2 December 2015, World Cafe

1 Lau – First Homecoming (Reveal Records)

Album: The Bell That Never Rang

The Scottish trio Lau with a killer arrangement of their own tune from their 2015 album.  Guitar playing, singing and great deal of the songwriting is by Kris Drever, and on fiddle is Aidan O’Rourke …. Joan Wasser or Joan as Police Women is on production. 

2 Joan as Police Women – Flushed Chest (Reveal Records)

Album: Real Life

A sample of one of Joan Wasser greatest songs … sort of regally paced jazzy-soul that is restrained but emotionally charged at the same time.

3 Kate in the Kettle – Fairy Fiddler (Kate in the Kettle)

Album: Swimmings of the Head

At the centre of Kate in the Kettle is Kate Young on fiddle and singing.  She’s aided by a bunch of great musicians including lat-mandola lute player Swede Marit Falt.  The first part of the tune is from a poem by Victorian feminist Nora Hopper and then there’s the polska “Sab Jon’s Polska”, which is probably Swedish and some high pitch vocal stuff known as “cow-calling” in Sweden

4 Eliza Carthy & Tim Eriksen – Whitby Lad (Botany Bay) (Navigator Records)

Album: Bottle

The great English fiddle player Eliza Carthy together with American banjo player and guitarist Tim Eriksen doing the traditional tune “Whitby Lad” also called “Botany Bay”, after the settlement that existed before Sydney.  The song is some kind of combination of a poacher song and transportation song – a song about being transported to Australia.

5 Adam Holmes and The Embers – Aviemore (Gogar Records)

Album: Heirs and Graces

A young Scottish singer songwriter, who actually started out as a fiddler – seeing as we seem to having some kind of a fiddle fest here.  Kris Drever is in the mix again. 

Two global electro dance tracks if you like…

6 Branko – Paris-Marselha (Enchufada)

Album: Atlas

Branko is Lisbon-based Joao Barbosa and this is from his album with made 20 collaborators from the around the world 

6 Owiny Sigoma Band – Luo Land (Brownswood Recordings)

Album: Nyanza

An intergenerational teaming of British electro musicians and two Kenyans from the Luo region in Western Kenyan where they recorded their new album – it’s their third one.  There’s a chorus of fishermen’s children in here.

Doing quite a lot of this show in twos – here’re two rock songs from the north of Mali … 

7 Songhoy Blues – Irganda (Transgressive)

Album: Music in Exile

Songhoy Blues are a four-piece who all come from Timbuktu but formed in Bamako, about a year or two ago after the radical Islamist incursion in Northern Mali. 

8 Tamikrest – Tamiditin (Glitterbeat Records)

Album: Taksera

Tamikrest is one of the greats of Tuareg rock.  Taksera – Tamashek for “a celebration with music” – is from a live album recorded in 2014 in Germany

And here are two kora tunes – one from Mali, the other from Senegal… 

9 Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal – Super etoile (No Format)

Album: Musique de Nuit

Ballake Sissoko and cellist Vincent Segal recorded their new album in Bamako in only two sessions, one on the roof top of Sissoko’s house.  “Super Etoile” is tribute to Youssou N’Dour.  The sabar rhythms are from the Senegambia region, from whence hails one half of Ballake Sissoko’s family.

10 Seckou Keita – Future Strings in E (Arc)

Album: 22 Strings

Seckou Keita has a new album out called “22 strings”, although a kora usually has 21 strings.  According to legend the first kora was handed down by the gods in Gabou, Keita’s home town in eastern Senegal, and had 22 strings.  Gabou still has 22 string koras.  No idea what kind of kora Keita is playing here. 

Right, so here is another pair of tunes - recent ones from Brazil, but greatly infused with the spirit and sound late 60s and early 70s era MPB – musica popular brasileira…

11 Russo Passapusso – Matuto (Oloko Records)

Album: Paraiso da Miragem

Russo Passapusso is a native of the Bahia state, and heavily into the samba from that area as you’ll hear on this tune.

12 Tulipa – Megalomania (Mais Un Discos)

Album: Role: New Sounds of Brazil

Tulipa from Sao Paulo getting really poppy with her song “Megalomania”. 

