Now Available - The Complete Album!

Peace on Earth 2007 - The Complete Album!

Now available as a zipped download; either click the link above or one of the two pieces of artwork. Enjoy our holiday present to you, and have a wonderful New Year!

Lalgudi Jayaraman - Bhajan in Raga Pilu

Mysore Palace by night, October 2000.

Bhajan in Raga Pilu by Lalgudi Jayaraman.

We end this holiday music collection with a traditional closing composition by one of South India's greatest performing violinists, here playing with his son and daughter. The raga selected is a very unusual one (it blends what in Western music terms would be called major and minor scales) and involves a number of "harmonies" that are usually two instruments simply playing at separations of exactly one octave. Regardless, its earnestness and clarity/approachability of harmony make it the perfect piece to bring our holiday mix together and to its finish.

DoÍ - In Your Sigh

Statue of Holger Danske, Kronborg Castle, Helsingør, Denmark.

In Your Sigh by DoÍ.

From Hans Christian Andersen:

"...The fairest sight of all is the old castle of Kronborg, and under it sits Holger Danske in the deep, dark cellar which no one enters; he is clad in iron and steel and rests his head on his stalwart arm; his long beard hangs down upon the marble table where it has become stuck fast; he sleeps and dreams, but in his dreams he sees everything that comes to pass in Denmark. Every Christmas Eve an angel of God comes to tell him that all he has dreamed is true, and that he may go to back to sleep again, for Denmark is not yet in any danger! but if it should ever come, then old Holger Danske will rouse himself, and the table will break apart as he pulls out his beard! Then he will come forth, and strike a blow that shall be heard throughout all the countries of the world."

This song may owe much to Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Carl Cox, and countless others, but it illustrates the immediate relevance and vibrance of Scandinavian popular/rock music. A beautiful, big crashing mess of a finale to our musical Christmas, we hope.

N Ravikiran - Smara Janaka

N Ravikiran with chitravina. Photo courtesy of Google Image Search (yeah, I'm lazy).

Smara Janaka by N Ravikiran, a master of the chitravina (pic above).

Ravikiran is an interesting character. This track is recorded when he was twenty-five, which seems relatively young for an Indian classical musician... until you realize he had been playing for twenty-three of those twenty-five years. Ravikiran had his first professional performance at the age of two, making him perhaps the world's youngest professional musician. (At that recital, Ravi Shankar was purported to have said: “If you don’t believe in God, just look at Ravikiran.”)

Ravikiran's mature phase has been quite distinctive as well: He has taken on world peace as his cause celebre, and now gives "Gandhian" performances where he plays, without eating, drinking, or taking breaks, for up to 24 hours at a time, putting the ticket sales to charitable causes and usually leading off his concerts with an expressions of his concerns at a particular ongoing conflict.

Ravikiran's biography aside, his playing comes through with power and authority on this piece, written by the medieval Carnatic composer Dikshitar, supposedly when Dikshitar was undergoing an agonizing crisis of faith. Whether that crisis of faith is visible in the music is for to you to decide, but it is certain that some of Dikshitar's most energetic compositions came from this period. It's particularly worth paying attention to the gamakas (literally "slides"; flourishes caused at the end of the note by bending the strings to move pitch up or down a quarter-step) in this tune.

Tiken Jah Fakoly - Non A L'Excision

Bullock, Djenne, Mali. Sorry about the bad scan!

Non A L'Excision by Tiken Jah Fakoly.

Like Armee Malienne, this is a song in the griot tradition, but takes that background in a very different direction. The griots are a hereditary caste of West African singer-storytellers; both of Super Rail Band's most famed vocalists, Salif Keita and Mory Kante, are griot singers.

Though brought up in a griot family (in Cote D'Ivoire, though he now apparently spends most of his time in Bamako right near SRB), Tiken Jah Fakoly takes this in a different direction, gleefully ripping off whatever influences from reggae to folk to other African styles he can. (The compelling guitar hook in this track is lifted straight from Geoffrey Oryema's Ye Ye Ye.) Still, this is probably Mayur's favorite track this year, so maybe derivative's not all bad. Plus the album cover is awesome.

Balkan Beat Box - Mexico City

Tenochtitlan, Winter 1980. Photograph by Jyothi Subbarao.

Mexico City by Balkan Beat Box.

