Sunday at Bob's #43 - Les racines au bistrot

 Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of your faithful almost-bi-weekly musical hour, Sunday at Bob's. I hope you are well. These days are great, very productive, much fertile and somehow it has affected my thirst for new music. I have been going back a lot, journeys in old usb sticks, in browser's history and favourited youtube links. An event in my life led me to re-discover a world I had put aside for a couple of years, French rap. You will have a little taste of that today, but not only, far from it. I did make pleasant discoveries too, often in fields we are not accustomed to have here (maybe we will at some point?), but we are here to learn, at least I am. Anyhow here is our latest playlist, it goes in various directions but I hope it will be of good companion to your sunday.

 

We begin with a song that a very dear friend showed me last year. It somehow manages to depict with great accuracy periods of my life my memory fantasised, through several lyrical tricks and personal references, while at the same time describing a very specific period in which I didn't exist in a specific place I have never been. Bernard Dimey sings the nightlife of Paris in the 1950s and 1960s. And he makes you feel like you were there. It is probably helped by the way his songs are recorded, it feels as if the recordings take place in the very room mentioned in the poems being recited. As if he sings about the Lux bar, inside the Lux bar and the accordeon you hear belongs more to the background music of the bar than to the instrumental of the song he sings. It is a very beautiful way to merge poetr and music, almost as if the music is the poem's frame, or pedestal.

We go on with a Franch rap band who I like to consider as heir of universes such as Dimey's, at least on their album Sans Chantilly, they later on pursued their career towards something different with which I have less connections but I do respect (I should be less categoric as today's track is taken from their album OVNI which came right after Sans Chantilly). This band is called Odezenne and I used to be a big fan. I discovered Dave Brubeck, Seul contre tous and more gems through their first album and am forever grateful. Here is a little bonus, a video of them spitting fire surrounded by the hottest freestylers of the early 2010s.

Then we have a song by the great Suzanne Kraft, on a magnificent duo album with Amsterdam based multi-instrumentalist Jonny Nash. It has been a while since I have the project of making a series of playlist which would consist of songs picked by painters based on what they listen to while painting. I have been harrassing a couple of friends whose work I love and who I know it would be very interesting to hear from, but so far it hasn't been fruitful. Howeve, if I had to make one myself, Suzanne Kraft would most definitely be on it.

We go on with a musician I sumbled upon thanks to W. Kandinsky's On the spiritual in art, Modest Mussorgsky, here interpreted by the great Brigitte Engerer. 

Pictures at an Exhibition (...) is a suite of ten pieces (plus a recurring, varied Promenade) composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The suite is Mussorgsky's most-famous piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists. It has become further known through various orchestrations and arrangements produced by other musicians and composers, with Maurice Ravel's 1922 version for full symphony orchestra being by far the most recorded and performed. (...) The composition is based on pictures by the artist, architect, and designer Viktor Hartmann. (source)

 

It is followed by a very cool recording of a Kulning (herding call). It is a kind of singing from certain parts of Norway and Sweden used to call back herds of cows, goats etc. from mountain pastures after a day of grazing. As I understand, different songs call different type of herds. It dates back to medieval times. I find them very beautiful, it reminds me of these whistled languages from islands around Spain I believe.

When a call is made in a valley, it rings and echoes against the mountains. The animals, a number of whom wear bells tuned so that the livestock's location can be heard, begin to respond to the call, answering back and the sound of the bells indicates that they are moving down the mountain towards their home farm. The kulokks can belong to an individual, but are sometimes family-based and are handed down so that a family's cows know they are being called and thus respond. A number of calls contain names of individual (sometimes the "lead") animals, as herds are not very large. (source)

 

Then we have a beautiful guitar piece by Robbie Basho who I find interesting for his Indian influences. He is followed by the great Galcher Lustwerk, one of my favourite contemporary musicians, the song we have today is slightly off in his discography but in a very cool and smart way. 

 

After that we enter a more festive part of our playlist with Kenny Dope and his remix of Bobby Hutcherson's La Malanga from the classic compilation Blue Note Revisited. It continues with the very peculiar associtation between Israeli band Sababa 5 whose music reminds us of Aris San who we are already familiar with, and the Japanese singer (bellydancer/derbuka player?) Yurika.

 

Amabano was a group of ten musicians hailing from Burundi and Congo. Active from the late ‘70s to the early ‘90s, they were the most popular and influential band in Burundi to date. Their innovative blend of styles, musical craftsmanship, and vision of a unified Burundi are still remembered today. In 1987 they released their only international album in the Soviet Union in limited numbers. (source) 

 

Also about Amabano, here is an interesting article.

We go on with Ethiopian legend Gétatchéw Mèkurya who has been played at Bob's many times and always brought light to this dark lobby. We have talked about Ethiopian music here many times and for now I don't have much to add except that it is always a great pleasure to hear it.

Then we have another star band from Batov Records (so were Sababa 5 & Yurika) El Khat. It is a band from Tel Aviv, all with different backgrounds – Iraq, Poland, Morocco, and Yemen. After them comes a jazz song from a band I know nothing about, but I found their album on one of my usb sticks and I really liked it. They are called Sitka Sun and their album is called All the Way West, I really recomend it. Then we have Mexican jazz legend Tino Contreras with a composition taken from his latest album La noche de los dioses. We end on a dancing note with a song from a fantastic compilation released recently on Analog Africa: Space Echo - The Mystery Behind the Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed!  

 

That's it for today I hope you enjoyed as much as I did, and I will see you in two weeks hopefully! In the meantime take care of yourself and your loved ones, much love.

Check out time is 10h30, beware.

