Alfredo Zitarrosa - Adagio en mi país

Sometimes to find a county's best work you have to travel in time,
not space. Such is the case with Uruguay, IMHO. Alfredo Zitarrosa is
something of a Uruguayan national treasure, with loyal fans all over
Latin America, but I'd never know that if I hadn't stumbled across him
after a fortuitous riffle through dozens of modern Uruguayan 'remixes'
and pseudo-hiphop and generic pop best described as EDM boom-boom-boom
with random lyrics slathered on for effect. Zitarrosa is a champion of
the common man, and his themes reflect that...

Os Gambuzinos Kaluma

Wow! Who knew that Angola (Angola!) had some of the trippiest music in the world c.1972? Os Gambuzinos or Os Mutantes? This was still Overseas Portugal at the time, of course, so maybe this was where European hippies went to get all freaky--or not. It stands in stark contrast to what is now a pretty grim music scene, variations on sex and rap and all that crap, full-on female ass-end crotch shots, macho male posturing, and soft-core porn posing as pop music. Oh well, at least it livens up the slum scenes, keeping the kids happy. Still, all in all, I prefer the 70's. Eu sou desta geracao!

'Floating Weeds' by Yasujiro Ozu, the Shakespeare of Film...

I feel that it's very important to review a film in a timely fashion upon its release, so as to add whatever two cents might be necessary or desirable to influence the narrative. So, considering that 'Floating Weeds' was released in 1959, I figured it was about time to rush out this review so as not to nudge up too close to my self-imposed hundred-year deadline. No problem: time to spare...

'Bird in the hand', 'two's company', 'pride goeth before a fall', 'like father like son', 'apple didn't fall far', 'honesty is the best—you get the idea. Call them cliché if you want. Or call them the classic themes of literature—and film: truth, goodness beauty, love, jealousy, pride, revenge, so on and so forth. No one called them cliches when Shakespeare articulated them brilliantly, and all he had were words.  Now imagine Shakespeare in chiaroscuro...

Feruza Jumaniyozova - Alla

With Uzbek music, the first challenge is to get the Russian out, in order to find what is really Uzbek. That's not so easy as it might seem at first, since Uzbek girls are cute, too (and almost everyone has Russian surnames)! But, in fact, the Russian language is not used much in the local music, though Russian-style pop music is a very popular genre, replete with longing looks, fabulous coifs and sad good-byes. But is it Uzbek? Then there are the old-fashioned 'classics', with their minor keys, clarinets and dirges. It's all good. When I was there, I listened to the radio by day, and hung out at weddings by night.  But I like Feruza the best I think, she from Khorezmia, with ample Arab influence, video here with slices of Uzbek life. Compare to MGMT's 'Kids'...

Kenge per Laver Bariun-Vaske Curri

As the world homogenizes and pasteurizes itself into tasteless pap, Albania is like most other countries in their production of modern pop: 1) hire models, 2) select genre on random BS song generator, 3) press 'play' and danceable BS will be produced computer-like predictable and aggressive, OR: you can go to the old-timers, who still know how to play their instruments, and still have something to say, not just shamelessly ape the Western models who rule the world. These two blokes seem to define a previous generation and have survived the most paranoid Communist rule ever, which, if nothing else, always manages at least to (altogether now): STOP THE CLOCK!  Sometimes that's good...

White Noise - Là Con Gái Thật Tuyệt (Being a Girl is Great) [MV]

Jeez, I've never searched a country so long and so hard to find a song, any song, that I like in my life. Other countries in Asia are much more attuned to the subtle nuances of rock, pop and folk than Vietnam, where rock means metal, pop means saccharine schlock or pseudo-hiphop, and folk means the rather strait-laced stylings of traditional classical flute-string-and-drum bands. Then I found this lady, something like the Viet Joan Jett, if all goes well, and all in due time...  Rock out!

Algerian song- Faudel, Rachid, Cheb Khaled "Abdel Kader"

Algerian music is a reflection of Algeria itself: neither the syrupy strings of the conquering Arabs or the jangly guitars of the nomadic Tuaregs, Algeria is all about the Berbers--Amazigh, Kabyle, etc. But the best music has long been 'rai', even if you have to go to Marseilles to see it. Cheb Khaled may not be so 'cheb' any more--more like 'sheikh'--but he's still the king of rai music.  Enjoy...

Vanessa Quai - Galala kece sara

I'll have to admit that finding the musical heart of Vanuatu was no easy task. Is reggae somehow a universal island thing, or maybe even a Third World thing? It seems that way, exported and adopted world wide, long before all that 'urban rap' gained currency. Fact is that the Caribbean and South Pacific are very different places. Aside from that, 'string bands' seem most popular here, though not exactly what you might expect, i.e. guitars, etc. Fusion music is only appropriate for such a fusion culture, I suppose, something like Papuans having adopted Polynesian ways in varying degrees. Vanessa Quai herself on other songs seems like a Melanesian Whitney Houston, pre-fall, complete with churchly reverence. Check it out...

ANONYMOUS - Verano Feliz

I don't often go for Eurovision contestants, but when you're looking for music in a tiny country of 80K, like Andorra, then you have to take what you can get, and this ain't bad--perky and punky.  Of course, as Catalan speakers, they're connected to the larger Barcelona-based culture outside, even to the point of singing in Spanish, or even English, just to make their point... which is: rock-and-roll, I think, as best described...

Canto del Pilon - Maria Marquez and Frank Harris

Venezuela has a lot of good music, in all genres, including 'llanero' (country), pop and EDM.  But what I liked best was this song, a tribute to their sketchy past, but with a very Andean feel, not typically Venezuelan on first listen.  There are many renditions and remixes, but I think this is close to the original...