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"Who Is William Onyeabor?"

First of all, I have to admit that I love stories of great musicians with an unknown background, like f.e. Rodriguez. One of these stories is the story of William Onyeabor.

Born in 1945 (or 1946, no one knows…) there´re a lot of rumors about his life. Some say, that he studied Cinematography in Russia and tried to become a film-maker in his home country afterwards. After this plan plan didn´t work out, he fell into music making and producing with synthesizers. So one of the still unanswered question is, where and how he got these pretty expensive MOOG´s in Nigera during the 70s.

Nevertheless he released some great records in between 1977 (“Crashes in Love”) and 1985 (“Anything You Sow”). Surprisingly his records sold well and got great feedback within Nigeria and Africa. His patterns are static, but moving. His instrumentation is modern. You don´t have to be a genius to recognize the parallels to Kraftwerk… In a way.

Every DJ played Onyeabor and every store sold his records. But the person “William Onyeabor” was – and still is – a mystery. He avoided publicity as much as he could. He didn´t meet journalists or guests, he refused to talk about himself and his music and until today there´re only few photos of him.

An indispensable result of this behaviour was the shrinking awareness level of William Onyeabor. It took years, after some NY guys of the record label Luaka Bop Records discovered Onyeabor for themselves and somehow managed to release a compilation of some of his greatest tracks with the perfectly fitting title “Who Is William Onyeabor?” in 2013. This record caused a massive hype of this “crazy and weird and mysterious African guy”. The blog NOWNESS shot a great video for “Fantastic Man”, Noise shot a short documentary (featuring Damon Albarn, Caribou, Femi Kuti etc. …) etc. …

This year Luaka Bop Records responded to this massive success with a cover record called “What?!” featuring artists like Hot Chip, The Vaccines, Joakim, Daphni and many more. Let´s see what´s next!

Below I picked 9 tracks. As much as original stuff as I could find on SoundCloud and the rest are the mentioned cover version. Great stuff!

[typing-music]

Mas Que Nada?! - The charm of "Música Popular Brasileira"

Only few days to go until the next FIFA world cup will take place in Brazil. What a great reason to take a look at it´s music culture. Of course the lusophone tradition is quite complex, therefore I chose my favorite one: Música Popular Brasileira.

The term „Música Popular Brasileira“ (I will just name it MPB…) first appeared in the 60s and yes, it just means „Brazilian Pop Music“. It is „Popular Music“ indeed but not that kind of „Pop Music“ we know. Overall, it´s actually not „one kind of music“ but a mixture of „post-bossa nova urban popular music“ based on traditional genres like Samba, Samba-Canção and Baião. If we take a look back at the brazilian history the most important date for this development may´ve been the year of the abolition of slavery 1888, what led to an enormous immigration of black people towards the rich (and mostly white) cities. This mixture on the same level enabled a great collaboration of both traditional and western music.

The fact that this confusion didn´t lead to distrust and anger on both sides is also remarkable, because „Música Popular Brasileira“ reached people of every age and social status. As music in generally often does, the easygoing and happy-go-lucky color of the music deflected people´s attention from the brazilian day-to-day issues like violence and poverty. As opposed to other local music genres, the MPB enjoys global success, musicians like Gilberto Gil, Jorge Ben Jor or João Gilberto are nowadays ranked among the most strong-selling artists of Brazil. Mascot of this spirit may´ve been the famous „Girl From Ipanema“ sang by João Gilberto in 1964, which caused a massive hype of the Copacabana. A second MBP track everyone may know is „Mas que nada“ by Jorge Ben Jor, what means something like „Well, what´s the point?“ - a title that embraced the whole spirit of „Música Popular Brasileira“.

Below I picked 10 typical tracks including Elis Regina, Jorge Ben Jor, João Gilberto and Tom Jobim.

[typing-music]

Why Francisco Tárrega was the most influential classical guitarist of all times. 

