FEATURE WORLDBEAT ALBUMS 

Yanju - Iwa (Independent) - Technology changes the way music is made but it doesn’t change its message. Yanju is a Nigerian artist who is pioneering a new sound that takes the African rhythms and voices of his homeland and props them up with deep house beats and electronic treatments. Now a mainstay on London’s club scene, Yanju has recently packaged his ‘Afro-house’ music in his first CD called ‘Iwa’. While the album breaks new ground for African music, the issues it deals with are entrenched in Nigeria’s longstanding political and social turmoil. Once again embracing technology, Yanju turned to computer animation to illustrate the plight of Nigerian widows in his new video called ‘Lonely Woman.’ Watch for it on world.beats. In addition to spinning his Afro-house music in London’s night clubs, Yanju is also working on a novel and a film script.

 

Anoushka Shankar - Rise (Angel) - Anoushka Shankar is much more than just another pretty face. As the daughter and protégé of the godfather of world music, Ravi Shankar, Anoushka is carrying forward a legacy, and carving out future possibilities for the sitar. Her new album, Rise stands apart from the formal Indian classical style in which she has trained since childhood. Anoushka expertly shades its tracks with a world of musical textures, from Flamenco to electronic beats. Performing in the shadow of her sister, Norah Jones and her father, the iconic Ravi Shankar, Anoushka has found her own groove. She plays her famous upbringing to her own advantage. As she puts it, “I was raised having my father already in the spotlight and my whole family is famous so I’m kind of used to the idea that it a part of their lives, but it’s really not that important.” Even though she’s following in her father’s footsteps, Anoushka refuses to be painted with the same brush. In her words, “Even if I was to play the sitar my whole life, why must it be my father’s legacy? Why can’t it be my own? Growth is wide and deep. There are still so many other things I want to do.”

 

Easy Star Allstars – Dub Side Of The Moon (Easy Star) - Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ represents a crowning achievement in modern music. It’s still used by audiophiles today, as a reference for sonic excellence, even though it was recorded back in 1971! Recently, a group of reggae’s most adventurous players took on the challenge of recreating this classic album in the ‘one drop’ style. Easy Star Records Vice President, Lem Oppenheimer dared to imagine; “What if Dark Side Of The Moon wasn’t created at Abbey Road Studios in London and mixed by Alan Parsons? What if it had been made in Kingston, Jamaica by the dub scientists of the day? The result is ‘Dub Side Of The Moon’ a faithful if not trippier version of rock’s most enduring concept album. The show has since toured all over the continental United States, playing in New Orleans only two days before Katrina devastated the city. The album even contains instructions on how to synch up the audio with The Wizard Of Oz, a trick enjoyed by prog rock heads everywhere. Speaking of heads, their next project will be called ‘RadioDread’, a reggae version of Radiohead’s OK Computer.

 

Salif Keita – M’bemba (EMI) – Yesterday’s suspicions and an out of date caste system forced Salif Keita to leave Mali to forge a music career in Paris. Well, attitudes have slowly changed in his homeland and this year, the man known as the ‘African Caruso’ finally returned to Mali, where he’s built a studio and recorded an extraordinary new album called, ‘M’bemba’. He was born an albino, a sign of bad luck in Malian culture. He is also a descendant of the founder of the Mandingo Empire in West Africa and, according to Mali’s caste system that meant that being a musician was below his status. In the face of these obstacles, Salif moved to Paris to pursue his passion, and has risen to international fame because of his singular and emotionally-charged voice.On his new album M’Bemba, Salif asks for a pardon from the griots whose role it is in Malian society to make music. As a man of noble descent, he begs their forgiveness in appropriating their profession.

HOT NEW GLOBAL MUSIC RELEASES

 Asha Bhosle – Love Supreme (Times Square) - If you’ve ever had the joy of watching a classic Bollywood movie, you’ve no doubt been charmed by the voice of Asha Bhosle. One of India’s most recorded vocalists; she’s done playback singing for over 925 movies and counting! On the Asian subcontinent she’s known as ‘The Enchantress’ for her versatility and range, moving easily from pop to Indian classical in over fourteen different languages and dialects. Asha’s latest double disc is aimed squarely at the North American market, capitalizing on her rising status as an international superstar. ‘Love Supreme’ is a collection of Indian love poetry known as ghazals. But, for this album, modern arrangements of strings and electronics help The Enchantress cast her spell. Asha has the distinction of being the first Indian singer to be nominated for a Grammy award and, of course, she’s won almost every prize the Indian music business has to offer. Singing comes naturally to this 73 year old. She says, “Music is like my breathing. The day it stops, my breath will stop too.”

 Tambura Rasa – Viaje (Tambura Rasa Music) - Ivan Tucakov’s music was born at the crossroads between eastern and western cultures in central Turkey and Serbia. It traveled with him through Spain, Portugal and Mexico before finally making a new home here in Vancouver.  And, in typical Vancouver fashion, those sounds would end up being mixed with everything from East Indian to Electronic by Ivan’s new group of global explorers, Tambura Rasa. They’ve just completed their second album called appropriately enough, Viaje or Journey. Ivan’s journey has taken him from The Balkans to British Columbia where his musical travels are only just beginning. Two years after their first CD release, Tambura Rasa continues to expand their boundaries including influences of Flamenco, Ghazal, Tango and Persian into their fusion of global beats. Science fiction author, Ursula K. Le Guin suggests that, “It’s good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

  Xavier Rudd – Food In The Belly (Salt X) - It’s hard to concentrate on expanding your horizons with an empty stomach. Xavier Rudd has released a new album called ‘Food In The Belly’ that’s sure to satisfy. This one man band has cooked up another feast of organic goodness … acoustic roots, reggae and soul made with wholesome, natural ingredients like hand drums, acoustic slide guitar, harmonica and yirdaki, the Australian aboriginal name for a didgeridoo. Watching Xavier Rudd perform is a study in the many different ways human beings communicate through music … with their breath, their hands and their feet.  He takes the stage solo, surrounded by a battery of acoustic instruments that he uses to create different moods for his songs. Xavier’s compassion for the earth and the original peoples who live in harmony with it resonates throughout this great new album.

 The Cat Empire – Two Shoes (Indica) – The Cat Empire will sink their claws into any groove that moves you. They’re a funky ‘mardi gras’ from Melbourne made a pilgrimage to the legendary Egrim Studios in Havana, Cuba to record their latest CD called Two Shoes. While other global artists would probably just find someone to play congas or clave to add some Afro Cuban authenticity to their tracks, these guys packed their bags and instruments leaving Melbourne for a month of recording in Havana. Buy the CD and you can get a sense for The Cat Empire’s explosive live experience with four music videos (with tons of performance footage) which are included in the comprehensive DVD that comes with this package. These Two Shoes were definitely made for dancing!

 

Itamar Erez &  The Adama Ensemble – Desert Song (Independent) - Growing up in Tel Aviv, Itamar Erez had a central vantage point from where he could observe the common threads between Eastern and Western music. Today, he’s a gifted composer and classical performer who continues to trace these threads with the Adama Ensemble, a collection of some of Vancouver’s most talented and adventurous musicians. They’ve just released a new CD that takes listeners to a world where improvisation and global influence swirl like shifting sands. Desert Song is a little like an audio mirage. The desert provides the canvas and the mind’s eye supplies the image. Almost any influence may swim into focus, from classical and jazz to Flamenco and Middle Eastern. In Hebrew, Adama means ‘Earth’, and this gifted group of artists leaves no stone unturned in their exploration of the world’s music.