Serbo-Croatian gypsy and wedding music is one of Mayur's favorites, although he's never had the chance to sample the article in its natural habitat; Kate, on the other hand, was lucky enough to trawl around the former Yugoslavia listening to all kinds of great stuff in all kinds of interesting places.

Balkan Beat Box, on the other hand, evokes places a bit removed from Eastern Europe. Started by Ori Kaplan (fmr Gogol Bordello) and Tamir Muskat (fmr Firewater), BBB is a mishmash of Eastern European, Latin, Israeli, Spanish, North African, industrial, techno and umpteen other styles. However, in the best tradition of its wedding-band antecedents, BBB is a hoot to listen to. Also apparently to party with; we're still regretting missing out on the vodka-soaked after-party of a couple weeks ago.

This song is one of the less cacophonic on their latest album, Nu Med, and in our opinion is that beautiful part of the mishmash where all component elements merge perfectly. Between the Robert Johnson-like guitar hook (we were sure it was a sample for weeks) to the Talib Kweli-like spoken-word refrain, to the Spanish trumpet, it's a mess of elements that really shouldn't work together, and are assembled without a deep soundbed to blend them (it's piece 1 plus piece 2 plus piece 3, etc. with no linking sound effect or unifying instrumental), but somehow, it all comes together, perhaps even as much as the next tune...

Now all mp3!

Dear All,

It occurred to Mayur rather late in the day that MPEG-4 (the standard iTunes format) also happens to be a pain to use for anyone who doesn't have an iPod or use iTunes as his/her music player. So we went back and converted all the music files to mp3. If you were having trouble playing or downloading anything, you may want to go back and get it now!

Super Rail Band - Armee Malienne

Malian currency. Original source CIA Factbook Online.

Armee Malienne by the Super Rail Band.

A classic track from this band's early days in the '70s, from the recently re-released Soundiata LP.

Super Rail Band originated as, of all things, a cost-cutting effort by the Mali Ministry of Information. Following the country's independence in the early 1960s, the Ministry had originally been tasked with sponsoring multiple music programs to support Malian culture. However, after large budget cuts, they were unable to continue any of these programs at their original level. In order to stay within budget, they pulled together some street musicians (including a local griot singer named Salif Keita, who was later to become an African pop megastar) and set them up at the local railway station hotel in Bamako to play gigs. The band became an enduring sensation, and the rest is history.

So perhaps fiscal responsibility has its ancillary advantages...

The Pixies - Ana

Anastasia Gouletas Burk, est. April 5, 2007.

Ana by the Pixies.

A simple, minimalist track that hopefully provides a little acerbic sting after the over-the-topness of "Push Push."

Bang Camaro - Push Push (Lady Lightning)

An awesome band to rock out to...


...or to keep up with on Guitar Hero!



Push Push (Lady Lightning) by Bang Camaro.

If our age has a musical zeitgeist, then Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and their antecedents seems to be what it's about.

This one's for all the kids who are looking forward to getting a big box of simulated instruments under the tree this holiday!

Cab Calloway - 15 Minute Intermission

Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan, from the film I'm Not There (2007).

15-Minute Intermission by Cab Calloway, from Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour" show, 1 January 2007.

Dylan's radio show is about as unconstructed, wacky, and defiant of interpretation as the man himself. The theme for the show we took this from is "time," but in this case we'll claim that it's just about the stated theme of the piece itself: A break between songs. Of course, we're not being entirely sincere. We'd like to think that Dylan would be proud.

Olive Harvest - Simon Shaheen

Olives, market in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1996.

Olive Harvest by Simon Shaheen.

So, this track isn't exactly obscure. Shaheen, a Palestinian born in Galilee, has taught music at the Academy of Music in Jerusalem, the Manhattan School of Music, and Columbia University, and was the recipient of the National Heritage Award in 1994. He also rescues Bang On A Can from ridiculous abstruseness for Mayur every year! But, it is certainly a model of the successful evolution of classical musical modes, as much as the Srinivas piece.

Shaheen plays both oud and violin on this track; as with Paul McCartney on his latest album, the "One mind, many instruments" style makes one have to wonder how he can duplicate this sort of performance live with another musician filling one of those roles.

Levin/Minassian - Mingled Roots

Shrine by the side of the road from Bangalore to Madikeri, India.

Another tree pic, but we are going from baobab to roots in the mix, after all...

