International Month Post #2: West Africa (Cape Verde, Ghana, & Nigeria)

Sorry this post took me so long. Life got busy on me. The school year is almost over!

Anyway, across the Atlantic we go! Off to Africa! Cape Verde, Ghana, and Nigeria specifically.

Although not too far from the influences of Portugal, it seems. I just had to post something by Cesaria Evora. Her music makes me happy. My mom would always play it when she was cooking, especially at big family events like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cesaria Evora is from Cape Verde, which is a group of islands off the coast of West Africa. It was colonized by the Portugese in the 15th century, and its official language is still Portugese, even though they gained independence a while back. Cesaria Evora is freaking amazing. They call her "the barefoot diva" since she so often performs in bare feet. She started her career in 1988 at the age of 47(!!). She is still alive and touring around, being an awesome old lady, basically. Her music is jazzy and fun and sounds similar to Brazilian music, but with a distinct Cape Verdean twist to it. She is famous for singing "morna" which is the national music of Cape Verde (like the tango for Argentina).

What a freaking amazing lady. Honestly.

Here is a GOOD SONG #1 of hers:  Carnaval De Sao Vicente (Jazzy Carnaval Mix) by Cesaria Evora.
This one is much more upbeat and fun and danceable than her others.

This second one is a more standard one of hers that I love. It's more sultry, let's say. I think it's a "morna." DEFINITELY worth a listen.
GOOD SONG #2:Mar Azul

Next up, Ghana!

He's pointing at YOU.

GOOD SONG #3: Borga by Sarkodie
So I was just searching online for good African hip-hop, and turns out Ghana's pretty big on the map. I don't pretend to know much about this guy, or African rap, but I liked this song. Check it out! Rapping in umm... whatever language it is... sounds really cool! Sorry, I can't tell the difference between the different Ghanaian dialects/languages. The video is surprisingly well done, too. He looks like a baller, I gotta admit.
Definitely worth checking out if you like hip-hop in any way, shape, or form.

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but...

GOOD SONG #4: Sorry Sorry by Femi Kuti
And last but not least, Nigeria!
So Femi Kuti is the son of Fela Kuti, the "legendary"Afrobeat musician from Nigeria. Femi played in his father's band (the Nigeria '70 and then later the Egypt '80) and Afrobeat certainly played a big role in his musical upbringing.  Femi's own son is part of his band, so he's keeping the tradition alive and all in the family, it seems. Which probably isn't too hard, since the family is large.... that's what happens when your father has had 20+ wives! Anyway, this song in particular is funky and cool, with a great beat. I love it when the horns join in. I wanna dance to this song so badly. Whooooooo

If you liked these songs, you might also check out:
Ana Moura
Lura
Seun Kuti
Youssou N'Dour
Samini

Over and out,
Anna

International Month Post #1: Brazil!

Hello all!
This month I have decided to dedicate to music from the non-English-speaking world. It's fun to get out a bit. And this first post is dedicated to... Brazil! Whoo-hoo!
Brazilian music is super cool. There are tons of influences in most Brazilian music, and much of it is sort of a fusion between different styles, cultures, and sounds. Samba, tropicália, rock, funk, African music, jazz, folk, pop, reggae, and Bossa Nova all play their part. This seems quite appropriate, as Brazil itself is such a mixture of cultures and traditions. 
So, without further ado are three (!) GOOD SONGS for you, straight from Brazil!

GOOD SONG #1:Essa é Pra Tocar no Rádio by Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben

Alert! Alert! Man in a hat! My favorite!

I first heard really good Brazilian music when I worked at a coffee shop in NYC and my coworker would play the album that this song is from. It is totally different from the music that I was used to hearing, filled with an unstoppable beat, wild and wonderfully weird monkey-like vocal noises, elements of ... of... all sorts of cool/hot Brazilian sounds that were new to my ears. I loved it! This is my favorite song from the album Gil e Jorge, I think. But the whole album is definitely worth listening to, if you like this song. Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben are icons on the Brazilian music scene, and are good artists to start exploring. 

GOOD SONG #2: Essa é Pá Tocar no Rádio by Slim Rimografia

Slim Rimografia, not related to Slim Shady.

