Johnny Clegg & Juluka - A Johhny Clegg and Juluka Collection (1996)

«How wonderful to finally be able to refer to apartheid, South Africa's former policy of brutally enforced racial exclusion and oppression, in the past tense! However, it is important to never forget how it was back then, and this album provides a virtual time capsule of an audacious period during the long, bitter battle for equality. In the '70s, a white, English-born, South Africa-based singer

Thierry "Titi" Robin - Un Ciel de Cuivre (2000)

«Thierry Robin, known as “Titi”, the self-taught musician born at the end of the fifties in western France, has created a musical world for himself instinctively assimilating elements in response to his need to express himself. The two worlds in which he has navigated daily and that have both directly and deeply influenced him are the gipsy and oriental cultures.Before the World Music trend was

Oran, Algeria (1930s)

Cheikha Remitti - Aux Sources du Raï (1994)

«Definitely the first Lady of rai, Cheikha Remitti was born Saadia in the small town of Relizane in Oran. She was orphaned at an early age and as a young woman, made her daily bread by working as a dancer with a group of cheiks who performed rural music in the streets of Oran. She subsequently began to sing, performing husky and sensuous songs about the hard living and hard loving of the Algerian

Armenian Navy Band - Natural Seeds (2005)

«Music is considered a crucial means of communication by the founder of The Armenian Navy Band, Arto Tunçboyaciyan, a percussionist and vocalist of Armenian descent. Arto claims music as his instrument of choice to express his highest aspirations: love, respect and truth. The Armenian Navy Band’s compositions are all originals of Arto Tunçboyaciyan which, he insists, “have the sound of my life”

Iva Nova - Iva Nova (2003)

«Iva Nova was formed in St.Petersburg in 2002, when five young Russian ladies met to create a new collective of musicians. All of them had had vast experience of playing at gigs with various groups and having found themselves to be really kindred souls, they started off their joint career, naturally and courageously combining the tunes and instrumentation of traditional Slavonic music with the

Afro Funk - Body Music (1973)

I don’t know much about this rare LP, except that Afro Funk were from Ghana and Body Music was released by Kabana Records in 1973 (presumably, both in their own country and in the UK). It’s a nice example of Afro-funk, anyway, worthy of your attention. Have fun! Link in comments Note: Please, before asking me to reupload a file, check all the host sites – one or two links could still be

Postcards from Italy (58) - Parco del Valentino, Torino

Ravi Shankar - India's Master Musician (1963)

«One of Ravi Shankar's first Western recordings – made at London's Abbey Road Studios in 1963 (a full two years before George Harrison was introduced to Shankar's music) and originally released in the U.S. on the tiny jazz-oriented indie World Pacific – India's Master Musician makes some slight concessions toward the untutored Western audience. The liner notes are almost teacherly in their dry

Batata y su Rumba Palenquera - Radio Bakongo (2003)

«Fans of Afro-Latin roots music will love this album. Setuagenarian percussionist, singer and songwriter Paulino Salgado “Batata” hails from the village of San Basilio de Palenque, hidden away in an isolated mountain range close to Colombia's Caribbean coast. This is the legendary “village of the Cimarróns”, founded four centuries ago by Africans who had escaped the slave port of nearby Cartagena

Postcards from Italy (57) - Hiking in Maritime Alps

Cacai Nunes - O Avesso (2006)

A great instrumental album from Brazil, introducing us to the multi-faceted and fascinating sound of the viola caipira, made available by the artist himself in his nice blog Acervo Origens.Bravo, Cacai! «Pernambucano criado em Brasília, Cacai Nunes é parte de uma geração de músicos que vem desenvolvendo uma linguagem musical contemporânea, com a cara de Brasília. A cidade em que se criou

Docteur Nico & l'Orchestre African Fiesta (1975)

«Hailed throughout Africa as "le Dieu de la Guitare," Nicolas Kasanda was born of Baluba parentage on 7 July 1939 in Mikalayi in the Kasai province of the then Belgian Congo. His father played accordion. In 1950, aged 11, Nico was introduced to Opika Studios by his cousin Tino Baroza and older brother Mwamba Déchaud who were session musicians there. At 14, he joined Joseph Kabaselle's African