Mingled Roots by Tony Levin and Levon Minassian.

This tune is from Levin's 1995 album World Diary; while this album has substantially more surviving copies than, say, Laghonia's Et Cetera, it was a small enough release that Levin made all of the original CD covers himself by hand (they're a very nice brown paper kind of thing). Appropriately, the record plays more like a mixtape than a coherent album; there's even a clip of Levin's espresso machine that plays a recurring role.

This track is a duet between Levin (on upright bass) and Armenian doudouk player Levon Minassian, whose discography is, to say the least, sparse, but who has the presence to basically drive the track single-handed.

This tune is our first "slowdown" track; it's definitely for the serene listener at a serene moment. But rest assured that patience in listening will be rewarded!

Orchestra Baobab - Cabral

Baobab tree in Kimasso, Mali, 1996.

Cabral by Orchestra Baobab.

This track, from their new album Made in Dakar, features the spare guitar playing of West African legend (and Super Rail Band alumnus) Barthélemy Attisso, who apparently works as an attorney by day. Maybe there's hope for all us lawyers...

A new album by an old favorite. We have both been lucky enough to see this band live before their return to Senegal to play a standing gig Saturday nights at the Just 4 U Club in Dakar. Until we have the chance to visit, we'll just have to content ourselves with recordings (sigh).

Orquesta Joe Cotto - Descarga #4

For our fourth track, the appropriately-named Descarga #4 by Orquesta Joe Cotto, from the fantastic session album New York Descargas.

These descarga sessions began in Havana in the mid-50s, and were carried on in New York under the guidance of producer Al Santiago. The session list reads like a Who's Who of salsa: Cachao, Charlie Palmieri, the then-unknown Hector Lavoe, and many others. This selection is a pretty straight-up salsa tune, with an even blend of traditional son montuno and more New York-ish styles.

Dedicated to Emilio Pasha Valderrama Afsharipour, est. 23 April 2007!

El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico - No Es De Pena

No Es De Pena by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.

I really couldn't have come up with a better visual than the cover of this album, a live concert recording from 1984, when the members of one of the best-known salsa bands in the world decided on an unusual performing venue: Barrow, Alaska. The album earned them a Grammy nomination, as well as (no doubt) incipient frostbite.

Regina Spektor - 20 Years of Snow

After our hymn of preparation, a slow starting crescendo...

Trail behind Bridgton House, December 2005.

20 Years of Snow by Regina Spektor.

Mayur: This is from Regina Spektor's first (and only) album, Begin to Hope; a gift to Kate from our friends Ginger and Chris while she was in the hospital *yet* *again* (sigh) earlier this year. I'd missed it when it came out, though I saw it featuring in a lot of alt.music discussion. I promptly stole the album (I think that Kate's first sampling may come from this song on the blog!), and gave it a few spins through.

For me, this particular tune just perfectly captures the Tim Burton rush I get from the first snowfall, the crisp cider smells in the air, and the extraordinary quiet of cold nights. I can almost see Eileen and Rex's front yard already...

U Srinivas - Gananayakam

Gananayakam by U Srinivas. (To download or play the music file instead of the video, click HERE.)

In the long-standing tradition of South Indian music, this year's holiday music series opens with a prayer to the deity Ganesha, the Lord of Beginnings and the Overcomer of Obstacles.

Gananayakam (a reference to one of the names of Ganesha) is a Carnatic (South Indian classical) piece written by the medieval composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar and performed by the prodigy U Srinivas (a/k/a "Mandolin Srinivas") on the "double mandolin"; actually a Hawaiian ukelele that Srinivas adapted for Carnatic music. The use of western instruments for both Hindustani (north Indian) and Carnatic music is actually quite common; the violin was brought to India by the British and adapted for Carnatic music in the 18th century, and more recently, performers like V.M. Bhatt or Debashish Bhattacharya (steel guitar) and Kadri Gopalnath (saxophone) have brought new instruments into the fold. Hopefully we can all combine the best of tradition and innovation in our holiday celebrations!

About to begin...

Dear Friends and Family,

Kate and I are about to start sending you some holiday tunes via the blog for this year. Hope you enjoy!

Also, check out our friends Bill and Amy's music blog (whence we stole this idea), with new music for xmas '07, and new this year, Kate's card store and website!

Peace and Love,
Mayur