Voice Group - Opera Rock From Mongolia

Sometimes one feels lucky to find some good bands that happen to be awesome. I stumbled upon Voice Group while brosing a Mongolian music blog. I sadly didn't find much about this band on the web, the only thing I know is that they rule!

Voice Of Mongolia

Much to my surprise they also sing one of my favorites songs ever: "Prekrasnoe daleko", which was the main theme of a 70s Soviet Russian tv series called Gosti Iz Budushego. Voice group's version of this song is superb.

Gegeen alsiin duu (Prekrasnoe Daleko)

Yangjin Lamu - A Sacred Voice From The Heart

I love to find those rare artists who sing straight from their hearts. Yangjin Lamu is one of them. Born in Tibet, the melodies of her songs come to her during meditation sessions. Many of her albums were spontaneously recorded  live in the place she was at the moment, often sacred places like meditation caves in Tibet, sacred gardens or Buddhist monasteries.

After co-founding one of the largest Tibetan pharmaceutical companies in China, in an attempt to promote the endangered Tibetan culture, Yangjin felt that she had to do more, so she donated almost all of her assets to charity. A few year later, she began to hear the melodies from the deities, so she started composing spontaneously, recording 5 albums in the following years.

Dharma Flower

Be As You Are

Vanessa-Mae - You may already know her!

Vanessa Mae doesn’t need introduction. So we aren’t going to introduce her! :). Visit her official site for lots of information. I will only say that I used to like her music a lot when I was a teenager. She was like a bridge between the pop music world I was used to live in, and the classical music world that at the time I was just starting to discover. I was listening to her 2001 album, Subject To Change, and I liked the last song. Here it is.

Update: Unfortunately, the Youtube user removed both videos which were the pieces titled Jamais and The Blessed Spirits. I will change the not working videos for other ones that I also like.

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (1995)

The following piece was one of my favorites from more than 10 years ago. Unfortunately this version is truncated due to Youtube limits. The complete piece is about 14 minutes long. Update: The video was changed (see note above) .

Contradanza (1995)

Cicala MVTA - The Chindon Avant Garde

Directed by the clarinetist Wataru Ohkuma, Cicala MVTA is a contemporary ensemble that plays the old style of Chindon music, or music played by marching bands. Their fusion with brass music, jazz, funk, punk, and even with Japanese folk music includes some influences of the Zeuhl music. Produced by Tatsuya Yoshida, who leads Koenjihyakkei, Cicala MVTA is a progressive band that incorporates impressive wind solos, the sound of violin, Chindong and gorosu to their songs and a vibrant live performance.

Indomitable people Shikaramuta

The pillow walk (2004)

Inga & Anush – Musical Armenian Sisters

Sisters Inga and Anush Arshakyans studied music for several years before joining forces to create the phenomenal modern folk band named after themselves, Inga & Anush.

Anush, born in 1980, studied piano and vocals. Inga, born 2 years later (the same year than me :)) studied violin and also jazz vocals.

Tamzara (2004)

Jan Jan (2009)

The Bambir - Avant-Garde Armenian Folk Music

After listening to Armenian music for hours, I have finally decided to make this post about The Bambir. This band has a remarkable sound that mixes Armenian folk music (which is very nice on its own) with progressive rock. The more I listen to this band, the more I like it.  This band is unfortunately not very well known outside of Armenia, I was unable to find their music outside of youtube.

Children's Games

Imitate

Koenjihyakkei – A Progressive Sound From Japan

Rare, or maybe weird is how I would qualify the band that I post today. The musical complexity of the Zeuhl, a genre derived from progressive rock, is the seal of  Koenjihyakkei, a Japanese band led by the drummer Tatsuya Yoshida, who had played before in a popular Japanese duo called Ruins. The powerful sound of this band, which is frequently reminiscent of Japanese music, rock, or even symphonic music, makes me at times remember the eclectic and singular Frank Zappa’s style.

Avedumma

Their music, which occasionally sounds subtle in the voice of Aki Kubota (who sings in a nonsense language), unexpectedly evokes fierceness and majesty through strong rhythmic transitions, key changes and occasional jazzy progressions. The Avant-garde sound of this band may not have a pleasant effect to the more conservative tastes, but despite being  unusual for me, I think it has a really good and crafted style.

Ioss

Junoon – And Sufi Rock Was Born...

If you live anywhere near Pakistan, you certainly know Junoon. Maybe you have one of their albums, as they produced in 1998 and 1999 the best selling album in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Needless to say, they are one of the most important rock bands in Asia.

As pioneers of the rock movement in Pakistan, Junoon made a clever fusion of rock, influenced by Led Zeppelin, with traditional Pakistan folk music and raga inspired melodies.

When they started back in 1990, rock music from Pakistan was practically non existent. They had to open this new way, and it was not at all easy. For years, they struggled to find an audience. It was not until 1997 that their hit Sayonne got to the number 1 spot in the top South Asian charts, staying there for over 2 months.

