Around the World Preview
Week beginning 19 November 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..
This Week
Music by: Alicia Edelweiss, boygenius, Catrin Finch & Aoife Ní Bhríain, Céu, Deodato Siquir, Gaisha, Koum Tara, La Prenda Roja, Lakou Mizik & Joseph Ray, Lee Fry Music & Carmel Zoum, Les Amazones d'Afrique, Lura & Angélique Kidjo, Malika Zarra, Milhanas, Nickodemus, Northflip, OKAN, Onipa, Pedro Makay, Sangit, Son Rompe Pera, The Clash, Vimma, Xis, and Yungchen Lhamo.
Music from: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Ghana, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Tibet, USA, and Wales
This from Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Congo-Brazzaville.
Les Amazones d'Afrique - Kuma Fo (What They Say) [Official Video]
The all-woman supergroup Les Amazones d'Afrique have released a new single. “Kuma Fo is about women’s freedom of expression.” Bitemo says. “It’s about speaking up — not asking, not waiting for us to be given the floor. We need to seize it.” Says new member Alvie Bitemo, an activist and actress originally from Congo-Brazzaville. The Ivorian artist Dobet Gnahoré has also joined the Les Amazones d'Afrique lineup with Mamani Keïta, Fafa Ruffino and Kandy Guira.
There will be a new album in February next year and a European tour in starting in January.
Featured Album
'Wonder' by Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain
Catrin Finch is known for her collaborations – most notably for the work and three albums, tours and live performances with kora player Seckou Keita. I saw them play at the Okarina Festival many years ago. It was almost transcendental. She has also done some spoken word collaborations with the actors Siân Phillips and Michael Sheen.
She first performed with Aoife Ní Bhríain, the Irish violinist in March 2021 as part of the Other Voices online festival. And that has led to this album of adaptions of music from Wales, Ireland, Britany as well as their own compositions.
Aoife works in both the classical world and her Irish traditional heritage. Born in Dublin, she has established herself as one of the country’s, if not Europe’s leading violinists.
Both went through rigorous classical training and grounded their careers in the classical world. Given her family heritage, it was inevitable that Aoife would also become a master of the Irish tradition.
Catrin would go on to explore music beyond the confines of the classical world. “Audiences just want to come away from a performance having been moved,” says Catrin.
The Double You CD is packaged in a luxurious booklet with notes on the music and photos of the recordings in Irish and Welsh.
As with every featured album, there will be two tracks played in part 1 and two more in part 2.
Alicia Edelweiss - Rest (Official Video)
I saw Alicia Edelweiss at WOMEX 2022. Her performance was one of the most entertaining of the whole event. Alicia is an Austro-British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, artist and witty teller of tall tales and short stories. She began her musical career as a teenage street musician during a two-year bout of hitch-hiking around Europe “before settling in Portugal where she had a fateful encounter with an accordion, which would become her trademark,” according to her official biography. Returning to Vienna, she collaborated with many different musicians, performers and circus artists, before releasing her debut studio album, When I'm Enlightened, Everything Will be Better, in 2019, featuring her with her new chamber pop band of strings, which has led her to numerous festivals across Europe.
She has a new single. It is called Rest.
Yungchen Lhamo - Sound Healing (Official Video)
The Tibetan vocalist Yungchen Lhamo’s album One Drop of Kindness was released on 8th September this year. I’ve played many songs from it and this week Sound Healing.
Her seventh album is a collection of songs, prayers and mantras devoted to spiritual awakening, unconditional love and compassion for all beings,
“I sing to help transform people's minds and make them better human beings,” says the globally renowned Tibetan singer. “We are living in difficult times. But together, bit by bit, we can change the world.”
Recorded in Little Buddha Studio on the forested slopes of California's Sierra Nevada, the recording is flavoured by musicians playing piano, flute, drums and electric guitar to didgeridoo, Indian violin, the Turkish cümbüs-oud and the Armenian duduk-oboe.
boygenius: Not Strong Enough (Live) - SNL
Around the World’s Chief North American Correspondent, Kevin Roberg-Perez, was watching Saturday Night Live last week and he immediately sent a message to me on Facebook. “Davy if you've not yet encountered them please consider them for a US contribution. They come from Tennessee, Virginia and Cali. Something about a three person fronted group reminds me of CSN, minus C's facial hair ... fortunately”
Other Notes
Céu - Chega Mais
I have started the show more than once with Céu ‘s Chega Mai from Um Gosto de Sol. The album was released in November 2021 and is a selection of cover versions. It features songs by Milton Nascimento, João Gilberto, The Beastie Boys, Jimi Hendrix and Fiona Apple. Chega Mai was first recorded in 1979 by Rita Lee. I’m tempted to play both on the show, but in the meantime compare and contrast, as school exams say.
Rita Lee - Chega mais
Rita Lee Jones was a Brazilian rock singer, musician and songwriter. She was also known for being an animal rights activist and a vegan. She sold more than 55 million records worldwide, according to Wikipedia. Born on 31 December 1947. She died earlier this year on 8 May 2023 in São Paulo Brazil.
Vimma
Tornadon silmässä (In the Eye of the Tornado) is the second album from Vimma. They are from Finland and are a bit experimental, a bit rock – even progrock – a bit pop, too, but it’s all grounded in Finnish traditional and folk roots. I don’t speak Finnish – pretty obviously – but I’m told their lyrics are strongly influenced by environmental concerns and if you like the sound they make you are not alone. Several members of the World Music Charts Europe Jury liked it too and it arrived on the chart this month at 24 a a new entry. And it’s on my list to play more of.
Koum Tara
Not so much a band, more a project bringing together 4 types of music. There’s Chaabi, the folk music of north Africa in particular Egypt, Algeria and Morocco. There’s jazz, classical and contemporary music. It is led by French pianist and composer Karim Maurice who is joined on the album Baraaim El-louz by Algerian singer Hamidou and the vocal group La Camerata.
Sangit
Often during the week I put on a new album to play in the background while I get on with something else and occasionally – just occasionally – I stop in my tracks when the music playing catches my ear and my imagination. Like the Ooroo album by Sangit. I’ll be playing Mes Chante featuring Canadian/Malian singer Djely Tapa – one of the many women vocalists on this new. Sangit is the composer and producer. The album is called Ooroo which I’m told is Gold in the West African Bambara dialect, one of the many languages on the album including Portuguese, French, Hebrew, English and Spanish. And Djely Tapa is one of the many vocalists. Also appearing are Ladino singer Yasmin Levy, the leading Brazilian singer Mariene de Castro and Grammy Award Winner Dobet Gnahoré from Cote d’Ivoire.
But there is a whole lot 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
Sunday:
NFRS Osaka Japan: 12:00 noon local time (3:00 am UK time 4:00am 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 (11:00 am GMT 12:00 noon 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)
Saturday:
Essential Radio Midnight to 2:00 am GMT (1:00 am CET)
World FM 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)