the songs of my people ;)

I guess I haven't talked about music in a while. Well then... brace yourself, dear reader, because I've just spent an entire day downloading a ton of stuff that I am very excited about.:) See, I can go for months without adding anything new to my extensive music collection... but then I sort of go berserk and somehow accidentally discover a dozen new artists/bands all at once. If you've been following this journal for a while, you've seen this happen several times already. It's always entirely unplanned and tends to disrupt my daily routine, much like a sudden bout of fever... LOL. Not that I'm complaining. It's a very pleasant disease, and I wish I came down with it more often.:P

Anyway... I was itching for some new cool summer soundtracks, but I never anticipated the massive avalanche I managed to bury myself under this weekend.;D I think I am currently putting together my sixth (or is it seventh?...) new playlist. Hours and hours of music... most of which sends me either dancing wildly around the room, or nearly stops my heart with its breathtaking beauty. Or both. (Yeah, that sounds kinda dangerous... LOL.) The really exciting part is that apparently I had no idea how vastly trendy it has become to combine various folk/ethnic influences together. I mean, I've been on a massive "world music" trip ever since I became aware of it sometime in the eighties... but these days rooting around the globe for inspiration is no longer just a "new age" thing. It's an all-over-the-place thing. It's awesome. One of today's discoveries is a Polish band called Dikanda (apparently "of international renown", though I've never heard of them until today), who draw their musical inspiration from traditional folk sounds of the broadly defined Orient – from the Balkans, through Israel, Kurdistan, Belarus to India. Their songs are gorgeous - and they also apparently invented their own language for the lyrics.;) (Which is an interesting piece of trivia I found on their website.) Unfortunately, I was only able to download two out of their seven albums. (You'd think a band of "international renown" would have figured out how to put their stuff up on iTunes... but, sadly, most of it wasn't there at all.) Still, I am quite impressed by their fresh, unique approach to the "traditional music" concept. I thought they would be my top hit list for today... and then I found E Muzeki. An incredible instrumental duo who take their listeners on an enchanted musical journey through pretty much the entire Europe AND the Middle East. They released four albums between 2003 and 2008... then split up to pursue separate careers with different bands (which I also need to check out at some point in the near future... LOL). Surprisingly enough, they were both born in the US - but their music is a beautiful marriage of their respective Mediterranean and Celtic roots. In other words, this is the kind of magic that happens when you put together a Greek guy with a bouzouki and an Irish girl with a violin. Absolutely breathtaking. <333 Here is one of their album covers:



I also downloaded a bunch of other stuff, including an awesome "surf rock" band called Diego's Umbrella, whose style reminds me strongly of Gogol Bordello. They have riotously funny lyrics, including song titles like Drinking in Spanish, Kung Fu Fondu, The Fiberoptic Elflord, The Theme of the Glowing Amigo or Lasers'n'Lesbians (yes, really... LOL). And let's not forget the cute French/Latino kid Kendji Girac, with his sweet and invigorating pop tunes in a mixture of French and Spanish. Absolutely perfect for the summer. I can't wait to play them while walking on the beach...

Anyway... gotta hit the pillows, but here's a tiny sample of what I've been raving about. Dikanda:

And E Muzeki:

Yes, that would be my favorite musical instrument in the entire world. I'm pretty sure I used to play it in several of my numerous Greek past lives... LOL. You're welcome, and good night.:)