Sabali :: Amadou & Mariam

Ooh, so I'm a naughty music blogger.  I've been all caught up lately in my other blogging project, Affairs of Living.  Since food is only slightly more vital to life than music, that blog has been taking priority lately.  

But I'm back!  And I will try to write more often!  Hell, I'll try to write at all.  I don't think I've posted since sometime late last year... yikes.

Okay, there's a lot of great stuff out there right now.  The Decemberists, Beirut, White Rabbits, Grizzly Bear, Hot Chip, Andrew Bird, P.O.S., Camera Obscura, The Bird and the Bee, oh my where to begin, and that's just a start. 

I'm going to choose something just slightly less expected, and go for a song from the latest album from Amadou & Mariam, the legendary husband and wife duo from Mali.
Fellow blogger Aimée introduced me to Amadou & Mariam last year; she sent me back from Decorah with a burned copy of their 2005 album Dimanche à Bamako for the ride home.  I fell in love and listened to it oh-so-often.
Then not long after, I started hearing tracks from their latest album, Welcome to Mali, and it was just released in March.  While I really dig the whole album, I'm highlighting the first track, "Sabali".  It is so beautiful.   I love the way the way it builds, the sparkling electronic beats with the light, shimmery vocals, leading into the crazy arpeggios and trancy vocals.  Watch the video, Mariam so beautiful, and get lost in the sound.  

 I hope you enjoyed!  

Clandestino: Esperando La Ultima Ola... :: Manu Chao

I've been toting this album around with me since 1999. Nearly a decade has gone by, and I still love it.

I was introduced to Manu Chao while studying in Salamanca, Spain for a month with a group from my high school. There is nothing quite like a group of Midwestern 16 and 17-year-olds taking class during the day, running amok at night, and going on excursions around the Iberian Peninsula on the weekend. The memories from this trip are so amusing, as are the memories from when we returned. Upon returning to Wisconsin, one of the goody-two-shoes students told her mom that many of us took part in Spain's lively nightlife and delicious sangría (¡qué sorpresa!). Outraged and disappointed that such a seemingly upstanding group of students would participate in such activities and negatively represent our fine educational establishment, mom called our teacher, and the rest is history. I will never forget that day in class when our señora, a fiery Chilean woman, said to us, "¡Oye! You are all bastards! You should leave the National Hispanic Honorary Society!" I had never been called a bastard before, and who better to do it first than my high school Spanish teacher? In the end, no one confessed, none of us left the honorary society, and the goody-two-shoes tattler graduated as one of our class valedictorians. ¡Qué grandes recuerdos!

Anyway, Manu Chao (born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao) is from France, but of Spanish heritage. His parents fled Spain for France during Franco's harsh dictatorship, and he spent his childhood in the suburbs of Paris. While Manu Chao hadn't received much attention in the U.S. until the last few years, he has been a mainstay in the European music scene for almost 20 years. Manu Chao started making music in the '80s, and was the part of a few different bands, most notably Mano Negra. Clandestino, released in 1998, represents Chao's departure into a solo career. Since then he has released additional solo albums, and has collaborated with multiple artists and musicians.

I'm totally drawn to Chao's unique sound, it always picks me up and makes me smile and daydream of travel. He draws from many different languages (French, Spanish, English, and Arabic, to name a few) and from a huge variety of musical influences. A little rock, a little electronica, little reggae, a little punk, a little schmaltz, he samples and mixes and creates a wacky patchwork of international sounds, rhythms, and melodies. His lyrics are honest, covering love, life, and questions about the future, and often revealing his left-wing political ideology. I imagine that having parents that fled Franco's dictatorship, and growing up in 1960s Paris amongst intellectuals and artists would do that to a kid. In fact, one thing I found out while writing this blog is that Manu Chao is close with the Zapatistas, the armed and infamous socialist Mexican revolutionary group. Interesting.