Tcheka - Nu Monda (2005)

«Following the recent eruption of great women singers from Cape Verde, along comes a new sound from a young man named Tcheka. Having penned the opening and closing tracks for Lura's acclaimed debut album, this summer he will tour with the great "barefoot diva" Cesaria Evora, who brought Cape Verde to the world on the waves of her soulful morna. While the world has heard the female voice emanating

Postcards from Italy (56) - Rome

L'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio - Sona (2006)

«15 musicians from 11 countries and 3 continents, speaking in 8 different languages thrown together to create an absolutely novel music. World Music in the true sense of the word, music from Planet Earth, the globe in its entirety. The Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio represents a unique experience, perhaps the first of its kind. Each musician brought to the orchestra their instruments and personal

Ojos De Brujo - Vengue (2001)

«Originally more of a collective than a band, the Barcelona-based flamenco fusion group Ojos de Brujo, which translates to Eyes of the Wizard, came together in the mid-'90s when guitarist Ramon Giménez began playing with likeminded experimental musicians like singer Marina "La Canillas" Abad and percussionist Xavi Turull, trying to find out what kind of sound they could create. In 1999, as an

Piet Mondrian - Still Life with Ginger Jar II

Piet Mondrian, Still Life with Ginger Jar II. / Stilleven met gemberpot II (1911/12). Oil on canvas, 91.5 x 120 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.

The Klezmatics - Possessed (1997)

«The Klezmatics take one of the wildest approaches to klezmer, the traditional dance music of the Eastern European Jews. Although their music is heavily influenced by the recordings of Abe Ellstein and Dave Tarras in the 1940s and 1950s, their lyrics comment on a wide variety of political and social issues and have led the group to be labeled "the planet's radical Jewish roots band." Much of

Dabin Gabiré - Afriki Djamana: Music from Burkina Faso (1994)

«Gabin Dabirè è nato a Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso da una famiglia di sangue reale del gruppo etnico Dagari e approda in Europa, prima in Danimarca e poi in Italia, alla metà degli anni ‘70, per completare gli studi superiori. Immediato il suo contatto con un ”area” musicale alternativa europea, le cui vie lo conducono fra il ‘77 e il ‘78 a lunghi soggiorni di studio in India. A Milano nel

Gang Chenpa - Voices from Tibet (1999)

«Muziek uit het land van de sneeuw. Puuren zuiver. Helemaal zoals het tot veertig jaar geleden in Tibetgeklonken heeft. Zo willen Namgyal Lhamo, Kelsang Chukie Tethong enTobden Gyamtso van Gang Chenpa – ‘Mensen uit het land van de sneeuw’ – zingen. In het huidige Tibet is dat vrijwel onmogelijk. Veertig jaar Chineseoverheersing heeft haar sporen nagelaten. Daarmee is het traditioneleTibetaanse

Mimesis II

Boubacar Traoré - Kar Kar (1992)

«Boubacar Traore has been dodging musical stardom for most of his life. People called him Kar Kar, “a nickname I got from playing soccer when I was young. People would yell 'Kari, Kari' – dribble, dribble – the name stuck with me.” In his youth, Boubacar Traore was known as the Malian Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley. People woke up every day to hear him singing on the radio. His most popular song at

Levellers - A Weapon Called The Word (1990)

«The Levellers' first full-length release, after a well-received pair of EPs, falls somewhere in between the Mekons in the middle of their political-folky days and the hard-edged trad folk-rock of the Oyster Band, with a foreshadowing of Ani DiFranco's direct folk-punk as well. More rock than folk, but obviously rooted in traditional British folk idioms, A Weapon Called the Word is a tough,

Postcards from Italy (55) - Sardinia

Picture: Mauritz

Some Re-Posts

Juana Molina – Son (2006) Ossian – St Kilda Wedding (1978)