, this is great party not recommended to those with heart problems!
Considered nowadays as an independent style – yiddish music – klezmer music was born on the musical tradition of the Jewish culture, and was developed as from the fiftheenth century. Its repertoire comprehend many dance and celebration themes, as well as delicate and moving songs.
If “klezmer” referred only to musical instruments, its meaning was widened to the instrumentalists themselves (the “klezmorim”), and nowadays it means an almost universal music: from Hungary to Israel, from the Balcans to New York.
The klezmer music that is played by Melech Mechaya is characterized by contagious joy and rythm, with energetic and festive dances and celebrations. With roots in
ancient jewish traditions from the peoples of the East Europe, Melech Mechaya's klezmer includes the energy of the balcan music, the cadenza of the gypsy rythms, and the elegance of the arabian melodies.
01. Dodi Li
02. Fanfarra
03. Bulgar De Almada (Com Tucanas)
04. Nigun 7
05. Dança Do Desprazer
06. Sweet Father
07. Rad Halaila
08. Budja Ba
09. Fado Tantz
10. Na Festa Do Rabi
11. Freylach 6.8
12. Hava Nagila
13. Melodia Da Rua
14. Cravineiro
15. Sabituar
16. Harmónica
André Santos – Guitar;
Francisco Caiado – Percussion;
Joao Graça – Violin;
Joao Sovina – Double-bass;
Miguel Veríssimo – Clarinet.
Link
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The ethnic project 'Bugotak' was found in 2004 in Novosibirsk, Russia, and currently located in the same region.
Bugotak plays native siberian music in these variations: Mostly - northern turkic (Altai, Tuva), but also Tungus-manchurian, and music of the Deep Northern folks (Eveny, Negidaltsy, Orci etc) Mostly - traditional folklore, but also ethnic turkic rock and hard ambient. Mostly - its own songs, but also original folk songs and tributes to rock classics, played in traditional siberian instruments.
The main idea of Bugotak's art is that only those traditions come alive, which develop itselves; stark traditions are subject to nobody. Mean both creativity and traditions.
Bugotak was found by George Andriyanov, a multi-instrument player and throat singing performer.
Awards in 2006: - 'The best folklore band' within professional performers on The Baykal Necklace international festival (Ulan-Ude, Russia)
01. Bass Barchyzy
02. All You Want
03. We Siberians
04. Young Shaman Returns Home After Medical Institute
05. The Wheels Must Rotate (Bermuda From Askat)
06. Makary Lykov
07. Assigning Heritage
08. Shaktar-Baatyr (Folk)
09. Kezitke Sening Söstöring
10. The Valley Is Covered With Ice Of Dead People's Tears
11. Of Course, The Word
12. What I See That I Sing (Parody Of Linkin Park's Breaking The Habit)
13. There Is No Fate (Dedicated To Yanka Dyagilevaya)
14. To Live Up To The Winter (Dedicated To People Who Weren't Able To Reach The Foot Of Their Own Mountain)
Sayan Andrianov
Taras Ablamsky
Barbara Sapozhnikov
Eugene Zhukovsky
Vladimir Glushko
Sayan Andriyanov
Nicholas Roerich, Irina Smirnova and Pavel Shaikin
Link
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The Bulgarian-Hungarian musician Nikola Parov who has been playing in several groups, this time went into studio with the finest ethno and world musicians to make his brand new album Balkan Syndicate. A kind of music was born which is up-to-date and modern, but at the same time it involves elements of world music as well. Hearing these temperamental rythms the amusement and fun is guaranteed. Thanks to Nikola Parov and the contributing artists, the audience can hear a world-standard album which holds its ground wherever in the global musical life, from an artists who has obtained his professionalism playing for several years on the Broadway and as a soloist of the Riverdance Orchestra.
01. Este jő/ Evening Comes
02. Kurva lesz a babám /My Darling is a Misstress
03. Flash & Crash /Flash & Crash
04. Fúdd el fúdd / Blow it Blow Away
05. Mi zörög / Crush in the Bush
06. Prela Baba / Prela Baba
07. Walter búcsúja /Walter’s Farawell
08. Szerelem betegje / Sick of Love
09. Anyám édes anyám / Mother Dear Mother
10. Mikor lesz már nyár / Wish for Summer
11. Repülj madár repülj / Fly Birdy Fly
Gyenge Lajos
Bantsheva, Roza
Dorozsmai Péter
Csonka Walter
Herczku Ági
Pain
Szalóki Ági
Rostás Károly
Varga György
Bognár Szilvia
Todorova, Elitza
Yordanova, Borislava
Parov, Nikola
Georgieva, Velitshka
Link
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Jon Boden is a busy man. One half of a superb duo with John Spiers; the singer and fiddler for Bellowhead, and a solo artist whose acclaimed debut, Painted Lady, was a dramatic work darkened by the hues of romantic obsession. Songs from the Floodplain is set on a larger, more epic canvas. It’s an apocalyptic vision of a world gone to hell in a handcart, a ravaged near-future where memory rasps like a collapsed lung over an open fire and whose inhabitants grapple with what has been lost, where they are now, and what they’ve got coming. He’s certainly got his timing right. Recession, depression, ruination, collapse – the four horsemen of the financial apocalypse could be the rhythm section here. Set against a rousing and deeply uplifting musical backdrop that draws on rock textures as well as folk and atmospheric chamber music. Boden plays all the instruments himself – guitars, fiddle, concertina, bass, percussion, bagpipes, banjo, harmonium. His voice is superb: it can carry heavy emotional freight – all the weighty, dark materials of his vision – but it can also rise above it with a declamatory ring of defiance, remembrance and confession.
This ambitious album captures the current zeitgeist of collapse, uncertainty and dread. Lyrically and musically it’s a tour de force, deeply atmospheric and resonant of common fears and escalating anxieties, but with an imaginative force that makes it an uplifting and deeply satisfying experience. Yes, things could turn out this bad. But there’s no doubt that Boden has turned out a consoling, classic album for troubling times.
