This Week's Picks (#23)

The next several series of This Week's Picks are inspired by an often overlooked important aspect of music: the visual. Music is almost always accompanied by costumes, dress, dance, makeup, and/or theatre. The visual can be as simple as a pair of shades on a blues singer or as elaborate as the grand performances of Japanese kabuki theatre.

This week, our picks will focus on the theatrical side of music from around the world.  Please enjoy!

Japanese Kabuki


Kabuki is an elaborate Japanese performance form. The kanji characters that make up the word "kabuki" mean "sing", "dance", and "skill". It originated in the 1600s and characters were played by both women and men. Now, known as yaro kabuki it is only performed by men. There are three categories of kabuki theatre: historical, domestic, and dance. Today, kabuki is the most popular traditional Japanese dance style.


Indonesian Wayang Kulit


Wayang kulit refers to the most famous of Indonesian wayang (Indonesian theatre), the shadow puppets. The puppets are made of leather and their articulated limbs are maneuvered  by sticks. The performances are accompanied by gamelan orchestras in Java and gender wayang ensembles in Bali.  The stories are usually taken from Ramayana, Mahabharata or the Serat Menak.


Indian Bharata Natyam Dance


Bharata Natyam is a traditional dance accompanied by classical music (light instrumentation and a voice). The dance is highly technical and includes detailed neck, head, eye, feet and hand movements that help tell a story. The more famous of these gestures are the mudras, or spiritually symbolic gestures, generally involving the hands. Generally, a woman dances solo and demonstrates both feminine and masculine aspects of movement.

This Week's Picks (#10)

I've had two weeks since the last post and have found some amazing music that I couldn't wait to share. Please enjoy some of my recent obsessions-- this week's picks!

"Storm" by Yoshida Brothers


This has become my obsession for the past few days- rock shamisen. It just doesn't get any cooler than that. The Yoshida Brothers (Ryoichiro and Kenichi Yoshida) are from Japan and both picked up the shamisen, the tradition Japanese lute, before they were five. They released their first album in 1999 and have become a shamisen sensation since then. This track is from their 2003 album, Yoshida Brothers.


"N'Diale" by Jacky Molard Quartet and Foune Diarra Trio


This is a live performance of the the title track from the recent 2010 release of the album N'Diale. Jacky Molard hails from Brenton and has a reputation for his collaborations after working with musicians from Turkey, Bulgaria, Romanian and Kurdistan. In this, his most recent collaboration, he joined forces with Foune Diarra a singer from Mali. Mixing Celtic sounds with Bambara songs may be a surprising choice, but its true that the two traditions work well together.


"Jolie Coquine" by Caravan Palace


This six person group can best be described as electro gypsy jazz. The group started as many do, a few musicians getting together to jam, but what really launched Caravan Palace's career was a request to create a soundtrack to silent porn films from the early 1900s. After that, they found their own sound, a combination of drum and bass, swing, and the gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt, and I'm glad they did. I love this sound and again, this has become a bit of an obsession for me. Anyone want to listen to it again?

(Reviews by Alexandra)

A Tribute to the World Cup Losers #4: Japan and Portugal

We are currently featuring a special series on the World Cup and will return to our normal schedule including "This Week's Picks" and "Wednesday's Reader Picks" when the series is finished. We do hope you enjoy the current series. 

Alright, so maybe calling them "losers" is a little harsh seeing as they made their way into the final 16, but this new series will focus on the countries who are eliminated during the final stage of the World Cup. As the 2010 World Cup in South Africa moves into the elimination stage, Nomad's Playlist will be showcasing our favorite picks from the countries unfortunate enough to be thrown out of the running. 

Japan 

Japan played a rough game against Paraguay and lost in the shot out at the end. While Paraguay may end up in our series before the World Cup is over, it is Japan that makes it here first.

"Tokyo Light" by Chieko Mori

Chieko Mori is one of leading virtuosos on the Japanese koto. Mori was trained in classical Japanese music, but soon adopted a fresh approach to playing that incorporated Western acoustic ideals. This track, "Toyko Light" from the album A Garden of Forking Paths (2008) is a refreshing, soothing piece. Straddling the worlds of the Orient, West, Classical and Contemporary, Mori has forged her way by embracing them.


Portugal

In a close game, Portugal tried their best to win over their neighbors, Spain. But in the end, Spain, the favorites, did take the game and sent Portugal home and into our series.



"Leva-me aos Fados" by Ana Moura


Dominating the tradition of Portuguese fado music, Ana Moura has become a fast sensation.The fado songs are songs of pain, resignation, and emotion. This song, meaning "The fados takes me" is a lovely example of the style. Moura's voice is strong and powerful and even if you do not understand the language, you feel as involved in the music as if you did understand. A genre that is often best described as nostalgia, is the perfect send home for the Portuguese football team.