Around the World – Week beginning 26 March 2023 - Preview
Music from Elsewhere - every week.
Music from: Albania, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Georgia, Hungry, Iceland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamica, Japan, Mordovia, Morocco, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Syria among others
Music by: Acid Arab, Altin Gün, Ana Moura, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Bojana Vunturišević, Brigan, Cserepes Károly, Desumanos, Elida Almeida, Emilíana Torrini & The Colorist Orchestra, Eric Longsworth & Aziz Sahmaoui, Indaco, Jiraan, João Selva, Las Lloronas, Lucas Santtana & Flavia Coelho, Merema, Miguel Campello, Mze Shina, Nisia, Orkestra Shkodra, Russo Passapusso & Antonio Carlos e Jocafi, Jah Fakoly, Timpana, Toasaves, Tokyo MinYo Club, Vic Mirallas & Sabino, and Ybirá.
Hear the show on the web and radio
Sundays at 7:00 pm to 9:00pm
Bangor FM 107.9 (Radio Garden)
Sundays at 10:00 pm to midnight:
Slice Audio,
Ferry FM,
Radio Larne, and
Armagh City Radio .
Tuesdays at 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Waveney Valley Radio
Tuesdays at 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Lisburn’s 98FM (Radio Garden)
FM105 Down Community Radio (Radio Garden)
Wednesdays at 10:00 pm to midnight
Radio Skye (Radio Garden).
Thursdays at 6.30pm to 8.30 pm
U Radio Sri Lanka
Saturdays at midnight to 02:00 am
Essential Radio
Featured Album this week
Russo Passapusso & Antonio Carlos e Jocafi - Alto da Maravilha
Mirê Mirê - Russo Passapusso, Antonio Carlos & Jocafi part. Gilberto Gil (Visualizer)
Just as the summer was arriving in Brazil, Russo Passapusso the singer & songwriter, and prominent member of the band BaianaSystem joined with Antônio Carlos and Jocáfi the Brazilian duo to record Alto da Maravilha.
The three are from Bahia – but a generation apart. While Antônio Carlos and Jocáfi have been working together since 1969, Russo Passapusso’s career began almost 30 years later with BaianaSystem in 2008 and on to a solo career in 2014.
The duo’s real names are Antônio Carlos Marques Pinto and José Carlos Figueiredo and over 50 years have a long history of recording soundtracks for film and TV.
Songlines magazine said “veterans Antonio Carlos and Jocafi, [who] you might want to call the Brazilian Kool & The Gang for their mix of feral funk, vocal ticks and unforgettable grooves.”
In a deserved 5 star review Russ Slater starts, “It's hard to believe that Alto da Maravilha was recorded remotely during the pandemic, such is the alchemy on show here: we’ve got the bonhomie of a Tim Maia classic, the persuasive bass of a Bahia street party, and the most ridiculous assortment of grooves and vocal hooks around.”
It’s the featured album this week and I expect to revive it in a few months when our summer arrives. Perfect for long summer evenings, and drinks with little umbrellas …
Bojana Vunturišević - Ljubav
I have absolutly no idea what this video is about - but I do line the song. The album’s not bad either. Ljubav (Love) is the second studio album by Serbian singer-songwriter Bojana Vunturišević. Vunturišević co-wrote the album, production by her former Svi na Pod! bandmates Ivan Mirković Bambi, Luka Jovanović Luxonee and Slobodan Veljković Coby.
Bojana Vunturišević (Бојана Вунтуришевић) began started out as a member of underground bands The Root, Out and MistakeMistake. She gained popularity as member of the indie-pop band Svi na pod!. After releasing two albums with the band, Prvi [First] (2011) and Mladost [Youth] (2014), Vunturišević decided to pursue a solo career in 2015 releasing Daljine two years later.
Like Nightingales in the Spring - Orkestra Shkodra
A mere 500 km from Vunturišević’s Belgrade is Shkodër, a northern border town in Albania close to Montenegro. I almost featured "Like nightingales in the spring" by Orkestra Shkodra. It is a joyful album with folk songs that capture the spirit of a city "where everyone sings".
The artists involved are both veterans and young people with emerging talent who sing civic folk songs and wedding ceremonial songs, which are typical and very popular in Shkodër and Albania but little known and recorded beyond it. “This project, in addition to conservation, aims to promote and share this sound treasure in the world.” Say the makers.
I don’t think until now I’ve played anything from Bolivia on the show (which is usually my cue to go find more … stay tuned!). The experimental musician Timpana maps out a metaphysical journey across her home country, and through various states of being on her new album Gwandena.
Unfortunately, you can only watch Zayanqu Vivo by Timpana. Normally I wouldn’t include a video which does not display, but I’ll make an exception this time.
Zayanqu Vivo - TIMPANA
“Indigenous and African instrumentation meet electronic drums and synths on an album that veers between moments of slowly-revealing transcendence and urgent, rhythmic cries as the world appears different to how we ever imagined it.
“TIMPANA began as a duo, but has been the solo project of artist, performer and musician Alejandra Lanza for over 10 years. Gwandena is the first solo album in this iteration, and sees Lanza working with fellow Bolivian producer Chuntu, as well as fellow masters of Afro-Andean wind and percussion instruments. Together they have created a work that is complex in both its musical construction – being that it references and merges rhythms and cadences from the Andes, Amazon and Afro-Latin traditions – and in its narrative.”
Speak soon.
Davy