Episode 43

Episode 43 was originally published on April 1, 2019.

Tracklisting:

01) “Maroon Dune” by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society.

From the 2017 album Simultonality.

Chicago, IL, USA.

According to the Wikipedias:

“Natural Information Society is a music ensemble described as “ecstatic minimalism”. The group formed in 2010 and is led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams. NPR called the group a "staple" of the underground music scene in Chicago. Their performances often include the paintings of Lisa Alvarado.”

You know it’s good when Wikipedia references NPR about a band. The group’s website does not name-drop NPR, but instead says:

“Since 2010 Joshua Abrams has toured North America & Europe with a shifting-line up of musicians as Natural Information Society. The group uses traditional & electric instrumentation to build long-form intricately psychedelic environments, composed & improvised, joining the hypnotic qualities of the Gnawan guimbri to a wide range of contemporary musics & methodologies including jazz, minimalism & krautrock.”

• Visit the official website.

• Purchase the album at Bandcamp.

• Purchase the music at Amazon.

02) “Bila” by Dexter Story.

From the 2019 album Bahir.

Los Angeles, CA, USA.

NPR says: “Finding an acceptable line between influence and appropriation has dogged musicians for generations, and Dexter Story addresses the issue in surprising and joyous ways” (see how we were able to reference NPR in the description for two artists in a row?!).

Dexter’s Bandcamp page says: “East Africa-inspired music on Soundway Records by multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, arranger and ethnomusicologist.”

• Visit the official Dexter Story website.

• Follow Dexter Story on Facebook.

• Follow Wondem (“Wondem, meaning ‘brother’ in Amharic is Dexter Story's Soundway Records album and live ensemble inspired by East African music and culture. ዴክሰተር ሰቶሪ”) on Facebook.

• Follow Dexter Story on Twitter.

• Purchase Dexter Story’s music at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Dexter Story music at Amazon.

03) “Tarha” by Mdou Moctar.

From the 2019 album Mdou Moctar: Blue Stage Session.

Agadez, Niger.

The Facebook page says: “Tuareg rock band from Agadez, Niger.” The Third Man Records website says: “Mdou is a member of the Tuareg music community gestating in the remote desert city of Agadez, Niger, "where guitars are king." His music first came to the attention of Western music-lovers through the essential field recording work being done by the good folks at Sahel Sounds, first on their 2010 compilation Music From Saharan Cellphones.”

• Visit Mdou Moctar’s Facebook page.

• Follow Mdou Moctar on Twitter.

• Purchase Mdou Moctar’s music at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Mdou Moctar’s music at Amazon.

04) “Endless Dave” by L'Eclair.

From the 2019 album Sauropoda.

Geneva, Switzerland.

The group’s Facebook page (filtered through Google Translate) says:

“What lies behind the curious nickname of Eclair? The groove. As if Curtis Mayfield had an out of voice and he had fired his violins. As if Soul Train was no longer a quaint nostalgia for bobos but indeed an evidence to take literally. As if Booker T & The MG's came from Eastern Europe. The Eclair is even more obscure than the soundtrack of a 70s movie ever released, and consists of Space Krum on drums, Luciano LaBruxelle on percussion, Cobra on bass wah wah, Mr. China on keyboards wah wah and Colonel Genghis Love on guitar wah wah. Lightning claims the Game and the gangs, as well as a kraut-exo-soul-brutal-funk-turkish-groove guaranteed 100% without pants.”

• Follow L'Eclair on Facebook.

• Purchase the music at Bandcamp.

• Purchase the group’s music at Amazon.

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Each week we not only bring you great music from around the globe, we try to help you get the global perspective by showing you where each artists is from. We currently use Google Maps, which only lets us display 10 episodes at a time, so if you would like to see previous artist maps, visit here. In the meantime, this week’s artists are represented by black colored map-points. Enjoy.

Episodes 41-50

Episode 42

Episode 42 was originally posted on March 25, 2019.

Tracklisting:

01) “Drone in C 6 (Tomorrow Never Knows)” by Opium Eyes Of Nico.

From the 2019 album Dronecaine.

Cheboksary, Russia.

Last.fm tells us:

“Opium Eyes of Nico is a psychedelic rock duo from Cheboksary, Russia. Their debut album, titled "Dronecaine", was released in 2015. It displays a great variety of sounds, with plenty of Indian instrumentation, heavy guitar drones, keys, and hypnotic percussion that helps accentuate the album's trance inducing properties.”

