Though Lukas Ligeti comes from a most impressive pedigree as the son of György, he’s his own man, making contemporary classical music which combines the best of that tradition, spliced with jazz and music from West Africa.
Ethnic
[Music] Goro Yamaguchi – Mukaiji Reibo
After a very noisy year, it’ll be nice to end it on a pleasant note. Many thanks to Miguel for posting this piece for shakuhachi by Goro Yamaguchi.
[Music] The Mariachi Men of Yugoslavia
Jonny Wrate of Roads and Kingdoms Magazine writes the article for the year for me!
Many years ago, while living in Macedonia, my friends and I would discuss music, and two, Igor and Goran, turned me on to the fact that Mexican music was actually a big deal in the former Yugoslavia. It was the most amusing thing I had ever heard, as I grew up with a lot of boleros in my house (Los Panchos, Los Tres Ases, and others, for example). It blew my mind that such a scene would exist, but they were emphatic in telling me that such a creature DID indeed exist. They even showed me record covers like the one above, recorded by the ever-tacky, ever awesome Ljubomir Milić.
Wrate’s back story really does a nice job of filling in the history of a very unique time in my beloved Balkans which ties into the music I loved as a child.
[Music] Gralitsa – Upon A Circle, Upon A Gold
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After a track on Soundcloud, I decided to purchase this mini-LP from Gralitsa, a musician whose work crosses the genres of world music, post-rock, progressive rock and soundtrack music with great ease. It’s worth picking up.
[Music] Fairuz – Christmas Songs From Syria فيروز أغاني الميلاد
An early Christmas present for my friends on the Gregorian calendar, courtesy of Fairuz.
[Music] Assa’d Khoury – Al Ghaba (1978)
All credit goes to my friend Thomas for hipping me to Assa’d Khoury, the king of Syrian electronic belly dance groove music.
[Music] Боже, храни родную Русь!
Покойся с миром, г-н Карлов.
[Music] The Male Choir of the China People’s Armed Police – Suliko
The Male Choir of the China People’s Armed Police are a revelation to me. They have the same power as the old Red Army Choir, and the same ability to make some lovely music choices. This piece, Suliko, is a Georgian folk tune.
[Music] Les Choeurs de l’Armée Rouge MVD – Maroussia (Marusya)
Les Choeurs de l’Armée Rouge MVD (The Red Choir Orchestra and Ballet) make a joyful racket with one of Russia’s most endearing folk songs, Marusya.
[Music] On Sublime Frequencies’ Burkina Faso Box Set
The Hum blog does a wonderful job highlighting a new box set released by Sublime Frequencies covering the music of the West African country of Burkina Faso.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 