"World Music" recommendations, anyone?

[fewtch]

Would like to recommend two:

* Uttara Kuru, "East Wind"

* Kokin Gumi, "Zen Garden"

Actually this is East-West fusion music, but I guess it counts. Anyone else with some good stuff?

[Squeek]

Astor Piazola - Tango Zero Hour
Buena Vista Social Club

[markl]

Baaba Maal-- Missing You

Buena Vista Social Club

Orchestra Baobab-- Speciailist In All Styles

All 3 are also awesome recordings to boot, Buena Vista a real reference disc. The Baobab disc was done by the same people, so it too is eerily good. The Babaa Maal was produced by the great John Leckie (probably best known on this board as producer of Radiohead's The Bends, though he's worked with Floyd, XTC and many greats).

[kwitel]

Anything by Deep Forest is not to be missed.

[Davey]

Originally Posted by markl

Baaba Maal-- Missing You

Yeah, ditto on all those, but anything by Baaba is special to me. Love that beautiful Djam Leelii album he did with the blind singer/guitarist Mansour Seck. The full title is Djam Leelii: The Adventurers. It was originally recorded in 1982 and released with very limited distribution a couple years later, only to fall into obscurity. I guess the master tapes were even lost for many years. But it surfaced again in 1998 on a very nice sounding CD mastered by John Dent at Loud Mastering with a couple bonus tracks from those same '82 sessions, and since that time has become one of my favorites. Not just a favorite in guitar music, or African music, or any other limited genre, but an unqualified favorite. Beautiful, sublime and evocative, foreshadowing the wave of acoustic Afro-pop that was to come in the nineties. Masterful acoustic guitar work by Maal and Seck, with some electric credited to Aziz Dieng. One of those albums that I can just listen to over and over and over and.....

Lots of great bluesy west African music out there. Ali Farka Toure has a bunch, but his self titled one is a classic. He recorded another one a few years ago in a crumbling old schoolhouse outside of his home in the village of Niafunke on the banks of the Niger River with a state-of-the-art mobile studio called simple Niafunke. His protégé, Afel Bocoum, then recorded his own CD in that same broken down schoolhouse in Niafunke, amidst the snakes and mosquitoes, that is a haunting traditional acoustic set with a mesmerizing call and response vocal chorus. The name of the album and his group is Alkibar which means 'messenger of the great river'. Great stuff.

[kwitel]

Originally Posted by Davey

Yeah, ditto on all those, but anything by Baaba is special to me. Love that beautiful Djam Leelii album he did with the blind singer/guitarist Mansour Seck. The full title is Djam Leelii: The Adventurers. It was originally recorded in 1982 and released with very limited distribution a couple years later, only to fall into obscurity. I guess the master tapes were even lost for many years. But it surfaced again in 1998 on a very nice sounding CD mastered by John Dent at Loud Mastering with a couple bonus tracks from those same '82 sessions, and since that time has become one of my favorites. Not just a favorite in guitar music, or African music, or any other limited genre, but an unqualified favorite. Beautiful, sublime and evocative, foreshadowing the wave of acoustic Afro-pop that was to come in the nineties. Masterful acoustic guitar work by Maal and Seck, with some electric credited to Aziz Dieng. One of those albums that I can just listen to over and over and over and.....

Lots of great bluesy west African music out there. Ali Farka Toure has a bunch, but his self titled one is a classic. He recorded another one a few years ago in a crumbling old schoolhouse outside of his home in the village of Niafunke on the banks of the Niger River with a state-of-the-art mobile studio called simple Niafunke. His protégé, Afel Bocoum, then recorded his own CD in that same broken down schoolhouse in Niafunke, amidst the snakes and mosquitoes, that is a haunting traditional acoustic set with a mesmerizing call and response vocal chorus. The name of the album and his group is Alkibar which means 'messenger of the great river'. Great stuff.

Salif Kaeita-have you heard?
AMAZING.

Also, i dont know if youd consider this "world", but Peter Gabriels' soundtrack of "the Last Temptation of Christ" is a terrific album with all sorts of influences.

[zumaro]

Fairly recently out is Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté's In The Heart Of The Moon, which is a truly lovely album of duets.

