Wonderful Songs, Aug'05
14 Aug 2005 09:39 PM / Filed in: Music
Welcome to the first edition of Wonderful Songs, my monthly blog entry outlining ten exceptional songs I listened to during the past month.
This month we have two entries from Daby Toure, a new fabulous World Music artist and one of these songs is free for you to download from the artist's page! There are also two French music entries in the Pop/Rock and category.
[Smooth Jazz] People Make the World Go Round, Richard Elliot
From the album Metro Blue
This is one really nice piece of Smooth Jazz...If you happen to like saxophone. This is far from being the first album from Richard Elliot. It is currently on the top charts of U.S. Smooth Jazz radios, among which http://www.smoothjazz.com/, an excellent streaming online radio. While I do prefer Richard's Ricochet over Metro Blue, it is still a nice buy with such a good song opening it.
[Reggae] The World, Sizzla
From the album Bobo Ashanti
Released a few years ago, Bobo Ashanti is a really nice album if you like reggae and ragga. Some of the songs have harsh words, well at least if you understand Jammies, the english slang of Jamaica. The World stands out in that it has a rootish feeling to it and the lyrics are not too bad. I was disappointed by other albums from this dreadlock Rasta fighting for the roots and culture legacy of Jamaica but Bobo Ashanti has nice gems.
[French] Si C'est Bon Comme Ca 98, Sinclair
From the album Comme Je Suis 1992-2004
Sinclair is truly the prince of french Funk. AFAIK, he has a faithful, but small-sized fan base. And I really wonder why since he has every ingredient necessary to be as popular as -M- (see below). I've been to one of his concert 2 or 3 years ago and I really enjoyed it much. While many of his songs could make it into Wonderful Songs, I chose this one because it has, in my opinion, everything that you need to hear from Sinclair: very nice voice, very good rhythm, and funk à la James Brown.
[French] Mon ego, -M-
From the album Live au Spectrum
According to all accounts, -M- is one of the best French musicians of his time. With a weird but nice, monstruous guitar playing and very good lyrics, he is a huge scene monster. While his studio albums range from good to very good, his Live performances are nothing short of flabbergasting ! I was lucky enough to go to his Paris-Bercy concert this year and it's my second best after Ben Harper's. If you love rock music and amazing guitar stunts along with some very curious and enjoyable sounding instruments, get his live albums and if you can affford it, go to the concert. Mon ego will give you a pretty good idea of what I am talking about.
[World] Iris, Daby Toure
From the album Diam
This album is a gem of World Music. Daby Toure, a Mauritanian artist, gives us here his first solo album after he quit touring with the Toure Toure band. While all the songs are very very good, some of them really just stand out...like Iris, a song which lyrics are written in a completely imaginary language. Go out, get this album and put your best headphones to listen to it while relaxing in your bed. Let Daby take you on a wonderful musical trip.
[World] Kia a So, Daby Toure
Free Song
http://realworldrecords.com/dabytoure/
Second entry from Daby Toure in this edition of Wonderful Songs, Kia a So is on par with the songs on the album save for the fact that it is a free download from Daby Toure's official website (see link above). Upon registration you can download it from the Audio/Video link on the navbar. And guess what? There are more free songs and videos on the website! Thanks, Daby!
[Smooth Jazz] Ooh la La, Jeff Lorber
From the album Flipside
This is one of this year's smash hits in the Smooth Jazz category. Jeff Lorber, a keyboard player that mixes R&B with Jazz improvisations along with bebop is a master in his craft. I own a few of his records and I enjoy them a lot. Ooh la La surprised me. I didn't expect something so good.
[New Age] Beams, Agatsuma
From the album Beams
Take a very old Japanese instrument, called Shamisen. Put it in the hands of a prodigy, a true genious who masters it. Add to this electro and you have Beams, the song. The album is very good in that it has it for all tastes: those who like electro, traditional Japanese music, groove ...etc. And the Shamisen as played by Agatsuma produces an extremely interesting sound. Here again, you better have some nice music gear to hear all the subtleties of this instrument.
[Spiritual] Diaphanes, Dhafer Youssef
From the album Digital Prophecy
Dhafer Youssef, a Tunisian Oud artist living in Europe, has created a mystical masterpiece. If you are into so-called "Zen" relaxing music, Diaphanes is definitely for you. It is instrumental only with electro sounds backing Oud but no overwhelming it.
[World] Adarghal (The Blind in Spirit), Abdelli
From the album New Moon
Last but not least, let me introduce you to Abdelli, an Algerian artist from the Kabylie region. He has released two albums of which New Moon is the first. Abdelli sings exclusively in his region's dialect. While I don't understand it, this song moves something deep into me. Maybe because he is using Arabic music instruments such as Derbouka? Anyways, he has a nice voice and the multiplicity of instruments goes nicely with it.