The receptionist

Playlist:

1. Bernard Dimey - Au lux bar
2. Odezenne - Taxi
3. Jonny Nash & Suzanne Kraft - Inside
4. Brigitte Engerer - Pictures at an Exhibition: II. The old castle
5. Marta Myhr - Get och fårlock
6. Robbie Basho - Khatum (Instrumental)
7. Galcher Lustwerk - Thermonics
8. Kenny Dope - La Malanga
9. Sababa 5 & Yurika - Nasnusa
10. Amabano - Nteramajane
11. Gétatchéw Mèkurya - Shellela
12. El Khat - Balagh Al Achbaab
13. Sitka Sun - Dauntless
14. Tino Contreras - Malinche
15. Fany Havest - That Day

Sunday at Bob's #42 - A Wall, or a Window

 Hello everyone and welcome back for another hour or so with Sunday at Bob's. I hope you are doing well. The other day I was walking in the countryside and I remembered something I had come up with to explain some paintings to a curator at an exhibition. I told him I thought paintings were either walls or windows, he asked me to elaborate which I was uncapable of doing. Anyway I was thinking about that and I grew more convinced of it being true, while remaining unable to expand. Here is today's playlist.

 

 We begin with Khaled Kurbeh & Raman Khalaf Ensemble, for the second time on this blog. The first time we heard them was I believe a song taken from the same album as today, Aphorism, which I find very interesting. It is not that long and so I had taken the habit of playing it as I was beggining a shift at the reception, until the day a colleague guessed I was gonna play it before I even did. I thought it was unacceptable to be so predictable and I never played it again, at least not as a shift's intro.

We go on with a treasure of an album I stumbled upon over a month ago and cannot stop listening to. The use of electronic music on it is so well done and manages to add something while keeping the whole spirit of the album intact. If you have been a Sunday at Bob's reader for a while, you know how fascinated I am by patterns, loops, and trance. I think The Scorpios' album is a very smart and unique mélange of musics that all have something to do with those themes.

 

The Scorpios are a band originally form Sudan that melds Arabic rhythms and guitar chops (and a kind of swooning cyclical ecstasy) with a raw Eastern funk feel, properly dismantling cultural barriers in pursuit of a unifying rhythmic bliss. Heavy bass, synths, horns and percussions drive through traditional Sudanese forms to create a sound that owes as much to Detroit as it does to Khartoum. (source)

We go on with a song that doesn't need any introduction since it is probably the third time we listent to it here, after Aris San's tribute and was it Ibrahim Maalouf? I don't remember exactly but regardless, we could make an entire playlist of tributes to the immense Oum Khaltoum's Anta Omri. Today we have Egyptian guitar payer Omar Khorshid, who actually played with Oum Khalthoum in his days. Here is a link to a very interesting article about him and about what music can mean and what it can take.

Khorshid's story is a multi-faceted one with artistic promise, virtuosity, celebrity, musical eccentricity and tragedy. (source)

I won't expand to much on T.K Ramamoorthy whose album is amongst these albums it seems you can play in roughly any context and people will be happy listening to it. At least it was the case at the reception, it would even bring joy to the whole atmosphere. I won't expand because it is the second time we hear him here, so let us simply enjoy.

We pursue our jazzy moment with Bubbha Thomas & The Lightmen Plus One. Their album Fancy Pants was one of the first albums I clicked with when I began my quest to try to understand jazz a few years back. I had read somewhere a theory about taste. The writer was trying to defend the idea according to which one's taste is fixed at around twenty five of age. After that, one only enjoys re-dicoveries, or things that remind one of souvenirs. I was very confused by this idea and I paniked. I was twenty four years old and I realized I didn't really enjoy jazz, apart from a few exceptions like Dave Brubeck for instance. I thought it'd be unacceptable to pass my twenty fifth year and take the risk of this peculiar theory being true. So I started playing almost only jazz at the reception, ignoring drunk teenage tourists screaming they couldn't take anymore of these trumpets and begging for Britney Spears to save them. It was fun. The other album which really impressed me was Invitation to Openness by Les McCann, damn how good it was to cycle in Amsterdam with that sound in the ears!

Our jazzy moment goes on with the wonderful Guru and DJ Premier a.k.a Gang Starr. Then we have for the second time in a row Wynton Marsalis with Lincoln Center Orchestra on their latest release which features interludes by the great Wendell Pierce (Malcolm X, The Wire).

We smoothly transition from Jazz Land to Brazil which is a jazz land itself in a way, with the magnificent (I couldn't run out of positive adjectives to describe this master) Baden Powell. He honors us with his take on a composition by Johann Sebastian Bach, a Bachiana. After him comes another monument of Brazilian music, Clara Nunes.

We pursue with a more electronic moment in our playlist which begins with the band Liliental.

Liliental is the side project of Dieter Moebius after Cluster's momentary break. To accompany the artist in his new musical adventure, the band includes two members of the famous jazz rock band KRAAN: Helmut Hattler (on e-bass guitar) and Johannes Pappert (on alto sax parts). The musical engineer Conny Plank who participated to the publication of many Cluster's albums helps the band for guitar, synth, and manipulated voices parts. Their album was recorded in 1978 for the Brain records label. The tracks range from "ambient" synth experimentations fusing to rock, jazz, "exotic" elements. Liliental is more various, colourful than most of late Cluster albums from its ambient era. liliental guides the listener into a cunning, pleasant, intricate musical world with lof of "weird" experimentations, electronic patterns, loops and nice floating guitar harmonies. This recording is built as one long title. After this amazing project, Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank will record many others imaginative albums together, always putting the emphasis on "electronic". (source)

 

After Liliental we have another musician we love here at Sunday at Bob's and it shows because it is the second time we have it in our playlist. I first heard the music of Francis Bebey in a model drawing class approximately seven years ago. It was in Amsterdam, I was the only person who understood French and the song which was played by the teacher was a song which would have surely provoked scandal if it had been sung in a language everyone understood. The teacher, who was aware of the lyrics, looked at me with a little smile. At the end of the lesson he asked me what I thought, and anyway when I got home I looked up more of his stuff and did not regret it. Here he sings us his love for a tropical flower.

