Sister Marie Keyrouz - Άξιον Εστί

Fairouz - El Youm Oulika Ala khachaba

Wovenhand - The Threshing Floor

Άλλο ένα ονειρικό ταξίδι από τους Wovenhand στο πρόσφατο άλμπουμ τους  The Threshing Floor. Στο ομώνυμο κομμάτι είναι έντονα τα ανατολίτικα στοιχεία αλλά και σε όλο το άλμπουμ είναι εύκολα αναγνωρίσιμες επιρροές από τα Βαλκάνια και την Ανατολική Ευρώπη. Στο άλμπουμ συμμετέχει και ο Peter Eri.


Look whose fan is in his hand
upon the ground of sifting
instruments with teeth
a place for the called for
we call it the floor
into the air
in this time of threshing
bara devlam
devlam bara
devlam bara
istenem
by the hooves of beasts
round this winnowing pile
golden sheaves
the gleaming plain for miles
lift up your iron heel
spin Ezekiel's wheel
him lord of hosts
him lord of hosts
every secret sin
on and of this earth
grows fierce from the ground
instruments with teeth
instruments with teeth
cut them down

Fairuz - Eh Fi Amal

Στις 7 Οκτωβρίου κυκλοφόρησε νέο άλμπουμ η Fairuz με τον τίτλο Eh Fi Amal που σημαίνει Υπάρχει Ελπίδα.
Είναι  γραμμένο από το γιο της Ziad Rahbani και σημειώνει ήδη τεράστια επιτυχία στις αραβικές χώρες παρά το γεγονός ότι κυριαρχούν τα τζαζ στοιχεία  (ήδη έγινε 4 φορές πλατινένιο στο Λίβανο).

Natacha Atlas - Riverman

Για άλλη μια φορά η   περιλαμβάνει στο νέο της άλμπουμ  Mounqaliba  συμπεριλαμβάνει κομμάτια σε διαφορετικές γλώσσες καταφέρνοντας με την έντονη προσωπική της σφραγίδα να δίνει ένα κοινό χρώμα. Κύρια έμπνευση για το άλμπουμ αποτέλεσε η ποίηση του Ινδού ποιητή Rabindranath Tagore.
Το Riverman είναι διασκευή του ομώνυμου τραγουδιού του Nick Drake.

Betty came by on her way
Said she had a word to say
About things today
And fallen leaves.

Said she hadn't heard the news
Hadn't had the time to choose
A way to lose
But she believes.

Gonna see the river man
Gonna tell him all I can
About the plan
For lilac time.

If he tells me all he knows
'bout the way his river flows
And all night shows
In summertime.

Betty said she prayed today
For the sky to blow away
Or maybe stay
She wasn't sure.

For when she thought of summer rain
Calling for her mind again
She lost the pain
And stayed for more.

Gonna see the river man
Gonna tell him all I can
'bout the ban
On feeling free.

If he tells me all he knows
About the way his river flows
I don't suppose
It's meant for me.

Oh, how they come and go
Oh, how they come and go

Myrath - Forever And A Day

Με πινελιές της ερήμου χρωματίζουν το heavy metal οι Myrath, που έρχονται από την Τυνησία.
Το νέο τους άλμπουμ Desert Call κυκλοφόρησε πριν λίγες μέρες.

Through the years, time was flying by
Times were hard without you by my side.
Whenever I dragged my feet, you were always around,
Showing me the wrong path from the right.

Guiding me, showing me the way
Always glowing inside, forever and a day.

I will burn each part of my soul
Just to feel your warmness in this cold.
Shivering, my fingers touched your hands
No sign of life I didn't understand.

Guiding me, showing me the way
Always glowing inside, forever and a day.

I will burn each part of my soul
Just to feel your warmness in this cold.
Shivering, my fingers touched your hands
No sign of life I didn't understand.

Asala Nasri - Nos Hala

Το ομώνυμο τραγούδι από το πρόσφατο LP της Asala Nasri - Nos Halah.

The Armada - Morocco

The Armada ονομάζεται το νέο συγκρότημα του Jeff Martin από τους The Tea Party και κυκλοφόρησε πρόσφατα το πρώτο του LP που έχει κι αυτό το όνομα The Armada.

