Tag Archives: world music

Steindór Andersen’s Rímur: A Collection From Steindór Andersen

If linguists can postulate the existence, sometime in the distant past, of an “ur-language,” a Mother Tongue from which all other languages have descended, can there not as well be an “ur-music” from which all of our modern music derives? … Continue reading

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Eliades and Maria Ochoa’s Guajira Mas Guajira

This is a very special recording for all lovers of Cuban music. Siblings Eliades and Maria Ochoa have teamed up for a showcase album of songs of romantic yearning and upbeat danceable numbers focused on the style known as guajira … Continue reading

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Endah Laris & Dedek Gamelan Orchestra

I’ve often maintained that tradition is a living thing — it grows and changes, or it dies. Another example of the truth of that idea crossed my desk in the form of the CD Endah Laris & Dedek Gamelan Orchestra. … Continue reading

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John Noise Manis’ Trance Gamelan in Bali

“Trance” as denoting a specific type of music is pretty much a Western concept, although it recognizes the power of music to alter our mental state. In other traditions, music is not always, or even usually, a separate event — … Continue reading

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Christos Govetas: Pasatempo: Rebetika with Christos Govetas

“Greek blues.” Yes, and no. While several commentators have typified rebetika that way, I don’t think that really gives a clear idea of what this music is like. Rebetika (sometimes known as “rembetika“) is a style of music that came … Continue reading

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Outback’s Dance the Devil Away

If there is ever an official movement founded to prevent the inclusion of the digeridoo on Celtic-styled recordings, I’d be first in line to join. I am a firm believer that one should not be allowed to put digeridoo on … Continue reading

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XIXA’s Bloodline

XIXA’s dual frontmen, Brian Lopez and Gabriel Sullivan, seem to have internalized the Tucson musical ethos of collaboration and inclusivity epitomized by Giant Sand and Calexico. It’s no mystery, since the two have played with both of those bands, the … Continue reading

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Allan Marett: Songs, Dreamings, and Ghosts — The Wangga of North Australia

First, a brief demurrer: “Ethnomusicology” can be a really scary idea, drawing together, as it does, the formal study of music and its forms, history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and possibly a couple of “ologies” that I’ve overlooked, all discrete disciplines … Continue reading

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My favorite recordings of 2015

It’s a tradition for reviewers to draw up a Top 10 at the end of a calendar year. It’s also a tradition in an online music community that I’ve belonged to for about as long as I’ve been writing for … Continue reading

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Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s Raga Shuddh-Sarang; Raga Piloo-Kafi

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan began playing professionally in 1952, at age six. His father, the legendary Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, was his primary teacher; the father also shared a teacher with Ravi Shankar. Amjad Ali Khan is among the most … Continue reading

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