Then we have a short song from the above mentioned Moebius taken from the soundtrack of the movie Blue Moon. His minimalist style, and fondness for unique electronic sounds always made his music well-suited for soundtrack work. It is a little surprising that it took him until 1986 to score a film. Blue Moon (1986) is a little known German thriller from director Karsten Wichniarz. (source)

 

And we close with two folk songs, The Rising of the Moon by Grammy Award-winning American singer and songwriter Judy Collins and Ile Penaro taken from the last release of Argentinian musician globe trotter Ignacio Maria Gomez. 

That is all for this week, I hope you enjoyed. I see you in two weeks (I reckon I am back in a proper rythm aren't I?)

Check out time is 10h30 until the end of times.

The receptionist.

Playlist:

1. Khaled Kurbeh & Raman Khalaf Ensemble - Toska
2. The Scorpios - Kirfaya Mosa
3. Omar Khorshid - Anta Omri
4. T.K. Ramamoorthy - Natta
5. Bubbha Thomas & The Lightmen Plus One -On The Road Home
6. Gang Starr - Who’s Gonna Take The Weight
7. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra/Wynton Marsalis/Wendell Pierce - Mr. Game: Beware! They're Going to Cause Problems/The Ever Fonky Lowdown in 4
8. Baden Powell - Bachiana
9. Clara Nunes - Canto das três raças
10. Liliental - Stresemannstrasse
11. Francis Bebey - Fleur tropicale
12. Moebius - Falsche Ruhe
13. Judy Collins - The Rising of the Moon
14. Ignacio Maria Gomez - Ile Penaro

Sunday at Bob's #41 - Un peu d’agape dans ce monde de guêpes

 Hello everyone and welcome back for another warm sunday in a cold world. Or is it that cold I might be exagerating. Nevertheless I had a very good playlist all prepared for today but I thought last minute I'd make another one a wee bit less meditative, less calm. A playlist a bit more energetic and positive because as much as I try to focus mainly on music, and keep it away from the ups and downs of life on earth when I write here, I do feel warmth is welcome. So I cooked what you are listening to today, I have danced to it, ran with it and done many things in the past days so you know it had been tested, verified and approved. Press play, let me do the writing.

 

We begin with a legend. Out of respect and fear of saying irrelevant things due to my limited knowledge of the context that surrounded the life of Lounes Matoub, I first thought to not write anything. However I think I can fairly say he is one of the most charismatic figures of Kabyle music. I can only recommend you look him up if you haven't heard about him, and enjoy his magnificent style on Imghereq. The variations in singing, with the spoken part, the use of silence, are things that truly make me fall of my chair. Sometimes I think in music like in real life, the acceptance of silence is an underrated strenght.

 

 We continue with the British post-punk explosive band Au Pairs that blew my mind the first time I heard it. I have been shopping groceries with their sound in my ears lately in order to spice up this activity context has made bizarre. Post-punk (or punk for that matter) is not really an area I am familiar with but I do find gems once in a while and always feel bad for not looking into it more. Anyway this one band is perfect to cycle when you're in a rush or to crystalize your frustration in public transport when you have no other choice.

We are now together, with the wife of the owner. Everyday together and the fantastic Ogoya Nengo And The Dodo Women’s Group succeed to remind us that simple fact. I share here the link to the video going with this song, it is almost necessary to hear it in context (as with most songs I guess).

Fadela and Cheb Sahraoui take over with a song that made dance the generation of my parents. A declaration of love and a invitation to celebrate, we remain in context.

After them comes Passy Mermans and his sweet honey voice with the beautiful C'est sérieux tantine (it's serious auntie). I couldn't find much information on Passy Mermans, mostly music which is a fact I'm not sure how to interpret but the music is great.

We continue with the very smooth band Khruangbin I reckon I don't have to introduce. Here we have a track from their last album Mordechai where they seem to take inspiration from Ethiopian music as well as from Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. I am speculating, but I see this song as a strange Je t'aime moi non-plus where the two protagonists are flirting on top of music, almost as two separate things happening at the same time, brought back here and there to the usual understanding of a song by the chorus. Very cool.

Then we have again (but damn is he good) the great Duval Timothy and a song from his latest release, Brown Loop, which this time consists only of him playing piano, what else to ask?

We go on with a great song by another great singer I can't find anything about, at least not anything I comprehend. I do miss the reception and having a flow of people from everywhere in the world popping in, I could then ask about artists like Marília Parente and have precise informations. Anyway at least we have our ears, we can listen. (by the way, here is her album)

After Marília we enter the jazz department of today's playlist, with the famous Alfa Mist and a song from his even more famous album Antiphon, which would be on queue a lot on the YouTube autoplay at the reception. This one features Kaya Thomas-Dyke on the vocals. It is followed by the immense trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Wynton Marsalis who was actually featured in the original playlist and I thought as a shout out he should be here as well.

 

Exit the jazz moment with the very smooth Antonio "Toño" Fuentes and his Hawaïan guitar from Colombia. And we end with two songs I searched for after watching a very bizarre Greek movie called Το μίκρο ψάρι (Stratos) but which has great moments. Anyhow the soundtrack of the movie was made by a guy called Babis Papadopoulos, it's all, or mostly, guitar if I'm not mistaken. Very cool soundtrack so I looked it up and found out about a really nice album he made in 2010 called Απ' τη σπηλιά του δράκου (From Draco's Cave). The ending song Δώδεκα η ώρα νταν by Kostas Kollias also appears in the movie.

 

That is it for today, I hope the playlist will make up for my lack of writing creativity and wish you a great sunday.

 

Check out time is still 10h30 you bastards,

The receptionist

 

Playlist:

1. Lounes Matoub - Imghereq
2. Au Pairs - Pretty Boys (BBC Sessions)
3. Ogoya Nengo And The Dodo Women’s Group - On Monday
4. Fadela/Cheb Sahraoui - Nsalfik
5. Passy Mermans - C’est sérieux tantine
6. Khruangbin - Connaissais de Face
7. Duval Timothy - Badman
8. Marília Parente - Dia de João
9. Alfa Mist - Breathe
10. Wynton Marsalis - Superb Starling
11. Toño Fuentes y Su Guitarra Hawaiana - Adrianita
12. Babis Papadopoulos - A Song from Algiers
13. Kostas Kollias - Dodeka I Ora Ntan
 

Sunday at Bob's #40 - Such Is Life: An Absence

Good morning,
Good afternoon,
Good night

And that whether

You are sleeping,
Watching cartoons,
Or getting back on track

From hangover

Some days are bright
Some days are dark
Some days the only thing to do

Is to listen to these tracks

Some days cloudy
Some days in mist
Some days made sunny

By your ears on my playlist

Some days we laugh
Some days we cry
Such is life

Such is life

Welcome back, once again
For your bi-weekly experience
Ten songs under one song

The story, the tale of an absence

The story of a melody
That made it in
Then made it out

For the sake of harmony

Harmonious but not flat

However, a tribute is made
Through the title
It is only a see you again, big guy

Not a long goodbye

Maybe in two weeks?
Regardless
Now is now

Le temps presse

Let us begin
Let us start
Let the music play its part

While I learn rhyming

It is Joshua Redman’s hand
That invites us first
And in all our thirst

We grab it, after all

We’re only human
And we know we can trust
The drums waiting

Around the corner, on the grass

Ready to hit
The coup de grâce
To pour us like we pour

Liquor through the point of non-retour

Caught
Delivered without ransom
To a mysterious voice

Mysterious but not random

Ungraspable
But not immaterial
Similar to fumes

Is the music of Alabaster Deplume

Sometimes dreaming of going away
Leaving friends
Knowing they’ll be okay

Other times doing it anyway

Sometimes looking back
Realising only once it vanished
The things we presently lack

And not coming back

Dancing to forget
Dancing to remember
Dancing to the songs

Of our ancestors

Dancing, dancing
Here is a great album to dance
It might even put you in a trance

The Imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie

And from Brazil to Cap-Vert
An imaginary bridge
Very much there

Very much there

Kept safe by musicians
Guarded by musics
Preserved by guardians

In peculiar tunics

The Cachupa Psicadelicas
Let us cross
Like boss

And we cross back

All the way to LA
What can we say?
We would be so lonely

Without Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti

Then we have Jeff Parker
Right after
With a banger

From his album Suite for Max Brown

And then we have a song
Aman aman
Then we have a song

From a great duo

Amongst which is a friend of mine
And a fascinating human being
Just listen to them playing

Yet another bridge

Towards the end you can hear
The guitar switching
To this caracteristic rythm

And the oud following

What a thrill

It only made sense
To pursue this quest
And to enhance

To re-invite an old guest

Aşık Veysel
We heard him here before
We wanted to hear some more

And to close this circle

Without taking a risk
We have the giant Kyria Politissa
And her Den me toumbaris

And Spyros, with his bouzouki!

Opa! Dig those sweet fingers playing the bouzouki!
Gia sou, Spyro, with your bouzouki, gia sou!*

I will stop rhyming for a second
To urge you with serious
To go and purchase this album with its super interesting booklet.

You won’t regret

The last song is a bonus track
Sent to me by a dear friend
Of someone we talked about a while back

Mohamed Lamouri

We talked about him playing
In Paris’ subway
And a friend hearing him

On his way to school, as a kid, everyday

This very friend saw him again
And had the reflex
Of recording a piece

Of music in context

This is it for today
I hope you enjoyed
The music, the rhymes the playlist

Check out time remains 10h30
The receptionist

*Marika Politissa - All Parts Dark. Released by Olvido Records and Mississippi Records in 2020
OLV-009 / MRI-124. English Translations by Tony Klein

Playlist:

1. Joshua Redman - Mantra #5
2. Alabaster Deplume - Going Away/The Lucky Ones
3. Camarão - Camarão No Oriente
4. Cachupa Psicadelica - Ca Mistid Mentira
5. Ariel Pink - Life In La
6. Jeff Parker - Fusion Swirl
7. dahaW ⅃ꓘ - 1st is 0
8. Aşık Veysel - Sazım
9. Marika Politissa - Den me toumbaris
10. Mohamed Lamouri - Subway Recording

Sunday at Bob's #39 - Twenty Twenty

Hello everybody and welcome back
Before anything, happy new year
May this one be better
May it provide for what the last one lacked

As we close another cycle
We ask the next one to bring us plenty
Plenty of tools to figure out whatever happened
In twenty twenty

So you see, we are back with poetry

At least rhymes
We do it gladly
Or we try
To pass the time

Anyhow
Let us begin
Open your eyes
Turn off your phones

Sit back now
Breath out, breath in
Then close your eyes
I’m just kidding

Here is the playlist

You should know our first guest
In here he flies first class
He sure is amongst the best
It is Majid Bekkas
With his Magic Spirit Quartet

They do us the honour
With a classic from the Gnaouas
We did hear once here before
Played by Maalem Mahmoud Guinia
Bania

With Majid, there is a twist

We are used to his jazz collaborations
We know them well
Regardless
It is always with the same fascination
That we press play
That we play press

Then comes a band
Whose beautiful story
I told times and times again
At the reception

Elia y Elizabeth

It was a succesful band
But very briefly
Between 1972 and 1973
Intense in passion

The band came to an end
Alledgedly
As I understand
For them to pursue their studies

A lesson

We go on with Sharpshooters
Discovered while watching The Wire
Still haven’t recovered
From such fire fired

Their album reminds of a song
Written by Claude MC
Talking about the fusion
That gave birth to such beauty

That is rap

Si le Jazz excèle
Le rap en est l’étincelle
Qui flambe les modes, qui sont toujours
À temps partiel

We enter the blurry zone
Of today’s playlist
Magic monsters and furry bones
In a foggy mist

That is how I see Blake Leyh’s Dreadfish

I have no clue what it refers to
It’s like a reggae song that never begins
Like a hairy snake that never ends
With no head and to tail too

On its back we travel
For around eight minutes
Towards the next musical panel
That nothing could disrupt

They are more than two tousands and I only see these two

The rain merged them, it seems
One another
While one of the best rappers
Reminds us that even the deads once were toddlers

What a gem
A few drops suffice
Of Lino’s rhymes
And we are twenty again

J’ai fait un cauchemar j’ai dû rêver que j’avais du taf

Is what you could hear if you could
dig the underground of a painting
Under the ground under the building
Under the castle of the King

Hence its follower
A song from Le Roi et L’oiseau
Mellow rêveur but bitter
Mains vers le bas, yeux vers le haut

Walking in circles

In his hand a flower
In his mind a struggle
In her arms a mumble
On their heads a bird

On the bird a castle
One tousand and one rumors
As many are possible
Sang beautifully by Peggy Seeger

What a timber!

In one the the first posts here
I said about Bill Withers
His voice is like honey to the ears
And so is hers

A very good friend of mine
Introduced me to Vincent Dumestre
And not a day goes by
Without my being thankful

It is beautiful

Though a vast repertoire
Brings joy at first
Excitement then, then désespoir
The opposite of unsatisfied thirst

How long will it take
To listen to it all? To have a complete view?
But you can’t have your cake
And it eat too

And that’s the truth

The last bit of our journey is folk
And like some folk that be
It has its own mouth to talk
Mine is not necessary

But please, before closing
Look up the story
Of The Shoals of Herring
You might even find a old show by the BBC

About it

Another cycle is closed
Time to release the tension
Time to sort out the last details
And close the reception

Not indefinitely
I will see you again for another playlist
Check out time is still 10h30
The receptionist

Playlist:

1. Majid Bekkas - Bania
2. Elia y Elizabeth - Alegría
3. Sharpshooters - Hot Buttered Rum
4. Blake Leyh - Dreadfish
5. Jeff Beal - Distance Myself
6. Ärsenik/J.P. - Dans ma ruche
7. Stanislaw Wislocki/L'orchestre symphonique de la radio et de la télévision polonaise - La bergère et le ramoneur
8. Peggy Seeger - When I Was Single
9. Vincent Dumestre/Le Poème Harmonique - Passacalle, La Folie
10. Blaze Foley - Election Day
11. Tom Rush - Urge For Going
12. Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger - The Shoals of Herring

Sunday at Bob's #38 - A selection of Estonian folk music (by Johan Haldna)

 

A selection of Estonian folk music. We’re starting off with some choir music, the first three tracks, which every Estonian will tell you is a crucial part of our (folk) culture. We have these really big song festivals every 5 years, in 2019 there were all together 30 000 singers from different choirs, and I’d say that the root of this tradition is both in Protestant religious music and more common, almost quotidian, folk songs.

Mu süda ärka üles is a Christian choral song in Estonian and by an Estonian composer which is now quite well-known in Estonia. I bring this origin out because it marks an important change, Kreek composed at a time (late 19^th century) when church texts and songs were increasingly translated into Estonian (although under Russian rule, Estonia was mostly Protestant at the time). The change here is that Kreek used an Estonian text to begin with. For me this marks a certain religiousness inherent in Estonian folk music, a sense of holiness if you will, which nevertheless didn’t make Estonia more Christian (even now we are one of the most atheist countries in Europe).

Muusika is much more recent (2008) and is also sung at these big song festivals that I mentioned. Hearing it there is really something, with all the people singing.

Then we have Kust tunnen oma kodu which is more of a mix of choral and folk, here you can hear the emblematic regilaul, where a lead singer sings a line which is repeated by the choir or audience. Nevertheless it is an arranged piece, a kind of choir piece that makes use of a folk form and folk text.

Ты святая Варвара is in Russian and I’m pretty sure the band is from Smolensk, Russia as well. I think it’s a beautiful song, almost like a dirge, and in my eyes there is this kind of specific sadness in it that belongs to Russian Orthodoxy. Not that I could describe it or pin it down to anything.

Then we have Ehted kadunud which is a kind of contemporary interpretation of a folk text. The singer tells a story of going down to the creek or spring to wash herself, she takes off her necklace and ring and other valuables, but then a goose and sparrow come and take her things away. The girl runs back home crying and her mother says not to worry, that once a merchant comes by, she will get a new ring and neklace and all. A very undramatic story I’d say. But I think this is what I meant that folk songs are almost quotidian.

