A Musical Tour of the World: All Countries A-Z One Per Day

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by HitAndRun, Jun 7, 2020.

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  1. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks @John Hp. I'll be watching your videos when I can. I just thought I'd mention that I made no real effort to distinguish between American and Western Samoa. I'm too used to people who would just describe themselves as 'Samoan' with no distinction made between the two Samoas.
     
  2. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Thanks for the selections so far. Of course I like the "men hitting things" best!

    So far, I haven't found anything earthshaking but let me share what I found.

    Punialava'a has been creating music for more than 50 years and was formed in the Samoan village Vailele in 1968 by former school teacher Rev. Iosefa Lale Peteru – or Lale as he’s known. Together with some friends, he produced hits in the 1970s, finding recognition and support from the Samoan National Broadcasting Service Radio. Here is "Tatā Lago a Masefau" from 1978 with a great video:


    The Five Stars is a family pop band formed in 1974, which has recorded many albums of well known and original Samoan and pacific songs. The reference of "Five Stars" in the band's name denotes the five stars on the national flag of Samoa. With more than 18 albums in production, they sit alongside Punialava’a and Tiama’a as some of the Pacific’s most well known bands. Here is a song called "Samoa Malatasi":
    https://youtu.be/4ko4UtF2c6s

    And here is the Choir Of Western Samoa Teachers' Training College, Apia, with "Soufuna Sina":
    https://youtu.be/8mwoYqmFcqg

    Finally, on Folkways I found an interesting compilation of Samoan music called "Music from Western Samoa: from Conch Shell to Disco". Curious about the disco, I looked for the only song with "disco" in the title, which is "Velo Mai Lau Disco" by the Fatausi Brassband. Nothing to do with disco, but let me post it anyway:
    https://youtu.be/DGj4LNp2YR4

    And from the same album, here is Le Patiloa with "Ua lata mai le aso fa'amasino":
    https://youtu.be/Hw9__dvsy4U
     
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  3. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks @john hp. My favourite from your selection is the Keil Isles track - some old style rock and roll. As well as Herma Keil, his sister Eliza Keil also had a solo career, which I thought works as a response to your post. Here she is with 'Everyday is Sunday'.



    'The Guru of Groove' is from New Zealand, but he visited Samoa for the Samoa Jazz and Blues. 36 seconds long.

    'The Guru of Groove playing log Drum in Samoa'.

    From search, I note this is not the only Pacific Island where he has played log drums.
     
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  4. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks @Jamsterdammer. I found I hadn't posted my response to @John Hp earlier in the day. And when I did, yours popped up.

    Those are some great albums you've found. It inspired me to have a look myself. I found the album 'Talofa: Music of Samoa'. It doesn't say which Samoa. From that album, here is 'Si Fe’e, Si Fe’e Ao Lau Lama'. I will say that the tracks on the album aren't all that varied. But, I like this with the percussion and voice.



    I found this album through this song 'Savalivali Maia', which I'll also post because of the photograph.

    I've been finding a lot of countries that have Jazz festivals, but don't seem to have much Jazz. I found this documentary 'TP+ The untold jazz story of Samoa' (2:14). It mentions singer Mavis Rivers. Here a 'talking portrait' of Mavis Rivers tells her story. 'Mavis Rivers' (3:49) As someone from Auckland of my era, when she said that when her family arrived there weren't many Samoans in Auckland my mind boggled! The talking portrait has no music, but describes her international life American Samoa -> Auckland New Zealand -> USA. Comments on the two videos compliment her version of 'As Time Goes By', so here it is: 'As Time Goes By'.
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
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  5. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
    Thanks for the latest selections, I particularly liked the Traditional Samoan Chant, which reminded me of something I couldn't quite place - possibly the old song 'Moonlight Bay'? Also liked the "talking portrait" of Mavis Rivers who I don't remember hearing of before - I thought I was actually listening to her speak until she said that she continued performing until her death ...

