Around the World – Week beginning 11 June 2023 - Preview
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Welcome to the family …
Two new radio stations have joined the network They are both in New Zealand and share a passion for serving their communities and listeners far beyond their transmission area.
They are World FM
World FM is … based at Mārahau, in the Tasman region of New Zealand. We broadcast on 88.2 MHz in Mārahau and also operate relay stations in Stoke, a suburb of Nelson, on 107.6 MHz, and in Tawa, a suburb of Wellington (the former home location of the station), on 88.2 MHz.
And Akaroa World Radio
“Akaroa radio broadcasts into the Akaroa Basin area with spill over to the remote back bays. Akaroa Radio also streams onto the internet. We are a community type station and don't make commercial profit.” [Akaroa World Radio]
You can hear the show on Akaroa World Radio every Monday at 22:00 and Friday at 14:00 NZST (outside New Zealand, find your time).
World FM broadcasts Around the World at various times but there is no scheduled slot.
I am expecting KNC Radio in St. Lucia to join soon.
For the majority of us reading the newsletter, Sumer is i-cumin in, although there is a distinct lack of cuckoos where I live. For other readers and our friends in New Zealand, summer 2022/2023 is disappearing into the rearview mirror.
Almost unavoidably, there is a distinctly summer feel to this week’s show. I hope you enjoy the music and whever the weather brings you … and the weather you take with you.
This Week
Music from: Alhama de Murcia, Bosnia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Estonia, Finland, India, Ireland, Italy, Mali, Mexico, Middle East, Nashville, Perú, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Skye, Syria, and Tahiti.
Music by: Albaluna, ÀTTØØXXÁ & Carlinhos Brown, Balamuc, Brighde Chaimbeul, Clément Janinet & Adama Sidibé, Damir Imamovic, Dani Larkin, Danûk, Eddie Lund And His Tahitians, Fatoumata Diawara & Roberto Fonseca, Frigg, Funmilayo Afrobeat Orquestra, Hiram Salsano, Juan Jose Robles, Kuné, Les Sheikhs Shikhats & B'net Chaabi, Mari Kalkun, Orkestra Shkodra, Plena Libre, Rachel Baiman, Roopa Panesar, Son Rompe Pera, Susana Baca, Taraf Syriana, and Vincent Peirani, Vincent Segal, Ballaké Sissoko & Emile Parisien.
Featured Album: Blick Bassy’ s Mádibá.
The direction of Blick Bassy’s music since the release of Léman in 2009 and Hongo (2011) would not have been in the least predictable. The gentle melodies and delivery remain, as do the close harmonies. The transition from acoustic string and percussion instruments to more electronic sounds is the most interesting. Although the electronic and acoustic are employed to support Bassy’s voice, never dominating. The new album, Mádibá, has a strong synth sound throughout, like a very soft brass. There is more than a hint of what’s to come in Akö (2016). This is probably the album that opened up a wider audience for Bassy. His song "Kiki", from Akö, featured as the theme song for the worldwide launch of the iPhone 6 in 2015.
Blick Bassy - Hola Mè (Live session)
It has been three years, almost to the month, since his last album 1958. It was dedicated to the memory of Ruben Um Nyobé whom he considers one of his political heroes and was killed in 1958. The album presents as a comprehensive report of events during the 70 years since the death of Um Nyobé. The track Mpodol is Ruben's nickname and accuses modern Cameroonians of sabotaging their own homeland.
The featured album this week is Mádibá. I’ll be playing four tracks – two in part 1, two in part 2.
[T]welve songs in the form of fables, dedicated to the theme of water, sung in the Basaa language of my native Cameroon […]
‘Hola Mè’ means ‘Help Me’. The song surveys the damage wrought on access to clean, safe water by human interference. I’m also supporting NGO @wewater_org (co-founded by Matt Damon) around the single release, using his platforms to raise awareness of the global water crisis, and the work water.org is doing to provide people with access to safe water and sanitation. (Facebook)
Also on the show
Plena Libre
Porto Rico’s Plena Libre are packing their bags and instruments as they prepare for a world tour to celebrate 30 years of being at the forefront of their homeland’s irrepressible music. To support they have released a new album Cuatro Esquinas (Four Corners). Only four dates are announced so far, but keep an eye open for more.
Here’s a good article about Plena Libre from Toronto’s World Music Report.
Son Rompe Pera: Decibel Studios - The Breakfast Table Sessions
“Cumbia Is The New Punk”, say Son Rompe Pera on their second album Chimborazo. Chimborazo is an inactive volcano in the Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. These Mexican rapscallions were born and raised in the outskirts of Mexico City, and two members, the Gama brothers, continue the marimba music they have inherited from their family. I’ve not seen a punk band with a marimba – until now. And if there is a vote, I’ll support the argument that Cumbia Is The New Punk – but it depends who’s playing. Great band, great album.