Τα κομμάτια :

1. Going Down Blues – 3:12
2. Chinese Whispers – 3:42
3. Broken – 4:05
4. A Line in the Sand – 4:24
5. Morocco – 4:11
6. Black Snake Blues – 4:40
7. The Rosary – 4:29
8. Baby's Come Undone – 4:14
9. Closure – 3:34
10. Invocation – 4:01
11. I Want You (hidden track) – 5:19

Rabih Abou-Khalil - Ma Muse M'amuse

Είναι από αυτούς που έχουν συνδυάσει καλύτερα την αραβική μουσική με τη jazz, αλλά και την κλασσική και το rock. O Rabih Abou-Khalil γεννήθηκε στο Λίβανο, αλλά τα τελευταία χρόνια ζει τον περισσότερο χρόνο σε Γερμανία και Γαλλία. Το Ma Muse M'amuse προέρχεται από το The Cactus of Knowledge (2000), ενώ πιο πρόσφατε δουλειές του είναι τα Songs for Sad Women (2007) και Em Portugues που κυκλοφόρησε πριν λίγες μέρες. Άλλα στοιχεία στη σελίδα του στο MySpace

Fairuz Μεγάλη Παρασκευή 2008

H Fairuz έψαλε για τα Πάθη του Χριστού στην εκκλησία του Προφήτη Ηλία στη Βηρυτό την προηγούμενη Μεγάλη Παρασκευή. Ένα δείγμα μας δίνουν οι παραπάνω φωτογραφίες και το βίντεο.

Psalters - Wayfaring Stranger

Ξεχωριστή περίπτωση όπως και οι Godspeed You Black Emperor αποτελούν οι Psalters που έχουν έδρα την Αμερική αλλά ταξιδεύουν σε όλο τον κόσμο. Στη σελίδα τους στο Myspace αναφέρουν τις επιρροές τους: music of diaspora; bedouins, tuaregs, and romani peoples etc. old spirituals, orthodox chants; klezmer, appalachian, Iraqi traditional maqam, west african ballet, timbalada, music from the silk road. 16hp/Woven Hand, Tarif de Haidouks, Ballydowse, Tom Waits, Talking heads, Fugazi, Danielson Famile, Arrested Development, Kayhan Kalhor, the Bulgarian Women's Choir, Sepideh Vahidi, Ken Butler, Mamady Keita, Hossam Ramzy, ....sounds of the man made mechanized mammon mound machinery as performed by our robot.
==============
I am a poor wayfaring stranger
Travelling through this world alone
There is no sickness, toil or danger
In that fair land to which I go

I'm going home
To see my mother
I'm going home
No more to roam
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home

I know dark clouds will hover on me,
I know my pathway is rough and steep
Beauteous fields lie right before me
Where weary eyes no more will weep
I'm going home to see my father
I'm going home no more to roam
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home

I'll soon be free from every trial
This form will rest beneath the sun
I'll drop the cross of self-denial
Come back home with God
I'm going home to see my savior
I'm going home no more to roam
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Energy Flow

Τα 56 του χρόνια συμπληρώνει σήμερα ο χαρισματικός Ryuichi Sakamoto. Το Energy Flow ανοίγει το ομώνυμο cd του που κυκλοφόρησε το 1999.

Susheela Raman - Voodoo Child

Από το 4ο άλμπουμ της Susheela Raman προέρχεται το Voodoo Child . Το 33 1/3 που κυκλοφόρησε τον Απρίλιο του 2007, αποτελείται από διασκευές κομματιών που η Susheela Raman αποδίδει με το δικό της ξεχωριστό τρόπο. Όπως λέει και η ίδια στην επίσημη σελίδα της:
" ...We chose songs which were mostly album tracks, rather than classic singles, that we had been listening to over the last few years, sometimes rediscovering them as one does in this era of changing formats, hence “33 1/3” sprung to mind as a title. A kind of homage to the well-attested pleasures to the ‘long player’, of owning some tangible aretfact of music’s immaterial magic, and to the obsolete warmth of vinyl; nowadays our ears are being cheapened by horrid data-compressed mp3s. Also, an album can be a complete, coherent experience in a way that our mix and match culture now has no patience for. Sounding old? 33 1/3 was also my age as we were finishing the album."

ΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨ

Fairouz First Interview in 17 years

Σε bulletin της σελίδας της Fairuz στο Myspace μεταφέρεται στα αγγλικά η συνέντυξη της στο Σταθη Τσαγκαρουσιάνο για τη Lifo που έγινε το καλοκαίρι λίγο πριν τη συναυλία της στην Αθήνα. Όπως αναφέρεται είναι η πρώτη της συναυλία μετά από 17 χρόνια. Παρακάτω παραθέτουμε το bulletin:

Fairouz First Interview in 17 years. Fairouz's last interview was in 1990 with Al Shabaka magazine. But now she speaks again in this interview with a Greek newspaper. Journalist: Do you miss the old Beirut? FAIROUZ: Of course I do, I miss a lot. Journalist: What do you miss about it? FAIROUZ: The peace, the beauty -in every level-the calmness. Things that you could see everywhere around you but don’t exist anymore. Life was pleasant, happy and full of simple things that you cant determine or explain, because you live them just like your breath. You can only feel some things not describe them. Journalist: Why do you think the western elements that you added in Anatolian music were so much appreciated and accepted? FAIROUZ: Cause my people are very open to all nations and all civilizations and artistic beauty have many faces, not just one. Journalist: What I feel as a Greek is a deep and intense melancholy in your voice-even in your patriotic songs. Is it true or I just don’t understand? FAIROUZ: It is true, you are absolutely right. Journalist: Why is that? FAIROUZ: The pick of happiness is sorrow. Its something I believe deeply and it comes out when I sing. My song doesn’t describe the beauty I was talking about before. The country I loved exists only in my songs; it has nothing to do with the reality I live in. Journalist: Is this the reason why you don’t smile often? FAIRUZ: And this. Its also cause of the songs, they don’t speak for happy things. Smiling while singing them would be weird. Journalist: Is there something that makes you happy today? FAIRUZ: The fact that there isn’t war and unjustice in many parts of the world. The mind, in order to think creative, have to live in peace and safety and calmness and to not need to care constantly for such things. Journalist: Is there something you would like to change in your country's condition today? FAIRUZ: The immigration. If I could, I would stop the immigration. Journalist: How do you spend your summers? FAIRUZ: Depends on what’s behind every summer. I may have to concert, appear in a festival, or hiding in a shelter. Journalist: During summer, you usually sing in BAALBEK. How come you chose that mystic place? FAIRUZ: The place chose me, I followed. Journalist: The fact you unite and move all the Arab world, does it make you feel responsible? FAIRUZ: Of course. Journalist: And how do you express that responsibility? FAIRUZ: With great fear, to not seem less than what they expect to see. If not do my best then not disappoint them. Journalist: In this world, the Arabic, is nationalism a bless or a curse? FAIRUZ: Whatever its name may be, nationalism is something important and necessary. Our country is our big home. You accept it as it is. Journalist: What did you do during the Israeli bombing of BEIRUT? FAIRUZ: The war started the same night that my concert would begin in BAALBEK; the July of 2006.It was canceled. We went back home running, under aircraft invasions, we hide and waited till it ends. Journalist: Today that there is no war, what is your greatest fear? FAIRUZ: I am worried for my job, my kids, our lives, and our health. I worry for everything. Journalist: What do you like the most in a person’s character? FAIRUZ: His honesty and his generosity. Journalist: What do you know for modern GREECE? FAIRUZ: Unfortunately not much. The GREECE I know is the country of ancient history and mythology. I admire a lot Maria Callas. I like her voice and I appreciate her personality. I have her as a synonym of GREECE.I am also moved by the songs of Mikis Theodorakis and Chatzidakis. Journalist: Do you know ATHENS? FAIRUZ: No, it’s my first time here. Journalist: You don’t like to travel? FAIRUZ: No. Journalist: Isn’t there a journey you want to make? FAIRUZ: My best journey is my song, wherever they may take me, no matter where I really am. Journalist: If you had to live somewhere outside LEBANON, where would that be? FAIRUZ: Jibal al Sawan Journalist: How was New York? FAIRUZ: New York isn’t waiting to hear what my opinion is about it! Journalist: Even if you are traveling in Arabic countries, isn’t there things you like? FAIRUZ: Of course there are, I like their generosity and their kindness, those that are the basic characteristics of Middle East. Middle eastern people are very sentimental, that might be their greatest weakness. Journalist: Are there any moments you feel tired of all these civil conflicts? FAIRUZ: Yes, I am tired Journalist: Would you like to withdraw? FAIRUZ: How can anyone withdraw from his reality? Wherever you go it follows you. Journalist: Are there any international personalities that you admire? FAIRUZ: I admire Gandhi. As a human being, his passion for peace, the way he tried to succeed it. His way was unique, doesn’t remind anything of the ugliness of our world. Journalist: What gave you the greatest sorrow in your life? FAIRUZ: The early loss of my husband, Assi. The void he left in arts, in our family. Journalist: Which phrase can summarize the philosophy of your life? FAIRUZ: Whatever may happen to you, never give up? There is always a light in the end, close or far, it doesn’t matter. Journalist: Do you pray? FAIRUZ: I pray all the time. Journalist: What do you say in your prayers? FAIRUZ: If I tell you what may prayers say, it wont be prayers anymore but news. Journalist: What is the pick of your life? FAIRUZ: My job. Almost all my life is my job. Journalist: But something is bothering you, like you don’t feel complete. FAIRUZ: The word completeness doesn’t exist in my life. Fear has covered everything; even those that are meant to give happiness and satisfaction. Journalist: And God? In this country (of LEBANON) with the remarkable religious freedom, in which language does your God speak? FAIRUZ: My God doesn’t speak, He listens. Journalist: Did you ever read something, a phrase that changed your life? FAIRUZ: No, life is too complicated to be changed by one phrase. Journalist: Wasn’t it ever simple? FAIRUZ: Maybe. Sometime Journalist: In your first years, you had met Oum Kalthoum and Dalida.What do you remember from those days? FAIRUZ: Memories of beautiful days in a happy time. Times that we lived and unfortunately will never come back. Journalist: What’s the most valuable thing you still possess? FAIRUZ: My voice. Journalist: What’s in this voice that people from allover the world love to listen? FAIRUZ: I can’t tell you that. You will have to ask those who listen to it. Journalist: Is there any English song you sing to when you are alone? FAIRUZ: Not one song but many parts of them. Strangers in the Night, Silent Night, I Believe, and I could also add the In The Night (smiles). In general all parts that talk about night. Journalist: Why the night? FAIRUZ: Night fits a lot. Journalist: What would you like Athenians to know tomorrow that they will watch your concert? FAIRUZ: Just that I am coming. And I hope they will like my song Journalist: When you will be singing you will be watching ACROPOLIS under the moonlight. Does this symbol mean something to you? FAIRUZ: ACROPOLIS isn’t something foreign to me, even if I am coming to ATEHNS for the first time. I think it will bring to my mind the feelings of all those great artists who have stood up in this theatre before me, the wealth of Greek culture through ages, the glory and the feeling of awe that fit so many "giants”. The moonlight will be the string that will unite us through time. Fairouz was the first Arab to preform in the Acropolis. She sang to the Lebanese Troops and returned twice to the stage after her first exit.