    Here's an early 1950 recording from her NZ days - 'Farewell Samoa'


    Mavis Rivers: Farewell Samoa (1950)

    Jamsterdammer's mention of Samoan disco prompted me to find 'Sau Ta O' - there's no artist name - possibly they wished to remain anonymous
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul-TOu6Gv7g&ab_channel=suacyde62
     
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  6. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks @John Hp. I must admit that I didn't feel inspired to go find more Samoan disco, but it was good to hear the one song. I had a quick look for Samoan dance music, and didn't really find it. Here are two songs I found in that trawl - neither are disco.

    This gets a bit island reggae in the second part of the medley, but this is Ben Vai with 'Faliu Le La / Ua Na O Oe'. I think the best bit is the outro where the recording fades into a more informal singing of the song. I found this in a playlist of Samoan 'dance music'. Sadly Vai died of cancer in 2018.



    I found someone who appears to be an amateur singer on YouTube. This is Nyssa Collins singing 'Sau lau teine Samoa'. It is described as 'Featuring my boss'. Their harmonies are not always bang on, and the guitar perhaps could do with a tune, but this sounds 'real' to me. The song is said in comments to be an old Samoan song. She has also covered songs by Punialava'a and Fivestar. EDIT: She's appeared on X-Factor in New Zealand. I'm having difficulty finding artists who aren't strongly associated with New Zealand. I am not deliberately looking for them.
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
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  7. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Thanks to John for finding the disco song that eluded me. I thoroughly enjoyed it :D. I don't think anyone has posted anything by the Samoan country singer Sam Ah Chookoon, aka Mr. Cowboy, yet, or I must have overlooked it. Here he is with "Grandpa" on the Ray Hadley Morning Show:
     
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  8. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for the contributions, everyone.

    Today we're in San Marino.

    I'm going to start with some classical music. This is Due Viole composed by Sammarinese composer Cesare Franchini Tassini and performed by members of the San Marino Ensemble. There are further credits in the description of the video.



    Valentina Monetta has represented San Marino at Eurovision several times. Here is her balladry on the song 'Per Te'.

    Little Tony had hits in the UK in the 1960s. He has an interesting background. He was born in Italy to Sammarinese parents, but he never obtained Italian citizenship. He was a Sammarinese citizen. So, I think he fits. He has already been mentioned, by John for Italy, but I think that's entirely reasonable. This is a more rockabilly sounding track - to my ears - Believe What You Say by Little Tony and his Brothers.

    To finish up, here's some instrumental metal music by Alessandro Arzilli, just called 'Cool 1', from his 'totally self-produced' album Musa.

    It's been a European microstate day today, as I wrote this the day we were in Lichtenstein.

    Tomorrow we're in Sao Tome & Principe.
     
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  9. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
    I'd forgotten that I had already posted a clip of Little Tony at his most rocking when it was Italy's day ('Che Tipo Rock' from the 1960 film "I Teddy Boys Della Canzone") - 'Believe What You Say' suffers for me in comparison with the original by Ricky Nelson with James Burton. Little Tony just had the one UK hit (no.19 in 1960) with a song written by Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman (sadly not one of their more outstanding ones) 'Too Much'.

    But here's Little Tony in the 1967 film "Ridera!" (Cuore matto) with Marisa Solinas - 'Il Ragazzo Col Ciuffo' - a song he had previously released as a single in 1962.


    Riderà! (Cuore matto) (1967) - IMDb

    And from his next film (like Elvis, he made a lot of them) "Peggio per me ... meglio per te" his attempt at 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' ...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfxcNZ-8doE&ab_channel=samalways
    Peggio per me... meglio per te (1967) - IMDb

    'Cuore Matto' was a 1967 single, this clip appears to be from 1969
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpGZIcxe2i4&ab_channel=maikvasalos
    A 2017 updating of the song by Little Tony Family with Tony's daughter Cristiana (I'm not sure how many of the others are actually members of his family)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX0SMYB9Jpc&ab_channel=LittleTonyFamilyVEVO

    Here's Valentina Monetta in non-Eurovision Song Contest mode, performing with a trio in 2014 - a tribute to the Italian diva Mina - 'Questa Donna Insopportabile' (This Unbearable Woman?)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue3QxIsSUZw&ab_channel=ValentinaMonetta)

    So it is clearly apparent that I couldn't find anyone to add from San Marino who HitandRun had not already chosen ...

