Best Ever Albums

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Sun, 1 Jul 2018 16:17:31 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 07/01/2018 20:17

And the medals go to:

Gold

Music Of India (Three Classical Ragas) by Ravi Shankar

Silver

Expensive Shit by Fela Kuti & Africa 70

Bronze

Heart Of The Congos by The Congos

Honorable mention goes to Bob Marley's Legend album... 🤣 hehe just kidding..

Thank you all for your participation. This is a fine lineup giving us a glimpse into music from India, Nigeria, and Jamaica.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Sun, 1 Jul 2018 16:14:51 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 07/01/2018 20:14

And the final votes (added the numbers from PH's and I's voting, but not the names x2):

Album Origin Points User/s
Music Of India (Three Classical Ragas) by Ravi Shankar India 34 Seth & PurpleHazel
Expensive Shit - Fela Kuti 31 PurpleHazel and BSOTA
Heart Of The Congos by The Congos Jamaica 30 PurpleHazel and BSOTA
Allegria (1990) (album) by Gipsy Kings France 26 Seth
Buena Vista Social Club Cuba 24 Rhyner
1. Acabou Chorare - Novos Baianos Brazil 23 baystateoftheart
Rodrigo y Gabriela by Rodrigo y Gabriela Mexico 17 Fischman
Gurrumul by Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu 16 videoheadcleaner
Vinicius de Moraes e Baden Powell- Os Afro Sambas Brazil 14 Tha1ChiefRocka
A Second Album Of Bahamian Songs by Blind Blake Bahamas 13 Hayden
Gedida by Natacha Atlas Egypt 11 bobbyb5
Synchro System by King Sunny Adé Nigeria 9 bobbyb5
Canyon Trilogy by R. Carlos Nakai Navajo-Ute 9 Fischman
Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite by Machito Cuba 9 Hayden
Aman Iman: Water Is Life by Tinariwen Mali 9 Rhyner
Un Día Normal by Juanes Columbia 9 Seth
Tomani Diabete & Ballake Sissoko- New Ancient Strings Africa 9 Tha1ChiefRocka
Igra Bez Granica by Toše Proeski 9 videoheadcleaner
Soul Makossa by Manu Dibango Cameroon 8 bobbyb5
Buckskin Poet Society by Jack Gladstone Blackfeet 8 Fischman
Drums And Chants (Authentic Afro-Cuban ...antamaría Cuba 8 Hayden
Juju Music by King Sunny Ade Nigeria 8 Rhyner
Cartola (1976) by Cartola Brazil 8 Seth
Scientist- Meets the Space Invaders Jamaica 8 Tha1ChiefRocka
Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares: Volume 1...x Bulgares 8 videoheadcleaner
4. Confusion - Fela Kuti & Africa 70 7 baystateoftheart
Chill Out by Black Uhuru Jamaica 7 bobbyb5
Heritage by Lionel Loueke Benin 7 Fischman
Voodoo Drums In Hi-Fi by Issa El Saieh,... Ti-Marcel Haiti 7 Hayden
Slaves Mass by Hermeto Pascoal Brazil 7 PurpleHazel
Tango: Zero Hour Argentina 7 Rhyner
III-v-VI by Elian Quesada Argentina 7 Seth
Lou Harrison- La Koro Sutro Asia 7 Tha1ChiefRocka
Rrakala by Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu 7 videoheadcleaner
5. Shakara - Fela Kuti & Africa 70 6 baystateoftheart
Ayeshteni by Natacha Atlas Egypt 6 bobbyb5
Pieces Of Africa by Kronos Quartet Interpretations of African 6 Fischman
Voices Of Haiti by Maya Deren Haiti 6 Hayden
Acid by Ray Barretto Latin 6 PurpleHazel
Moffou by Salif Keita Mali 6 Rhyner
Hasabe (My Worries) by Ayalew Mesfin Ethiopia 6 Seth
Fela Kuti- Sorrow Tears and Blood Africa 6 Tha1ChiefRocka
GYER. Sacred Tibetan Music Of Bon Tradi...exey Tegin 6 videoheadcleaner
6. Coffin For Head Of State - Fela Kuti & Africa 70 5 baystateoftheart
Funky Kingston by Toots & The Maytals Jamaica 5 bobbyb5
La Bodeguita Del Medio by Carlos Puebla...Pedro Sosa Cuba 5 Hayden
Siroco by Paco De Lucía Spain 5 PurpleHazel
Dimanche À Bamako by Amadou & Mariam Mali 5 Rhyner
Carioca & Devas- Misterios de Amazonia Brazil 5 Tha1ChiefRocka
Homeland Movement by Yothu Yindi 5 videoheadcleaner
7. The Harder They Come - Various Artists 4 baystateoftheart
The Promise Of A Future by Hugh Masekela South Africa 4 bobbyb5
Jamaican Folk Songs by Louise Bennett Jamaica 4 Hayden
Congotronics by Konono Nº1 Congo 4 Rhyner
The Indestructible Beat of Soweto South Africa 4 Seth
Francis Bebey- African Electronic Music 1975-1982 Africa 4 Tha1ChiefRocka
Sritan Covik by Tomislav Bralić & Klapa Intrade 4 videoheadcleaner
8. Roforofo Fight - Fela Kuti & Africa 70 3 baystateoftheart
This Is Augustus Pablo by Augustus Pablo Jamaica 3 bobbyb5
Haitian Piano by Fabre Duroseau Haiti 3 Hayden
The Sun Of Latin Music by Eddie Palmieri Latin 3 PurpleHazel
Cru by Seu Jorge Brazil 3 Rhyner
Foundation Ska (album) by The Skatalites Jamaica 3 Seth
Enrico Caruso- The Complete Caruso Italy 3 Tha1ChiefRocka
Croatio Iz Duše Te Ljubim by Tomislav ...pa Intrade 3 videoheadcleaner
9. Construção - Chico Buarque 2 baystateoftheart
Fool On The Hill by Sérgio Mendes And Brasil '66 Brazil 2 bobbyb5
Haitian Folk Songs by Lolita Cuevas &am...tz Casseus Haiti 2 Hayden
Soro by Salif Keita Mali 2 PurpleHazel
Fado Em Mim by Mariza Mozambique 2 Rhyner
Amassakoul by Tinariwen Mali 2 Seth
Buena Vista Social Club- Buena Vista Social Club Cuba 2 Tha1ChiefRocka
Unca Fibre (Vodič Za Brodolomce I An�'...by Gibonni 2 videoheadcleaner
10. Tropicália Ou Panis Et Circensis - Various Artists 1 baystateoftheart & PH
Pata Pata by Miriam Makeba South Africa 1 bobbyb5
Gentleman by Fela Kuti & Africa 70 Nigeria 1 PurpleHazel
Wátina by Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective Belize 1 Rhyner
Exodus by Bob Marley Jamaica 1 Seth
Tommy Mccook & The Super Sonic- Top Secret Jamaica 1 Tha1ChiefRocka
Tribal Voice by Yothu Yindi 1 videoheadcleaner

