New Music....

[audiobill]

What non-English-speaking international artist would you insist others on RR listen to??

Let?s liven this place up, folks!! Let?s go outside our RR comfort levels.

1. Artist's Name:
2. CD/album Title:
3. Explanation of why you don?t have to understand the language to really dig it


My contribution:

1. Notis Sfakianakis
2. Me Agapi Oti Kanis (2004)
3. Although the lyrics are truly awe-inspiring, the music Notis pens and makes is truly beautiful. You will instantly feel as if you are transported to the Aegean and its Meditrn.Blues and whites. It's as if you visited Greece and found your little haven and simply gave away those prized Olympic tickets to a kid on the street and poured yourself another chilled glass of white wine and smiled.

Okay. Now it's your turn

[MindGoneHaywire]

My #1 would be Serge Gainsbourg, but that's a trifle obvious & besides, he's not 'new.' However, I'd heartily recommend both the 'Comic Strip' collection & 'Histoire Du Melody Nelson.' Both should be a part of everybody's collection, and don't tell me you don't like French. Nobody disliked it more than I did prior to hearing this guy. Now, I'm not exactly lining up to purchase Edith Piaf records, but this guy's work broadened my horizons in a very good way. Comic Strip is a collection of pop music, mostly from the late 60s, and waayyy ahead of its time. In ways words can't really do justice to, you have to hear it for yrself. Melody Nelson is, I suppose, a concept album of sorts. Interesting orchestrations, very offbeat, but a great listen. Even has a Yoko Ono influence that anyone who complains about is a chump. If you have the last Beck album & you're familiar with the track 'Paper Tiger,' well, if you didn't already read a post of mine from two years ago saying it wasn't an original idea on his part, I'm telling ya now. Melody Nelson is the source & inspiration for that, I don't know much, but I know that.

As for current artists, I'd have to say Bebel Gilberto. I don't have the new one, but Tanto Tempo is a great great great rec if you like bossa nova. If you don't, come on over & I'll slip ya a mickey & when you awake you won't be able to move but you will be forced to listen to this very very nice, pleasant, accessible, and outstanding rec. Then I'll play you the 'Tanto Tempo Remixes' which is just as good. The original album is a fine collection of straight bossa nova; the remix album has electronic music folks throwing some beats down on that straight bossa nova.

Why you don't need to like or know Portugese to dig bossa nova is something I really can't put into words. You just have to hear it.

[Davey]

Ah, so many I like. One of my first comps was even a West African thingie with many of my favorites since I do have a definite affinity for music from that region of the globe. But over the last decade my biggest favorite would have to be Cesaria Evora and the CD I would recommend to anyone is her first US release on Nonesuch in 1995, Cesaria. It's even shown up occasionally on top 10 alltime favorite lists of mine. Very nice sound quality as well. I even remember at one stereo show walking into a room playing one of her songs from this CD and immediately feeling at home. Her vocal is mixed very big so it softly dominates the soundstage and I love the way the musicians support that beautiful voice. I have a few of her releases now but this has remained my favorite album both for the music and the recording. You can't go wrong with any of her albums and the new one is quite good but to me none have the warmth of this one. The true voice of the Morna, that slow song-form that expresses love, sadness and longing. Blues from the islands of Cape Verde as sung by the barefoot diva, Cesaria Evora.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00007L9OO.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I can also vouch for the quality of Jay's rec, Tanto Tempo. Not in the same league as Cesaria for me, but a really nice CD for sure.

[audiobill]

Hey, I've got that Tanto Tempo remix CD -- very good, indeed!

Now, the Comic Strip collection is something completely new -- and now on my radar. Cool.

And Cesaria.....I've seen on store shelves, but not ventured near it -- this, too, will change.

Thanks, Jay and Dave.

Who's Next??

[MindGoneHaywire]

Dave, I had a Maria De Barros rec around here that I presume is in the same league with Cesaria, perhaps not quality-wise, but in the Cabo Verde thing, I mean. Sold it without listening to it, though I wanted it to, it was just a time when I was unable to get to it before I had to ship it out. I'll keep my eyes peeled, though...

[Stone]

This is an area I don't know much about.

One that I'm just getting into is Caetano Veloso. He's a Brazilian singer/songwriter, and his catalog is immense. I have 3 of his albums and the one I like best of those three is his self-titled from 1968, and it's considered to be one of his best (if not the best). The song "Tropicalia" makes me want to dance every time it's on, and the guy has a great voice. That album is mostly latin pop, but done with very nice arrangements.