    Move along now ... Nothing to see here ...
     
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  10. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I won't be properly live on the thread until after 6pm. But, I'll just comment that this is an issue with some of the smaller countries. Too small a musical community to choose from.
     
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  11. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Exactly. I've been trying to find something different from what has already been posted, but nothing remotely interesting shows up, except some stupid trash metal bands and a 30 second clip of medieval dancing. I've been to San Marino, but we're talking 1973! I vaguely remember it being pretty, but very touristy. Probably the same today. Let's see if we have more from São Tomé and Príncipe tomorrow, a country I visited more recently in September 1996.
     
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  12. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I do like the sound of even 30 seconds of medieval dancing. :D
     
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  13. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Well, here you go. This is "Danze a San Marino":
     
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  14. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
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  15. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Guess what? The Peppermints is an Italian-Sanmarinese girl group. They represented San Marino at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Malta with "Breaking My Heart", which actually came third among 16 countries. Not that it makes the song any less generic, but it's a good result:


    And talking about generic, here is Sanmarinese rapper IROL with I.R.O.L.: https://youtu.be/fS7sIu-xmWw
     
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  16. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for the San Marino tracks. I know how hard it would have been to follow them. My favourite for today from John's posts is Little Tony's 'Cuore Matto'. The update by his daughter is also good, but the original is definitely more my thing. From @Jamsterdammer's post, my favourite is IROL.

    I've done some more searching, and have found some things but nothing that really took my interesting. I thought I had a find with jazz drummer Leo Cesari's track 'Altaj'. But the more I search the more I'm convinced that he is fully Italian. I don't know why his bandcamp page gives his nationality as San Marino. But, absolutely nowhere else does. Including Cesari's own website. Which was very disappointing as I think that's a great track.

    I've had a further look through Bandcamp. It's a mixed bag as usual but I haven't really found a standout. There's quite a bit of experimental and noise music, including something described as 'the project KREY start his activity in 2004 for give an audio support to the hallucinatory visions for his creator. '.
    The best I found was 'Relaxin' by Mr T (Tommaso Casadei) featuring saxophonist Simone la Maida. I only found information on la Maida, his website here: www.simonelamaida.com Google translate fails to translate it, but I note 'San Marino' coming up several times and I note that radioswissjazz lists him as born in San Marino as well.

    Relaxin feat. Simone La Maida, by Mr T

    Since Simone la Maida is the person I'm most convinced is actually from San Marino, though every bandmate of his I could check out was Italian, I'll include a track by him. This is 'Communication' by the Simone la Maida trio. Note that the double bassist and drummer are Italian.



    EDIT: I kept searching a bit. I found the band 'Drumness', and hoped for men hitting things. Not quite, but I think this is interesting music. this is 'We Are'.

    EDIT: I only found this Facebook link. But, here is the pop music of 'Alibi'. I'm not sure what the song title is or what the song has to do with 'Banca di San Marino'.

    Alibi
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2020
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  17. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    "to follow them" should read "to find them".
     
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  18. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Those are great finds, @HitAndRun! My Italian reading skills are fairly OK and Simone La Maida was definitely born in San Marino. And the relation between Alibi and Banca di San Marino is that the video is from the 2017 edition of a talent show in San Marino called "I Talenti dei Castelli" ("The talents of the castles", probably referring to the three castles that sit above San Marino), which is sponsored by the Bank. And Leo Cesari seems to have been born in Rome. His father, Umberto, a famous jazz pianist, was from Abruzzo. I get the impression, however, that he is now living in San Marino, hence the references.