• Visit Opium Eyes Of Nico on Facebook.

• Pay What You Want for the album at Bandcamp.

02) “Obsessed” by De Lumn.

From the 2019 album Blind Side.

Athens, Greece.

The group’s Facebook page says:

“De Lumn is a downtempo, electronica group formed in 2017 in Athens, consisting of Chop Juggler (Production), Ina (Vocals) and JLogo (Guitar).”

• Visit De Lumn at Facebook.

• Purchase the album at Bandcamp.

03) “Wareira Hill Rock” by Fat Man Riddim Section.

From the 1978 album Baldhead Justice.

Kingston, Jamaica.

Fat Man Riddim Section was a side project featuring members of reggae greats Inner Circle. Some guy on some comment board tells us:

“Ian Lewis & Roger Lewis played bass & guitar on most albums, but not all. (hence the name "fatman" I'm sure they were the core of the band along with Tommy Cowan's guidance. Most of the drumming was done by Sly & Calvin McKenzie. I know at one point, they started working with Touter of Wailer's fame.”

04) “Η ζωή είναι ένα όνειρο” by Γιώργος Ρωμανός (George Romanos).

From the 1970 album Δυό μικρά γαλάζια άλογα (Two Little Blue Horses).

Athens, Greece.

The Wikipedias tell us: that Romanos:

“was born in Athens on May 16, 1947. Twelve years he began teaching theory of music and guitar with Stephanos Vassiliadis and continued with classical guitar lessons with Gerasimos Miliaresis. He studied harmony and piano with Georgios Georgiades. He collaborated mainly with Manos Hadjidakis while he wrote songs for Arleta , Despina Glezou and Marina. He composed music for the Art Theater of Karolos Koun in the performances: Arrabal's "Cemetery Caravan" and "The Summer" of Vengarden ('68-70).”

• Purchase the album at Amazon.

05) "Ketero (Let's Meet) (feat. The Idan Raichel Project)” by עידן רייכל (Idan Raichel).

From the 2019 album And If You Will Come to Me.

Tel Aviv, Israel.

His website tells us: “Producer, keyboardist, Lyricist, composer and Performer Idan Raichel is a global music icon who has brought his inspiring example and soul-stirring music to some of the planet’s biggest stages.”

• Visit Idan Raichel’s official website.

• Visit Idan Raichel at Facebook.

• Purchase Idan Raichel music at Amazon.

06) “Hand Mouth Dancer” by Pond.

From the 2019 album Tasmania.

Perth, Western Australia.

The group’s Facebook page describes them as: “Musicband of course. Bruce Springsteen if he was a catfish. Real workingman's fish shit. The Bass.”

• Visit Pond’s official website.

• Visit the band at Facebook.

• Follow the band on Twitter.

07) “You Can’t Remain Here” by Jozef Van Wissem.

From the 2016 album When Shall This Bright Day Begin.

Maastricht, Netherlands.

The official website says:

“Van Wissem is both an avant-garde composer and a baroque lutenist, and thus no stranger to dichotomy (New York Times). He has been pushing the lute’s agenda out of the academy and into more accessible circles (Pitchfork). He’s performed over 1200 solo lute concerts in churches and at concert venues around the world, including prestigious rock festivals like ATP and Primavera Sound, playing his all black, one-of-a-kind baroque lute custom build for him.”

• Visit Jozef Van Wissem’s official website.

• Follow Jozef Van Wissem at Facebook.

• Purchase Van Wissem’s music at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Jozef Van Wissem at Amazon.

08) “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS.

From the 1997 maxi-single Don’t Lose Your Head.

Sydney, New South Wales.

The Wikipedias tell us:

“INXS (pronounced "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. For twenty years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose "sultry good looks" and magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.'“

• Visit the group’s official website.

• Visit the group at Facebook.

• Purchase the group’s music at Amazon.

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We encourage you to explore the world through music, so each week, we show you where each artist we feature is from. This week’s artists are represented by purple map-points. Believe it or not, we unintentionally featured two artists from Athens, Greece, so be sure to visit both map point.

We use Google Maps, which only lets us display 10 episodes at a time, so to see past artists featured on past episodes, click here.

Episodes 41-50

Episode 41

Episode 41 first appeared on March 18, 2019.

Tracklisting:

01) “The King of Spain” by the Tallest Man on Earth.