From energetic and raucous to quiet and lulling, Clandestino's tracks flow seamlessly from one to the next. And truth be told, I like the album as a whole - while I do enjoy seperate tracks, I think the tracks really are strongest when they are listened to as an album. One of my favorites, however, is "Lagrimas de Oro". Check it!

Lagrimas De Oro - Manu Chao

Spanish lyrics:
Tu no tienes la culpa mi amor
que el mundo sea tan feo
tu no tienes la culpa mi amor
de tanto tiroteo

vas por la calle llorando
lagrimas de oro
vas por la calle brotando
lagrimas de oro

Tu no tienes la culpa mi amor
de tanto cachondeo
tu no tienes la culpa mi amor
vamonos de jaleo

ahi por la calle llorando
lagrimas de oro
ahi por la calle brotando
lagrimas de oro

llego el cancodrilo y super chango
y toda la vaina de maracaibo
en este mundo hay mucha confusion
suenan los tambores de la rebelion

suena mi pueblo suena la razon
suena el guaguancon
baila mi mama
suenan los tambores de la rebelion

suena mi pueblo suena la razon
lagrimas de oro
suena mi pueblo suena la razon
suena el guaguancon

tu no tienes la culpa mi amor
lagrimas de oro...

English Translation!

It really isn't your fault my love
That the world is so unfair
It really isn't your fault my love
of the shooting everywhere

walk the street weeping
teardrops of gold
You walk the street dropping
teardrops of gold

It really isn't your fault my love
of all this taunting
It really isn't your fault my love
we are always fighting

Here on the street weeping
teardrops of gold
Here on the street dropping
teardrops of gold

the crocodile and the super kid have come
and all the trash from Maracaibo
In this world there's much confusion

Sound the rebellion drums
Sound of my people, sound of reason
Sound of the music
Dance my mother

Sound the rebellion drums
Sound of my people, sound of reason
teardrops of gold

Sound of my people, sound of reason
Sound of the bus that's leaving...

It really isn't your fault my love
teardrops of gold


Happy New Year! Next up - local music month. I have my first band all picked out...stay tuned!

XOXO
Kim

Me Gustas Tu :: Manu Chao

I first heard this song seven years ago, when I was studying in Mexico. Manu Chao is this amazing musician of the "world music" variety, which I'm coming to believe means that he's hugely popular everywhere EXCEPT the United States. Anyway, Manu Chao is a Spanish-French musician who is highly influenced by indigenous music from Latin America. His songs are mainly in Spanish, and in general focus on the stories of people marginalized by capitalism and imperialism.

"Me Gustas Tu" roughly translates to "I Like You" in English (but it's more like "You make me happy" or "You are pleasing to me"). He lists off all these random things he likes (planes, wind, marijuana....) and always concludes "I like you." The chorus is Spanish and French: What am I gonna do? I don't know. I still don't know. I'm lost...

The loneliness of this song is what gets me. I remember those days of being a stranger in a strange land, when planes had just crashed into the World Trade Center, when all travel was grounded, when the war started with Afghanistan... and I came back to a different home. The old stuff was never coming back.

Que hora son mi corazon
Te lo dije bien clarito
Permanece a la escucha

Permanece a la escucha
12 de la noche en La Habana, Cuba
11 de la noche en San Salvador, El Salvador
11 de la noche en Maragua, Nicaragua
Me gustan los aviones, me gustas tu.
Me gusta viajar, me gustas tu.
Me gusta la maana, me gustas tu.
Me gusta el viento, me gustas tu.
Me gusta soar, me gustas tu.
Me gusta la mar, me gustas tu.
Que voy a hacer,
je ne sais pas
Que voy a hacer
Je ne sais plus
Que voy a hacer
Je suis perdu
Que horas son, mi corazn
Me gusta la moto, me gustas tu.
Me gusta correr, me gustas tu.
Me gusta la lluvia, me gustas tu.
Me gusta volver, me gustas tu.
Me gusta marihuana, me gustas tu.
Me gusta colombiana, me gustas tu.
Me gusta la montaa, me gustas tu.
Me gusta la noche, me gustas tu.
Que voy a hacer,
je ne sais pas
Que voy a hacer
Je ne sais plus
Que voy a hacer
Je suis perdu
Que horas son, mi corazn