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Sun, 1 Jul 2018 16:06:20 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 07/01/2018 20:06

Thanks for the recap of the albums PurpleHazel! I really appreciate hearing your take on them, as do I others.

Unfortunately the day has come to close the voting and declare the Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Further discussion is more than welcome, but the ranking is over. (and will be posted shortly).

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

PurpleHazel — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 06:38:32 GMT

Author: PurpleHazel

Posted: 06/28/2018 10:38

1. Music of India - Ravi Shankar
2. Expensive Shit - Fela Kuti
3. Heart of the Congos - The Congos
4. Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club
5. Allegra - Gipsy Kings
6. Acabou Chorare - Novos Baiano
7. Gurrumul - Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
8. Os Afro-Sambas De Baden E Vinícius - Baden Powell & Vinícius de Moraes
9. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela
10. Gedide - Natacha Atlas
11. A Second Album of Bahamian Songs - Blind Blake

Gurrumul is quite beautiful, though it gets a little repetitive over the course of its hour running time.

I liked Buena Vista Social Club, the Gipsy Kings, Novos Baiano and Gurrumul about the same -- they're all very different from each other, but I'm really glad I listened to all of them -- but rank I must, so I rank I have.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 23:16:59 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/17/2018 03:16

Just a reminder that we'll keep the finalist voting open until end of month. See OP for finalists.

