Around the World Preview
Week beginning 9 December 2023
Last Week
NEW: You can hear all of last week’s show on Mixcloud.
You can listen to all of the music from last week’s show without the talking between the songs on both iTunes and Spotify on the blog. See the running order of all the songs played there, too.
Hello Costa Blanca!
Around the World has arrived on Spanish radio station BR2 Pure Gold Radio. You can hear the show every Monday at 10pm local time (22:00 CET 9:00 pm GMT). BR2 Pure Gold Radio is on 94.1 FM in Costa Blanca North and 102.4 FM in Costa Blanca South, and on mobile app Big Radio Spain, available for android and iOS. Thanks for carrying the show.
This week
Music from: Algeria, Brazil, Canada, Congo, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, Madagascar, Quebec, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain Sweden, Tunisia, and Wales,
Music by: Abby V, Ricky Kej & Jonita Gandhi, Akamatsu (feat. Suzanne Fischer & Jono Heyes), Aleph Quintet, Aragehonzi, Balimaya Project, Bixiga 70, Bosco Rakoto, Fränder, Genticorum, Koum Tara, Las Lloronas, Lenhart Tapes, Les Mamans du Congo & RRobin, Maha, Miriam Makeba, Musa Keys, Napfonat ,Nina Virant, OKAN, Ramy Essam, Scritti Politti, Silent Witness, Souad Massi, The Mary Wallopers, Tone Of Voice Orchestra with Trinelise Væring & Maria Kynne, and Voodoo Drummer.
This Week’s Featured Album: Metgharabiin (Outsiders) by Ramy Essam
The best video to represent the album featured on Around the World this week was on last week’s preview. There are only three videos on YouTube represneting songs from the album. Here’s the title track (not a lot going on here …).
Ramy Essam – Metgharabiin (Outsiders) Iرامي عصام – متغربين
Although Ramy Essam is an Egyptian musician, the album was recorded and mixed at Casten Studios, Stockholm because since, late 2014, Ramy has been living in Finland and Sweden. He was forced to leave Egypt following the 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January Revolution. The singer had been a powerful voice of youth and of change having performed in front of millions of people in the Tahrir Square. “His song Irhal, in which then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was urged to resign, gained popularity among the demonstrators. It became internationally known through YouTube. It has been referred to as the anthem of the revolution. In 2011, it was selected by Time Out as the third-most world-changing song of all time. His songs were banned in Egypt and he was unable to perform public shows.[*] Since 2014 he has been living and working in Finland and Sweden.
Ramy’s music is rock with Egyptian flavor and hiphop influences, inspired by hard rock and grunge. He sings in both Egyptian Arabic and English [*].
Ramy Essam says of his new album,
Metgharabiin is a tribute to all those who have been forced to leave their homes and live in exile, and to those who feel like an outsider. The album is a reflection of the emotions and experiences of those who have been separated from their loved ones, and the struggles they face on a daily basis. I hope this album will bring comfort to those who are going through tough times, and help them find solace in my music.
アラゲホンジ「でたらめ神楽」(Aragehonji “Datarame Kagura”)
Around the World is a show where (I hope) you will hear music that you are unlikely to hear anywhere else. “How do you find the music you play?” I’m sometimes asked. Well, there are a few reliable sources. I’m a member of the World Music Charts Europe jury with some very senior radio producers and presenters throughout Europe (check out the list) Through that I have access to new releases. I have been reading Songlines magazine for years, of course. So the older editions of the magazine are as valuable as the new. I love their reviews (lists) and the free CD of new music.
There’s lots of general research, of course. And sometimes just chance and luck. That’s how I found Aragehonji - just wild and mad and uplifting! There’s more information about them here on Sora News.
One of my friends on Facebook is Bosco Rakoto. He sends me music from time to time and I find it really refreshing to hear the unfiltered music of Madagascar where Bosco lives. I’ll be playing May Ny Zavaboahary. I can’t embed the Facebook videos on Substack so why not just hop over here to Facebook and take a look.And don’t forget to listen to the show.
Bosco is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and singer song-writer, singing in Sihanaka and Malagasy languages. He is the singer in many well known Madagascar traditional and contemporary bands, including Rajery and Tarika Sammy, tours to mainland Africa and Europe regularly.
You can read and see more on Small Island Big Song.
And to finish off this week - an album I may well feature in the New Year is Vapor by Bixiga 70, I’ll be playing Baile Flutuante.
Bixiga 70, the ten-piece horn driven instrumental group from São Paulo, have in the last ten years firmly established themselves as one of the most acclaimed and influential exponents of contemporary Afro-Brazilian sounds. Over the course of four thrilling albums (see discography below) and heavy touring throughout the world, the band’s reputation is now undeniable. The extent of their reputation can be measured not only in the loyal audience that they have gathered, but also by the fact that the band members are much in demand collaborators and have appeared on a plethora of records, including recent ones by Brazilian legends Elza Soares and João Donato.
To celebrate the band’s 10th anniversary Bixiga 70 and Glitterbeat Records have come together to reissue their self-titled debut album, first released in 2011 on their own São Paulo based Traquitana label. The reissue will be LP only and is specially mastered for vinyl and lovingly packaged in a gatefold sleeve.
There are no recent videos of Bixiga 70, so here’s something great from 2019.
Bixiga 70 - Festival Bananda 2019
There’s always more
You can listen as the programme is broadcast or streamed on the radio stations below. You can catch up next week on Mixcloud and you can find out more at davysims.com
Saturday:
West Coast FM Namibia 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Central Africa Time (2:00 to 4:00 GMT)
World FM 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)
Essential Radio Midnight to 2:00 am GMT (1:00 am CET)
Sunday:
NFRS Osaka Japan: 12:00 noon local time (3:00 am UK time 4:00 am CET)
Bangor FM 107.9 (Radio Garden) 7:00 pm local time (8:00 pm CET)
Slice Audio 10:00 pm local time (11:00 pm CET)
Ferry FM 10:00 pm local time (11:00 pm CET)
Radio Larne 10:00 pm local time (11:00 pm CET)
Armagh City Radio 10:00 pm local time (11:00 pm CET)
Monday:
Reverse FM: 00:00 am GMT (01:00 CET)
SparkFlame Radio: 00:00 amGMT (01:00 CET)
Waterwaves Radio: 8:00 pm GMT (21:00 CET)
KNC Radio St Lucia 6:00 am local time (10:00 am GMT 11:00 am CET)
BR2 Pure Gold Radio - Coast Blanca, Spain 10:00 pm local time (CET)
Akaroa World Radio 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)
World FM 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)
Tuesday:
Global Music Radio Wednesday 6:00pm-8:00pm GMT (7:00 pm CET
Lisburn’s 98FM (Radio Garden) 7:00 pm local time GMT (8:00 pm CET)
FM105 Down Community Radio (Radio Garden) 7:00 pm local time GMT (8:00 pm CET)
Wednesday:
World FM 4:00 am local New Zealand Time (5:00 pm Tuesday GMT, 6:00 pm CET)
Slice Audio 4:00 am local time GMT (5:00 am CET)
Global Music Radio: 6:00 pm GMT (7:00 CET)
Radio Skye (Radio Garden) 10:00 pm GMT (11:00 pm CET)
Friday:
Akaroa World Radio 2:00 pm local New Zealand Time (3:00 am GMT 4:00 am CET)