Me gusta la cena, me gustas tu.
Me gusta la vecina, me gustas tu.
Me gusta su cocina, me gustas tu.
Me gusta camelar, me gustas tu.
Me gusta la guitarra, me gustas tu.
Me gusta el regaee, me gustas tu.
Que voy a hacer,
je ne sais pas
Que voy a hacer
Je ne sais plus
Que voy a hacer
Je suis perdu
Que horas son, mi corazn
Me gusta la canela, me gustas tu.
Me gusta el fuego, me gustas tu.
Me gusta menear, me gustas tu.
Me gusta la Corua, me gustas tu.
Me gusta Malasaa, me gustas tu.
Me gusta la castaa, me gustas tu.
Me gusta Guatemala, me gustas tu.
Que voy a hacer,
je ne sais pas
Que voy a hacer
Je ne sais plus
Que voy a hacer
Je suis perdu
Que horas son, mi corazn
Que voy a hacer,
je ne sais pas
Que voy a hacer
Je ne sais plus
Que voy a hacer
Je suis perdu
Que horas son, mi corazon
Que voy a hacer,
je ne sais pas
Que voy a hacer
Je ne sais plus
Que voy a hacer
Je suis perdu
Que horas son, mi corazon

Que horas son, mi corazon
Que horas son, mi corazon
Que horas son, mi corazon

Que horas son, mi corazon

Que horas son, mi corazon

Radio reloj

5 de la maana

No todo lo que es oro brilla
Remedio chino e infalible

Better People :: Xavier Rudd

Guest Blogger::Emily

I was first introduced to Xavier Rudd by a close friend of mine. On a very random night, I met my (soon to be) friend, an Irishman who was stopping through the US on his way to live and work in Australia. He had no job lined up, no place to stay, no real plan, just $600 in his pocket and a dream. Three years later, keeping in touch only through text messages, we reunited and he brought me a gift of all of Xavier Rudd’s CDs. We were only together for a week, but he said that I would learn a lot about him while he was gone by listening to Xavier’s music.

So I did, and I want to share it with all of you. Xavier has an amazing sense of the intersection between humanity and nature. He seems to be a man who knows himself and who is in tune with the echoes of the earth on which we live. He is a native Australian, and many of his songs pay tribute to the Australian Aboriginal people (see: “Land Rights” and “Anni Kookoo” on his White Moth album). He plays all of his own instruments, including the didgeridoo. His website describes his music as an “amalgamation of folk, reggae, rock and world music”.


Really, all of his songs are good. I chose to write about “Better People” (off the album, White Moth, because of its sense of honesty, beauty, inspiration, and hope in a (at times) dreary, hopeless, and mean world. As he points out, there are some people who don’t listen or care, but there are lots of people who do care and are working to heal each other. Our earth is wounded, but there is overwhelming beauty in nature and humanity.

From a musical stand point, he really uses his voice as an instrument. He does not just talk or sing over the music, he and his words become a part of the music. I really like his infusions of different styles and the music quality in general. It’s unique.

Let me know if you want recommendations of others songs of his. Also, more information about Xavier, his music, and his mission can be found HERE.

Enjoy and pass along!




Better People::Xavier Rudd

you people saving whales,
giving your thanks to our seas
my respect to the ones in the forest,
standing up for our old trees

them giving food to the hungry
giving hope to the needy
giving life to a baby
giving care for free
cause there is freedom around us
we have everything we need
i will care for you
because you care for me
we all have opinions
some of them get through
but there’s better people
with more good to do
good to do...

what I have could be a message
or just some words from my heart
my respect to the ones making changes
for other lives they’ll give their own

like giving food to the hungry
giving hope to the needy
giving life to a baby
giving care for free
cause there is freedom around us
we have everything we need
i will care for you
because you care for me
we all have opinions
some of them get through
but there’s better people
with more good to do
good to do...

well our world it keeps spinning
round and round it goes
human nature keeps spreading its disease
and our children keeps growing up with
what they know from what we teach
and what they see
and it’s only a question of the time we have
and the lives that our children will lead
they can only keep growing up with
what they know from what we teach
and what they see

like giving food to the hungry
giving hope to the needy
giving life to a baby
giving care for free
cause there is freedom around us
we have everything we need
i will care for you
because you care for me
we all have opinions
some of them get through
but there’s better people
with more good to do
good to do...