Sayonee (1996)

Saeen (1995)

Susheela Raman - International Tamil

Music is not always the reflect of the land where we are born. Susheela Raman is an example of this fact, and a proof of how sound can be multicultural depending on the multiple influences that a musician receives during his life.

The music of Susheela Raman shows all of her cultural background, as a Tamil descendant who was born in England: the sounds of pop music, mixed with the Carnatic music, a kind of Tamil music that emphasizes the singing with the melodic accompaniment of violin and the rythm of mridamgham.

Maya (2001)

Susheela, who grew up in England  and Australia, listening to classical music from the South of India, came back to the her parents' country in 1995 and lived there for two years. There she improved her vocal style, which had a lot of Western influences because of her participation in a rock and a funk band when she was young. 

Her sound, which adapts some of the Tamil elements to jazz and pop has a really sensual and delicate texture, with some references to the environment where she grew up. She said in this regard:

(...) my music is more shaped by growing up in Australia, going to the beach, the vibrations of the ocean... the spatial dimensions are different (of other indian musicians) and that means my music is different."

Mamavatu (2001)

Samitha & Iraj - A Fortunate Collaboration

This post is about two Sri Lankan artists, Samitha Mudunkotuwa and Iraj, who despite being from different generations and styles,  have got together to create a couple of great songs.

Iraj is currently one of the best selling artists in Sri Lanka, he’s the head of the hip hop movement there, while Samitha has a successful career spanning 20 years, with several Sinhalese pop hits in her bag.

They both deserve a blog post on their own, so I will skip further details and go directly to the fun part: the music!

Saara Sadisi


Oba Hinda (Kalpana)

Shadia Mansour - Free Palestine!

I don’t have anything to add to the eloquence of Shadia Mansour’s own words, describing the events that lead her to make the beautiful hip hop song Kollon 3endon Dababaat (below).

I wrote this song a couple of hours after witnessing the gruesome attack on the innocent men,women and children in Gaza on the morning of December 27th 2008.

I was in sheer shock, I was crushed, angered, disturbed, devastated, these are just a few of the emotions that ran through me. I am harsh in this particular song and feel that I have the right to express myself freely as an artist, as a Palestinian AND as a woman. I am a passionate believer in peace between the people, the fact that I am stating the facts from one side does not necessarily mean I have a personal grudge against another nations victims.

Kollon 3endon Dababaat was released as a tribute to Gaza. To all the men, women and children who stand on the front line of the battle field. Who are fighting the occupation of their land and daily offenses and abuses inflicted upon them for over 60 years. I grew up seeing pictures and clips of Palestinian kids as young as 5 throwing hand size rocks at military tanks, the image of Palestinian kids throwing stones at these tanks has become symbolic. It has become a significant trademark to the Palestinian resistance.

Ever wonder where all these rocks come from? These rocks are the remains of peoples homes, the rock is the pride, these kids hold their dignity in their hands. The rock is the pain within, the shattered dreams, the haunting memories, the loss and survival till the end.

Kollon 3endon Dababaat

Arme D'espoir

Visit her website for more info and songs. I don’t want to finish this post without saying something to all governments in the world: Fuck you.

Oleg Fesov - Atmospheric Traditional

The War of Tajikistan during the 90’s led Oleg Fesov to emigrate from his country, Tajikistan, to Moscow and later to Germany. During these trips he always carried with him a great love for the traditional Tajik music. His passion is clearly reflected in his compositions, where subtle rhythms and soft melodies in Sitar, Oud or Guitar, are accompanied by the calmed sound of his own voice. All this brought together in a tranquilizing atmosphere created by keyboards, a sign of Western influence.

Chudat Medoni (1994)

Chashmi tu

Dadawa – A peculiar Chinese voice

Zhu Zheqin, better known in Asia as Dadawa, is one of those musicians that have a special sensibility for the Tibetan culture, in spite of the fact that she is not from there. Born in the province of Guangzhou, Dadawa was discovered by He Xuntian, an Tibetan music expert. Her voice, which has a powerful timbre, is similar to other voices of her country but is characterized for its strenght.

Seven drums (1998)

Her two albums, recorded with eight years of difference, have two definite styles. The first one, Voices in the sky, has a marked tibetan influence, including the song instrumentation. The second one, Seven Days, has some buddhist references and is closer to the Chinese culture. Dadawa, who has been called by some critics the ‘Chinese Enya’, is recognized for her particular music, which some classify as new age, but others label as experimental, because of some atypical harmonies.