Dani Larkin 'The Red (Maca's Return)' Womex 2022
Dani Larkin has released a new 4-song EP Walking With Natives. Dani is based near to where I live, so it’s odd to think the first time I saw her play live was in Lisbon as WOMEX 2022 (see the video above).
Danûk - Morîk (Official Album Trailer)
In the early part of the last century, equipped with a recently invented phonograph machine, travellers visiting Mesopotamia - a region in modern day Iraq - recorded the music they heard and captured it on wax cylinders. More than 100 years later a group of exiled musicians from the Middle East explored libraries in Germany and Austria to find the music. They are Danûk and Morîk is the album they have recorded. It sounds so fresh and vital and after more than a century, the music is available to hear again. The album was produced by Michael League of Snarky Puppy.
Like Nightingales in the Spring - Orkestra Shkodra
This album fell off my radar too early.
When the UK members of the ODA 3 team – Martin Appleby, Peadar Connelly-Davey and myself, Lucy Durán, arrived in Shkodra in November 2021, to record an album, we wanted to be as prepared as we could for the task at hand. We knew about Shkodra, its long and proud history as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of the Balkans, from our Albanian producer, Edit Pula(j) who as with our other Albanian projects, is the person behind the vision and the hard work to preserve and promote the musical cultural treasures from Albania to the world. Other than that, she is half from Shkodra and grew up steeped in the songs of the city that accompany her family’s informal gatherings and celebrations to this today. Our aim – as with the previous album the team recorded in Albania: Tirana 100 – (voted one of ten best albums of 2021 by Songlines, the top world music magazine) was to make the best possible recording of some of Shkodra’s most emblematic songs and musical styles, such as Aheng and Jare, so little known outside the region. We wanted to work with some of the most representative musicians, from across the spectrum of folk and professional artists. We wanted to ensure that some of the oldest surviving bearers of the deep folk tradition would have a chance to be heard and recorded, for posterity, while also including the young and talented voices of the new generation. We brought together these amazing artists and named this ansambel Orkestra Shkodra. [Oda3.al]
Oda 3 Albania is a team of producers from Albania and UK specialized on creating All-stars ensembles, recording their albums live on-location, and promoting Albanian traditional music to the world.
Hear the show on the web and radio
Saturday:
World FM 11:00 am BST / 12:00 noon CET / 10:00 pm NZST
Sunday:
Bangor FM 107.9 (Radio Garden) 7:00 pm BST / 8:00 pm CET / 06:00am NZST (Monday)
Slice Audio 10:00 pm BST / 11:00 pm CET / 09:00 am NZST (Monday)
Ferry FM 10:00 pm BST / 11:00 pm CET / 09:00 am (Monday)
Radio Larne 10:00 pm BST / 11:00 pm CET / 09:00 am (Monday)
Armagh City Radio 10:00 pm BST / 11:00 pm CET / 09:00 am (Monday)
Monday:
Akaroa World Radio 11:00 am BST / 12:00 noon CET / 10:00 pm NZST
World FM 11:00 am BST / 12:00 noon CET / 10:00 pm NZST
U Radio Sri Lanka 3:00 pm BST / 4:00 pm CET / 2:00 am NZST (Tuesday)
Tuesday:
World FM 5:00 pm BST / 6:00 pm CET
Lisburn’s 98FM (Radio Garden) 7:00 pm BST / 8:00 pm CET / 06:00am NZST (Monday)
FM105 Down Community Radio (Radio Garden) 7:00 pm BST / 8:00 pm CET / 06:00am NZST (Monday)
Wednesday:
World FM 4:00 am NZST
Slice Audio 4:00 am BST / 5:00 am CET / 3:00 pm NZST
Radio Skye (Radio Garden) 10:00 pm BST / 11:00 pm CET / 9:00 am (Thursday) NZST
Wednesdays at 10:00 pm to midnight
Radio Skye (Radio Garden).
Fridays 2:00 pm New Zealand Time (3:00 am UK/Ireland)
Akaroa World Radio 3:00 am BST / 4:00 am CET / 2:00 pm NZST
Saturdays
Essential Radio 10.00 pm BST / 11:00 pm CET / 9:00 am NZST (Sunday)
Coming Soon …
New stations are planning to add AtW to their schedule. Soon, radio stations in St. Lucia, and British Virgin Islands … “stay tuned” as we used to say.
You will be able to find the “music only” playlists on my blog early next week.
A few people are invited to join the listening club. The membership is limited.