In the mean time if you find cool music to share in this extremely broad realm, feel free to keep posting new finds/stuff you love, even after the voting... this is equally intended to be a place to find recs in this realm for all users.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Fri, 8 Jun 2018 23:13:35 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/09/2018 03:13

hehe - cool. Let's do the end of the month to be fair.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

PurpleHazel — Fri, 8 Jun 2018 01:32:25 GMT

Author: PurpleHazel

Posted: 06/08/2018 05:32

sethmadsen wrote:

If I end up being the only one putting a submission in for how finalists are ranked...

I've been slowly making my way through the finalists I haven't heard already. If you set a looming deadline, I'll pick up the pace.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Fri, 8 Jun 2018 00:28:45 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/08/2018 04:28

If I end up being the only one listening to the finalists and then putting a submission in for how they rank the finalists (see OP), then likely the top 3 of the finalists will defacto win.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

bobbyb5 — Mon, 4 Jun 2018 09:11:57 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 06/04/2018 13:11

sethmadsen wrote:

I know this is a stretch - but it was my experience that this reminded me of middle eastern neighbors I had while living in Germany. They used to blast cool music on the weekends. This was the only song I could catch that they'd play, even though this isn't "arabic music", they played plenty of pop music that was middle eastern music influenced and this was a massive hit at the time in Germany so I picked it up elsewhere and was like, oh that's what they were playing.

Makes sense since she's technically from Belgium (I think I read).

Anyone else digging these albums?

Gedida by Natacha Atlas

Link

Yes, I am digging that album. And I have been for almost 20 years. It's one of the coolest albums I've ever owned.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Mon, 4 Jun 2018 00:01:15 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/04/2018 04:01

Rank Album
1 Allegria (1990) (album) by Gipsy Kings
2 Music Of India (Three Classical Ragas) by Ravi Shankar
3 Acabou Chorare - Novos Baianos
4 Buena Vista Social Club
5 Expensive Shit - Fela Kuti
6 Rodrigo y Gabriela by Rodrigo y Gabriela
7 Heart Of The Congos by The Congos
8 A Second Album Of Bahamian Songs by Blind Blake
9 Gurrumul by Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
10 Vinicius de Moraes e Baden Powell- Os Afro Sambas
11 Gedida by Natacha Atlas

1. While the seeming live recordings (don't know for sure) aren't the best fidelity and the music isn't the best ever written, I feel this is some of the most "real" music emotionally I really like. Idk - it's just so raw and I read they'd do weddings and the such - a bit romantic at times and not just in the lovey dovey way, rather I feel enveloped into their music when I listen to it. It's raw and real music to me that many albums can't touch, even if not the best from a production/music perspective. That's not to say though that it's actually to the benefit of the record in my opinion - the excitement of the music is well captured and their stylized guitar playing is well above any slightly above average music.

2. This album always takes me to another world. I feel like I literally transcend space and time. The instrumentation and what feels like naturally occurring cosmic sounds from all the instrumentation. It really does take music at a whole new level with seemingly "simple" instruments. Incredibly creative.

3. I was quite taken by this. I love the female singer's smooth style. I also like how a few tracks have this massive bass tone and licks. It's incredibly diverse musically, and while catchy, it also musically is quite the journey.

4. This was kind of a sleeper for me in the past. Not bad, just not terribly interesting. I think this is my like 5-7th listen on it, and this time around the swagger and swing of the album really came alive. I've said this a few times now, but I totally wanted to jam to this in a 50s chevy while smoking a cigar, wearing comfy shorts/button up and sandals . I'd end up at the beach after eating some wonderful food and drinks.

5. My cousin has recently gotten me into this kind of music and so it was nice to warm up to this jam. I don't know what else to say other than fantastic music and reminds me of my cousin somehow. We just recently started playing music that basically sounds a lot like this. I really dig it, but didn't really find an emotional attachment to it yet... hasn't quite clicked as good as it is.

6. My previous statement stands - fantastic guitar playing and rhythm. This is a bit like that Allegria album but a subtle distinction between their I want to say European interpretation and the Latin feel off this record if that makes any sense. They are just passionate in different ways. Also the sound production is much better. I was in my kitchen and was like, this totally sounds like a rendition of Stairway... go check the track name and sure enough. While it was pretty cool, I liked the first half of the album better.

