How Goes the FolkSite Thus Far..?
Mood:  not sure
Topic: The Music Affiliate Site

Hello, all!  Sorry I haven't posted for the past week or longer.  I've been working on the companion affiliate site for quite a while, trying to make it look pretty and presentable while beginning the campaign to promote it.  I'm still puzzling over what the site's focus should be--new music, old music, favorite music, trad folk, contemporary folk?  How much knowledge and information should be packed into this thing?  Meanwhile, my Muslim and LGBTQ friends and I are busy planning tactics of resistance against the far-right takeover of the Fed.

Anyway, we'll still be taking a look at songs that we like here on this blog, one sweet song at a time.  As always, click on the text or image links below to check the songs out for yourself...

 

 Lord of the Dance by Ruth Barrett & Cyntia Smith: This is the "Pagan version" of "Lord of the Dance"--not to be confused with the "Christian version" penned by English Quaker songwriter Sydney Carter. But don't let that scare you off--this is a joyous, spirited celebration of Nature in its wild, masculine Green Man/Horned God aspect, paired and partnered with the Lady, or Goddess, or Divine Feminine--whatever you want to call Nature's Feminine Principle. This is a song about how music, drumming and dancing can be a sacred, ecstatic experience by which to celebrate life in all its guises: "To live is to dance, so I dance on and on." Just listen to this and try to stop yourself dancing. You can't; your spirits will be too lifted to resist.

 

Thomas Muir of Huntershill by Dick Gaughan (song written by Adam McNaughton): The most recent time I saw Dick Gaughan here in Seattle (at Ballard's Tractor Tavern), he performed many fine traditional and contemporary songs and instrumental pieces in his own distinctive voice and guitar style, punctuated by humorous banter about his atheism, Scottish tribal affiliations; and his notion that, if God actually exists, He must have a hell of a sense of humor to put the English and Scots together on the same island. But for some reason, of all the songs he performed that night, this is the one I was singing to myself on the way home. I've since adopted it as my "get out the vote" song in busking sets and open mic performances; and it's become very important to me as a cautionary tale about the need to stand up for one's rights, and the democratic principles that our ancestors fought and suffered to establish. And considering the pickle in which our country now finds itself, songs about Scottish political freedom fighters seem more timely than ever before.

 

Gorel by Baaba Maal: This has long been my favorite song by Senegalese powerhouse Baaba Maal, based as it is on a traditional children's game song. Of course, I can't understand a word of the Wolof lyrics; but this is another great spirit-lifter when the Seattle winter weather gets cold, wet and dreary. The album "Firin' in Fouta" came out a little over 20 years ago; and I still think it's one of Maal's best. I was delighted when he performed this song during his set at the first WOMAD USA festival in Marymoor Park (Redmond, WA) in 1998; and I hope that we can hear it again soon, if we can manage to bring him back here...if we can resist any official moves to bar Muslim musicians from working here in the near future. Sigh...  *****

Songs for a Crazy Age...
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Music Reviews and Links

Folks, I recently found out some dreadful news about Anglo-Indian singer Sheila Chandra.  She's been disabled and forced to retire from performing since 2010 due to something called Burning Mouth Syndrome--one of those godawful autoimmune disorders that didn't exist even 20 years ago.  Nobody has quite figured out its cause, but in severe cases, one can barely talk, never mind sing, without experiencing severe pain.  Ugh.  That absolutely sucks.  Fortunately, all her recorded output is still available; but I believe that environmental toxicity is behind a lot of these weird autoimmune issues, and addressing our poisoned ecosystems is the critical step in curing illnesses that the poisoning has caused and will cause down the line.  Just my two cents, but I believe all of the above is true.

Anyway, here are some new singles for you to peruse.  As always, click on either the text links or image links to check out the Amazon page for each digital song download...  

 

"Ever So Lonely/Eyes/Ocean": One of Sheila Chandra's best-known and best-loved songs. A great meditative aid, something to calm body, mind and spirit all at once. The earliest version of it was Chandra's first hit with her old band Monsoon. This song also serves as a reminder of why we need cures for autoimmune disorders yesterday...

 

 

 

"The Women Are Singing Tonight" by Cris Williamson: This cover of a Jimmy Webb ballad has haunted me every time I hear it.  It was written in honor of the Nez Perce tribe's ill-fated flight from occupation and forced dispacement; and in Williamson's hands and voice, you feel like you're right there with them, not knowing what will happen at the next sunrise.  It's a feeling of forboding of the unknown that many of us are feeling right now.  It's an incredible song, and an amazing rendition, whatever your culture or politics...

 

 

"All Souls Night" by Loreena McKennitt: This one is haunting too, but in a different way.  Its lyrics and tune give one a glimpse of the old Celtic way of celebrating their new year on Samhain or November 1, with descriptions of bonfires and dancing and the Green Knight with the holly bush, marking "where the old year passes by."  It's a great one to dance to any time of year, whether you are Pagan or not; and I would love to see a theatrical dance choreographed for it one of these days.  Recorded in the early 90's, when McKennitt's vaulting soprano was at its strongest. 

