Thanks Stefan 😄 I'm actually familiar with that record and think it's pretty decent. Listened to it for the first time only about a year ago.
I think my choice for Afghanistan is going to end up being the recent Naujawanan Baidar comp, but there's no harm in the rec. Last time I did Afghanistan I struggled to find anything at all. It's in my notes, and I almost posted it in today's post ^
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Correction: they had a viral song on TIkTok apparently, they may be a meme after all. Not sure how a coldwave song becomes a meme, but it's 2020, I'm not surprised.
Yeah, I'm not caught up with all the snapchats and tiktoks and vine and instagram things of the world. I don't know how big the meme is or if it's positive/negative, but I might seek it out just for the sake of it 🤣
Cool that you saw them live. They feel like a band that'd have a great stadium presence. _________________ Doubles & Conch
A record by Cesária Évora would be a great choice for Cabo Verde. I've yet to listen to anything by her, but I've heard good things. I think I'll add one of her albums into my queue 😜
If you have any other recs, here's some countries I'm currently struggling with:
Aruba
Oman
San Marino
Burundi
North Korea
Macau
Qatar (I may have found something? dunno)
Laos
Uzbekistan
Andorra
Kuwait
Nauru
Cayman Islands
Saint Kitts
Gibraltar
Palau _________________ Doubles & Conch
Gave the reissue a spin after seeing the Pitchfork review. Interesting bit of meditative ambient, plenty of natural sounds which are more utilized nowadays. Green lands somewhere in-between ahead of its time and dated, which is an awkward place to be, but if you can look past that it's a lovely listen.
Merengue. I didn’t log anything from Curacao the first time, so luckily this popped up for this time around. It’s a basic record. Nothing to noteworthy, but still decent.
Ambient record released last week. Not super exciting, but far from bad. Listened to it on a whim and figured it'd cross off Estonia for me. Hazy/airy, quite minimalistic, everything covered in this fog.
Another recent reissue, this one surprised me a little. It's Dudu Pukwana's second record (debut with 'The Spears"), but it sounds nothing like the sound I know him by. It's a lot more subdued than his later work, and for the most part an extremely tame record. It's cape jazz at its core. _________________ Doubles & Conch
HOLY what a record. Fantastic work here. Sk Kakraba, Gyils musician, has at least two other great records behind him, but this might just be a little above them. Really confident work. Somehow slipped my radar in 2019, only gave it a first listen this week, but it's not one to miss. The arrangements here are on a totally different level that what he's done before. Heavy recommendation.
So, there's thousands of records to choose from when it comes to Jamaica, but I'm just going to pick the one I listened to (for the first time) last. Deadly Headley, session musician and namesake extraordinaire, merges rocksteady with jazz on his saxophone-lead solo record. Little harsh at times (in a good way), but pretty chill. One of those records that shouldn't be faded into obscurity.
Another music powerhouse of the world, Argentina, had this fantastic gem come out of it this year. Beatriz Ferreyra, 80-something, has been pushing boundaries and experimenting with different sounds since the early 60s. She released this abstract wonky-classical earlier this year alongside another compilation, and I think they deserve a little more exposure then they recieved. It's technically musique concrète, but it comes across as far more composed and accessible than the genre's usual flavour. _________________ Doubles & Conch
Slightly schizophrenic album with a tracklist that has more instruments than the average high school music department. I can't use a genre because it's really all over the board, but it's... hippie-ish? I suppose. Some Indian/Caribbean mixtures at time with sprinkles flamenco in there somewhere... and... house? Rock? There's about five genres a song. It's a bizarre record, but I would never say it's bad. Some of it reminds me of Battles.
Hip-hop! 90s hip-hop! From GREENLAND! Yes! They had hip-hop there in the 90s! This is proof! It existed! BOOM BAP RAP RAP RAP RAP. Can't comment on most of the lyrics. Production's decent, but definitely dated. Either way, this exists.
I've known about this guy for a number of years but I've never given one of his records a spin. Jazz piano prodigy, started young. He's been releasing albums for nearly two decades now I believe. This one's his latest, came out this year. Nothing groundbreaking, very dinner-party-esque, but as long as you aren't looking for anything particularly forward-thinking, it's a decent spin. _________________ Doubles & Conch
I'm late to the party, but this is a fantastic record. This year's Rejoice is nearly as good. I'm so glad that I decided to check Tony Allen's more recent records, not sure why they are flying under the radar. RIP _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
I'm late to the party, but this is a fantastic record. This year's Rejoice is nearly as good. I'm so glad that I decided to check Tony Allen's more recent records, not sure why they are flying under the radar. RIP
The more music I listen to, the more I realize how much flies under the radar 🤣 ... like, 90% of it. Even from big names. The age of accessibility buries as much as it produces.
I've praised this album on BEA at some point or another, but I'm going to have to reuse it for my Yemen pick (it's a tricky country...). This is brilliant. Just is. There's a fantastic liveliness and soul to the project. One of my favourite bits about exploring lesser listened countries is just how unique some of the albums can be... somehow, this isn't like anything else, yet feels like it should be. Gritty, bombastic, huge, celebratory— it's a blast of a record.
Gaeilge!
Bhi me i gCill Alla is Caislean a' Bharraigh!
Chonaic me campai bhi ag na Francaigh!
Mise 'gus tusa 'gus ruball na muice!
'Gus bacach Shil' Andai, bacach Shil' Andai!
Not going to lie, there was about four albums I wanted to pick for Uganda this time around. Went with this project from Bitone—
The mission of Bitone is to spread love, courage, and skills to Ugandan children who have been traumatized by the death of their parents or loss of their home. Founded by Ugandan musician, Branco Sekalegga, Bitone uses music and dance to help children and youth become self-reliant, and contribute to creating a peaceful future for the next generations of Ugandans and others worldwide.
Did I mention there's a Sigur Ros cover on here? And it's legit pretty good?
Going to give a quick shoutout to Nihiloxica and Sadam Seguya, both of which have released some great work in the past three years. _________________ Doubles & Conch
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