Une meeles is similar to the previous one, also a contemporary interpretation of a folk text. This time the text is a lullaby. Maarja Nuut is perhaps also the most well-known contemporary artist working with folk music in Estonia, I really recommend her whole album Muunduja.

Next up we have the band Collage, a gem from Soviet times. I really have no idea why they were allowed to do their thing in the 60s and 70s when all art had to be strictly social realism. Nevertheless I’m grateful they were. Collage started off as a school project between students in the Conservatorium in Tallinn (now the Estonian Music and Theatre Academy). In the beginning they did kind of modern interpretations of Bach and some other baroque music, that changed in the late 60s when Aarne Vahuri became the leader of the band, then they turned to folk texts, and these arrangements are the ones I put in the mix. Really unique stuff. Apparently also very difficult techincally, but I don’t know much about that.

Now we have Puuluup, which isn’t really connected to traditional folk music that much, but there is some kind of folkish feel to it still. The fact that the band is just two weird guys playing weird instruments I think relfects this freedom in folk music to do whatever you want, also to sing about whatever you want.

Between them Valgõ jänes by Zetod, a funky folk arrangement. The song is in Seto, a dialect in Southern Estonia that has a strong independent cultural identity which is also reflected in the band name.

Then we have a Japanese/Estonian collaboration. Pastacas is one half of Puuluup and Tenniscoats is a Japanese duo.

Kiigel kartlik by Duo Ruut. This is some really new stuff, and mostly I put this song here because Duo Ruut is something to keep an eye on. The duo is really young (both of them are 20 I think) and they’re putting up such great stuff already.

Next up Legendaarne lend by Maria Peterson & Eva Eensaar. This is something that my mom used to listen to when I was young, and it only came back to me a couple months ago. They only ever let out 1 album of which half the tracks aren’t uploaded anywhere. I’ll try to rip the CD that my mom has when I go back there, maybe I can do the world a favor.

Then we have Muuseas by Vaiko Eplik and Andres Ehin. Spoken word, the poem is by Ehin and read by him. I guess Eplik made the instrumental, otherwise he mostly makes indie music, some good stuff too.

And the big guy for the end. Arvo Pärt. Really a towering figure over all Estonian music. His music isn’t really folk but I just had to put in something from him. The guy is a saint, turned 85 this year, even the Dutch classical radio had a special on him. Pärt: The world suffers because everyone wants to change it. Changing the world is agression.

 

Playlist:

1. Cyrillus Kreek - Mu süda ärka üles (Eesti filharmoonia kammerkoor)

2. Pärt Uusberg - Muusika (Head Ööd, Vend)

3. Veljo Tormis - Kust tunnen kodu (ETV tütarlastekoor)

4. Ансамбль "Лик" - Ты святая Варвара (russian)

5. Unejogi - Ehted kadunud

6. Maarja Nuut - Une meeles

7. Collage - Kutse õitsile

8. Collage - Kadriko

9. Collage - Suur tamm

10. Puuluup - Puhja tuulik

11. Zetod - Valgõ jänes

12. Puuluup - Heinakõrs

13. Pastacas & Tenniscoats - Pihlaja (japanese/estonian)

14. Duo Ruut - Kiigel Kartlik

15. Maria Peterson, Eva Eensaar - Legendaarne lend

16. Vaiko Eplik, Andres Ehin - Muuseas

17. Arvo Pärt - Summa for strings

 

Sunday at Bob's #37 - Out of Rhymes

Hello dear poetry afficionados, I hope you are well as we enter another winter. I hope you are comfortably sitting and ready for another episode, for another Sunday at Bob’s. I will begin by saying that I noticed our ratings sky-rocketing since I started rhyming, and I am amazed. I don’t know if poetry has anything to do with it or if it is a simple coincidence, but since the challenge spiced up my bi-weekly sit down with myself and you, I think I will go on with this format as often as I can. Blogspot also allows me to see our audience is expanding geographically and I warmly salute everyone listening from Czech Republic and our new friends from Massilia, as well as everyone in Italy, the US, Belgium, Austria, hoping you guys are not just people I already knew with new VPN’s.

As you noticed by now, today’s post won’t be rhyming but should be interesting nonetheless. We have beautiful things this week. So let’s not waste time.

We begin with the great Ornella Vanoni, mostly known (based on YouTube views count) for her song L’appuntamento (the rendez-vous?) which appeared as opening title for the 2004 movie Ocean’s Twelve. And that’s how I know about it, I won’t lie. Oh! I would have been delighted if that encounter had taken place in a village celebration (like the frog festival not far from Montegiovi in Tuscany, I have the T-Shirt and it’s not for sell, no need to bid) or in a rusty vinyl shop of an even rustier city. But well, the encounter was made a boring evening with an even more boring bag of chips watching Mr. Clooney and Mr. Pitt rob some casinos. At least I met Ornella didn’t I?

I don’t remember how Rosa Zaragoza ended up on my computer and I should probably let you know right now it is the case of most musicians in today’s playlist. It has been a few months now that I lost those precious 16 hours a week with nothing else to do but look for music. What I do now is that when I enter my atelier, I press play on the first radio show that pops up (amongst the ones I bookmarked) and let it flow for as long as I work. I write down what sticks out and try to explore it when I have a bit of time and internet at my disposal (which is still rather rare). Why I am telling you this is because I realized it changed completely my way of approaching music. When I used to make playlists attempting to draw links between two cultures or different periods of time, I now zoom in by default and look almost only at individuals. Rosa Zaragoza is one of them. The fact I read less about what I listen to makes the act of listening quite different. And I hadn’t expected that because, when it comes to painting and my approach towards the medium I always thought it was supposed to be able to stand without words. Not that words are useless but they are something else than painting. The same way music is something else than painting. It could be interesting to talk about a painting in music, to play about a painting, but the painting shouldn’t need it in order to be understood, or appreciated. Shouldn’t it?