    In my first post I mentioned "stupid" trash metal bands. I came across a video of a San Marino band called Necrofilia with the song "The End". And while I do think the name of the band is stupid and the song is not my thing, in the video they pretend to be playing from inside the Red Lodge (from Twin Peaks) and THAT I couldn't resist posting:
     
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  19. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for all the music everybody.

    Today we're in Sao Tome & Principe.

    I'm going to start with a track by Africa Negra. The description says that he has held the musical sceptre over Sao Tome et Principe for over 40 years. This is the song Aninha, played live in 2018. More info in the description on the video.



    Here's a modern track by 'best female singer' nominee Bruna Lee singing 'Baba Baby'. The autotune is at 6 maybe, but at least it's not 11.

    It's a pity I couldn't find a live video by Sangazuza. Here's 'Papafigo'. Sangazuza was formed in 1969 and disbanded in 1996. Both Africa Negra and Sangazuza are featured on this album: Little-known music from '70s-'80s São Tome and Principe collected on 2xLP

    To finish up, here is some Tchiloli theatre. This is said to be the most original Santomean cultural event. This video does not have music all the way through.

    Tomorrow we're in Saudi Arabia.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2020
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  20. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
    Thanks for the usual enjoyable selection; we're certainly in a more interesting musical place than yesterday, although it is one where I've not found it easy to discover much information regarding YT postings - some merely have the descriptions "Music of San Tome and Principe" and have the comments turned off in case someone might want to add something revealing about them.

    But I will start with the opening track from the Bongo Joe 2LP compilation (also available as a download and a CD) "Léve-Léve" as mentioned above by Hit&Run . And it's a quick return appearance for the singer João Seria with Africa Negra - a video for 'Mino bô bé quacueda' ( a little over-extended for me at 7:34)

    LÉVE LÉVE Sao Tomé & Principe sounds 70s-80s, by Various Artists
    Africa Negra - Earthbeat

    I've no idea who Os Vibrados are, or what 'Non môlê' is about, but one comment has added "continue like this to expand the good name of São Tomé and Príncipe" ....
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbpzXnnTy6g&ab_channel=Guternarciso

    'Aguede' by Xinha, one of the few female singers from ST&P I found on YT - once again I couldn't discover anything about her, although she is mentioned in a blog about the music of ST&P
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fTdD6C6Zs8&ab_channel=peterbotas
    Nothin' Sez Somethin': São Tomé & Príncipe

    I thought this was a football song when I first started watching it, but it appears to have been produced for a Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries 2018 sporting event which also included athletics, basketball, taekwondo, and beach volleyball - "XI Jogos Desportivos"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6QNiCQpYRc&ab_channel=WKSANTOLA
    https://www.cplp.org/id-4447.aspx?Action=1&NewsId=5962&M=NewsV2&PID=10872

    Once again I've no idea what 'Pade Qui Bispo' is about or who Lima Pombo Hie ft. Sier Tamareva are (or is it Ue Pague Lunguie?), although there is a church (and possibly a bishop) in the video. I assume that Deixa is the music style.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y1KFWTQQM0&ab_channel=AmaurySalvaterra
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2020
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  21. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks @John Hp. My favourite from your very nice selection was the football song 'XI Jogos Desportivos' including appreciation for the video showing sports.

    I noted a list of artists in the article "Nothin' Says Something'". I tried searching on Leoninos, a band formed in 1959. However, I found something quite different in that search: 'Leonino ça pema' by Conjunto Victória. It's posted on a channel posting 'relics of Sao Tome and Principe', and other searches appear to confirm this. Though, the only record release I could find on discogs was from Angola. I'll cross fingers and post.



    Another artist I found this morning while changing my post a bit was Nelly Strong. She is a rapper, who unfortunately auto-tunes her voice part-way through this song, but I think it starts well. The song is 'Quá Téla'.

    I hope to continue searching on 'Quintero Aguiar e os Leoninos', but have only found that documentary. Which I presume to not be in English and since it's broken up into parts I guess it's long. After work.