„To honor the intellectual reformer of the guitar, gratefully and admiring“. If you take a look at the history of the classical guitar, Emilio Pujol´s introduction to the third book of his fantastic études couldn´t have been more fitting. Born 1852 in Villarreal, Spain as „Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea“ he soon started to play both piano and guitar. The fact that the successful guitarist Julián Arcas tought the young Francisco at the age of ten years already showed his massive talent. The most incisive event of Tárregas live may´ve been the purchase of an instrument by Antonio de Torres, who developed and built the first classical guitar as we known them today. Torres improved the construction of the instruments body and reduced the length of the neck, which made the sound more sonorous and assertive compared to other instruments. Already thrilled by this sound, the young Francisco originated it by launching new techniques like the „Apoyando“. It may be difficult to visualize, but the procedure of touching the string before actually playing it had a massive impact on it´s tone. My teacher (who was by the way student of Alberto Ponce, a former student of Tárrega himself) called this „preparing of the sound“. Francisco Tárrega also introduced the small footstool, which got an indispensable equipment until today. It´s not only his technique that´s state-of-the-art until today, but also his fantastic and timeless compositions. Beside his transcriptions of works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and many more, pieces like the „Recuerdos De La Alhambra“ or the „Capricho Arabe“ build the peak of all studies of the classical guitar. He did not only put he beauty of spanish music down in writing, but also combined it with technical progress. What a guy! He even made it into our everyday culture by composing this famous soundsequence, which a swedish cellphone producer adopted for a ringtone. Below I picked some of my favorite pieces of Francisco Tárrega. (although my favorite performances were not on SoundCloud...)  

[typing-music]

Terry Riley - "In C". 50 Years of Repetition. 

Alright. Dear fans of popular and plausible tunes. Let me call upon your patience. Some of you may like electronical music. Some of you may like electronical music that sound mostly every second similar to the one before. Bumbadabeng. Bumbadabeng. For hours. Ever wondered who got the idea to reduce the sound to it´s basic, repeat small patterns incredibly often and change them a bit every time you repeat them? No, it´s was neither Paul Kalkbrenner nor Sven Väth. One of the first guys doing that was the American composer Terry Riley. Exactly 50 years ago he finished his masterpiece „In C“ which is nowadays quite often named the first piece and invention of „Minimal Music“ (he always denied making Minimal Music). Although Riley is a composer and „In C“ is a composition, there´s still a lot of space for interpretation left. For example regarding the amount of musicians – Terry Riley recommends 35 persons as „desirable“. In 2006 more than 130 people performed „In C“ in Los Angeles. About the music itself - try to imagine a collection of 53 small, numbered but quite precise patterns (a few defined notes like a „fixed motive“). The first patterns are all composed within the key „C“ but from the 14th pattern on follows a „fis“, so the main key seems to switch towards „G“ (later towards F etc.). The only musical instruction Riley now gives is to follow the numbered sequences of patterns. If you take a listen to the performance mentioned below – within the first second you hear the piano constantly repeating the C1. The first pattern Riley noted. If you now switch to minute 4 or 5 you still hear that note and pattern. So the musician decided to play it that long during other instruments (like the strings) are already playing different patterns. A musician may play it once or may place it ... thousand times. Well okay. That´s quite unlikely. Nevertheless – it´s quite clear that every performance of „In C“ is unique. Terry Riley said, that the average duration is between three-quarters of an hour and 1.5 hours, but it can also last up to several hours. My favorite performance was recorded by the Ictus Ensemble from Brussels, Belgium. Listen to an excerpt below, to the full performance on Spotify or even better – buy it online. The thing is – people tend to claim „Minimal Music“ as boring, just for one reason - because they don´t embark on that kind of music. They listen to it on crappy laptop speakers for one or two minutes and then switch back to their well-known tunes. You can´t listen to this music for some seconds, think „ah, that´s nice“ and switch to the next title. The longer you listen to pieces like „In C“ the more you recognize it´s property. It´s the number of tones that´s minimalistic – not the music itself.

[typing-music]

"An Ideal For Living" will be reissued for the Record Store Day 2014.

Between all those crap news and war stuff I read something sweet and beautiful. In the context of the Record Store Day 2014 there´ll be a reissued version of Joy Division´s debut EP „An Ideal For Living“. The new release was remastered by the bands long-term friend Frank Arkwright. The magic happened at the Abbey Road Studio this time - the originals were recorded at the Pennine Sound Studios, Oldham. If you want one of these limited edition you have to be lucky – they´re only sold at some selected retailers. And thank god - it comes along with a fresh artwork. The original cover for „An Ideal For Living“ (1978) was one of the main reasons why Joy Division also were claimed to sympathize with Nazis (if you take a look at the cover you´ll know why – allthough it was painted by Joy Division´s guitarist Bernard Summer). „Warsaw“ (the former name of the band) – „No Love Lost“ – Leaders Of Men“ – „Failures“. What a tracklist for a debut EP. My favorite one: „Failures“.