It is a very complex topic but crucial in my opinion. And yes or no cannot be valid answers. I have started to follow Medieval Art history classes as a listener at University precisely because I wanted to know what was behind the extraordinarily painted wooden pannels at the ground floor of the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam. They appeared as having their own vocabulary, they look like books written with images, like songs played with paint, and I obviously lacked knowledge of that language. So you see, I can no longer stand behind the statement saying that paintings don’t need words to stand, but I cannot either state the opposite, can I?

Sorry Rosa, you were singing.

I reckon Latcho Drom is a film, I haven’t watched it yet, I just have the soundtrack on me and listen to it once in a while. It has that Django Rheinardt vibe which is always welcome in the studio. I read once the story of the film and I am ashamed to present you the music before having watched it. I might come back to it once I have.

N’golas Ritmos’ Muxima I have stumbled upon in a beautiful compilation of Créoles songs (Odyssée - Voyager autrement en musique). I think I purchased it out of curiosity, because it was one of the only records I found featuring the great Euphene Cooper, who we had the pleasure of hearing last time. There is something intimate about the way it was recorded, but also a sniper precision in the melody, as to hit precisely where it kills. You know, when an artist is so good they make it look easy, they carelessly execute the exact movement needed, while displaying calm on the verge of indifference at the same time as full control over their medium?

The AMAN Folk Ensemble is an old companion now. I have one album I cherish. It is the kind of album I don’t think I was ever able to play in its entirety when I worked at the reception, there would always be someone requesting, demanding in fact, that I change for something more conventional. I don’t think I have to expand too much on this music that is in the lines of music we heard here many times without never, I hope, get tired of.

We go on with the end song of the famous Greek TV show Eisai to tairi mou (you are my soulmate), Giannis Poulopoulos’ Aftoi Pou Menoun Ki Aftoi Pou Fevgoun (those who stay and those who leave). I almost shed a tear at the end of this episode. I guess I am a bit biased to be talking about it. I wonder how it sounds to someone who hasn’t watched the show. I think I would like it regardless.

Then we have a song I am puzzled by. It really pulls some child strings, and I wonder if it isn’t a child’s song. It very well might be. If Spanish was my mother tongue I wonder if I would enjoy it the same way I do now. I remember when I was a kid I had an album of Thelonious Monk and the only song I enjoyed was a song for kids (I don’t remember the name, most likely something like 1,2,3 or a,b,c). A few years back, I wanted to know more about jazz and so the first door I thought of opening was that one. I remembered how much I loved that song. So I gave it a shot and I must say it was the only song of the album I couldn’t stand. I found it very silly. Now when I listen to Eliseo Parra singing it reminds me that, everytime I run head down towards the mystic, the unexplainable, the uncounscious, there is always the silly awaiting in a corner to jump me and I am not always able to recognize this bastard.

Antoine Tomé, what an interesting discovery! Often I wonder why musicians of my generation tend to go for English as a singing/writing language. Besides the obvious fact that it expands considerably the audience, at least when it comes to writing, I think there is the fear of hearing one’s own voice. I am speculating here, although I did have this discussion many times. When someone sings in their mothertongue, there are no hiding places, all the flaws can be heard by that person, because it is a language they are completely familiar with. It is like talking. No one enjoys, at least the first time, to hear their voice on tape. Well I think that the use of English can be a shortcut towards satisfaction. Sometimes I hear grammar mistakes in the lyrics, but it doesn’t matter, or it matters less somehow. Often I have been told by musicians that they don’t consider themselves good writers and that writing in English simply made the task easier, the music in a way mattered most. But if it is easier, can it be because for a non-English-as-mothertongue speaker, the flaws are less visible? Anyway, another big topic but the reason I bring it up is because I feel like Antoine Tomé’s music is exactly what French speaking people are scared of sounding like if they would sing in French. And I must say, the first time I heard it I did find it a wee bit silly, but this feeling was quickly overcome. What an interesting discovery! I picked the song you are listening to because there is something Maître Gims-esque about it that I find amusing to analyse. As if French rap brought back confidence into the French language. After all Mc Solaar, Ekoué and others have probably been the best ambassadors of this language in the past thirty years. Imagine Maitre Gims singing À La Recherche De Ton Corps. Please do it.

It was some months back that I wrote a bit about music from Brittany. I didn’t mention Lina Bellard, I chose to keep her in my treasure safe a bit longer. Her music has this sort of timeless feeling I tried to express in poetry two weeks ago. She is probably one of the discoveries of the past years I cherish the most, and as such I am not sure I can write about her for very long. Maybe her music stands on its own, maybe it doesn’t need words. But if you happen to listen to her whole album you will hear that it does involve words. In a fascinating way.

We continue with A Grand Conversation on Napoleon. I am not gonna lie, I had put this song in my playlist folder mostly for its title, very cool title. But then I listened to it over and over and, eventhough I understand maybe ten percent of the lyrics, I very much enjoy it. I reckon it is about one of Napoleon’s adventures but what I find interesting is not so much the topic. It is the fact that it sounds to me like another kind of newspaper. I picture this being sung in a bar or on a village square as a way to bring the latest news. And if you have been following this blog for a while you know how intrigued I am by the different purposes music -art- can have. You also know how fascinated I am by the non-written traditions, heritages (for lack of better words) like the one of the Gnaouas or of the music from Epirus which I talked about a couple of times. The way to pass on a message without, or before the book. It can be through architecture, like Victor Hugo argues in his book Notre-Dame de Paris. It can be through music, through symbols or through paintings like in Epirus or in Lascaux. I guess the common aspect these allow is the share of instinct, the share of unexplained or explained differently, a certain fluidity the written language does not necessarily allow, or must do without.