    EDIT: A YT auto-play freebie. Lindex is listed on a Nigerian page as being from ST&P, and his dancers are wearing ST&P flag dresses. This is perhaps a little 'more of the same', and more auto-tune joins the party like an unwelcome smell in parts, but the basic song is OK. 'Lossa na tê befa'.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2020
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  22. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
    Thanks again - Nelly Strong is my favourite from the second batch - I wondered why a rapper would be autotuned (I presume that the producer rather than the artist is responsible when it is used) but thought that any modest usage was unobjectionable in this instance.

    Fingers can be uncrossed; their singles were pressed in Angola, but have "S. Tome e Principe" below the group's name on the picture sleeves
    Conjunto Victória

    The documentary seems to last 30 minutes in total, but appears from the first couple of minutes to consist only of Portuguese text and stills.
     
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  23. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Both HitAndRun and John have been pretty busy today already I see. Various nice tracks. And while I speak Portuguese, I cannot help John with the translation of titles as I can't make anything of the creole spoken on Sao Tomé and Principe.

    It was a bit annoying to see Mr. Lazlo Rugoff of VF describe the music on the Léve Léve compilation as "little-known", which of course reflects only his own ethnocentric narrow-mindedness as this music is very well-known in the Lusophone world.

    I actually did find a live video of Sangazusa. I love it, because it is not live in the sense of a concert in front of an audience, but rather the band standing in what seems to be a very rural environment with seemingly a handful of local people watching and dancing. Wonderful rural atmosphere. Sound is not very good though. The video is simply called "Sangazusa Live Em Sao Tome 2018":


    Ússua is a traditional dance from Sao Tomé and I found a video of a dance group called Associação de Estudantes de S. Tomé e Príncipe no Porto peforming this dance on the streets of Porto, Portugal. Very interesting to see the men dressed up in suits and ties and all apparently smoking a pipe (or at least holding it in their mouths as an accessory). The video is simply called "Ússua":
    https://youtu.be/AD82VbvEb3U

    Marta Días is a singer from Sao Tomé who lives in Portugal, but makes beautiful music inspired by her country of origin. From her album "Quantas Tribos" here is "Socopé", which refers the the traditional socopé rhythm of Sao Tomé. Sounds almost like bossa nova though:
    https://youtu.be/NR7vIOOrWpQ

    And here is a beautiful piece of acoustic guitar by Filipe Santo called "Budo". It says Conjunto Os Untués) between brackets and also Os Untués are mentioned at the beginning of the video, but it is just one man with his guitar, so I assume Filipe Santo was or is part of Os Untués:
    https://youtu.be/LA3U1jMuOPQ

    Tigre T is a rapper from Sao Tomé, which mixes hip-hop with traditional styles. It sounds quite OK to my ears and there seems to be little or no autotune involved:
    blob:https://www.youtube.com/7eb61781-1323-4976-9110-aa1b7890db93

    Plus, I recognize the spot with the basalt formations near the sea where Tigre T is standing at 2:49. I spent a week on Sao Tomé in 1996 on a short vacation when I was working in Angola. It was absolutely lovely as in those days there was no tourism to speak of in Sao Tomé (perhaps in Príncipe, but I didn't visit that island). So I had the numerous beautiful beaches practically to myself and at lunch time I would just ask in the nearest village where somebody invariably would then take me to their house and cook a meal for me, consisting usually of grilled fish with monkey bread from the Baobab tree. Payment was of course left for me to decide. Pure bliss. I don't think it's like that any longer as shortly after my visit they discovered oil, which led to an oil boom and a coup attempt. Bye-bye little paradise. I just hope the revenues from the oil boom benefit ordinary people as well.
     
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  24. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
    That link appears to be "blocked" here, but from the description I guess that this is the correct video? (Nga Lembla)


    I particularly liked the charming 'Ussua' clip although I wanted to see how the performance by the couple nearest the camera would be concluded.
     
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  25. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Thanks John! Yes, that is the correct video. Weirdly, the link I posted now has "blob" in front of it. No idea what happened LOL!
     
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