It's cool man

The Swiss musician Peter Steiner was acting in TV commercials for chocolate with mint filling in the 90's, becoming known as "Cool Man". The song "It's cool man" was released as a single in 1995. As I am staying close to the Alps these days, it seemed fitting to post some local traditional music here. Steiner had ten kids and his wife was his manager. His hobby was supposedly to visit cattle shows.
The track is a remix of a commercial by the Macedonian Hip Hop group XXL. The lyrics go "Oh, a city type, you probably think that we're old fashioned up here too. But that's not true. But attention, it's cool, man!".



Happy 2010 everybody!

Helicopter Rain in Bel Air

"Former Ecuadorian president Abdala Bucaram, is not only a tropical right wing politician, but also a rock performer and video artist. In this great song, he mainly talks about life, about helicopters, tortures and all those things that make Latin American politics a matter of life, death, bemusement and a jolly good laughter as Graham Greene used to say. Bucaram has been called "the repulsive other" by political analysts but his art exceeds these limited interpretations. The texture of his voice reminds us Howling Wolf's 'I put a spell on you' and even Louis Armstrong’s 'What a wonderful world'."

Lord Aux Chiottes, PHD in Contemporary Music, Universidad Perimetral, Guayaquil

Brothers and Sisters, Reggea Traduction!

Best Reggea Traduction Française - Vol.1 Audio (Burkina Faso, 2009, CDR)

Yo, frère Jean-Frédéric nous raconte: "c'est un animateur radio sur Ouaga FM (burkina Faso). Je ne sais pas qui a fait le cd. Mais c'est en vente sur les marchés du sud du togo et c'était diffusé dans toutes les buvettes . Le hit (surtout le morceau ou il parle de maman) de la fin de l'été. C'est vendu dans jaquette slim noir avec photocopie couleur/jaquette. Comme presque tous les cd ou dvd sur place. voila pour l'instant."

All Praise to the Lord,
Fabulator


Reggea Traduction - Piste 10

Folklore Maya - Marimba Tecún Umán - Vol. 2

Folklore Maya - Marimba Tecún Umán - Vol. 2 (Dideca, Guatemala, 19??, LP)

Definitely one of my favourite records of the last months. Fragile music played on a very relaxed mood. Sunny, naive and approximate compositions for marimba, flute and drum. Just beautiful and sometimes quite out of tune too... These funny and vibrating sounds always put a smile on my face.

I found this LP in Graz (Austria) last Summer when Buffle played at the Karneval im Land der Cetacean ethnic music festival and I have been addicted to these sounds since then, just playing this record over and over. All tracks seem to have been composed by Arturo Méndez Cifuentes in the Mayan tradition... and I can't tell you much more about it unfortunately as my second hand copy of the record came housed in a wrong cover. For a few months (!) I mistook this masterpiece for a release by Bolivian band Inti-Mujus. Only a few days ago, when ripping the vinyl for this post, I finally noticed that the record didn't match the cover... Hem. I found the right picture above on the internet.

As read on Wikipedia, "Tecún Umán (1500?-February 20, 1524) was the last ruler and king of the K'iche' (Quiché) Maya people, in the highlands of what is now Guatemala. According to the Kaqchikel annals, he was slain by Spanish Conquistador Don Pedro de Alvarado while waging battle against the Spaniards in the grasslands of El Pinal (Valley of Olintepeque) on February 20, 1524. Tecún Umán is considered the most representative of his people for his bravery and dignity because he fought to protect his land and his people. He was declared Guatemala's official national hero on March 22, 1960 and is commemorated on February 20, on the anniversary of his death" (which is also the date of my birthday by the way).

Hope you'll like this one as much as I do.

Break it

Oby Onyioha - Break it (Sunny Alade, Nigeria, 1984, LP)

Get the streets of Music City ready for this Nigerian eighties electro breakdance classic. The title song of this LP (in both vocal and instrumental versions) is a dancefloor killer. "Nwaezelagbo" is absolute sweetness. "Raid dem Jah" is a lazy visionary steel drum synth reggae tune... Produced by King Sunny Ade and released on his own Sunny Alade imprint.

Bubbly, Sensual, Danish.

Time for another post. The Mayor of M-U-S-I-C-C-I-T-Y kindly asked me to dig through layers of awesomeness around my home region and to post some of the most treasured audio expression there is to be found. What I found is amazing. Here is a masterpiece by Danish keyboardist/composer Tommy Seebach - the track is called "Bobble sex" and the title pretty much says it all. Excellent moog disco saused in erotic guitar jabs and horny female moans. YES. Tommy was a highly acclaimed and beloved pop musician among the Danish people who sadly had to let him go to the other side at the end of march 2003.

Extra treat. On the 12" that exists with "Bobble sex" being the B-side this track is A-side: A cheezy take on "Apache" by The Shadows... This one has an amazing music video & a great female choir.

Take it e.a.s.y

Okay, so this song burned itself into my and my friend JM's minds one cold november evening eating out at our local fav thai house. They had this song playing on repeat for the whole 45 something minutes our stay lasted. Both being big fans of thai music it was highly enjoyable.

SA-BAI-SA-BAI translates into "take it easy" or chill/relax.