Gescha what? Canada can rule.

There was a time when Canada could musically produce only pop-folk music and not much for exporting it. Every attempt of getting in the hip hop music scene with something really cool was kind of a flop. But... wind is changing on canadian artists. And this album is the living proof. Hip hop is a difficult territory to get into. We are into a genre where seems to be very little left to say and to experiment and where is extremely easy to fall into copycat and repetition. This band actually has something new to say. They have good rhythms, they work on music achieving original vibes, and lyrics are just perfectly balanced between interesting and fascinating. Are you looking for more? Gescha are fresh air in the hip-hop ground and I think we're gonna hear more of them.

Best Christmas notes! ...at least for me.

Are you tired of the jingling-tingling-dindongling that's invading your ears everywhere you go? I surely am. So, I wanted to leave my blog for a little Christmas holiday with good sounds on it. Ok, it's Christmas, I can't deny it even if I try, but can we please please make the effort to listen to some decent christmas music? I did it:

and if jingle must be, be like this:

I could go on... but I have to cook a Christmas cake, so Happy Christmas everybody! See you before the year ends C.

Traveling: Chile

There's a place in South America that appears to be far. Farer than every other place in the american continent. Maybe because is just a long and thin strip of mountains that isolate the people that live on the coast. Maybe for its troubled and hard history. I don't know why, but since I was a little girl there was something about Chile that made me imagine that land like a bubble somewhere nowhere. There were these people, artists, musicians, writers, sparse all around the world talking about their lost homeland and telling magical tales in a way that made me sure that this was supposed to be a special land.
Here I found some music from that far place. And still it talks to me in the same way. One day I'll see it with my eyes and I'll know a little more how far it is.


This album is the soundtrack of a movie titled "Mejor no fumes" (You'd better not smoke). It includes a very wide range of styles and genres and collaborations of different artists. The result is a poetical travel in the modern chilean pop music, with accents of rock and songs with beautiful lyrics and open atmospheres.


And this one is a weird mix between pachanga, cumbia and ska and rock and... almost everything. It's funny, danceable, interesting and fresh. Makes me think of a long travel by train. Don't know exactly why.


Another perspective on Chile. This album takes inspiration by the rainforest, the autochthonous populations of ancient south America and their traditions and rituals. I must confess that I've been first attracted by the cover and the title. Pacarina, in fact, were the places where the first inhabitants of Peru and Andes were supposed to come from, sacred places like caves or lakes. And before being humans those people were elements of nature, of the underworld... well isn't this fascinating?


When I listened to this album the first thing I thought were Manà. Then I kept listening and was captured. I like this album a lot. It's a little rough, there's a lot of rock and blues, but it's totally "latino" in its best declination. I can't get tired by the lyrics and I totally love Balcones y taxis.

Bonus Track

This is an original project that I wanted to inlcude in this post. An experiment of "painting" portraits by music. I think that mission was accomplished.

Aux pies nus Cesaria walked away.

Cesaria Evora was one of a kind. She made popular all around the world a music and a place - Cabo Verde - that, if it was not for her, could still be ignored by the most.
Her voice was velvet, her songs were always in an unstable balance between sadness and joy, between Africa and Europe. Between.
And she was that kind of woman that without being a beauty could capture eyes and ears and stand on a stage keeping the audience in her hands, in her soft modulations and breaths.
She was a queen on bare foots. Aux pies nus she always went on the stage and like that, discreet, she went away. Have a nice trip, queen Evora. This is a little tribute.

The original:


The remix:
ROTW # 07 - Cesaria Evora - Petit Pays - (2002 - 20syl RMX) by 20syl

The interview:
Sarah Linhares interview with Cesaria Evora by Sarah Linhares

Lennon, better than ever.

Everybody's been honoring John Lennon in the anniversary of his death (8 december 1980). I'm a little late in this celebration and I must confess that I didn't have particularly deep feelings about this tribute. I'm not a fan of Beatles and if I had to choose I'd go for George Harrison, without a doubt.
But, I can't deny that Lennon represents a mile stone of music of all times, but I am still critical about his idolization. So, here I am trying to find new ways to keep Lennon's name alive without being obvious or boring.
I found some good reasons for this post looking in SoundCloud...

Imagine-a-jump-john-lennon-vs.-van-halen by jackstanleywp
Imagine that? Really? I don't know if van Halen would be pleased to hear this one, but I surely am.

John Lennon vs. Jay Z - Sweet And Sour (B.Chen Mashup) by B.Chen
A little less unprobable, but still surprising. This mashup actually works. And maybe the two of them would be pleased this time.

WORKING CLASS HERO (my tribute to John Lennon) by MariSela MuSik
I am always cautious when it comes to Lennon covers. Most of the time they're way too mellifluous and I can't go over the first minute. Not this time. This one is absolutely beautiful. MariSela is on my fav list from now on.

Fold - Happy Chocolate (feat. John Lennon & Nina Simone) by fold
This is more a beautiful speech than a song. But I like the way it sounds and I think that pairing Lennon and Nina Simone is a very good idea. The base line is also very cool.

Gershwin's here to stay.

Every single person who took a mic in the hands and tried to sing jazz had to cope with the Gershwins (I mean George and Ira). Their standards are a must. You can learn jazz playing them, singing them, staying on the classic path and then trying to skew and change patterns, inventing. The history of jazz has been made on those notes and still they're here, kind of a sound track for all of us jazz lovers, musicians, singers. Old stuff? If it's old, still rocks.

I loves you Porgy
Two different renditions of the same standard. Forget just for few minutes the incredible and unforgettable Nina Simone and retune on something new. Two ways to keep this song alive staying on the traditional (but nicely performed) pattern, or going a little ahead with a touch of modernism that does fit perfectly. Equally beautiful.





Summertime
This is what we should name a hit! There's almost nobody in music world that has not played this tune at least once in the lifetime. So whatever rendition you can think about, probably you'll find it. These are the Summertimes I found worth to be listened to and maybe bought.
Again, there's the classic one and the dary one.





Bonus Track