Genre(s) - Folk, world music Origin - Bolivia Year of release - probably 2006 Bitrate - 128 kbps Size - 40.96 MB
Last week, Evo Morales has won a second term as president of Bolivia with 62 percent of the vote, and his party Moviemento al Socialismo has finally gained a majority in the Congress. As the first indigenous president and a radical champion of the lower classes, that is, the extremely marginalised Indian majority, he is a symbol for la lucha para las derechos indigenas in the whole of South America, and indeed, Middle and North America as well. This album was probably released in celebration of his first electoral victory and is full of odes to him and the MAS, in a very authentic style - too bad about the programmed drums the album opens with - including three tracks (partly) in a fascinating native language. Basically it's a Latin folk template with acoustic guitars and male and female vocals. Some songs are better than others, in my opinion, but if there's any appropriate time to post this, it's now (okay, actually last week, but shhh). People of Bolivia, I congratulate you.
Band/artist - Femi Kuti Genre(s) - Afrobeat (jazz, world music) Origin - Nigeria Album - Africa shrine Year of release - 2004
...and now for something completely different. Afrobeat is an amalgam of jazz, rock, and African traditional music. Very uplifting music to say the least, and much more structured than regular jazz - it even has choruses, and catchy ones they are too! Tribal percussion is coupled to Western instruments like guitars, sax and Hammond organ, but still with characteristic African melodies. As you may have guessed, Femi is the eldest son of the famous Fela Kuti, and has stepped into his father's footsteps as a saxophonist and activist. He blows a mean sax and has a strong, proud voice. He also shares his father's radical democratic, pan-African viewpoints that are being expressed clearly through the lyrics as a call for all Africans to step up to the plate and help build a self-sufficient, self-determining Africa. This live album was recorded in Nigeria and is hard not to enjoy: it crackles with energy and breathes the spirit of the continent. It paints you a picture, and then I don't mean of the wide plains drowning in sunset with giraffes striding along the horizon, but of a people, struggling for survival in a world wrecked by colonialism.
Band/artist - Various artists Genre(s) - Arab traditional music Origin - Palestine, and Palestinian refugees from all over the world Album - Palestine - Music of the Intifada Year of release - 1989
Sabaya Al Intifada - Min al mukhayyam toulad al ru'aya
In A'd Rifaki - Al raba'yye
In A'd Rifaki - Al kassam al filistini
Al-amal Ashabi - Jirah lan tamout
Abnaa el-Balad - Ajrass al intisar
Palestinian Student Karmel Group - Al intifada was jabal al thawra
In A'd Rifaki - Kulluna fil tareeq
Palestinian Student Karmel Group - Watani laysa hakiba
As I am posting this Israel wages a brutal war against the population at large of one of the last free strongholds of an already occupied, strangled land. After a week of bombardments and artillery fire, Israeli forces have entered Gaza in order to cripple the democratically chosen party Hamas whose paramilitary wing has been firing homemade rockets in answer to continuing blockades that brought the Gaza Strip far beyond the brink of a humanitarian crisis. As mounting anger and worry culminated into massive protests around the world, we took to the Amsterdam streets yesterday with nearly 10 000 men and women - Muslims, Christians, Jews, Socialists and everybody else who cares for Palestine, to protest the attack. Mainstream media speak of 1 500 to "several thousands" of protesters but this (sped-up) video by thentythreetv proves these estimates fall short of the truth:
Al-Jazeera has broadcasted the Amsterdam demonstration in the Gaza strip(!) to bring the Palestinians the strength of international solidarity. Obviously, the people in Gaza aren't happy about this either and they will not let themselves be punished for the resistance the Zionist agenda keeps eliciting against itself. Bombings and violent "incursions" will only drive more people to pick up weapons. No short video can show the Palestinian spirit of resistance better than this one:
If you want you can also download the mp3 - here. Until Israel withdraws from Gaza, lifts all the supply line blockades, allows all refugees since the Nakba the inalienable Right of Return and respects the Palestinian borders as laid down at the partition plan in 1948 - giving back all Palestinian territories it occupies since the 1967 war - we must and I will support Palestinian armed struggle. Of course this is only one step. In the end there must be one state, not a Jewish state or an Arab state, but one state for both. Before this happens there will be no true peace in the Middle East.
This blog is meant to generate attention to bands that I think deserve it, and aims for a large variety of music styles. I will only share albums that I personally recommend, and do not honour requests. You won't find complete discographies here as I encourage individual research and do care about the artists enough not to offer their entire lives' work for the taking. If you notice a mistake or a wrong/broken link, please let me know so I can fix it. Thanks!
Complaints and compliments can be directed to bartromeijn-at-hotmail-dot-com but for quick messages by all means use the shoutbox and comments.
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The music I offer on this blog is for display purposes exclusively. You are not entitled to download or listen to it at all. Go away.
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