01. We Do What We Can
02. Going Down To The Wasteland
03. Days Gone By
04. Penny For The Preacher
05. Dancing By The Factory
06. Beating The Bounds
07. The Pilgrim's Way
08. April Queen
09. When The Walls Come Tumbling Down
10. Don't Wake Me Up 'Til Tomorrow
11. Under Their Breath
12. Has Been Cavalry
Link
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01. Snimbe - Tama (Mali - Guinee Bussau)
02. Sinama Denw - Habib Koite & Bamada (Mali)
03. Awa Y’Okeyi - Papa Wemba (Republique Democratique du Congo
04. N’Dolo - Henri Dikongue (Cameroun)
05. Ancient Voices - Chiwoniso (Zimbabwe)
06. Kounka - Lulendo (Angola)
07. Mariama - Pape et Cheikh (Senegal)
08. Olhos Molhados - Bonga (Angola)
09. Malaso - Regis Gizavo (Madagascar)
10. Dimama - Sally Nyolo (Cameroun)
11. Wanita - Rokia Traore (Mali)
12. Mamy Kha - Rajery (Madagascar)
13. Mame - Senegal Acoustic (Senegal - France)
14. Kothbiro - Ayub Ogada (Kenya)
15. Tapera - Oliver Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe)
Link
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Erik Marchand, formerly of the group Gwerz, is a powerful singer of Breton songs. His trio came into being when accompanist Thierry Robin discovered that the oud, or Middle Eastern lute, could reproduce the unusual intervals of traditional Breton vocal music. Soon, the duo had recruited Hameed Khan, a tabla player, to round out their Breton-Arabic fusion.
01. Az Zoudar Maleurus
02. Ar C'hont Gwilhou
03. Eur Suivezh A Viz Mae
04. Jean-Louis Ha Marivon
05. Heuliad Fised (Trad.)
06. Bolom Kozh
07. Iwan Gamus
08. Son Ar Vot
09. Heuliad Plinn
10. Ar Graouenn Muskades
Link
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Hetric Free Folk - world music. A fusion of different Celtic music traditions: Irish, Scottish, and Manx with Balkan music: Moldavian, Transylvanian, Hungarian!
The group Hétrét is based in South-western Hungary. This corner of the country has always been a melting pot of different cultures and traditions. A meeting point of three countries: Hungary, Austria and Slovenia, the region is home to various nationalities and thus to a unique variety of musical traditions.
Originally a traditional Irish music group, Hétrét expanded their repertoire to combine folk traditions from the local regions: Hungary, the Balkans as well as Transylvania and Moldavia. The music is basically acoustic and one can hear a variety of instruments from the Celtic harp and tin whistles to the South-American charango.
01. Harvest Home (Traditional Irish and Hungarian)
02. Se kertembe (Traditional Moldavian)
03. Come by the Hills (Traditional Irish)
04. Szerelmese
05. Banks of Claudy (Traditional Irish)
06. Abbie
07. Tha Mi Sgith (Traditional Scottish)
08. I'm a Man (Traditional Irish)
09. Az ördög tánca
10. Ushag Veg Ruy (Traditional Manx and Transylvanian)
11. Bajdal (Traditional Moldavian and Irish)
12. Oidipusz bolyongása (Traditional Irish)
Boa Veronika Setanta - voice
Kimberly Coleman - fiddle, voice
Jon Hanson - fiddle, voice
Hochrein Judit - tin whistles, voice
Ityko - guitars, banjo, double bass, mandolin, keyboards, voice, percussion
Kardos Endre Bozi - flute, tin whistls, bagpipes, voice
Toth Istvan - guitars, charngo, bodhran, drums, double bass, voice
Guests:
Soós Tamas Attila - soprano sax
Szarka Gyula - voice
Szervatiusz Lilla - voice
Morvay Krisztina - voice
Szabó Perpetua - voice
Tóth Anita - voice
Link
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"Listening to Bea Palya’s new album, called JustOneVoice, you realize that just one voice is enough, when it’s Bea Palya’s. It’s powerful and subtle, playful and profound. Its effects are haunting and calming, uplifting and sensual. The songs have their roots in folk music, from Bea’s childhood, but she has always reached beyond the traditional, adding the passion and emotion from the music of Persia, Bulgaria, India. She plays with the melodies, and with all that the human voice can do, making cat sounds and scat sounds, with accompaniments from the real world – the sound of the ocean on a Mexican beach, the heartbeat of the bodhran, the sound of children playing or clapping and stomping. Bea bursts with energy and emotion – even when she’s talking...
Interview with Bea:
- You say the music on this album comes from within. How hard is it to express what’s within you?
- It’s easy and hard at the same time. I went back to my roots, musically, to Hungarian folk song collections of peasant women and men who sang alone, with just one voice. That’s where I got the idea to make an album with just my voice. I realized that that’s the first way I ever performed – I sang alone.
I also went back to my roots, spiritually, with songs for my mom, my dad, to express a new deeper relationship with them. I also sing with my grandfather, who was a Gypsy and a farmer and a bass player. I found an old tape of him singing that stopped in the middle, so I finished the song. Kind of like Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole.
- How have your travels influenced you recently?
- Every January I spend the whole month by the ocean, this time in Mexico. When you walk every day on the beach, you start taking a walk inside yourself, discovering yourself. I even wrote and recorded songs on the beach. What I do is from the very center of me. I have a new level of self-knowledge and self-confidence now.
- Which of the songs say the most about you?
- Well, the song From Branch to Branch used to be my ars poetica, because I felt like a bird flitting from branch to branch, singing to make brothers and sisters happy. Nowadays, I enjoy the notes and the sounds, so I sing it still. But I made a new song, The Browbeaters, that shows my feelings now. I like people to like me, but I don’t want everybody to like me. I don’t need that.
