I have now purchased three albums based on the mix tape that sacredangle gave me over Christmas:
Tabla Beat Science: “Tala Matrix”. The “tabla” is a traditional drum of northern India. This band combines traditional tabla rhythms with electronica and a smattering of other instruments to build long, complex, ballads. It’s my new workout music of choice. Hard to tell any song from any other song … but it’s also the sort of music that makes me wish there was a hookah nearby.
Axiom of Choice: “Unfolding”. Persian music, pushed forward with strong drums. Traditional Iranian instruments: diwan (lute) and duduk (oboe) primary among them. This will be my default hangout, party music for a while.
Slavic Soul Party: “Bigger”. If jazz was more like this, I would love jazz. A tuba, clarinet, concertina, trombone, trumpet, and a drummer … doing some mad fusion of gypsy, mexican, traditional jewish, and polka music. If you’ve been to a Cirque du Soleil show, this is the clown music that is on while the acrobats are flipping madly through the air. It’s clever, sarcastic, and joyful. The high point, for me, is that every now and then, one of the players leans into a microphone and mumbles some random phrases like “man, when you’re in this place with, like, a glass of something in your hand, that’s it man. That’s it …” then the horns show up for another mad flight in parallel sixths, the drummer switches to a new riff, the concertina and clarinet lead off into a new key, and away it goes … giggling madly to itself.
God Bless iTunes.
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