Sunday at Bob's #27 - Sunday Out Bob’s

Hello back for another sunday, these times out Bob’s as you sure have noticed. I got stuck in a Norwegian village very close to be the most beautiful place I’ve ever been at, and since there is no WiFi in our house, I have asked a couple of good friends and Sunday at Bob’s comrades if they would be willing to contribute so that the blog doesn’t die. To my greatest amazement not only the blog didn’t die but I saw myself becoming a fan and getting excited for each next post. I have to thank a thousand times Lena for the beautiful tour she gave us around her repertoire, Maisa for the deep ten emotional stages of a broken heart and finally Nabila and Nadimov for their insight into other confinment moments and what role music can play in these moments. I must say I got hooked on George Qormuz. One last thing before we start, I still don’t have WiFi while I am writing this, I shall go down to the village later on to post it on the main square, stealing the waves of the now closed public library. I say this because I can’t double check the facts I’d usually write about the music featured, therefore there might be a lot less. Here we go.

There are a lot of great things about not having WiFi in your everyday life and I’m not gonna start writing about that because I would never stop. However it did not come handy when I tried to build up a new playlist going through my hard drive and forbidding myself to pick musicians that had already been played here. Hence I did not.  Hence also some choices have more to do with nostalgia of my first mp3 player (the ones that were USB stick with a jack entrance, 128mb if you may) than with the urge to share discoveries. When the time stops we have time to look behind, I guess that’s what I did. We heard Oscar Brown Jr. here before, who is forever in a special category with the greatest of the greatest for having written Rags and Old Irons, later on magnificently interpreted by Nina Simone. And this is typically a fact I would have googled to be sure before puting out there but let’s roll on. But I Was Cool appeared as a fun way to start a playlist yet most probably a bit itchy. An interesting song nonetheless that reminds me of Screaming Jay Hawkins’ Constipation Blues and movies like the one from Jim Jarmush with the word « train » in the title most likely. This post might become a demonstration of how I rely on the internet to write, especially if it turns out no Jim Jarmush movie title has the word « train » in it.

The second song is from one of my all times favourite albums and from an artist I really have trouble with. Abd Al Malik exploded in our faces with Gibraltar and, I mean, after an album like that what can you do? Well that’s the question teenage me was asking his self until Abd Al Malik answered. Everytime he released an album I was there, I listened to it from beggining to end but never felt the thrill and the sharpness of Gibraltar. I remember going through a lot of trouble with my friends to find everything he had made before with N.A.P for instance. Regardless, I will never run out of respect for him.

After that we have a masterpiece from a guitar master. I don’t think we need to introduce Paco de Lucía. A little story instead. Once at Bob’s great musicians were playing, guitar players, improvising. After a while they took a smoking break and as excited as I was by the sound of this magnificent instrument I played Entre Dos Aguas in the speakers, as an interlude you know like in the old days at the movies you could go pee or get some popcorn. Well one of the musicians came to me and told me he was afraid he’d sound like shit playing after Paco de Lucía. I won’t tell you what I played after that.

And the Maloya returns to Sunday at Bob’s once again! What a pleasure. I did not know Les Pythons de la Fournaise whose album I received from a good friend while in Norway and is probably the only new piece of music I listened to in two months. However I knew Maloya ton tisane which I hesitated many times to feature here. Their version of it is very cool, I recommend it, it’s probably on YouTube.

Then we have Paulo Diniz, I was sure we had heard him here before but apparently not. Or was it in the very first playlist? E Agore Jose is an album I played often at Bob’s one summer when we had a considerable amount of guests from Brazil. It is not the first time I mention my admiration for Brazil as a continent of music. These months at Bob’s were full of joy and I discovered quite a lot of Brazilian music thanks to wonderful people.