- What do you hope that people will get from your album?
- The album has sadness and anger, pleasure and laughter. The songs, half folk songs and half my own new compositions, are about love and loss, friendship and passion… But the final result is that I can laugh at myself if I need to. This helps me in life. I hope that people who listen can also hear their own stories in the songs.
Pick up JustOneVoice at a music store near you, or at Bea’s next concert..."
01. Hallgatóim
02. Elment a madárka
03. Szép szemű szeretőm
04. Szépen veri az eső a virágot
05. Az ördög meg a vén dög
06. Lábam alá hosszú utat
07. Csillagtalan setét éjjel
08. Anyám, anyám, édesanyám
09. Az elérhetetlen férfi
10. Mindenkinek kurv'anyja
11. Macskatangó
12. Szülésdal
13. Az én piros vérem
14. Rózsa
15. Úgy elmegyek rózsám
16. Szól a kakas már
17. Megmondók
18. Tata nótája
Link
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Russia-based world/jazz fusion collective Vershki Da Koreshki (a.k.a. VeDaKi) is a meeting of different cultures, rhythms, languages, energies, forces of the world (Africa, India, Russia, Tuva, Europe), and joining them together in search of natural understanding and communication, link between traditional and modern, roots and improvisation (not without humour and hope).
Plants hide their roots (koreshki) to protect them from bad weather while their leaves (vershki) are directly affected by the constant changes in the weather. These two vital parts develop simultaneouly but in opposite direction thus maintaining the balance of the overall organism.
The group Vershki da Koreshki grew in the same way: the roots are formed by two descendants of ancient cultures of Africa (Senegal) and Central Asia (Tuva). The leaves are two compatriots from Saint Petersburg who are nourished by jazz, classical and contemporary music and improvisation.
The synthesis of these seemingly contradictory elements results in the band's great freedom of style and concept.
1. Borbannaadyr
2. Toumkoumani
3. Trance-later
4. Ana
5. Khoomei-bas
6. Vershki da Koreshki
7. Khomouz-bas
8. Chimtchak Salghin
9. Pitchendebin / Khoomeyim Algap Tour Men
Kaigal-Ool Khovalyg: voix, khoomei, ighil, khomyss
Mola Sylla: voix, kongoma, xalam, kalimba
Alexei Levin: accordeon chromatique, piano, khomouz, kongoma
Vladimir Volkov: contrebasse
Paco Diedhion: sauruba
Link
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Erika Serre is a Gypsy singer who was noticed quite a while ago by two film-makers, Tony Gatlif and Emir Kusturica. This Parisian of Hungarian origin, knows how to surround herself with people : featured musicians on the Emigrante band include Gypsy and French musicians, a tabla player from Rajhastan, a jazzman, a bass player from Cameroon and some off-the-wall musicians like the drummer Buj or the Syrian-Sicilian guitar player Serge Leonardi who seals the wholeness of these brilliant compositions.
With this second album, the group starts to change its direction towards rock. The guitars of Sergio Leonardi are particularly put in the front, notably on the cover of "Kashmir" of Led Zeppelin. The result is one of indisputable originality.
01. Satore
02. Jaipur
03. Johnny Tu N'Es Pas Un Ange
04. L'Amor Senza Pace
05. Bismillah
06. Kashmir
07. L'Amour
08. Chalo
09. Yallah
10. Mando
11. Tzigane From Mars
12. Te Vas Sukarije
13. Morocharo
14. Sandala
15. Lélé
Erika Serre - chant
Sergio Leonardi - guitar
DD Bell - bass
Latif Ahmed khan - tabla
François Laizeau - drums
Link
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"This record is an extraordinary undertaking. It isn't often that a performer renders his message in several styles, several musical languages, and several artistic modes of expression within the framework of one production. What you will come across with István Pál Szalonna's violin playing, is definitely something different than a pianist's repertoire which extends from say Bach to Bartók. Here from the lean Mezőség peasant music (Transylvania), to the tunes from far Northeastern Hungary, the Gömör shepherd melodies and on to the style of the band from the village of Tarnalelesz, spilling over into (what's referred to as) "folksy composed Hungarian music": we get an ample taste of the colourful world of sound which has ripened over the last two or three hundred years of Hungarian violin folklore."
01. Új stílusban, ahogyan a Gyuszi nagyapja szerette
02. Román forgatós, legényes és szapora
03. Hármasban
04. Jáger Jóska balladája
05. Tiszta fehérben
06. Árva vagyok…
07. Piros alma a kezembe‘…
08. Hegedűt a kezibe...
09. Tibi Géza emlékének
10. Ahogyan nagyapám szerette
11. Kavalkád
12. Hangulatok egy kórógyi lakodalomból
13. Együtt
14. De én azért nem átkozom…
István Pál "Szalonna" - violin
Ágnes Herczku - voice
Attila Gera - clarinet, saxofon, kaval
Balázs Unger - cimbalom
Gyula Karacs - viola
Róbert Doór - double bass
Guests:
voice: Gergely Agócs, Milán Hetényi, László Papp
violin: Szilárd Albert, Károly Berki, Tamás Gombai, József Kállai, Ferenc Radics, Csaba Soós, Róbert Báder
cello: Albert Mohácsy, András Pachert
bassprim tambura: Dávid Eredics, Salamon Eredics
viola: Zsolt Nagy, Márton Éri, Zoltán Váradi
accordion: Zoltán Bobár, Lajos Pál, Zsolt Barcza
cimbalom: Zsolt Barcza, Sándor Ürmös
Mátyás Bolya - Moldavian lute
Attila Búzás - bass tambura
Áron Eredics - tambura, cello tambura
Benjámin Eredics - violatambura
Tibor Kolompár - second violin
Tamás Radics - double bass
Vilmos Seres - clarinet
Takács Ádám - violin-viola
Link
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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!
