This week I have a new world music download ready to go. We kick things off with the beautiful Narayani by Suns of Arqa. Suns of Arqa have been making music based on Indian ragas for the past 30 years and have been very active on world music festivals circuit. They blend classical Indian raga stlyings with more modern dub bassline and percussion. The result is a world music fusion that sends the listener on a journey through an etheral other world. This tune is from the CD "Know Thyself ?" which was released last year on Interchill Records. After the success of the last SOA Interchill albumn , "Cosmic Jugalbandi" I was pleased to see the group back on Interchill again - a label that has continously released quality music for over a decade.
After Suns Of Arqa we have a tune from Nimba's [Ariane MacAvoy] new CD "Motherland". I really loved Ariane's tune "Ornongo" on the compilation "The Riddle Of Isla De Pascua" on Avatar records a few years back. So news of a new album was much appreciated and on first listen did not dissapoint. Her ability to manipulate natural drumming elements with synth programming is quite phenomenal. An incredible trance inducing psychedelic world music masterpeice.Next is Fedayi Pacha with the track "Eastern Cult Of Dub". Fedayi Pacha has been creating his unique blend of dub and oriental mystical sound since around 2003 when he became a member of the French dub ground Bangarang. Using traditional world intruments, sound samples, studio guests and more Fedayi 's music reflects the sounds and landscapes of native communities worldwide. This tunes can be found on his second album, "99 Nomads of Dub" released in 2007 on French dub label Hammerbass records - an awesome label full of many dub treasures.
After Fedayi we have a tune produced by the joint efforts of Kasbah Rockers and world music and dub heavyweight Bill Laswell. This can be found on the CD "Kasbah Rockers With Bill Laswell" funnily enough. Kasbah Rockers is the latest project of Pat Jabbar and different guests from the Barraka label. Bill Laswell who is playing the bass on 11 tracks, grooves along with eclectic artists such as Youssef El Mejjad from Amira Saqati (Marrakech-Morocco, who co-composed and co-wrote on eight songs), Abdelaziz Lamari and Abdelkader Belkacem from Maghrebika (Oran & Skikda-Algeria) or Kadir & Erdem from the Swiss-Turkish Hip Hop crew Makale. Their distinctive musical identities are all fully integrated in a dense and compact soundscape. A great CD to have in your collection if you are into world music sounds with a dub vibe.
Next up is a curious tune from the equally curiously named group Wombatmusic. Wombatmusic is the work of Denmark's Kris Andersen, a veteran in the international electronic music scene. He has many releases on legendary labels such as R&S Records sub label Labyrinth (1994-1995) and as Elysium on Nova Zembla (1995-1998).Kris started out as a professional DJ in London, UK in 1990 in the Acid House Scene and when he returned to Copenhagen it was the beginning of a long international music career. A career that once again took him back to London where he lived from 1996-98 while playing all over the world and producing and remixing at the legendary Butterfly Studio in London. After a break from 2002 - 2005 Kris Andersen turned back to the House scene and is busy with his house outlets under his personal name, his techno project Rymdfunk and Deep House/Tech project Andersen & Borelli with longtime friend and producer Jean Borelli. His Wombatmusic project is more of an experimental sideline. This tune is from the debut Wombatmusic CD "Shameful Silence" released in 2007 on Chill Tribe Records.
Samarost is Nico Guevara, electronic music magician and producer based in Costa Rica. Nico has been making music since 1996. He started with simple tracker software in Ms-DOS ( remember those ? ) before moving onwards and upwards to where he is now - head of Eleventy Studio. This tune, "Lokotomy" is from the Samorost CD "Entropy" released in 2007 on Noisnois Records.
Following on from Samarost is Entheogenic Sound Explorers [ESE]. ESE is the work of Italian duo Stefano Contini & Piero Marchesi. ESE started collaborating in 1999, coming from different musical experiences. They joined through a common interest in "ethnological & ethnobotanical studies" and merged into a musical ambient-electro project. They have two CDs to date. Both CDs represent a mystical world music journey through ancient spaces filled with psychedelic paramaters coming at you from all directions. Their sound is kind of what I would call psychedelic outsider music. A new CD titled Magic Garden is due for release soon. I'll keep a look out for it and hopefully get a review done on release.
Next is the tune Grace from Bahramji featuring Mashti off the CD Sufi Safir. I really love this CD and it has been a constant companion on my mp3 player. I featured these guys before back in the last world music mix so be sure to check back on that one to find out more about them.
Finally today is a real treat - a 17 minute long classical Indian raga given a bit of a modern technological polish by Saatvik Sequencers. Saatvik Sequencers is a conceptual music project by Nikhel Kumar Mahajan and Hari Singh. Both guys have an extensive background in electronic music. Nikhel has released 2 critically acclaimed albums under his alternate avatars of Sattyananda (Ambient) & Kalyug (Progressive) and has performed at festivals all around the globe while Hari has a sound engineer degree from SAE Chennai & a diploma degree in music production from Manchester Midi School in the UK. I highly recommend this release for something a little a different in your ambient world music collection. Track / Artist
- 01. Narayani - Suns Of Arqa
- 02. KakiLambe - Nimba
- 03. Eastern Cult Of Dub - Fedayi Pacha
- 04. Hellou Al Biban - Kasbah Rockers with Bill Laswell
- 05. World Travelling Eclipse Chasers - Wombatmusic
- 06. Lokotomy - Samorost with Rapha le Fortie
- 07. Hongos - Entheogenic Sound Explorers
- 08. Grace - Bahramji with Mashti
- 09. Raga Bhimpalasi - Saatvik Sequencers
I've listened to this many times but it still strikes me, particular when I'm working... it's a window into another world and it gives me hope that if the careerist, consumerist path I'm on (Western living) fails me there is an alternative... i.e. travel, meditate, enjoy the world around me and do what is needed to survive but importantly to take time each day to reflect...
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