I have to link these considerations to the objects left to us by the Celts starting the fifth century before Christ. Although they were in economic and political contact with Ancient Greece, they left no text. No text. How should we approach these object? How can we? Like we approach intrumental music? I don’t know but we are touching something very exciting.

When I pressed play on the latest release by Roots Magic, I immediatly recognized the Frankiphone Blues, one of my first loves in jazz land. We listened to it being played by Philip Cohran and The Artistic Heritage Ensemble here in one of the firsts posts on the blog. I thought I had to put it in this week! But then I thought why not go with another one? And so we have the great Devil Got My Woman, and we have nostalgia.

Another old companion is the very cool Portico Quartet. We missed you guys. I love the drums on that song. And we end with a very surprising album by the band N.K.E which I found litteraly no information about. Very chill album though.

That’s it for this week, I hope you had fun!

Dont forget to check out BEFORE 10h30!

The receptionist

 Playlist:

1. Ornella Vanoni - Quale Donna Vuoi Da Me
2. Rosa Zaragoza - Canción a Mi Muerte
3. Latcho Drom - Manoir de mes rêves
4. N’gola Ritmos - Muxima
5. AMAN Folk Ensemble - Kuperlika
6. Giannis Poulopoulos - Aftoi Pou Menoun Ki Aftoi Pou Fevgoun
7. Eliseo Parra - Nana del Roble
8. Antoine Tomé - À La Recherche De Ton Corps
9. Lina Bellard - Roshan (Roshan Rossi)
10. Tom Costello - A Grand Conversation on Napoleon
11.  Roots Magic - Devil Got My Woman
12. Portico Quartet - Paper Scissors Stone
13.  N.K.E - Raining Somewhere Else
 

Sunday at Bob's #36 - Evening Ode To The Night

Hello and welcome again
For yet another episode
For yet another hour
Of pleasure in music
Empty your head, empty your brain 

 

Let us begin
This evening ode
To the hours of full power
Half of the day, half of the week
Half of life, we imagine

We lose our chains at night
And witness explode
What was kept under cover
As long as the sun metallic
Had us on sight

So today, and just for you
We have a selection of songs that showed
Interest to be listened to in the obscure
Tender, enigmatic
Mystic night, with no light in dark blue

Here we go

Jordi Savall introduces us to the noble
Sound of Sephardic folk
Timeless treasure
For which I translated the lyrics
With the help of Google:

Sleep, sleep beautiful maiden
Sleep, sleep without craving and pain
It is your slave that you want so much
See you in a dream with great love.

Feel, my joy, to the sound of my guitar
Feel, angel, my ills on my face
Worth a little to look me in the face
If you don't look at me, you're going to kill me.

There are three years that my soul suffers
For you jewel my pretty lady
I don't sleep or night or day
Those who suffer from Anguisia the Guiya

We then travel all the way to Turkey

To enter the room, tiptoed

Observe wonderful creatures

Shadows cast on the wall's bricks

Let ourselves carried by the musique Soufie

The sound of a coin brings us back

People sang like wolfs howled

A bowl in the hand, a hand in the pocket, what a strange posture

Round metal on round ceramic

Round dance for one minute to the next track

Get off my ladder, don't make me shadow

Sing from Colombia, whose voices unload

Preserved secrets, untouched flowers

Tales of the Pacific

The Grupo Canalón de Timbiquí lets grow

 

For the second time here

The soft sound borrowed

To Zanmari Baré by our speakers

Enlighten our bi-weekly musical picnic

Maloya, it is always a thrill to hear

We enter night's exciting part and

For that we get on the road

To Liberia, to Kenya and their beautiful guitar players

Percussions, guitar and sticks

Is all they need to leave us us enchanted

Williamu Osale, Euphene Cooper, Grebo,

An Ashanti group and now Bounaly have us bestowed

Their sound so intimate it's like we're there

Hidden when they play we sneak a peak

And try not to forget before we go

The songs that link now and then

Metá Metá from a branch of river Amazon

With melodies as made from its water

Play the music unique

The songs that links us and them

And then of course jazz

With Max Roach and Mélanie de Biasio in person

For two last songs before it's over

And we return to our pathetic

Or very exciting everyday lifes

I am not gonna lie

Writing this article showed

My limits, I reckon the previous one was better

I reckon the next one will be less cryptic

Because I cant' over-try

At least I hope you enjoy the playlist

I am going back to civilian-mode

I see you in two weeks, sauf erreur

Check out before 10h30, don't be a dick

The receptionist

 

Playlist:

 

1. Jordi Savall - Durme, Hermosa Donzella
2. Nezih Uzel; Kudsi Erguner - Taksim makam ussak, ney, ussak ilâhî
3. Streichmusik Alder - Appenzeller-Zäuerli mit Talerschwingen
4. Canalon de Timbiqui - Quítate de Mi Escalera
5. Zanmari Baré - Lilet zoranze
6. Williamu Osale - Vijana Niwambie
7. Grebo - Kru Song with Guitar
8. Euphene Cooper - All For You
9. Ashanti Group - Ashanti: Percussion, Sticks, Guitar
10. Bounaly - Soko
11. Metá Metá - Man Feriman
12. Max Roach - The Drum Also Waltzes
13. Melanie de Biasio - Sweet Darling Pain