[typing-music]

The Music Of The Touareg

Touareg. Yes, that´s a big SUV. But primarly it´s a nomadic living nation based in western africa in an area containing parts of Mali, Niger, Algeria and Burkina Faso. No, this is not a geography blog, in fact the Touareg have a quite interesting music scene and I kind of fell in love with their sound, which is also known as Tamasheq Music. Shaped by the never ending conflicts of wandering populations and the stifling heat of the Sahara the Touareg developed an incredibly both driving and relaxing sound, mainly based of guitar sounds, repetitive base lines and steady clapping. Whereas the most important instrument always has been the Imzad, a single stringed fiddle, western pendants like the electric and acoustic guitar took on greater significance within the last years. Nevertheless most musician still play them monophonically to retain the sound. One of the most successful Touareg bands maybe Tinariwen. Founded 1982 in Algeria the band became more and more political. Until 1994 they joined a lyberian military camp to fight the growing repression of the Touareg. Their debut album „The Radio Tisdas Sessions“ (2000) became an international success and the band reached it´s zenith with performances at the Glastonbury Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival and a collaboration with Carlos Santana. Check this performance in 2004 at the Womad Festival to feel it´s unique spirit. Below I compiled ten of my favorite Touareg tracks containing artists like Koudede, Omar Moctar and of course – Tinariwen. I´ve also allowed myself to add a remix by producer Four Tet of Tinariwen´s „Tenere tawwim tossam“ at the end. Sorry for that.

[typing-music]

Diplo - Revolution

Well, Diplo´s always a guarantee for dope sounds. Check out Phil Pinto´s video for "Revolution", which is also part of the "Official Selection 2014 SXSW Film Festival".

[typing-music]

Wave Racer - Streamers

Well. This is quite a new sound. Combining funky rhythms with some retro synth sound 21 yrs sydney based producer Tom Purcell a.k.a. Wave Racer will release his single "Streamers" via Future Classic tomorrow.

[typing-music]

The Dream - Shawty Is Da Shit (Giraffage Remix)

Yesterday was the releasedate of Giraffage´s remix album for The Dream´s debut "Love Hate". Not sure which one I prefer. Anyone. Checkout his remix for "Shawty Is Da Shit".

[typing-music]

Tei Shi - Nevermind The End (Lil Sad Remix)

Along to Tei Shi´s great E.P. "Saudade" (Mermaid Music) comes this remix by Lil Sad of "Nevermind The End". Perfect tune right now. Get the free download here!

[typing-music]

• dot • - SUUPER MOON

Let me introduce to fantastic girl Kate Ellwanger, 22 years old, living in Olympia, WA. Artist´s name: "• dot •" / "Dot" / " • ". However. What a sound. So this is definitely my favorite tracks for days! This one´s out via Team Supreme.

[typing-music]

Marika Hackman ft. Sivu - Skin (Live From The Distillery)

"Live From The Distillery". When I first read that I thought: "WOW. That´s a good name". Watching the great singer songwriters Marika Hackman and Sivu performing "Skin" (a track that has been released last year in December) there together was definitely worth a click. What a thrilling interaction of two voices.

[typing-music]

Years & Years - Real

Last week I shared the Logo Remix for "Years & Years" "I Wish I Knew". "Real" is their next single. Looks like the newest Kitsuné act is working hard. With it comes this video, shot by director & animator Robert Francis Müller. And yes. The guy in the video Ben Whishaw.

[typing-music]

Baby Alpaca - Sea of Dreams (Turboito Remix)

Maybe you remember Baby Alpaca, I´ve posted them before. They´ve just uploaded this pretty nice video for the Turboito remix for "Sea of Dreams". Watch below!

[typing-music]

iamamiwhoami - fountain

Swedish artist Jonna Lee and her great project "iamamiwhoami" uploaded her stunningly produced video for "fountain". After releasing her debut album "Kin" in 2009 she got mostly famous for her well composed and arranged videos. Unfortunatly all of them got deleted, because they contained a hidden hint to an upcoming concert. The video of this concert was online only for four hours. Well. All things must pass. (Please leave "fountain" online, Jonna!)

[typing-music]

Twin Caverns - Undiscover

Louise Millar and Michael Macias joined to make music. This was a good idea. Because it´s result is great. Combining electronically beats with classic instruments (yes, that´s very common those days) they release great stuff like "Undiscover". Grab it for free here and show the band some love here.

[typing-music]

Fatima - La Neta

At the end, everything´s about the rhythm. Something like that could have been in Fatima´s mind writing that song. Fatima´s a swedish born, but now London based singer, who already tried out all kinds of genres. I just love musicians discovering their own borders of style. "La Neta" is out now via Eglo Records. On their website I found this wonderful perfectly describing sentence: "Fatima is a nomadic child of the cosmos, drawing upon life inspiration and energy in everything from LA Freeways, London basements and The Sea through to Earth Wind And Fire and the sky above."