[Davey]

Dave, I had a Maria De Barros rec around here that I presume is in the same league with Cesaria, perhaps not quality-wise, but in the Cabo Verde thing, I mean. Sold it without listening to it, though I wanted it to, it was just a time when I was unable to get to it before I had to ship it out. I'll keep my eyes peeled, though...
Not familiar with her* but I do have a wonderful collection titled <i>The Soul of Cape Verde</i> released in 1996 on Lusafrica that includes 19 songs from various Cape Verde artists including Cesaria and it's immensely enjoyable with songs covering a period all the way back to the mid '60s.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd500/d571/d57154xpa0k.jpg

I have seen some very nice reviews for the latest Bebel Gilberto CD too. I think the last Uncut reviewed it very favorably, although they did mention liking it a lot in spite of how radio friendly the sound is. I think they said something along the line of it being kind of like a tropicalia version of Norah Jones, but gave it 4 stars :)


* Oh, just checked at amazon and she's pretty new on the scene with just the one 2003 release. Goddaughter to Cesaria. Sounds interesting, Jay, although I do like those slow mornas that Cesaria does so well. But she does sing some uplifting ones too. Here's what they say...

Amazon.com
On Nha Mundo, singer Maria de Barros makes her debut with a sensual but ultimately joyous mix of Cape Verdean music, which is a melting pot of traditional Portuguese, Cuban, Argentinean and West African styles. Much is going to be made of the fact that the young singer is goddaughter to the island country's greatest star, Cesaria Evora, but de Barros is smart enough to follow her own artistic path: Evora's music is often slow and bittersweet, carried by her deep and fragile voice; de Barros plays down the sad mornas and coladeiras in favor of galloping boleros and sambas, and her voice and phrasing is closer to Susana Baca than Evora. Singing in the Portuguese Creole dialect on Nha Mundo, which translates as "My World," she transcends the language barrier to give listeners a fun and friendly tour of the country’s sun-drenched idyll. Highlights include the uplifting "Cabo Verde N’ot Era" and the softly swaying "Nha Primero." --Tad Hendrickson

[Dusty Chalk]

Sigur R&oacute;s comes to mind, but I think that's too obvious.

Einst&uuml;rzende Neubauten sing a lot in foreign languages (mostly German, but the occasional French; others, perhaps [perhaps not]), and I actually catch myself singing along, even though I have no idea what I am saying. Something about Marlene Dietrich...

Check this out (http://www.neubauten.org/sis/befindlichkeit.php)

I pretty much never get tired of this album (Silence is Sexy).

[Pat D]

What non-English-speaking international artist would you insist others on RR listen to??

Let?s liven this place up, folks!! Let?s go outside our RR comfort levels.

1. Artist's Name:
2. CD/album Title:
3. Explanation of why you don?t have to understand the language to really dig it


My contribution:

1. Notis Sfakianakis
2. Me Agapi Oti Kanis (2004)
3. Although the lyrics are truly awe-inspiring, the music Notis pens and makes is truly beautiful. You will instantly feel as if you are transported to the Aegean and its Meditrn.Blues and whites. It's as if you visited Greece and found your little haven and simply gave away those prized Olympic tickets to a kid on the street and poured yourself another chilled glass of white wine and smiled.

Okay. Now it's your turn
Angèle Arsenault, without a doubt.

Angèle Arsenault: Jai véçu bien des années: Les grands succès. 1995 Les disques Just A Memory JAM 9124-2. I have about 7 LPs of her stuff, too. Acadian gal from PEI, has long lived in Montréal, I think. She's a genius, a true original. Composer, poet, chanteuse, performer, comedienne, social critic, and philosopher. She has done other people's songs, but mostly writes her own, and there's nothing like them anywhere. The music is interesting and lively enough that it makes good listening, but the words are so fantastic that you miss a lot without them. She did have an early LP with English versions of some of her songs.

Edith Butler is an interesting performer. She's something of an early music scholar apparently, and did some recordings of early Acadian music, but for many years has done pop.

[audiobill]

Hey, Peter. I checked the link very Mela...Melan....Melancholic...very Cool.

Another for the list: Einstürzende Neubauten. Thanks, Bill

[audiobill]

As a Canadian, I am embarassed I have not heard of Angèle Arsenault, ever before. . . for shame.

A couple of decades ago, I first heard Arcadian music while travelling through Great Breton Island.
Another one for the list.
Thanks, Pat.
Bill

[audiobill]

Agreed, Brazilian music is body music. One can't help but move a body part or two or three.
Caetano Veloso sounds like vintage -- the '68 album sounds like quite the trip.

Once again, Stone....thanks.
Bill

[Davey]

As for current artists, I'd have to say Bebel Gilberto. I don't have the new one, but ......
Hey, I was at a record store yesterday and gave the new one a listen and it is pretty nice. The listening station system made it sound incredible. Very tuneful bass with lots of extension. Gotta say that after sampling the first 6 songs it did seem maybe a little bit too laid back and easy on the ears without much variety in the songs. YMMV and all that. It had a $18.98 price tag on it at Tower so didn't have a chance of going home with a cheapass like me but the sound was kind of intoxicating. Probably won't be a multi-million seller like the debut but what I heard did sound a little truer to her roots than Tanto Tempo.

[unleasHell]

try Frank Sinatra, (he doesn't speak English...anymore)

[MindGoneHaywire]

Nice.

[audiobill]

Xenophobia is alive & well, huh.