World Music Recommendations
11 March 2003, 9:00 AM

There was recently a discussion about world music on the ANTHO-L discussion list that I'm on. One person asked for some recommendations, "what styles or musicians really interest them, and why?"

Nobody else answered with that information (they got into a debate over something else). I always go to the "world music" section first in any music store, and half my music collection falls under the heading of "world music", so I felt qualified to give some recommendations. I posted a lengthy response. So far I've only had one person respond about it, and that wasn't even the person who asked in the first place.

*sigh*

So I've decided to mention the list here where it might actually get appreciated. Enjoy!

Note: I'm a little heavy on the "fusion" style of "western+traditional" sounds. It's what I liked the best.

Anything by Ofra Haza. She's an Israeli originally from Yemen. The sound is sometimes very traditional - she sings a very haunting kaddish on one album. Other times it's pop or "dance mix". I strongly recommend the albums, "Kirya", "Fifty Gate of Wisdom" and "Shaday" or her newest one, "My Soul".

Yosefa, "Yosefa": Yemeni and Moroccan sounds

Najma, "Qareeb": Najma puts traditional ghazals (love and longing poetry written in Urdu) to music, sometimes with traditional sounds (sitar, sarod, etc.) and sometimes with a saxophone and contemporary sound.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, "Night Song" or his "Greatest Hits": These two albums are kinda different, and the Greatest Hits will give you the sound most Pakistanis are familiar with. I still love "Night Song" though. The first song of the album is breath taking. Khan was THE master of the Qawwal - a sort of religious devotional singing in Urdu. He died just a few years ago unfortunately.

Rachid Taha, "Made in Medina": How to describe? Um, Arab rai-rock? Rachid is from Algeria and here is a sound that is sort of Maghreb and European hard rock. Very powerful sounds.

Amina, "Yalil, Wa Di Ye": North African rhythms and modern dance-mix. She sings in Arabic and French with Senegalese touches.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, "Let's Develop in Peace": South African a cappella, a form called isicathamiya or mbube. The tradition can make many of the songs sound similar, but it's a wonderful sound. I love the song, "Everything is so Stupid" (from a child's perspective).

If you want to take a tour up north, there's a number from Scandinavia that I like:

Varttina, "Selenko" and "Oi Dai", but they have a number of albums out and your mileage may vary. I prefer this sound - they changed slightly with more recent albums. This is FinnoUgric folk music using traditional instruments but modernizing the sound just a bit. All female voices. One interesting side note: My mother is from Finland, and when she first heard this group it felt a bit "odd" to her because all of these old songs she'd only ever heard sung by elderly women. While she was growing up it was really only the old women who knew these songs, even though they were originally meant to be sung by very young women. (Many are all about courting, flirting, sex, new marriage etc.) Varttina revived many of these songs.

Gjallarhorn, "Sjofn": An unusual mix of Nordic folk and Australian didgeridoo. :-) The singers are Finns from the Swedish-speaking west coast area. The opener, "Suvetar" is my absolute favorite. Much of the rest of the music has a Swedish character or is sung in Swedish and most of it is the folk tunes of the Swedish-speaking Finns. There's a lot of Nordic mythology in their music.

The Kalevala Heritage, "Archive Recordings of Ancient Finnish Songs" Okay, this one is TOTALLY different from the others here. But if you're at all interested in Finnish culture and folklore this is worth a listen. These are original recordings of people singing the Kalevala. There's a few that date back to the late 19th century, so the sound quality varies. (Some were recorded on wax cylinders.) No instruments. Just the voices, as authentic as possible.

Changing direction again...

Hinewehi Mohi, "Oceania": Maori music with a modern sound from New Zealander Hinewehi Mohi together with Brit Jaz Coleman and Hirini Melbourne a composer and professor of Maori studies. There are traditional instruments as well as western. very celebratory. If you like them, check out "Te Vaka" as well - another Oceanic group.

Back to South Asia...

Sheila Chandra, "Weaving My Ancestors' Voices": Chandra is a British-born Indian and she uses her own voice like an instrument, droning or chanting. Very edgy, she'll pair a sitar with an old Irish lament, or sing a staccato without instruments. This is an interesting look at how some artists experiment with traditional musical heritages.

The Middle East, Africa, and Mediterranean again...

Hisham, "Somewhere in a Dream": Instrumental Arabic new age. :-) Middle-eastern textures meet synthesizers.

Shahin and Sepher, "One Thousand and One Nights": Instrumental duo based in the U.S. With keyboard and guitar their sound is sort of a blend of Moorish, Turkish and Spanish, with a dash of Peter Gabriel.

"Arabic Groove": a good sampler for contemporary "world music" from this area.

Djur Djura, "Voice of Silence": A Berber from Algeria, now living in France, Djura sings haunting songs about women's struggle in North African societies. Atmospheric fusion of traditional and western.

Azam Ali, "Portals of Grace": Born in Iran, grew up in India. This is her solo album - usually she's pair with Greg Ellis. Greatly affected by the music of Hidegrad Von Bingen, she put together this album of traditional spiritual music from medieval Europe and with an Arabic sound. Fascinating.

Nomad, "Nomad": Lots of Digeradoo, flute and pulsing sounds.

"Crossing Cultures" - a Miramar sampler album. Music here ranges from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to a fusion of Swedish and Indian (Mynta), South Korea and Boshkortostan. Mynta has their own album that I can recommend, "Hot Madras" Santoor, sitar and tabla with keyboards flute and saxophone. Jazz, fusion, Indian, it's a collaboration of artists from Europe and Indian.

And if you're brave, try anything by "Ekova". they're usually in the world music section under "Hard to Classify", which should give you some idea. :-)

Believe it or not, I have *more*, but I think that's enough for now. :-) And no, I'm not an ethnomusicologist, but I'd probably like that area of study.