Loreena McKennitt - Penelope's Song (Nights from the Alhambra)

Την Αλάμπρα που είναι ένα από τα πιο χαρακτηριστικά σημεία που συναντιέται η Δυση κι η Ανατολή διάλεξε η Loreena McKennitt για να ηχογραφήσει το ζωντανό cd/dvd της "Nights from the Alhambra" που κυκλοφόρησε πρόσφατα. Οι ηχογραφήσεις έγιναν στις 13, 14 και 15 Σεπτεμβρίου του 2006. Συμμετέχουν πάρα πολύ καλοί μουσικοί, ανάμεσα στους οποίους οι Πάνος Δημητρακόπουλος, Σωκράτης Σινόπουλος και Haig Yazdjian (ένα τραγούδι από το καινούριο cd του Amalur μπορείτε να ακούσετε στο lostinmusic-vain ).

*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*

Now that the time has come
Soon gone is the day
There upon some distant shore
You’ll hear me say

Long as the day in the summer time
Deep as the wine dark sea
I’ll keep your heart with mine.
Till you come to me.

There like a bird I‘d fly
High through the air
Reaching for the sun’s full rays
Only to find you there

And in the night when our dreams are still
Or when the wind calls free
I’ll keep your heart with mine
Till you come to me

Now that the time has come
Soon gone is the day
There upon some distant shore
You’ll hear me say

Long as the day in the summer time
Deep as the wine dark sea
I’ll keep your heart with mine.
Till you come to me

DIANA HADDAD & KHALED - Mas Louly

TINARIWEN - Matadjem Yinmixan (with CARLOS SANTANA - live at Montreux Jazz Festival) / Aman Iman

Και τα δύο τραγούδια υπάρχουν στον τελευταίο δίσκο τους AMAN IMAN: WATER IS LIFE. Πριν απ΄ όλα όμως πρέπει οπωσδήποτε να διαβάσετε το οδοιπορικό αυτού του αμμοδαρμένου πολιτικού συγκροτήματος από τη Νότια Σαχάρα:

http://wc02.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=TINARIWEN&sql=11:w9fpxqw0ldse~T1
Ένα τραγούδι τους θα βρείτε στο compilation του UNCUT Οκτωβρίου. Καλά μουσικά ταξίδια, φίλοι μου!