"Nature's creepy. It seeps into your wounds and infects you; it covers your trees with ice, and it stalls your car. It's not climate-controlled and it doesn't live in your home entertainment center. And it coats with dust and peppers with age "Through the Trees," the third record by the Handsome Family, the husband-and-wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks (he writes most of the music; she writes most of the lyrics). Expanding their sound from the standard bass, guitar and drums to include a wider range of instrumentation -- softer guitars, autoharp, banjo, Dobro, violin, bass, melodica, piano, a quiet, unobtrusive drum machine and Brett's sturdy, beautiful voice -- the Handsome Family create a strange amalgam of pre-World War II country music and a more current, subdued, slightly twangy rock, with lush but simple arrangements. They write songs with a perfect narrative arc, and they seldom waste time showing off; they just set to music tangled, tense stories that sit like perfect little objects of nature -- like pine cones or something.
Entering "Through the Trees" is like passing through the threshold of a cabin door and into the woods on the first day of spring, or just after an ice storm, into a mysterious world, one where "worms circle like sharks" and "crickets are screaming." In these settings the Handsome Family create emotionally wrecked characters who are constantly battling dangerous impulses as they roam around the woods -- or sometimes, through the streets of Chicago, where the Handsome Family live. In "Giant of Illinois," two boys who chanced upon a swan sleeping in the woods "stormed it with rocks till it collapsed in the reeds." In "My Sister's Tiny Hands," a girl, mourning the death of her twin from a snake bite in the forest, "set the woods to burning and choked the river up with stones." These are old-school country songs, grotesque and brutal, and through these narratives they offer something dumbfoundingly magical -- something far removed from anything remotely meta or post.
"Through the Trees" is also about relationships -- birth, death and the in-between -- and because a husband and wife are creating and performing these songs, an immediate context is laid before us: In "Cathedrals," the Handsome Family move from a cathedral in Cologne that "looks like a spaceship" to icy Wisconsin: "Hoping to feel love under the icicles, all we did was drink in an empty bar. But, stumbling drunk we crawled back to our motel room and I fell against you and felt your beating heart."
Underneath it all flows a debilitating sense of dread and awe; a restless black fog floats in the record's stomach, the result of playing with dangerous emotions -- fear, regret, passion, sorrow, loss and a steady stream of foreboding. The Handsome Family poke at it from different angles. Also inside is a wicked sense of humor that cuts through the existential dread. "My Ghost," the closing song on the album, tells the true story of a stay in a mental hospital: "Here in the bipolar ward if you shower you get a gold star. But I'm not going far till the Haldol kicks in -- until then, until then -- I'm stuck in this fucking twin bed and I won't get any cookies or tea, till I stop quoting Nietzsche and brush my teeth and comb my hair." Like some form of clairvoyant madness, "Through the Trees" sneaks in faintly, as though a whisper from a secret world -- one that's always there right outside the door, waiting patiently for an opportunity to consume you."
01. Weightless Again
02. My Sister's Tiny Hands
03. Stalled
04. Where The Trees Lean
05. Cathedrals
06. Down In The Ground
07. The Giant of Illinois
08. Down in the Valley of Hollow Loos
09. I Fell
10. The Woman Downstairs
11. Last Night I Went Out Walking
12. Bury Me Here
13. My Ghost
Link
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Authentic Gypsy Folk Music from Hungary and Romania: Transylvania, Szatmar, Serbia, and the Sub-Carpathian.
This second recording and the way this ensemble uses old and new, archaic and modern musical and mood elements so that they complement one another and form a lasting unity; has put them amongst the most prominent musicians from the younger generation of Gypsy musicians. Their repertoire is exclusively original, traditional material which forms a basis, the open and flexible receptive medium. The traditional northeastern Hungarian Gypsy music and melodies from Transylvanian Gypsy communities are paired with the Balkan pop influence, characteristic of the folk rooted Western European performers as well.
01. Korkore Zav Ande Kalyi Ratyi
Gypsy Dance From Serbia
02. Megyek, megyek hazafelé
Gypsy Rolled Song From Hungary
03. Trandatajduj Glazi
Sub Carpathian Gypsy Slow Song /Gypsy Slow Song And Rolled Song From Szatmar County
04. Akhardem Me Le Romen
Gypsy Dance Tune From Greece
05. Aven Mande Le Roma
Gypsy Dance Tunes From Romania
06. Diri, Diri, So Kerdjan
Gypsy Ballad From The Balkan
07. Ustyi Opre, Muri Gazi
Gypsy Dance Song From Transylvania
08. Lokhe Zav Me Pe Vulyica
Romanian Gypsy Dance Tunes
09. Kercimate Zav
Gypsy Love Song From Serbia
10. Álmos vagyok, mint a cica
Gypsy Rolled Songs From Hungary
11. Búzát szemel a vadgalamb
Gypsy Dance Songs From Hungary
12. Sasman Vurdon Taj Karuca
Slow Gypsy Song From Hungary
13. Corro Som Me, Laso Rom
Gypsy Dance Song From Transylvania
14. Phendjom Tuke, Muri Gazi
Gypsy folk Song From Transylvania
15. Phiravelamn Kalyi Phuv
Gypsy Dance Tune From Macedonia
16. Trusalo Taj Bokhalo Som
Gypsy folk Song From Romania
17. Akharenman Mure Phralora
Gypsy Rumba
18. Főbe vertek a cigányok
Gypsy Ballad From Hungary
19. T'avos Devla Barvalo
Gypsy folk Song From Romania
20. Aj Devlale Phen Mange, So Te
Gypsy Rolled Song From Hungary/Sub-Carpathian Gypsy Rolled Song
Ferenc Balogh - vocal, guitar, oral bass, spoons, derbouka
Ildikó Varga - vocal
István Pacal Balogh - oral bass, vocals, water can, spoons, guitar, derbouka
Ilona Farkas - vocal
István Nagy - vocals, tambouritza, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar, oral bass
Guests:
József Simon Balogh - vocal
Kálmán Balogh - cimbalom
Csaba Novák - double bass
Link
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"Di Grine Kuzine is a Berlin-based, klezmer-rooted, Balkan brass band. The connection between klezmer and Balkan brass band music is a natural one as the original Eastern European Jewish musical repertoire owed much to Romanian, Gypsy and Ottoman influences. Since klezmer musicians were expected to be able to play Romanian horas and Serbian kolos as well as freylekhs and bulgars it is likely that a well traveled Eastern European Jewish band had an extensive repertoire.