Salif Keita's Moffou is one from a couple of years ago - not the remix album but the original - and it too is a real return to form for him. That guy could sing commercials for Walmart and make them into a mystical experience.

What about moving off into Eastern Europe - try Goran Bregovic for Balkan gypsy music. Tales and Songs From Weddings and Funerals is a good one - the kinetic energy generated by the brass arrangements is pretty amazing. Lucky to have seen him perform 3 times now, and it is always the best party in town.

A little more arty from the same region is Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico. Sumiglia is one of the best world music albums released this year - beautiful singing and haunting arrangements.

[NacMacFeegle]

Totally agree with Davey re: Baaba Maal/Mansour Seck....and a quick glance through my cd rack turned up these gems...So go find 'em...

Orchestre National de Barbes - en Concert
Nitin Sawhney - Fabriclive 1.5
Tabla Beat Science - Live in San Fran
Transglobal Underground...anything by them actually
Rachid Taha - Tekitoi
Gigi - Illuminated Audio
La Bottine Souriante - Cordial, but really same as for Trans G Underground.

Just noticed I'm a wee bit heavy on the Dub side...always had a soft spot for Bill Laswell and most anything he gets up to.

Enjoy!

-Nac...

[saint.panda]

Recently I've been listening a lot to Bela Fleck's "Litte Worlds". Wonderful 3 CD album with all kinds of influences from all over the world.

[antiant]

wooo hooo! (i'm about to have a field day) i'm a huge fan of "world music" and music from other countries other than american/english...i was contemplating on starting a thread...anyways i'd have to agree with Baaba Maal, Gigi, Transglobal U and Tabla Beat Science as well, definitely a must and ABSOLUTELY LOVE bill laswell (got some stuff from him) the guys a genious imo and well here's an overwhelming list of world music indulgence i recommend (BE WARNED and i'm sorry in advance for it being so long):

*everything that is bold imo you should check out

1. Natacha Atlas (my personal favorite) - multi-lingual singer with an amazing voice, she's been on movie soundtracks/scores, mostly sings in arabic, however she sings in english, spanish, french and some hindi...if you are looking for an excellent blend of traditional meets contemporary arabic/north african/middle eastern type of music i HIGHLY RECOMMEND her (cannot stress this enough) and she was a part of Transglobal Underground before she went solo
2. Miriam Makeba - former ex-wife of black panther Stokley Carmichael, she's a South African singer and another amazing voice, the song "pata pata" was a huge hit
3. Cesaria Evora - another big name in world music, sings in creole/portugese and sings fado/folk music as well
4. Madredeus - a portugese band that sings fado/folk music
5. Fela Kuti - big name on the african continent, born in nigeria
6. Zap Mama
7. Asian Dub Foundation - part of the "assian massive" movement (look it up), they're politically charged/aware with a lot of conscious messages, they're music is dub (obviously), hip-hop, rock, ragga etc

the next artists i'm just going to name the names and genre/style/country/language, some of them are not "world music" insofar as they just aren't from america/europe and others are "world music" so here goes:

Arabic/Middle Eastern:
1. Amr Diab (arabic pop, very well-known in the middle east)
2. Clotaire K (arabic & french hip-hop)
3. MBS (arabic & french hip-hop)
4. Elissa (arabic pop)
5. Najwa Karam (arabic pop)
6. Nawal Al Zoghbi (arabic pop, well-known as well)
7. Nelly Makedeski (arabic pop)
8. Rachid Taha (arabic/algerian/french/rai music)
9. Souad Massi (arabic/algerian/french/rai music)
10. Yuri Markadi (arabic pop)
11. Oum Kalthoum (traditional arabic, HUGE name)
Croatia:
1. Elemental (croatian hip-hop/jazz fusion very good imo)
France:
1. Carla Bruni
2. Cirque Du Soleil
3. Charles Azanavour (big name)
4. Emilie Simon
5. Francoise Hardy (big name, song "mon amie la rose")
6. IAM (french hip-hop)
7. Jalane (french pop)
8. Jane Birkin
9. Keren Ann (french jazz)
10. K.Reen (french r&b)
11. Noir Desir (french rock, popular)
12. MC Solaar
13. Paris Combo - (cabaret, touch of jazz, touch of lounge)
14. Passi (french hip-hop)
India/Desi/Bhangra/Hindi etc:
1. AR Rahman
2. Asha Bholse (popular singer)
3. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (kwalli singer, huge impact, big name definitely "world music")
4. Bally Sagoo (bhangra)
5. Karsh Kale
6. MIDIval Punditz
7. Mychael Danna
8. Ravi Shankar (need i say more?)
9. Rishi Rich
10. State of Bengal
11. Paban Das Baul
12. Talvin Singh
13. Ananda Shankar
14. Zakir Hussein (another big one)
15. Susheela Raman
16. Nitin Sawhney
Italy:
1. Spaccanopli
Japan:
1. Toshiro Masuda
2. Kitaro
Persian/Farsi/Middle Eastern:
1. Vas
2. Azam Ali
3. Niyaz
(note: all of above are the same, Vas is Azam Ali and drummer Greg, Azam Ali is solo and Niyaz is a great album that helps bring traditonal/contemporary together, azam ali, producer carmen rizzo and Logo Ramin Tarkian form Niyaz)
Poland:
1. Emade (polish hip-hop with a touch of jazz here and there)
2. Fenomen (polish hip-hop)
3. Kasia Kowalska (polish rock/pop)
4. K.A.S.T.A SQUAD (polish hip-hop)
5. O.S.T.R. (polish hip-hop)
6. Plomien 81 (polish hip-hop)
7. Lady Pank (polish rock)
Brazil/Portugal/Portugese:
1. Bebel Gilberto
2. Gil Gilberto
3. Joao Gilberto
4. Bossacucanova
5. Cibelle
6. Otto
7. Batidos
8. Carlinhos Brown
9. Cascabulho
10. Celso Fonseca
11. Chico Science & Nação Zumbi
12. Da Lata
13. Daniela Mercury
14. Gal Costa
15. Jhelisa
16. Marisa Monte
17. Jorge Ben Jor
18. Mundo Livre S.A.
19. Suba
20. Tribalistas
21. Zeco Baleiro
22. Baden Powell
23. Zuco 103
24. Mariza
25. Amalia Rodriguez
26. Coldfinger
27. Max Viana
28. Nina Miranda
Russia:
1. t.a.t.y. (russian pop)
2. detsl (russian hip-hop)
3. tanya bulanova (russian techno/dance euro etc)
Argentina:
1. Gotan Project
Cuba:
1. Buena Vista Social Club
2. Ibrahim Ferrer
3. Orishas (cuban hip-hop)
4. Celia Cruz
Spain or Spanish:
1. El Bicho
2. La India
3. Shakira (before she hit America, her donde estan los ladrones album and previous stuff)
4. La Vela Puerca
5. Kumbia Kings
6. Lhasa
7. Lila Downs
8. Los Mocosos
9. Mala Rodriguez (spanish hip-hop)
10. Manu Chao
11. Nach Scratch (spanish hip-hop)
12. Ojos De Brujo
Turkey/Turkish:
1. Erci E. (turkish hip-hop)
2. Mercan Dede (traditonal/modern fusion, instrumental, elecontrica etc)
3. Nez
4. Sagopa Kajmer (turkish hip-hop)
5. Serdan Ortaç (turkish pop)
5. Tarkan (turkish pop, big name)
6. Sezen Aksu (turkish pop, big name)
7. Ceza a.k.a. Nefret (turkish hip-hop)
Ukraine/Ukrainian:
1. Ruslana (ukrainain pop)
2. Tanok Na Maydani Kango (ukrainian hip-hop)
Uzbekistan:
1. Sevara Nazarkhan
Gypsy/Balkan/Romanian:
1. Taraf De Haïdouks
2. Koçani Orkestar

also, if your interested in purchasing "world music" or something "different" i suggest you check out six degrees records: http://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/home.php and Peter Gabriel's real world records http://realworld.on.net/index/flash/

and if your interested in magazines/events:
1. Songlines http://www.songlines.co.uk/
2. fRoots http://www.frootsmag.com/
3. http://www.worldeventvillage.com/en/ (you can listen to live music from around the world here)
4. Global Rhythm http://www.globalrhythm.net/
5. WOMAD http://www.womad.org/

and many more! *runs & exits out of thread quickly* :allteeth: