Ivo PapasovDance of the FalconWorld Village (www.worldvillagemusic.com)
Papasov has a well-deserved seat at the top of the Bulgarian wedding music pantheon. He's a clarinetist of uncanny skill and inventiveness who has inspired legions of young musicians to try to fill his enormous shoes. On this new release, he explores themes of love, marriage, sex, falcons, and panthers. He has legions of musicians backing him up, and though he keeps his swirling, screaming clarinet at the center of it all, one could argue that some of the arrangements are a little too slick to get a good grip on his solos. The overwrought piano and synth on the traditional "Hubava si Moya Goro (Beautiful Forest)" ooze over into smooth jazz indulgence. Likewise the over-orchestrated "Sunrise," where the sweeping strings nearly overpower the clarinet. The breathtaking solo intro to the traditional "Prayer from the Mountains Daglar" gets run over by a truck of dense orchestration. His manic take on Henry Mancini's "Pink Panther," however, is inspired lunacy. "Echoes of Rumelia" is a driving men's wedding dance with a restless rhythm pushed along by the popping percussion. The title track has a triumphant, muscular energy to it. The music here is at its best when Papasov keeps the arrangements gritty and close to the ground. - Peggy Latkovich
CD available from cdRoots
Tinarawen: Live in London
TinariwenLive in London (DVD)
Buy the CDTouareg desert rockers Tinariwen release their first Live DVD, featuring 12 songs filmed at the Shepherds Bush Empire, London, December 2007. The sound track has been mixed and supervised by Justin Adams. Some of the Saharan guitar rebels' most popular songs appear on the DVD, including "Chet Boghassa", "Cler Achel", "Amassakoul 'n' Tenere" and "Matadjem Yinmixan". The DVD alsohas extras including an intimate 50 minute campfire interview with the band's founder, Ibrahim, tips on how to tie a "Shesh" (toureg turban) as well as a mini documentary on Tinariwen and more.
Guitars and Guns: Les Amazones de Guinee Return!
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Chango Spasiuk - Pynandí (Los Descalzos)
Chango Spasiuk -
Pynandí (Los Descalzos)Argentinean accordion virtuoso and composer’s 2009 release is
Pynandí -- Los Descalzos (Barefoot, from an indigenous Guaraní word, referring to the rural poor) Like American blues, Portuguese fado and Argentina’s own tango, the sunny, lilting chamamé was at one time considered too lower-class to be of interest to educated listeners. This recordin is a love letter to the land of Spasiuk’s birth, capturing the red earth, blinding heat, rough good humor and warm fellowship of laborers heading out for an evening’s fun. But while cheerful on the surface, it also harbors edgy moments of dissonance. Suite Nordeste opens with an accordion astride a staggering percussion motif. Guitars, fiddle and other instruments fight to create luchness and roughness, always seeking a contradiction of some kind. Spasiuk engenders the best of the tradition, then tosses it into his own unique mix.
Buy it hereLabels: tango argentina new release cdroots rootsworld