From the 2010 album The Wild Hunt.

Dalarna, Sweden.

According to the Wikipedias: “Kristian Matsson is a singer-songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden, who performs under the stage name of The Tallest Man on Earth. Matsson grew up in Leksand, and began his solo career in 2006, having previously been the lead singer of the indie band Montezumas.”

• Visit the official website.

• Follow the Tallest Man on Earth on Facebook.

• Follow on Twitter.

• Follow on Instagram.

• Purchase the music on Bandcamp.

• Purchase the Tallest Man On Earth music at Amazon.

02) “Face Behind The Sun” by the Plastic Cloud.

From the 1968 album The Plastic Cloud.

Bay Ridges, Ontario, Canada.

The Plastic Cloud was a Canadian psychedelic rock band formed in Bay Ridges, Ontario, Canada in 1967 and which only lasted about a year, producing this single album, definitely influenced by the Byrds and others.

• Purchase the album on Amazon.

03) “Hora Staccato” by Zoltan and His Gypsy Ensemble.

From the 1994 album Gypsy Music From Hungary And Romania.

Hungary.

Not much to be found on this artist or album. Help? A now-expired eBay page said: “This is a very old style, collection of authentic romantic, European Gypsy music, which includes gypsy songs from the Balkans & Russia. The sound is very 1930s before WWII.”

• Purchase the album on Amazon.

04) “Moja Bhari Moja” by Rupa.

From the 1982 album Disco Jazz.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Numero Group says:

“Barely disco and hardly jazz, Rupa Biswas’ 1982 LP is the halfway point between Bollywood and Balearic. Tracked in Calgary’s Living Room Studios with a crack team of Indian and Canadian studio rats alike, Disco Jazz is a perfect fusion of East and West. Sarod and synthesizer intricately weaving around one another for 37 transcendent minutes, culminating in the viral hit “Aaj Shanibar.” Remastered from original analogue source material and withe permission and blessing of the producers and performers.”

The only album from Rupa Biswas, who is surprisingly difficult to track down. Not sure where she is from or what happened to her. Anyone have any information?

• Purchase the album at Amazon.

05) “B.L.M.” by the Specials.

From the 2019 album Encore.

Coventry, UK.

A recent Rolling Stone profile tells us:

“When the Specials’ Jerry Dammers’ launched the 2 Tone label in Britain in 1979, his group was more than just a ska revival band with good taste in covers — they were a multi-racial spearhead of a post-punk movement combatting skinhead racism (fueled by far-right groups like the National Front) and the craven business-first classism of the Thatcher government. Now, with racist nationalism on the rise amidst the Brexit debacle, the Special’s third album — 38 years since the last one, More Specials — is well timed. As frontman Terry Hall puts it, the band remain “horribly relevant.”

• Visit the band’s official website.

• Follow the Specials on Facebook.

• Follow the Specials on Twitter.

• Purchase the Specials music on Amazon.

06) “Smile Goddess Sarasvati” by Vasant Rai.

From the 1976 album Spring Flowers.

Unjha, India.

Raga.com tells us:

“Until his death at the young age of 43 in 1985, Vasant Rai was one of the world's most acclaimed masters of Indian music. Born in Unjha, in the province of North Gujarat, India, in 1942, he began musical education at age seven. He studied vocal music with his father, Govindji Brahmbhatt, and instrumental music with his elder brother, Kantilal. Vasant became proficient on sitar, violin, and flute, and appeared in his first concert at age 11. In 1958, after 13 years of musical experience, Vasant became the disciple of the incomparable guru Ustad Allauddin Khan, and was the last student to receive the Indian maestro's complete musical training. He emerged a virtuoso on the sarod.”

• Follow the Vasant Rai page on Facebook.

• Follow the Vasant Rai Twitter profile.

• Purchase Vasant Rai music at Amazon.

07) “La Mariposa” by Bruno Sanfilippo.

From the 2019 album Pianette.

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sanfilippo’s Facebook page tells us that:

“Bruno Sanfilippo is a classically trained musician and composer. He graduated from the Galvani Conservatory, Buenos Aires, with a degree in musical composition [piano] His focus alternates between the exploration of minimalist piano concepts and electro-acoustic music. He is obsessed with the search for new and unique qualities in music, the magical and the deep. In dreams, there’s no imagined thing that’s too absurd, too strange, and Bruno Sanfilippo’s music comes from that inexhaustible and shameless source.”