It is less likely that there were many klezmer brass bands until around the beginning of the 20th century. Law in many areas of Russia and Poland limited the musical instruments that Jews were allowed to play. In general, Jews could play quiet string instruments but could not play loud brass instruments. It wasn't until large numbers of Jews were drafted into the Czar's army that you had the conditions where Jews had access to horns, trombones and tubas. Draftees were allowed to keep their instruments when they mustered out of military service.
On Di Grine Kuzine's earlier albums, their repertoire was largely klezmer-based. On this new release, the songs are mostly Serbian, Hungarian and Bulgarian village dance pieces. The band's vocals are a strong suit. Alexandra Dimitroff has mastered the constricted throat sound that is often associated with Bulgarian vocal music. Listen to her vocal lead on cuts like "Esik Esö" and "Gigetanje." There's simply no other klezmer brass band that has a vocalist as strong as her.
Another strong suit is Steve Lukanky's excellent tuba playing. The newest member of the group, Lukanky shines on tracks like "Gustavs Son Tumbao." Compared to the string bass found in most other dance bands, the tuba adds a vibrant color to Di Grine Kuzine's music.
Raucous and unruly, Feribot is not traditional music. It's more like very hip village music played by urban post modernists. As the band says in the album's liner notes"On this ship there is room for you all."
01.Galizianer Tants (Traditionell)
02.Rumelaj (Traditionell)
03.Esik esö (Traditionell)
04.Auf Zeydns Tish (Traditionell)
05.Gigetanje (Traditionell)
06.Zabkowice Walc
07.Gustavs Son Tumbao
08.Papa Call
09.Zonka (Traditionell)
10.Zemer Atik (Traditionell)
11.Bavarski Cocek
12.Weseli Sebori (Traditionell)
13.Leggerezza
14.Spil Es Nokh Amol, Karel
Alexandra Dimitroff, accordion & vocals
Johannes Kevenhörster, clarinet & soprano sax
Karel Komnatoff, trumpet & fluegelhorn & vocals
Mr. Steve R. Lukanky, tuba
Snorre Schwarz, drums & vocals
Link
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When Blanche first emerged in 2004, their mystique was part-rooted in how leader Dan Miller had previously spent time in a couple of late-’90s garage bands that included Jack White. For a while, they seemed happy to ride on the back of that connection. White strummed guitar on first single “Who’s To Say”, while Dan Miller’s creepy, often funny, countryphiles supported the Stripes on a major British tour.
The three-year interim has found Blanche in various states of health: backing Loretta Lynn on Van Lear Rose, sidelined by Miller’s new film career (he was in Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line) and fielding rumours of a serious split. Thankfully, Little Amber Bottles is the work of a band recharged. Feeding off country’s primal impulse, they’re still the embodiment of Old Weird America. Visually, too, they’re spot on. The sort of shock-haired oddballs you’d expect to find stalking the back of the revival tent in O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
“What This Town Needs” finds both Dan and wife Tracee Mae in killer form – like Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood cavorting with The Gun Club. His voice is hard, hers oozes an odd warmth. Mrs Miller is best heard on “A Year From Now”, a gorgeous, loping ballad in which banjo and strings are eventually smacked aside by fat guitars. Her own “No Matter Where You Go” is eloquently plucked, aided by guest Isobel Campbell’s serene cello. Resident Blanche banjoist (and Raconteur) Jack Lawrence also offers his own fare, the heavily Gram Parsons-influenced “Death, Where Is Thy Sting?”
For the most part though, these are Dan Miller’s musings. The songs allude to hurdles overcome and demons placated, if hardly cast out. “We Didn’t Quit” is a dark relationship tale, while the initial calm of “The World I Used To Be Afraid Of” suddenly heads into murder ballad territory: “To let you turn your back on true love would have been a mortal sin/So I held you underwater until you finally gave in”. Unsettling to the last, it’s Blanche all over.
01. I'm Sure Of It
02. Last Year's Leaves
03. A Year From Now
04. No Matter Where You Go...
05. What This Town Needs
06. Child Of The Moon - Blanche, Jagger, Mick
07. Little Amber Bottles
08. The World I Used To Be Afraid Of
09. O Death, Where Is Thy Sting
10. I Can't Sit Down - Blanche, Traditional
11. (Exordium)
12. The World's Largest Crucifix
13. Scar Beneath The Skin
Link
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The Band says:
"The Söndörgő Ensemble was established in Szentendre, Hungary, in 1995. It was on the basis of our family tradition and due to our attraction to Southern Slav folk music that we set the objective of cultivating this particularly rich and valuable tradition. It was during our secondary education years that we got to know each other and began playing music together. We strive to perform archaic folk music in a concert setup and to instrumentalise it in a way that is true to both reality and tradition. We are currently studying the folk music collected by great Hungarian researchers of music such as Béla Bartók and Tihamér Vujicsics, as well as the extant Southern Slav folk music tradition.
Our ensemble is classified as a tambur band occasionally complemented with accordeon and flute.
To perform melodies from the Balkans, we sound various wind instruments such as clarinet, kaval and saxophone, a variety of drums like tarabuka and tapan, as well as a wealth of string instruments, e.g. litarka.
Southern Slav folk music has developed an extraordinary treasure of melodies as a result of an interaction with various music traditions.
This applies to Serbian and Croatian folk music in Hungary more than it does to folk music in the Balkans.