We go on with a song taken from a compilation called The Sound Of Siam Vol. 2 Molam & Luk Thung Isan From North-East Thailand 1970 - 1982. I got interested in music from this part of the world and this slice of the timeline when the movie Only God Forgives got out. You must start somewhere don’t you? Whithout any knowledge whatsoever of the language nor any acquaintance from there it was very difficult to find out more.  This compilation might be the only remainings of those attempts already rather old in my hard drive. However I can’t get over the beauty of the words sung. Nowadays I could probably be more efficient, maybe I will try when I get back to civilization.

I don’t believe we heard the fascinating voice of Gabi Lunca here before. What a voice. She reminds me somehow of the most recent albums of Elza Soares, I don’t know why. Very powerful.

Oh and then there is the great Ghalia Benali. We heard her here for sure before. No need to say too much but this time we have a longer song (and more time, no?) to enjoy.

I have been waiting to bring Mélanie de Biasio to Sunday at Bob’s for a long time and didn’t really know how. I thought it could be interesting to have her right after Ghalia Benali since they are both from Belgium and have somekind of common smoothness. Here we have a song which I think achieves brilliantly the prouesse of being at the same time very deep, somehow dark and very funny. It is about men after sex I believe.

I know for sure it’s not the first time we host Trifle either and I think we can be glad to have them back. I reckon it was New Religion we heard last time. It is followed by an album I’ve listened to a lot as well in my younger years. I don’t know anything about Protomartyr, I don’t even know why I have this album on my hard drive but I quite like it.

The last song is a special song that talks very sharply about being from the first generation of immigrants and going back to the country to visit the family. I think it is a very special song because it takes an angle I’ve never heard anywhere else in French rap. It mentions the difficulties of defending artistic life choices in front of relatives living a life of everyday struggle. The lyrics are filled with humility and clear view that contrast with the upset and almost aggressive tone of Ekoué. I believe it is the first song he ever recorded in a studio. I listened to a radio show recently about poetry and one of the guests mentioned a belief that originally, all the words existed. Everything had a word to be referred to. And slowly, words that were considered useless or harmful to society were removed and forgotten. I wonder if there was ever a word for what Ekoué describes here.

That’s it for this week! I wish you all a great confinment and hope you are doing well.

Enjoy and don’t ever forget that the check out time is 10h30, ever.

The receptionist

Playlist:

1. Oscar Brown Jr. - But I Was Cool

2. Abd Al Malik - Gibraltar

3. Paco de Lucía - Entre Dos Aguas

4. Les Pythons de la Fournaise - Ah Pauline

5. Paulo Diniz - Bahia Comigo

6. Thepporn Petchubon - Fang Jai Viangjan

7. Gabi Lunca - Sus in deal pe poienita

8. Ghalia Benali - Rubaiyat

9. Mélanie De Biasio - Les hommes endormis

10. Trifle - Devil Comin'

11. Protomartyr - Bad Advice

12. La Rumeur - Blessé dans mon égo

Sunday at Bob's #26 - Music in the time of corona (by N&N)

Dear fellow listeners,

As the circumstances have put our receptionist in the safest place possible for this lockdown (an isolated house in a small Norwegian village), Nadimov and I (Nabila) are taking over his blog for this Sunday’s post.

As we continue, since the last blogpost, this quarantine, Nadimov has selected a series of songs that were all written in lockdowns, by two different artists who both held on to music as a path towards a fairer world.

Georges Qormuz, Palestine

The first artist we feature today is a real mystery. During the uprising against the military occupation in Palestine between 1987 and 1990, a curfew was forced onto the Palestinians for most of the time. Schools and universities were forced to close their doors as well for about four years. During this extended lockdown period, an unknown singer going by the name George Qormuz was recording and producing beautiful songs from his room somewhere in Palestine. His cassettes were distributed in the night to the doors of people’s houses. Years have gone since then, and to this day, no one knows who George Qormuz was. As Nadimov says: "all I know is that George was a period of four winters that cleaned the pain of many hearts the way the rain of these winters cleaned the streets".

In our playlist; we feature four of his songs.

The first song is called “What would kill determination”. The song serves as a reminder that hard times will pass in front of determination – or as George says “our land no matter what, has witnessed a thousand killers. They all vanished, like melted snow”.

