Pop Culture Press: Pop Culture Press Around the World

Pop Culture Press Around the World- SPring 2006 Roundup (Part 2)

Samite
Embalasasa (Triloka/Artemis)

Samite is a Ugandan native currently living in upstate New York where he ended up after being forced into exile many years ago by Uganda's political turmoil under the notorious Idi Amin. Samite has only recently been making return trips to his homeland, and the journeys home have made a deep impression on his latest record, Embalasasa. The Embalasasa is a enchanting, multi-colored lizard that happens to be deadly poisonous. On the record, Samite uses the Embalasasa as a metaphor for Africa's struggles with the AIDS epidemic, as he aks for his deceased grandfather to return and strike down AIDS the way he once struck down the Embalasasa that got into the family's home. Musically the sound is based heavily on the kalimba, or thumb piano (also called the mbira in other parts of Africa), and its light but insistent rhythms and melodies work with Samite fluid voice to make a record that seems musically laidback but is actually very topical and heavy.

Julia Sarr /Patrice LaRose
Set Luna (No Format/Sunnysider/Universal France)

Set Luna pairs Senegalese singer, Julia Sarr with French flamenco guitarist, Patice LaRose. The result is a fairly raw, stripped-down sounding record that lacks the studio pop sheen that a lot of world music records featuring younger feamle singers have, and that is a good thing. Sarr's vocals are edgy, husky, and soulful and benefit from the starker production and arrangements. Listen to the a capella "Yobuma" for a prime example which sounds like we have happened upon Sarr singing to herself in a room somewhere. Her vocals are countered by LaRose's silky, skittering guitar which provides the effective counterpoint to Sarr's bare emotional delivery. Two of the best trcaks feature vocals duets with fellow Senegalese singer, Leity M'Baye (on "Yitte") and the great Youssou N'Dour (on "Set Luna DJamonodji").

Sara Tavares
Balance (Times Square)

Like so many natives of the arid and impoveished Cape Verde Islands located just west of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, Sara Taveres lives abroad. Like fellow Cape Verdean singer, Lura, Tavares makes her home in Portugal's capital, Lisbon. Her new record, Balance, showcases her lovely light-as-a-feather singing voice. The effervescent title track highlights this buoyant record, which is unfailingly pleasant if not terribly challenging. While it is more soulful and less polished than Lura's recent work, Tavares' record would benefit from a more cutting-edge attitude and more of a sense of adventure. If the target audience is mainstream one, then she's already there, but it would be cool to see such a talented singer match her knack for melody with someone who might take her sound in some interesting directions, perhaps like the what Manu Chao and Amadou and Mariam came up with together.

Tengir-Too
Mountain Music of Kyrgystan (Smithsonian Folkways)

Kyrgystan is a mountainous region located between China's western border and Kazakhstan, the country is one of the six former Soviet Republics which comprise what is often referred to as Central Asia. The are is populated by a number of different ethnic groups with different languages and religions, but whose nomadic ways over the centuries have resulted in great diversity in the region. Of these six countries, Kyrgyzstan is probably the least well-known due to its remote location and lack of the natural resources and strategic locations of its neighbors. One tremendous resource it does have is a long cultural tradition of music and poetry, both of which are celebrated on the Mountain Music of Kyrgystan record assembled by the Kyrgyz ensemble Tengir-Too with the assistance of the Aga Khan Music Initiative. The CD, which comes with a bonus DVD including an informative documentary of the performers and their country, is rare opportunity to hear unfamiliar but fascinating traditional regional music direct from its source, not unlike the old field recordings of folk, bluegrass, and blues singers. The most prominent instruments used are wooden and metal jew's harps and the komuz, which is a nylon-stringed instrument played like a guitar. The whole thing is cool, but the highlight has to be the recitation of an excerpt from the Manas story, a 1000 year-old Kyrgyz epic poem that can have up to 500,000 lines. Rysbek Jumabaev, who in the accompanying documentary talks about how his recitation of the Manas has cured his physical ailments, delivers a riveting recitation accompanied by Tengir-Too, and even though a translation isn't necessary to feel the impact, it is printed in the CD booklet, so you can follow along. There's also a song that celebrates Attila Khan, or better known in the west as Attila the Hun.

Thandiswa
Zabalaza (Escondida)

South African artist Thandiswa Mazwai showcases both her significant vocal and compositional talents on her solo debut Zabalaza. Her sound mixes elements of jazz and R&B with a strong influence of the music of the Xhosa ethnic, of which she is a part. The result is a very listenable, soulful record that sounds much slicker and cleaner (and higher budget) than a lot of other African recordings. It would seem to be a better fit for fans of smooth jazz and R&B than people who like the more rustic, traditional styles of world music.

Think of One
Trafico (Crammed Discs)

Think of One is a freewheeling group of ramblers based in Antwerp, Belgium. They are know for their globetrotting musical adventures and subsequent collaborations with musicians from Africa and the Arctic. Trafico finds them working with a group of Brazilian musicians, primarily from the musical hotbed of Recife (where the totally smoking group, Cabruera is also from). The fusion of samba, rock, reggae, and European pop on Trafico will get your feet moving, even if you aren't left pondering the remarkable melting pot of a world we live in. It's not a groundbreaking record or even a completely successful experiment, but it never fails to be interesting and fun.

Zemog El Gallo Bueno
Cama De La Conga (Aagoo)

Zemog El Gallo Bueno, led by New York City resident, Abraham Gomez-Delgado, plays a raucous style of Latino music that combines salsa and other familiar styles but infuses them with an attitude of almost punkish aggression to match its unstoppable danceability. Gomez-Delgado, who grew up in Puerto Rico and came to the US at an early age, cites the influence of everything from heavy metal, avant-garde jazz, and Kraftwerk to go along with the disco and salsa records his older sisters listened to. The result of his experiments on Cama De La Conga is a loose, playful, and completely groovy record that will liven up dull parties everywhere.