All along, the Southern Slav ethnicities living in Hungary have been particularly isolated from each other. Consequently, the traditions that they treasure and maintain display a wide variety of differences, which is demonstrated by the use of a wealth of musical instrument types and forms.
The first written record of the Southern Slav tambur dates from 1551, this instrument being of Iranian and Turkish origin, used in a variety of forms in the Balkan peninsula. Originally, the tambur was a solo instrument with a small resonance volume and a long neck.
It began to be updated in the 1800s with a long neck and a diatonic succession of sounds.
It was by the middle of the 1800s that the tambur family used today had evolved. They have four strings, a shorter neck and represent the so-called cromatic succession of sounds, classified as the Szerémség type of instruments.
The first tambur band of amateur artists was set up by Pajo Kolaric, in Eszék, in 1847."
01. Kisacko kolo
02. Tikino
03. Meten
04. Makedonska Gajda
05. Dada Sali
07. Arabis
08. Staro Cunovo oro
09. K4
10. Lilino oro
11. Ferus Solo
Buzás Attila - bass tambura
Eredics Áron - tarabuka, alt tambura
Eredics Benjamin - tambura
Eredics Dávid - clarinet, sax, alt tambura
Eredics Salamon - accordion, alt tambura
With:
Ferus Mustafov - clarinet, sax, bagpipe
Herczku Ágnes - voice
Link
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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!
Composed of four female singers and a percussionist, the group interprets traditional songs from many countries. Chet Nuneta picks up songs thanks to people they meet, or journeys they make.
The musical research is based on vocal techniques from various people of the world.
The arrangements are inspired by the original versions while developing their singular universe. By composing harmonies and rhythms, by knitting " sound dressings ", the group takes the songs towards one somewhere else.
It is not only a matter of restoring traditional songs but also to play with sounds and imagination, to express musically and on stage what every song evokes. Of this " burst of sounds " will appear in 2008 the album "Ailleurs" produced by the Mon Slip label.
Repertoire: songs of Madagascar, Finland, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Russia, Mexico, Macedonia, Cape Verde, Hebrew, Arabic, Gypsy.
01.A Vus Basin
02.Ayazin
03.More Sokol Pie
04.Llorona
05.Erev Shel Shoshanim
06.Khot Ti Shla
07.Malka Moma Dvori Mete
08.Ya Man Laebat
09.Kharmayn Khagd
10.Capelli
11.Miinan Laulu
12.Sedyankata
13.Simsambeba
14.Lomalelale
Daphné Clouzeau: voix, arc, tammora, bodhran, petites percussions
Valérie Gardou: voix, arc
Juliette Roussille: voix, guitare, accordéon, tammora, bodhran, petites percussions
Lilia Ruocco: voix, tammora, petites percussions
Beatriz Salmeron-Martin(en alternance avec Daphné Clouzeau): voix, arc, tammora, bodhran, petites percussions
Michaël Fernandez: percussions
Link
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"Each time Marianne Faithfull issues a recording, fans and pundits hold their breaths waiting for another outing as iconoclastic as Broken English. Before the Poison isn't it for a number of reasons, quality not being one of them. Simply put, Before the Poison is an album that concerns itself with both sides of love, friendship, and redemption, not desolation or desperation. That said, there is plenty of human shadow in these ten songs. Polly Harvey wrote three songs here, co-wrote a pair with Faithfull, and is present on all of them. Nick Cave co-wrote three with the singer and his Bad Seeds back her on these tracks. She also co-wrote one apiece with Blur's Damon Albarn and composer Jon Brion. Along with Harvey and Cave, Rob Ellis and Hal Willner aided in production. Therefore, Before the Poison, like its predecessor, Kissin' Time, is an album of collaborations. But unlike that offering, this one is seamless; its songs are sequenced impeccably and all feel of a piece linked by emotional thematics. Harvey's songs are all moving and beautiful. Faithfull's reading of "No Child of Mine," a track that appeared on PJ's own last album, Uh Huh Her, has more depth and texture than the original. Harvey is pushing it on, underneath, her signature guitar sound ushering in each line as Faithfull -- in fantastic voice throughout -- does a call and response with herself until the refrain, when Harvey harmonizes and adds dimension to the stark loss and resignation uttered with great empathy and even tenderness. On "The Mystery of Love," which opens the set, Faithfull brings the weight of her life experience to Harvey's poetic lyric and opens its fathomless heart. On Cave's "Crazy Love," the lyric could have accompanied the footage in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire. As Faithfull paints the skeletal portraits of the song's protagonists who move around the chessboard of life, she gets to the refrain where the tune splits wide and, as Warren Ellis' raggedly elegant violin sweeps above the rest, the singers offers a poetic truth from her own life: "Crazy love is all around me/Love is crazy, love is kind/But I know somehow you'll find me/Love is crazy, love is blind." On Albarn's "Last Song," possibility has passed into memory amid the swell of strings, tambourines, and acoustic pianos. It's a devastating track, and Faithfull sings with an authority that can only be borne by a witness. The disc closes with "City of Quartz," written with Brion. It's a fractured, slightly off-kilter waltz that could have easily appeared on Blazing Away or even as an outtake from 20th Century Blues. The notion of time's passage is in the present tense here, as strings enter amid the chimes underscoring longing, and the acceptance of human need. Before the Poison is poetic and unnerving; it stands alone in her catalog in the same way that Broken English did -- but this time, on the other side of the mirror."