To a more joyful song, at first glance, the second track of our mysterious musician is called “our beautiful land”. The city of Jerusalem “a beautiful land, sad in a cage” is the symbol for the nostalgia of the missed old times - “my little garden, the lumberjack has destroyed”. But with high hope and optimism, George promises that “with struggle, lyrics and melodies, the cage will be broken”.

In the third track, George uses the lockdown to put a moral manifesto to oppose the oppressor. This song is titled “Against”. George declares “against smashing a little flower in the garden no matter the reason, against making a hero of a 10 year old child, against using the branches of my trees as a gallows” and goes on to promise that the melodies and poetry will outlive the oppressors.

Onto the fourth and last song by George Qormuz. He makes an implore of “Patience” to his people, a universal message –as well – to all of us in this confinement, once more with the promise that “the sharp teeth of the monster will not defeat the smile of our children”.

Sheikh Imam, Egypt

The next artists featured in today’s lockdown playlist have a clearer identity than George Qormuz. A blind musician called Imam (Sheikh Imam), and his poet friend (Ahmad Fouad Nijm) were too annoying for the authorities in Egypt, to the point that they became "permanent residents" at Alqala'a\"the citadel" - a famous prison for political prisoners. During their extended stays at "the citadel", the duo wrote songs about life, love, liberty, the poor and the oppressed - the very reason why they were locked up in the first place! During their short periods out of the prison, they would meet with friends (and crowds when possible) to sing and record their songs. These songs were - and still are - banned by most Arab authorities, yet generations have memorized them by heart and passed them from one to another, and the songs of Sheikh Imam & Ahmad Fouad Nijm keep inspiring dreamers all around the Arab world.

The first song by Sheikh Imam of this playlist is called “El bahr – why is the sea laughing”. This song was chanted so many times in bars in Palestine in the times when we were there; one person would start singing the first few notes and then the entire bar would join in and sing along. A song about a complex love relationship with the sea. Imam flatters, teases and complains about his love –and to think this cheerful anthem was composed in a jail cell!

“Bastanzarek - I wait for you” is the next song by Sheikh Imam. With the legendary entrance “aaah”, Imam sings for his freedom: “I wait for you - despite the rain, the cold, and the scary thunders - in the busy street. I’m the one who knows when our date is, and why you stay away from me, the one who knows who you are and waiting for you since years – keeping a space for you in my garden of hope”.

“Tel3 elsabah - the sun gas raised”, the third song by Sheik Imam, is a beautiful greeting to all the labors and the hardworking people. “The morning has come, all the beauty in its coming. And the bird sang beautiful melodies that heal the broken hearts, saying a beautiful morning to all of you labors”.

“Anatoub 3an hubbak - can I stop loving you” is one of my favorite. “Can I stop loving you? Can I have a joy in your distance? No, I can’t forget you, I’m poor without you, and I’ll never stop loving you” Imam is singing this very melodic tune to his love from his jail cell.

“Sabah elkheir - good morning to the roses” is our next track; one more song in the love of the “garden roses” – the prison comrades who sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom, equality and justice.

Finally, we leave you with a playful melody that is named “shal elhawa - the wind/love played with us”. Let it play with you.

And so ends our trip through the music that was composed in situations similar to the one the entire world is living today.

We hope this was enjoyable and – who knows – has inspired you to write your own music/poetry during the lockdown 2020. At any rate, if you do so, keep in mind that the check-out time is 10:30 (but stay home).

Playlist:

1. George Qormuz - What would kill determination

2. George Qormuz - Our beautiful land

3. George Qormuz - Against

4. George Qormuz - Patience

5. Sheikh Imam- El bahr – why is the sea laughing

6. Sheikh Imam - Bastanzarek - I wait for you

7. Sheikh Imam - Tel3 elsabah - the sun gas raised

8. Sheikh Imam - Anatoub 3an hubbak - can I stop loving you

9. Sheikh Imam - Sabah elkheir - good morning to the roses

10. Sheikh Imam - Shal elhawa - the wind/love played with us