7. I liked the legit Rastafarian lyrics here. I mentioned before I really dig the falsetto vocal on this. Unique for my experiences with Reggae. Solid bass production... reminds me of the first time I recorded as a bassist. I was direct in, so I sounded great to almost over powering compared to the live tracking of the drums and two guitarists. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as solo tracking to perfect the mix. I don't really know anything about this kind of music, but it seemed like it incorporated a diverse collection of sounds from this kind of music.

8.I didn't get a version that was 100% the same, but 85-90% there. I must admit the first track I listened to was Peas and Rice and wasn't terribly excited to listen to the rest of the record. Then my tracklisting skipped to the end of the record and started getting much more interesting. Curious if it is the time period it was recorded in or if Bahamian music was a bigger influence on early rock n' roll than I realized, but hearing early rock n' roll type stuff on it similar to Louis Prima. But then totally other things going on sounding a bit like Kingston Trio. Anyway, way more solid as it went along. Cool to hear a Bahamian artist perform John B. Sail (Wreck Of The John B.).

9. Dude has an angelic tenor voice. The guitar playing was smooth and fantastic. Having said that, it's this low in the list because I just didn't have any emotional connection to it. It lacked some musical depth too - not a lot of dynamic to it. This is another I have only listened to once, so probably deserves another listen to really make this judgement, but so it is for now.

10. I wasn't crazy about this for some reason. I want to blame it on the production (at least how it was in my car... it was really quiet), but then again my number 1 album has poor production. It clearly has good musical elements to it (quite beautiful actually), but emotionally it didn't intrigue me and as a foreign language to me, that's critical. IDK... to be honest I only listened to it once as well... probably deserves more than that - my first gut feeling.

11. This was hard to put last, but finally I didn't think it musically or emotionally took me to the same places the first album did. I had a great memory of it while living in Germany, but other than that, the music itself felt a little lacking to me. There were high points for sure and if this were a top 100 list, it probably would find itself on there, but just not as good as the others. There were a couple really cool tracks though.

The last 3 I changed the order like 3 times on ... haha - this list was much harder than the Jazz list to finalize.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Sun, 3 Jun 2018 21:46:54 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/04/2018 01:46

By the way, if anyway is planning on voting for the finalists, here's a link I found for one of the albums I couldn't find on Spotify or Google Music:

EDIT: looks like track listing doesn't 100% match in order, etc. but probably 85% correct on the tracks.

Link

These were the first responses I had to it:
So far it seems like a decent survey into Bahamian music for someone who has never heard Bahamian music. I'm even hearing a bit of possibly influence on Louis Prima in A Conch Ain't Got No Bone.

Fitting to hear a rendition of John B. Sail (Wreck Of The John B.) on a Bahamian music record.

Fits a bit in with some Kingston Trio I like too.

Also I just read this and have no idea... seems legit that I got that wrong and assumed they were the same:

Quote:

It's Blind Blake the calypso singer, not Blind Blake the bluesman...

Yep - wrong... dude isn't from Florida like I thought... hahahaha:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Alphonso_Higgs

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 23:53:54 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/03/2018 03:53

I know this is a stretch - but it was my experience that this reminded me of middle eastern neighbors I had while living in Germany. They used to blast cool music on the weekends. This was the only song I could catch that they'd play, even though this isn't "arabic music", they played plenty of pop music that was middle eastern music influenced and this was a massive hit at the time in Germany so I picked it up elsewhere and was like, oh that's what they were playing.

Makes sense since she's technically from Belgium (I think I read).

Anyone else digging these albums?

Gedida by Natacha Atlas

Link

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

YoungPunk — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 18:31:56 GMT

Author: YoungPunk

Posted: 06/02/2018 22:31

sethmadsen wrote:

Wow - thank you for showing me these albums. They were fantastic... like easily over 85 in my book as a first impression.

Acabou Chorare by Novos Baianos

Rodrigo y Gabriela by Rodrigo y Gabriela

(the covers were ok, but I really enjoyed what to me seemed like originals, but they might be traditional songs too... anyone know?)

Fischman's album is nuts. I put it on my decade chart its so good...