• Visit Bruno Sanfilippo’s official website.

• Follow Bruno Sanfilippo on Facebook.

• Purchase Bruno Sanfilippo music at Amazon.

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We invite you to gently browse the map of where each featured artist is from. Since we Google Maps, they only let us feature 10 episodes at a time. So see other maps of featured artists here. In the meantime, this week’s artists are represented by yellow map-points.

Episodes 41-50

Episode 40

Episode 40 was first published on March 11, 2019.

Tracklisting:

01) “Green” by Balaklava Blues.

From the 2019 album Fly.

Ukraine.

The group’s website says: “Mark and Marichka Marczyk met and fell in love during the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine. Their experiences of war coupled with their unique knowledge of the polyphonic blues of the Ukrainian plains exploded into an ethno-bass live set in which the duo sing live to original EDM, trap, trance and electro-pop influenced tracks,” while their Facebook page describes them as: “EDM guerrilla-folk of the Ukrainian steppe; the never-ending blues of the Donbas.”

• Visit the official Balaklava Blues website.

• Visit Balaklava Blues on Facebook.

• Purchase the music at Amazon.

02) “Jarabi” by Toumani Diabaté.

From the 1988 album Kaira.

Bamako, Mali.

The Wikipedia’s tell us: “Toumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles.”

• Follow Toumani Diabaté on Facebook.

• Follow Toumani Diabaté on Twitter.

• Visit Toumani Diabaté’s page on the World Circuit Records page.

• Purchase Diabaté’s music at Amazon.

03) “Wo Ko Made Angeline” by Migan Celestin.

From the 1979 album Wonderful of Africa.

Benin.

Migan Celestin, also known as Mig Tino, was a guitarist from Benin. This track also features Danialou Sagbohan on drums and backing vocals. We coulddn’t find out much more than this. Do you know anything about Migan Celestin or this this release?

• Purchase the album at Amazon.

04) “lam san lam sing maha man” by Thonghuat Faithet.

From the cassette diao.. so chut... lam san lam sing maha man.

Thailand.

As best we can tell, “Thonghuat Faithet” is the same person “Thonghuad Faited” which means we can trace down the commercial release of the album Diew Sor Isan: The North East Thai Violin of Thonghuad Faited, but we can’t find out much about this particular cassette other than it is awesome.

• Purchase the other album at Amazon.

• Download this cassette from Monrakplengthai.

05) “Asatoma” by Cochemea.

From the 2019 album: All My Relations.

Brooklyn, New York.

According to the Daptone website:

Cochemea Gastelum is coming home to connect with his roots. After nearly 15 years of touring the world with Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, the saxophonist offers a deeply personal album of jazz and indigenous-influenced rhythms. All My Relations¸ out February 22 on Daptone Records, is 10 tracks of mesmerizing and spiritually ascendant instrumentation.

• Follow Cochemea on Facebook.

• Visit the Daptone Records website.

• Purchase the album at Amazon.

06) “Pais Nublado” by Helado Negro.

From the 2019 album: This Is How You Smile.

Brooklyn, New York.

Helado Negro’s Facebook page says:

“The son of Ecuadorean immigrants, Helado Negro was born in South Florida in 1980. His childhood was suffused with tropical heat, humidity, hurricanes, all refracted with the rich sounds and colors of the various Latin American cultures of southern Florida. Pounding bass beats from passing cars, boom boxes bouncing down the block, and late-night parties called “peñas” provided a foundation for Helado Negro’s interest in sound and lifelong quest to discover the unlimited variety of objects used to produce music.”

• Visit Helado Negro’s official website.

• Follow Helado Negro on Facebok.

• Follow Helado Negro on Twitter.

• Purchase Helado Negro’s music on Amazon.

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We welcome you to browse the interactive map of where each of our artists are from. Since Google Maps will only let us do 10 episodes at a tie, please visit all of the other episodes here. This week’s artists are represented by dark blue map-points and please notice that there are two artists from Brooklyn, NY, USA this week even though it only looks like there is one.

Episodes 31-40

Episode 39

Episode 39 was originally posted on March 4, 2019.

Tracklisting:

01) “Bolus” by Pumice.

From the 2015 album Puddles.

New Zealand.

Under the Radar says: “Stefan Neville AKA Pumice is one of New Zealand music’s more fascinating and impressively understated iconoclasts. He’s released a whole bunch of great music over the last couple of decades via Pumice (and other projects)” and Cyclic Defrost simply describes Pumice as: a “New Zealand lo-fi songwriter.”