01. "The Mystery of Love" (PJ Harvey)
02. "My Friends Have" (PJ Harvey)
03. "Crazy Love" (Marianne Faithfull/Nick Cave)
04. "Last Song" (Marianne Faithfull/Damon Albarn)
05. "No Child of Mine" (PJ Harvey)
06. "Before the Poison" (Marianne Faithfull/PJ Harvey)
07. "There Is a Ghost" (Marianne Faithfull/Nick Cave)
08. "In the Factory" (Marianne Faithfull/PJ Harvey)
09. "Desperanto" (Marianne Faithfull/Nick Cave)
10. "City of Quartz" (Marianne Faithfull/Jon Brion)
Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6 & 8:
Vocals and handclapping: Marianne Faithfull
Electric and acoustic guitars, bass, synth, backing vocals, piano, slide bass: PJ Harvey
Drums, piano, percussion, glockenspiel, handclapping: Rob Ellis
Synth bass, electric guitar, bass: Adrian Utley
Tracks 3, 7 & 9:
Vocals: Marianne Faithfull
Musicians: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey and Jim Sclavunos
tracks 4 & 10:
Vocals: Marianne Faithfull
Drums, piano, percussion, vibraphone, sound effects, string arrangements: Rob Ellis
Acoustic guitar, bass, toy piano, sampling: Adrian Utley
Violin: Catherine Browning
Cello: Andy Nice
Piano: Diana Gutkind
Link
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Hungarian folk songs and traditional dance music from Moldva.
Kalagor is a Transylvanian archaic folk music band. They play Moldavian and Gyimes folk music. The band shaped up in 2005 and their first album apeared in 2007: Hová mensz ? (Where do you go?), the substance implies traditional Moldavian music with a violin, with lute, with song and with flute (without drum), in that manner it was learned from their masters.
01. Öreges, kezes; Kezes; Vert kezes
02. Ilonám, Ilonám
03. Házasodtam te Miska
04. Festeres
05. Elmenék én a városba
06. Bánat, bánat
07. Stica
08. Bürlödeánka
09. Szép fehér pekulár
10. Hová mensz...
11. Pusztinai ráca
12. Este van, este van; Kavalos hóra
13. Sárig virág
14. Zöld erdőben; Párávai hóra
15. Mért sírc
16. Hidegségen zöld erdőbe
17. Mikor kísérik e nyirjászát
18. Túl e vízen, Tótországon
19. Öreges öves megkettőzött húrral
20. De doi
21. Szegény legény vótam
ÉRSEK Csaba "Bengő" (vocal)
CSIBI Szabolcs "Szabi" (lute, shepherd flute)
KELEMEN István "Pityu" (violin,
Link
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The music of Habrera Hativeet has evolved from authentic Sepharadic African and Middle Eastern roots. The combination of Eastern and Western instruments produces a unique form of Israeli music. Shlomo Bar, the moving spirit of Habrera Hativeet draws much of his musical inspiration from Biblical as well as modern Israeli themes.
"For me," says Shlomo Bar, "music is something eternal without beginning or end. In my music there are elements of wonder, yearning and prayers."
01. Haleluya
02. Kol Mehashamayim
03. Etzlenu Bikfar Todra
04. Belibech
05. Shdemati
06. Al Tashlicheni
07. Shmor Al Haolam
08. Shaar Harahamim
09. Shir Lashalom
10. Ahuvat Hasapan
11. Instrumental
12. Tfila
13. Baa Meahava
14. Tfila
15. Hu Yavo
Shlomo Bar (drums, vocals),
Menashe Sasson (santur),
Nir Sarussi, Ilan Ben-Ami (guitar),
Yael Offenbach (tabla),
Ilan Aviv (bass, drums, keyboard, guitar, Persian santur)
Link
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"There's a wonderful light and shade to Misia's music, which truly comes of age on this album. Like all fado, the themes of the songs are lost love, death, betrayal, and loneliness, but she updates the great Portuguese tradition by bringing in more of a jazz feel to some of the material, while using modern writers, especially lyricists like Nobel Prize-winning poet José Saramago, who penned the words to "Dança de Mágoas," to add more modern -- but equally wistful -- sentiments. Portuguese guitar is the heart of the instrumental sound, mournful and gorgeously played, a counterpoint to Misia's soaring, aching voice on the gorgeous title cut, where accordion confirms the melancholy. While she can generate a tumble of emotions with her singing, Misia never goes over the top; everything here - from the vocals to the arrangements and the production - is understated, with a beautiful clarity that makes it all the more intimate, a gorgeous record by one of the emerging new fadistas."
01. Garras Dos Sentidos
02. Danca De Magoas
03. Estatua Falsa
04. Fado De Retorno I
05. Nenhuma Estrela Caiu
06. Litania
07. Nao Me Chamen Pelo Nome
08. Sete Luas
09. Sou De Vidro
10. Fado De Retorno II
11. Da vida Quero Os Sinais
Link
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Country music is supposed to tell stories, and nobody tells better, creepier stories than The Handsome Family. These people are downright disturbing -- and disturbed -- which makes it more of a pleasure to hear what they have to say.
Brett Sparks writes the music, and his wife Rennie writes the lyrics. Together, they create dystopian portraits of murderous families, failed (and murderous) love affairs, despondent and hopeless humanity, and restless spirits. But these dark and dreary tales are usually packaged in a wash of purdy banjo plucks and guitar trills. Some songs are more somber, but most sound like cheerful jaunts in the park, until you listen more closely to the sinister and snickering lyrics.
Several years ago, when it seemed that music writers were coining a new term for "alternative" country every ten seconds (remember "y'allternative"?), The Handsome Family were turning out album after album of wry, intelligent, beautiful music that defied cutesy labels. They're still at it, mixing earnest country and roiling punk rock in ways that elicit both grins and grimaces.
In 2001, the duo left Chicago for the sunnier climes of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they've continued to perfect their lyrical brand of classic-meets-avant country. Their new location hasn't changed their dark worldview much, though they have incorporated a bit of the desert twang and "Americachi" influences one associates with the Southwest into their already rich sonic palette.