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

YoungPunk — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 18:30:10 GMT

Author: YoungPunk

Posted: 06/02/2018 22:30

Jimmy Dread wrote:

Quote:

Whether you agree with it or not, the whole world associates Reggae, Ska, Dub, whatever it shall be named with the country of Jamaica more than any other region.

Of course I agree with this, but my point is that the whole tapestry of Jamaican music is too broad a church to be tacked to the ‘regional’ genre, and only ended up that way because of the OP. It goes back to my age-old argument of many people basing their opinion of Jamaican music on the output of Bob Marley from 1971 onwards. Marley’s Island albums have always been closer to AOR to me, and take away the subject matter they could easily pass as such. They are not ‘regional’ music, having been tailored specifically for a Western audience. Ironically Heart Of The Congos is the antithesis, albeit still falling under the same genre.

Take your point about the influence of US Rhythm and Blues in other genres, and agree that Kuti’s work for example is as rooted in Western stylings as anything that came out of Nigeria before it (especially given his link-up with Ginger Baker). High-Life the same.

I guess I’m a bit of a purist and thought the original plan of having ‘Caribbean’ music (including Calypso, Mento, Soca and the like as well as albums from JA) would have been a much better idea. As it is the decision was made to lump it in with music from 90% of the rest of the world, so a work like HotC ends up ‘competing’ with indigenous music from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa or wherever. The only Congos-related LP I wanted to see in a regional thread was this:

Congotronics by Konono Nº1

This is why I didn't participate. I wanted to help cut down on everyone's listening, but I don't know stuff like this. Sorry...

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 11:44:52 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/02/2018 15:44

I must admit, I was not expecting such a beautiful tenor voice accompanied by guitar. When i read indigenous Australian music - I was thinking something rhythmic, etc.

Beautiful.

Gurrumul by Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 10:35:58 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/02/2018 14:35

That was funny. The deep culture of hot topic came to mind.

Also thanks for the recs gents!

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

bobbyb5 — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 09:27:14 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 06/02/2018 13:27

😁

Tap wrote:

and pop punk is associated with the region of american malls, but it still is connected to modern musical trends, same with reggae and afrobeat

😁 that was funny.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

bobbyb5 — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 08:57:00 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 06/02/2018 12:57

sethmadsen wrote:

Anybody know much about "Arabic" music?

Much of the top artists represented here are taking a western approach to "Arabic" music (as stated in the bio, etc.) - which I suppose in of itself is just fine. As someone wanting to try and understand a true source of "Arabic" music, it probably isn't the horses mouth... any "horses mouth" artists anyone is familiar with? Maybe just dig a little deeper on the chart?

https://rateyourmusic.com/customchart?p...countries=

Maybe they fall in the category of " too Western", but those Natacha Atlas albums I picked are listed in the chart you posted from rateyourmusic. She placed three albums in the top 50 of that list and Five in the top 100. And the genre tag they gave her is "Arabic Pop". So I guess it's proper to call it Arabic music. Maybe some people would object to the modern production techniques on them if they were looking for something more rootsy or something. But I can't think of any other Arabic music I'm familiar with to recommend something else to you. But that was a really good list you posted. It will be a good place for me to start. I had no idea there was so much Arabic jazz in the world. Sounds great.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

Hayden — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 05:02:38 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 06/02/2018 09:02

sethmadsen wrote:

No, BUT

Anouar Brahem's aight, I've just never fallen in love with his stuff. Give Hamza El Din a chance, he's a staple. Ali Hassan Kuban, Rabih Abou-Khalil and Fairuz are all worth checking out too. Maybe give Maleem Mahmoud Ghania's record from last year a spin, it was long, but really solid. Great restaurant music. If you can find any street music from Istanbul, that'd also be a rec.

Re: Regional Music: Competition & Discussion

RoundTheBend — Sat, 2 Jun 2018 01:20:21 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/02/2018 05:20

Anybody know much about "Arabic" music?

Much of the top artists represented here are taking a western approach to "Arabic" music (as stated in the bio, etc.) - which I suppose in of itself is just fine. As someone wanting to try and understand a true source of "Arabic" music, it probably isn't the horses mouth... any "horses mouth" artists anyone is familiar with? Maybe just dig a little deeper on the chart?

https://rateyourmusic.com/customchart?p...countries=