• Visit Pumice on Facebook.

• Purchase the album at Bandcamp.

• Purchase the album on Amazon.

02) “So Far Away” by Here Lies Man.

From the 2017 album Here Lies Man.

Los Angeles, CA, USA.

The band’s official website says: “Here Lies Man took the music world by storm in 2017 with their self-titled debut positing the intriguing hypothesis: What if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat?” And Brooklyn Vegan points out: “You might know Marcos Garcia best for his work with the afrobeat band Antibalas, but he also leads the heavy psych band Here Lies Man.”

• Visit the official website.

• Follow Here Lies Man on Facebook.

• Follow Here Lies Man on Instagram.

• Purchase Here Lies Man music on Bandcamp.

• Purchase Here Lies Man music on Amazon.

03) “Singetema” by Zuhura & Party.

From the 2019 reissue Singe Tema (Taarab Special) (1981).

Kenya.

Allmusic says: “Swaleb is, together with Malika, one is the best-known taarab singers in Kenya. Her sound is made distinctive by the accompaniment on taishokoto, which is a Japanse string instrument somewhat akin to a banjo.”

• Purchase the album at Amazon.

04) “Aroeira” by Ivan 'Mamão' Conti.

From the 2019 album Poison Fruit.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Conti’s Bandcamp page says:

“Ivan Conti is one of the greatest drummers on earth. He is Brazil’s answer to Tony Allen, Steve Gadd, and Bernard Purdie. Known by most as one third of Azymuth, his career spans far beyond with over half a century’s worth of recordings with the likes of Milton Nascimento, Deodato, Marcos Valle and Jorge Ben. More recently Mamao recorded an album with hip hop royalty Madlib.”

• Follow Ivan Conti ‘Mamão on Facebook.

• Follow Ivan 'Mamão' Conti on Instagram.

• Purchase the album on Bandcamp.

• Purchase the album on Amazon.

05) “Funky Rob Way” by Rob.

From the 2019 reissue Rob.

Accra, Ghana.

Born Robert Roy Reindorf, the Bandcamp page says:

“Born in Accra in 1947 - was an admirer of American artists Otis Reading, James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Ray Charles. He began his trade by learning the piano at a music school in Cotonou, Benin before venturing out to make what money he could by getting gigs with the movers and shakers of the Beninese music scene, namely Orchestre Poly-Rythmo and the Black Santiago. After learning the science of music composition, Rob returned to Ghana where he began to write his own songs and eventually sought the backing of a band, specifically one that had horns.

In 1977 - at the age of 28 - Rob travelled to the city of Takoradi in western Ghana to approach an army band named Mag-2 whom he had seen perform in Accra. Mag-2 had an entire section of its ensemble dedicated to horns along, some of the sophisticated music equipment available in Ghana at the time - Hofner guitars, Yamaha keyboards and the like.”

• Purchase the album on Bandcamp.

• Purchase the album on Amazon.

06) “Fajrolbeed فجر البيد” by Tamer Abu Ghazaleh.

From the 2016 album Thulth ثلث.

Cairo, Egypt.

The Facebooks say:

“With oud, buzuq and vocals as his instruments of choice, Tamer Abu Ghazaleh has been performing his latest project since 2012 at concerts in Beirut, Alexandria,Cairo, Amman, London, Ramallah, Tunis, Constantine, Liverpool, Manchester, Budapest, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Malmo and Arles with Khyam Allami on drums, Shadi El-Hosseiny on piano and Mahmoud Waly on bass.”

• Visit the official website.

• Follow Tamer Abu Ghazaleh on Facebook.

  Follow Tamer Abu Ghazaleh on Twitter.

07) “Log Kehte Hain” by Rajesh Roshan.

From the 1987 soundtrack Khudgarz.

Mumbai, India.

According to the Facebook fan page: “Rajesh Roshan is the son of Hindi film composer Roshan and younger brother of film director and actor Rakesh Roshan.”

• Follow Rajesh Roshan on Facebook.

• Purchase the album at Amazon.

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As always and ever, we invite you to browse the maps to see where each artists we’ve featured is from. Since Google Maps only lets us post 10 episodes at a time, you can see previous episodes here. In the meantime, this week’s artists are represented by light grey map-points. Interact. Browse and Enjoy.

Episodes 31-40