13 Chouk Bwa Libete – Pawol jatibwa (Buda Musique)

Album: Se nou ki la

From Gonaives village in Haiti is a slice of ethnography. Xavier Yerles more or less stuck a pair of stereo mics into the straw hut of Charles Sime who makes drums and holds workshop to keep the vodou tradition alive – one that apparently links back to Dahomey, on the west coast of Africa.

14 Angelique Kidjo – Orisha (429 Records)

Album: Eve

Sticking in the regions of Caribbean and Dahomey - Angelique Kidjo is from Benin (in the area where Dahomey used to be) and this is her take on Afro-Cuban funk.  “Orisha” is named after a manifestation of the Yoruba god that is pretty well known across the Caribbean.  There’s women’s choir from Benin in the mix there – one of eight Kidjo recorded a few years ago. 

15 Romperayo – La linerna del repele (Discrepant)

Album: Ramperayo

We haven’t heard psychedelic electro cumbia from Colombia for a while.  But never fear – came across a new bunch the other day.  Some of the usual suspects are involved like Eblis Alvarez of the Meridian Brothers, and Pedro Ojeda, who is behind Romperayo is also in Ondatropica. 

 

2015 marks the 10^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina – a great excuse to play some music from New Orleans, not that we need an excuse… 

16 Aurora Nealand & the Red Roses – Ferry Man (Rounder)

Album: Treme: Music from the HBO Original Series Season 2

17 Allen Toussaint – Southern Nights (Reprise)

Album: Southern Nights

One of the absolute greats of New Orleans music was Allen Toussaint.  He died a few weeks ago in Madrid – so I guess this New Orleans special is also a commemoration for him.  In 1975 he put out a sort of concept album called Southern Nights, a pretty great affair. 

18 The Deslondes – Heavenly Home (New West)

Album: The Deslondes

A roots folk country band straight out of New Orleans. You have to love the piano foundation in there.

19 Dave Rawlings Machine – Bodysnatchers (Acony)

Album: Nashville Obsolete

Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch’s musical sidekick, has a rare new album – only the second under his own name, with Gillian in there playing the vocal role he normally plays – very subtle harmonies glued seamlessly to the lead.  “Bodysnatchers”, as one review puts it, is “an odd and atmospheric telling of sinister visitors to Mississippi River towns”.

Two tracks from the wonderful British dub label – On U Sound…

20 Doctor Pablo & the Dub Syndicate – North of the River Thames (On-U Sound)

Album: North of the Rive Thames

Dr Pablo & The Dub Syndicate with North of the River Thames – which name-checks in code Augustus Pablo classic album East of the River Nile.  Dr Pablo is Pete Stoud, obviously a major fan of Augustus Pablo, and also one heck of a melodica player.  Adrian Sherwood is at a production helm, as in all On-U Sound releases.

21 New Age Steppers – Revelation (A Forster) (On-U Sound)

Album: Love Forever

Something recent by the New Age Steppers, who were mainly active in the 80s, recorded just before lead singer Ari Up’s death in 2010. 

22 Kardes Turkuler – Oi Oi! (Iki Ayak Horon) (Kalan)

Album: Cocuk Hakli

Kardes Turkuler, which translates as ”Ballads of Fraternity” even though are plenty of women in the collective, come out performances of the Folk Club at the Bogazici University in Istanbul in 90s. They’re very into exploring and celebrating the diversity of Turkish culture. For instance, they sing Anatolian folk songs in Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian.  From an album that may be of children’s songs, and definitely is about promoting children’s rights – called Cocuk Hakli means Childrens Rights.

23 Elina Duni Quartet – Taksirat (ECM)

Album: Dallendyshe

Swiss Albanian singer Elina Duni with drummer Norbet Pfammatter on the song with a title that translates asThe Mishap.

Two tunes from Norway, now…

24 Geir Sundstol – Punsj (Hubro)

Album: Furulund

Geir Sunstol is a much used session musician in Norway – he has credits everywhere.  He’s just released his first solo album on which plays nearly everything - drawing on his vast collection of weird and wonderful instruments. 

25 Nils Okland Band –  Mali (ECM)

Album: Kjolvtn

Norwegian Hardanger fiddler Nils Okland and his incredible band.   

26 Stavros Gasparatos – 3C (Ad Noiseam)

Album: Expanded Piano

Stavros Gasparatos plays a prepared piano – but instead of using bits of metal, cardboard and other foreign objects, he uses an array of contact mics to find micro resonances inside the piano, and which in turn digitally trigger other sounds.