This month we have two entries from Daby Toure, a new fabulous World Music artist and one of these songs is free for you to download from the artist's page! There are also two French music entries in the Pop/Rock and category.
[Smooth Jazz] People Make the World Go Round, Richard Elliot
From the album Metro Blue
This is one really nice piece of Smooth Jazz...If you happen to like saxophone. This is far from being the first album from Richard Elliot. It is currently on the top charts of U.S. Smooth Jazz radios, among which http://www.smoothjazz.com/, an excellent streaming online radio. While I do prefer Richard's Ricochet over Metro Blue, it is still a nice buy with such a good song opening it.
[Reggae] The World, Sizzla
From the album Bobo Ashanti
Released a few years ago, Bobo Ashanti is a really nice album if you like reggae and ragga. Some of the songs have harsh words, well at least if you understand Jammies, the english slang of Jamaica. The World stands out in that it has a rootish feeling to it and the lyrics are not too bad. I was disappointed by other albums from this dreadlock Rasta fighting for the roots and culture legacy of Jamaica but Bobo Ashanti has nice gems.
[French] Si C'est Bon Comme Ca 98, Sinclair
From the album Comme Je Suis 1992-2004
Sinclair is truly the prince of french Funk. AFAIK, he has a faithful, but small-sized fan base. And I really wonder why since he has every ingredient necessary to be as popular as -M- (see below). I've been to one of his concert 2 or 3 years ago and I really enjoyed it much. While many of his songs could make it into Wonderful Songs, I chose this one because it has, in my opinion, everything that you need to hear from Sinclair: very nice voice, very good rhythm, and funk à la James Brown.
[French] Mon ego, -M-
From the album Live au Spectrum
According to all accounts, -M- is one of the best French musicians of his time. With a weird but nice, monstruous guitar playing and very good lyrics, he is a huge scene monster. While his studio albums range from good to very good, his Live performances are nothing short of flabbergasting ! I was lucky enough to go to his Paris-Bercy concert this year and it's my second best after Ben Harper's. If you love rock music and amazing guitar stunts along with some very curious and enjoyable sounding instruments, get his live albums and if you can affford it, go to the concert. Mon ego will give you a pretty good idea of what I am talking about.
[World] Iris, Daby Toure
From the album Diam
This album is a gem of World Music. Daby Toure, a Mauritanian artist, gives us here his first solo album after he quit touring with the Toure Toure band. While all the songs are very very good, some of them really just stand out...like Iris, a song which lyrics are written in a completely imaginary language. Go out, get this album and put your best headphones to listen to it while relaxing in your bed. Let Daby take you on a wonderful musical trip.
[World] Kia a So, Daby Toure
Free Song
http://realworldrecords.com/dabytoure/
Second entry from Daby Toure in this edition of Wonderful Songs, Kia a So is on par with the songs on the album save for the fact that it is a free download from Daby Toure's official website (see link above). Upon registration you can download it from the Audio/Video link on the navbar. And guess what? There are more free songs and videos on the website! Thanks, Daby!
[Smooth Jazz] Ooh la La, Jeff Lorber
From the album Flipside
This is one of this year's smash hits in the Smooth Jazz category. Jeff Lorber, a keyboard player that mixes R&B with Jazz improvisations along with bebop is a master in his craft. I own a few of his records and I enjoy them a lot. Ooh la La surprised me. I didn't expect something so good.
[New Age] Beams, Agatsuma
From the album Beams
Take a very old Japanese instrument, called Shamisen. Put it in the hands of a prodigy, a true genious who masters it. Add to this electro and you have Beams, the song. The album is very good in that it has it for all tastes: those who like electro, traditional Japanese music, groove ...etc. And the Shamisen as played by Agatsuma produces an extremely interesting sound. Here again, you better have some nice music gear to hear all the subtleties of this instrument.
[Spiritual] Diaphanes, Dhafer Youssef
From the album Digital Prophecy
Dhafer Youssef, a Tunisian Oud artist living in Europe, has created a mystical masterpiece. If you are into so-called "Zen" relaxing music, Diaphanes is definitely for you. It is instrumental only with electro sounds backing Oud but no overwhelming it.
[World] Adarghal (The Blind in Spirit), Abdelli
From the album New Moon
Last but not least, let me introduce you to Abdelli, an Algerian artist from the Kabylie region. He has released two albums of which New Moon is the first. Abdelli sings exclusively in his region's dialect. While I don't understand it, this song moves something deep into me. Maybe because he is using Arabic music instruments such as Derbouka? Anyways, he has a nice voice and the multiplicity of instruments goes nicely with it.