Seven Days (2006)

Dengue Fever – Cambodian Psychedelic Rock

The brothers Zac and Ethan Holzman were fans of vintage Cambodian music. Singers like Sinn Sisamouth, whose music was banned during the regime of Pol Pot in 1975, were among their favorites. When they met Chhom Nimol, a karaoke star from Cambodia who had moved to L.A., the band they had dreamed of for years was created: Dengue Fever. The Oriental voice of Nimol along with the psychedelic sound of guitars and keyboards, is the characteristic seal of their music. They were successful in Cambodia, where Khmer Rouge, a communist political party, killed some of the musicians because of the mix of pop and cambodian music they played.

Seeing hands

"Sleepway through the Mekong" is the name of a documentary that shows the trip to Cambodia that the members of Dengue Fever had to do in order to perform at the Water music festival. The name of the band was inspired by a trip to Cambodia that Zac did. He was in a car with a friend, who was sick with dengue, and the music of Sinn Sisamouth was on.

Sleepwalking trough the Mekong

Arian Band – The Real Face of Iran

Some bands have so many good songs that it gets difficult to select the two that will accompany a post. Arian Band, an Iranian pop band born in 2000, is one of these. The formation of this band is something not very often seen in the West, let alone in the Middle East. With nine members, three of them females, Arian Band has broken through the gender barrier to become the first band of its kind in their country.

Ghasedak (2008)

The political climate in Iran has been changing during the last years, making possible for them to tour outside of their country, thus letting the world know about them and their music. They have taken advantage of this opportunity to show a different face of Iran to the world. As Ali Pahlavan, the leader of the band, said in an interview with the BBC:

If you go to Iranian movies all you see is misery - nothing else. People think Iran is like this - everything is a desert, all the people are crying... We wanted to show the real Iran.

Nagoo (2008)

Checkpoint 303 - Electronic wail from Palestine

Inspired by the life of people from occupied territories, Checkpoint 303, a group of musicians from Palestine and Tunisia, has based its sound in live recordings over the streets of the main Palestinian cities. "It is not so much the fact that the founding members are of arabic origin that defines the issues we talk about in our music. It is rather a strong conviction that injustice anywhere in the world should be reported, fought and exposed to the world" said its founders, SC Yosh and Sc Mocha, in an interview.

They capture the daily sounds of local people and mix it with samples and melodies played in Oud. Their name was based on 'Checkpoint 300', a zone between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem that is guarded by soldiers, restricting the passage of Palestinian people to Israel.

Streets O' Ramallah (2007)

One of the most unique features of Checkpoint 303 is the fact that they are clearly not interested in selling. Their listeners can only get their music by downloading it on their website. Furthermore, their lyrics are very critical about the situation of people in Palestina, who, according to them, need to resist the military abuse and the human rights violation. They don't want to be restricted to say what they think, so they prefer to produce their music by themselves.

Abraj

Yoshida Brothers – Rock in Kimono

Shamisen, an old string instrument from Japan, has been played since the 16th century. Nowadays, the sound of Shamisen has become popular because the theme song of the Nintendo Wii game console is entirely played with this instrument by the brothers Ryoichiro Yoshida and Ken'ichi Yoshida, who formed Yoshida Brothers.

The way they always dress like Samurais, with Hakama pants and a kimono, along with their Shamisen, may look very traditional. But the music of Yoshida Brothers is a fusion of rock and the sound of their ancestors, which they play with amazing agility.

Rising


Nikata (2004)

Yat-Kha - Ancestral Rock

Yat-Kha is certainly unique in the rock world. Its founder, Albert Kuvezin, is a musician from Tuva, a federal subject of Russia, but moved to Moscow, where Yat-Kha was born in 1991. Tuvinian music is known primarily for its particular singing style, known as throat singing. This vocal technique, developed for generations, is remarkable for its use of overtones, producing more than one note at the same time.

Come Along (2003)

Yat-Kha has won important awards, including the renowned BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards in 2002 in the Asian category. The path from their beginnings wasn’t easy, though. They had to fight against communist musical censorship in order to play their music and win the international recognition they now enjoy. Visit their official website for further information.

Ahoi (2005)

Namgyal Lhamo - Classical Tibetan music with modern instruments

Paradise Lost (2007)

Om Ah Hung (2007)

For information about Namgyal Lhamo, visit her website http://www.namgyallhamo.com or her Myspace http://www.myspace.com/namgyallhamo.

Sevara Nazarkhan – Uzbekistan

It's perhaps contradictory for a singer to have been in a pop band similar to the Spice girls, and then to become one of the support artists on the latest Peter Gabriel tour. But the musical career of Sevara Nazarkhan is one of the most eclectic in Central Asia. Born in a family of musicians (her mother was a music teacher and her father promoted traditional uzbek music in Radio Taskent) Sevara studied singing and etnomusicology in the Conservatory of Uzbekistan. In 2004, she won the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music, as the best artists of Asia-Pacific. Her abilities with ancient persian instruments like the Dutar and her style, between pop and traditional uzbek music make her a rare but nice mix to our ears.

Sevgi alam (2006)


Yol Bolsin (2003)