$20 :: M.I.A.

M.I.A.'s new album Kala, without question, is awesome for shakin' your ass. Stellar for car dancing, amazing for cleaning dancing, perfect for cooking dancing, and effin' fabulous for show dancing - she was in Minneapolis last week at First Avenue. I saw the show, and as my friend John said, we "danced our faces off. I don't have a face anymore."

But there's more to M.I.A.'s music than ass shaking. Like Arular, her first album, Kala samples world music melodies, beats, and artists (for example "Mango Pickle Down River" features The Wilcannia Mob, a hip-hop group of 5 aboriginal boys from New South Wales, Australia). More significantly, she also incorporates the unveiled, confrontational twist of global political and social statements and themes. She samples on the unpredictable, sometimes volatile atmosphere of countries deemed "Third World", with her lyrics (from "World Town" - "Hands up!/Guns out!/Represent!/The World Town!") and her beats (please count the gun shot sounds - just try, or the sirens that are reminiscent of air raids). Anyone who has listened to her lyrics, read reviews, or heard an interview knows that M.I.A. has opinions, and isn't afraid to put 'em out there.

I'm going to highlight "$20", it was a hard choice between that and "Bamboo Banga" (that song makes me dance!). But I really love $20. Formally, I like the way it is mixed - the soaring, beautiful melodic vocals in the opening sequence and the chorus are in awesome contrast to heavy, rhythmic rapping on the verses, the dark, thick beats, and the omnipresent crashes/gunshot sounds. It's a little woozy, a little dizzying, and very kickass. Lyrically, she pulls in a whole lot. Read 'em, see what you think for yourself. They seem pretty accurate to the song, I tried my best to correct the errors I noticed, but if something seems really wrong, leave a comment and I'll fix it.

$20
War, war, war!
Talkin' bout y'all's such a bore,
I'd rather talk about moi!

Like do you know the cost of A.K.'s up in Africa?
20 dollars ain't shit to you,
but that's how much they are
So they gonna use the shit just to get by

Is those diamonds
helpin' ya?
Don't you like my bandanna?
My stains hang low
on my shirts like ayayay
Monkey brains and banana
I'll hit you with my antenna
I put soap in my eye
Make it red so I look raaa!

Ra ra
So I woke up with my holy Koran
and found out I like Cadillac
So we shooting 'til the song is up
Little boys are acting up
Baby mothers are going crazy
And the leaders all aroound
Cracking up
We goat rich, we fry
Price of living in a shanty town
Just seems very high
We still like T.I.
we still look fly
Dancin' as we shootin' up,
and lootin' just to get by.

With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head'll collapse if there's nothing in it
and you'll ask yourself:
"Where is my mind?"

War, war, war!
Who made me like this?
Was it me and God in co-production?
My devil's on speed dial
every time I take the wrong direction.

All I want is one thing, and that is what you got.
Sometimes I go lose my mind and then I feel numb.

There's 24 hours in a day
I used to split it 8-8-8
8 work
8 sleep
8 for play
Now I give it all it takes.

People on the Internet
A new life for the intellect
People judge me so hard
coz I don't floss my titty set (?!)
I was born out of dirt like I'm porn in a skirt
I was a little girl who made good with all that blurt
I put people on a map that never seen a map
I show 'em somethin' that they've never seen
and hope they make it back...
_______________________________________
Here's a video of the song from a show in LA on 11/9/07 - not too bad a recording. I was really hoping for a Mpls recording, but YouTube did not provide.