"Set in a shadowy netherworld, Twilight reasserts the Handsome Family's position as modern-day descendants of the ancient country-folk surrealists gathered on Harry Smith's celebrated Anthology of American Folk Music. Rennie Sparks's songs are filled with animals ("Birds You Cannot See" and "White Dog") and natural images that are both carefree ("Peace in the Valley Once Again") and unnerving ("Snow White Diner"). The lyrics masterfully blend compassionate insight and a real sense of drama and tragedy with an eye for detail and humorous asides. Brett's vocal croon and his background in both experimental avant-garde and Texas rockabilly insures that the duo's music continues to grow far beyond its country roots. The Handsome Family happily flout convention but their stark beauty still shines through--these are some of the strangest and most compelling songs in the warped but wonderful world of alternative country."
01. The Snow White Diner
02. Passenger Pigeons
03. A Dark Eye
04. There Is A Sound
05. All The Tvs In Town
06. Gravity
07. Cold, Cold, Cold
08. No One Fell Asleep Alone
09. I Know You Are There
10. Birds You Cannot See
11. The White Dog
12. So Long
13. Peace In The Valley Once Again
Link
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Traditional folk ballads are one of the highest points of the folk genres – 150 years of Hungarian folklore collection and its scientific analysis attest to this. We are all touched by the compactness, drama, poetic quality and the depth of human life expressed. Ballads have become integrated into our everyday culture. But do we really know them? Do we really live together with them? Recordings of ballads are still rare despite the impressive number of folk music records released over the last decade. Even the most professional performers seem to be deterred by this sophisticated genre and the difficulties of its performance.
This silence has been broken by Gergely Agócs, one of the most significant representatives of the young generation of musicians who has grown up in the dance house movement. He shows us the unique musical culture and diverse song styles preserved in ballads. Nine different ballads are presented; nine stories about the tragedy of ancient people, the loneliness of being an orphan, unfulfilled love, treachery, death, pride, banishment, false friendship and self-sacrifice.
1. Három árva / The Three Orphans
2. Betyárgyerek az erdőbe' / A Young Outlaw in the Forest
3. Hunyadi bojtárja / Hunyadi’s Shepherd
4. Bíboros Péterné / Wife of Péter Bíboros
5. Megöltek egy legényt / They Killed a Lad
6. Szendre báró leánya / The Daughter of Baron Szendre
7. Bálint Vitéz / Warrior Bálint
8. Fehér Anna / Anna Fehér
9. Barna Pesta / Pesta Barna
Gergely Agócs – voice
Featuring:
Tamás Gombai – violin
Gábor Szabó – violin
Sándor D. Tóth – three stringed viola
Kálmán Balogh – cimbalom
Zsolt Kürtösi – cello, double bass
Zoltán Juhász – flute, bagpipe
Pál Dzsupin – long flute, flóta
Link
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A Detroit area native, Daniel Kahn attended the University of Michigan where he studied acting, directing, playwriting and poetry. After finishing his studies he lived, played music, recorded, acted, directed plays and composed theatre music in New Orleans, Detroit, New York and Ann Arbor.
In summer 2005 Daniel moved to Berlin, and, within a very short space of time, became an integral part of the city’s folk and klezmer scene, playing in different groups and musical projects. As a corollary, he soon formed his own band, featuring a rotating roster of some of Berlin and New Yorks best young Klezmer and Balkan players.
"The Painted Bird" concocts a mixture of Klezmer, radical Yiddish song, political cabaret and punk folk, kept together by Kahn's amazing abilities both as a songwriter and a performer; telling stories of outrageous incidents, poetically dark, tragically humorous and politically incorrect.
"Dan Kahn and The Painted Bird’s new album, Partisans and Parasites is an addictive collection by outstanding, creative musicians. Together, the fast-paced, high energy klezmer, and sharp, evocative lyrics - sung in Yiddish, English, German and Russian - are a necessary compass for navigating the endless moral riddles and inescapable paradoxes in which we live.
Some songs are old Yiddish songs that Kahn & co. gift to new audiences with Kahn’s English translations, including the defiant “Yosl Ber/ A Patriot.” Others are brand-new, written and arranged by Kahn, including “Six Million Germans/Nakam” a true story about revenge after the Holocaust, and “Dumai,” “a song of exile & statelessness,” (in his words) and Kahn’s first composition in Yiddish, which he sets against a traditional Chassidic nigun (melody). Anyone who loves music or politics should own this album, which brings them together with delicious precision.
Kahn, raised in Detroit and living in Berlin, says of the new album, “We wanted to make a rock album that was using klezmer and Yiddish, German and Russian. A multi-lingual, multi-national rock album. There’s something about rock and roll that naturally subverts borders that otherwise tend to get reinforced, like ideas of authenticity and entitlement. We wanted to dispense with any kind of nostalgic preciousness. We just wanted to make a punk-rock klezmer record that you can dance to.”
01. Yosl Ber / A Patriot
02. Parasites
03. Borsht Revisited
04. Rats
05. Rosen Auf Den Weg Gestreut / Embrace The Fascists
06. Six Million Germans / Nakam
07. A Rothschild In Your House
08. Vampirn
09. Dumai / "Think"
10. Khurbn Katrina
11. The Destruction of New Orleans
12. Mayn Rue Plats / Where I rest
THE PAINTED BIRD:
Daniel Kahn: vocals, accordion, piano, ukulele, harmonica, shruti box
Michael Tuttle: contrabass, electric bass, back vocals
Hampus Melin: drums, percussion, back vocals
Michael Winograd: Bb clarinet, horn arrangements
Bert Hildebrandt: bass blarinet
Dan Blacksberg: trombone
Guests:
Vanya Zhuk: 5-, 6-, & 7-string electric guitars, vocals: Borsht & Yosl Ber
Johannes Paul Gräßer: violin
Frank London: trumpet on Yosl Ber, Six Million Germans, & New Orleans
Paul Brody: trumpet on Parasites & Rosen Auf Den Weg Gestreut
Geoff Berner: back vocals on Parasites
Psoy Korolenko: vocals on Vampirn, Rothschild, Dumai
Link
pass: bluesmen-worldmusic.blogspot.com