This song is so fun! I think I discovered Slim Rimografia on amiestreet.com (alas, now taken over by amazon, and totally useless), although I'm not positive. However it was I'm glad of it! This is a really great song by a Brazilian hip-hop artist, and it samples none other than my first GOOD SONG! I have no idea why it's called "Essa é Pá Tocar no Rádio," though, instead of "Essa é Pra Tocar no Rádio." Who knows. Anyway, I love his vocal style, and also the style of the girl (?) Coruja who is also featured on the track. I'm surprised by how cool Portugese rap sounds. 

GOOD SONG #3: Já é by Jorge Aragão.

You'd be smiling, too, if you were this dude.

I got further (MUCH further) into Brazilian music after my friend Matt made me a Brazilian music CD, some 40 tracks long, that introduced me to some amazing Brazilian artists that never, ever fail to make me feel happy. This track was on there, and I just had to share it with you all. It's a fantastic live recording of his, and man, it just makes me want to MOVE. 


If you liked these songs, you might also check out:
Caetano Veloso
Elis Regina
Milton Nascimento
Djavan
Sergio Ricardo
Contra Fluxo
Kamau


Over and out,
Anna

"No One Ever Does It Like That Anymore"

Despite the fact that Mark Ronson was born in London, I think of him as being a New Yorker. Considering that he went to Collegiate High School in NY, then New York University (my alma mater!) and began his career in my glorious hometown, I don't think that this is a stretch.  He is such an enormously talented DJ/turntabelist/producer, I want him to be a New Yorker. The way he combines different musical traditions/band/sounds in his songs is just plain genius. Granted, his work can be a little hit-or-miss (or mostly miss, if you don't like hip-hop that much), but the stuff of his that DOES work is great.

Ronson, hard at work. 

His new album "Record Collection" just dropped a little while ago, and is a ton of fun. Ronson features of some of the songs, but an insane number of people are involved too, as usual. The record is technically by "Mark Ronson & The International" so I guess "The International" includes all those other folks.
The two best songs on it, that both have amazing videos are:

GOOD SONG #1: Bang Bang Bang (odd mash-up of old commercials, weird Japanese TV-show, and 80's style "futuristic" fun... oh yeah, and Q-Tip!!!)

GOOD SONG #2: The Bike Song (feat. Spank Rock)

One thing that I find interesting about him, though, is that as much as I love a lot of his fun singles (like the ones above), some of my FAVORITE songs of his are his short little instrumental bits that come in between songs on his album, like "Missing Words"  and "Selector" (from this latest album) and "Inversion" and "Diversion" from his previous album "Version."  Inversion is competing with "Can't Hardly Wait" by Justin Townes Earle as my #1 played song.

Anyhoo, hope you enjoy.

If you like these songs, you might also like:

(Note: OK so, since Mark Ronson has no particular style, these rec's run the gamut)

Calvin Harris
A Tribe Called Quest
M.I.A.
Adele
Lily Allen
Duran Duran

BUY HIS MUSIC HERE: MR & the Int.

Over and out,
Anna

Good Things, Indeed

So I'm aware that I haven't posted a lot of soul/R&B since my post on Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. This post changes all that. I haven't been able to stop humming these two GOOD SONGS by Aloe Blacc and I thought I would share them with you.

GOOD SONG the first: I Need A Dollar (Who doesn't need a dollar these days?)

This song has the perfect mix of piano, trumpet, and Aloe Blacc's SWEET vocals. Who is Aloe Blacc you might ask? Well, his real name is actually Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III... I don't blame him for changing his name. He is the son of Panamanian immigrants, and a lot of his music has a nice Latin flair to it. He began as a hip-hop/rap artist, but then branched into more retro music, and boy! am I happy about it! He has two albums out now: "Shine Through" (2006) and his most recent album "Good Things," which came out this September (2010). He weaves together R&B, soul, hip-hop, jazz, and salsa influences to make his songs work so damn well.

Mr. Blacc looking pretty snazzy in white.

Good song the second: Loving You Is Killing Me (the song + the lyrics)
Also from "Good Things," this song is just so good, and makes me wanna dance. You can definitely tell he has some real rapper cred here. My favorite line: "How did you get to be so evil, girl?" sung by the falsetto chorus.

If you like this song, you might also like:

John Legend
The Roots
Talib Kweli
People Under the Stairs
Danger Doom/Danger Mouse
Janelle Monae
Al Green
Marvin Gaye

BUY HIS MUSIC HERE: Aloe Blacc!

Over and out,
Anna