 

 Also: Before we go, I'd like to invite you to visit the beginnings of our companion website, Sing Globally, Think Universally, the center for our musical musings, with online music shops in production!  We've already got our embedded Amazon store for song downloads, as well as embedded world and folk music Twitter feeds and a Youtube playlist!  Very soon now, we'll also be raking through eBay for out-of-print folk and Celtic gems as well.  Check it out early and often! 

***** 

 

 

Well, We've Made a Start...
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Music Reviews and Links

Well, folks, nitpicky Virgo that I am, it took me a while to get the first review post configured the way I wanted it to. And I just went through an hour-long headache with opening my new eBay account, because I misspelled my first name during the registration process. Sigh... Anyway, let's try to list a few more singles downloads, and see if we need to use an html table format with it.  To check out any of these song downloads, just click on either the text or image links--the songs are free to sample!

Although this song/album has been out since 1999, "Last Song" remains one of my favorites of Jason Webley's songs. He is my longtime-favorite local performer here in the Seattle area, so of course I'm biased. This is the song I sang to myself constantly in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when none of us were sure if we were the next city to get hit by hijacked planes. The song somehow helped to keep my spirits up, based as it is on three people's accounts of apocalyptic dreams that were related to Jason and spurred on the creation of this song. Listen to the words carefully...

   

 

"Starwalker", one of Buffy Sainte-Marie's most popular songs these days, is another one I turn to when my spirits are in serious need of lifting. Maybe it's the confidence of the words and the spirit within them; maybe it's the determination of the rhythmic base, maybe it's the expression of pride in who one is; or maybe it's the sum of those, and more. Even though I'm not Native American, somehow this song never fails to lift me up, and make me feel as if I am (still) all that I need to be.

  

 

"Walls and Windows" is a song that's been uplifting and sustaining my spirits since the mid-1980's, when I first heard it on a DC-area folk radio program.  It was co-authored by Judy Small from Australia and Pat Humphries from the U.S., apparently during a songwriting workshop somewhere over 30 years ago.  I associate it with surviving the Reagan era, the Cold War, and the alienating experience of being a progressive/feminist and a Lutheran at the same time.  I've always seen it as a prayer for peace, for building bridges over barriers, and for coming to mutual understanding and toleration between opponents, both foreign and domestic...

So, Let's See How This Review Thing Goes...
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: That

So, let's have a test post on reviewing MP3 singles, shall we?  I envision it something like this: I provide the Amazon link to the mp3 song, and let you know how I feel about it.  I probably won't promote many songs that I don't like, or that drive me nuts by keeping me awake nights.  But let's pick out a few at random.  Click on either the images or text links to check them out on their Amazon pages.  They're totally free to sample!  Really!  :)

"Kana" is one of my favorite songs written and performed by Cecile Kayirebwa, the very first Rwandan singer I ever heard of, at least 20 years ago.  Kayirebwa fled her native country during its heartbreaking period of civil war; yet the clear, natural, highly fluid vocal phrasing indigenous to her culture shines through, enhanced by the amazing harmony/choral singing, in which the Rwandan pygmy (Twa) culture leads the way.

 

 

 

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997) is my all-time favorite singer in any genre; and "Jewleh Lal" (The Red Falcon, a reference to Sufi Saint Lal Shabazz Qalander) is one of my favorite songs that he and his qawwali party (ensemble) recorded.  It's one of his longer songs (nearly 20 minutes!); but give yourself time to listen to the entire song; you'll find it a very rewarding, emotionally satisfying experience.  It's a sure-fire temporary relief (at least) from depression, including the seasonal variety; any spirited, high-powered qawwali song by Nusrat and Party will wake up your brain and lift your spirits quickly, on a physiological as well as emotional level.  Not to be missed!

 

 

 "Rocky Road to Dublin" is a longtime favorite song of mine--especially as performed by the late, great Irish duo of Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy; and especially in a live concert performance. This was my first lp by Makem and Clancy, after being entranced by their live performance in the spring of 1979. I'd been a huge fan of their "parent group", the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, for several years before that; but that concert was the first I'd seen of any of those guys, and it was a life-changing experience. Admittedly, I'm biased; but I can hardly find the slightest flaw in this recording, and don't hesitate to recommend it for the ecstatic Celtic spirit flowing from every high-energy second of sound.  I do, however, recommend getting the vinyl version of it which includes their unforgettable performance of Gordon Bok's story-song, "Peter Kagan and the Wind."  I've never been able to understand why this classic was excluded from the CD format...  

Welcome To Your Folk & World Music Digital Singles Review Blog!
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: An Embedded World Music Playlist
Topic: Opening the Review Blog

Welcome, friends and folkies, to my latest crazy plot to make the world safer for folk and world music, for both fun and (hopefully) profit!  I'm starting up this MusicLair to publish reviews of Amazon's digital singles in the folk and world music genres (I'll have to take care of the album reviews later)!  I'm a bit new to this; but I have a passion for these musical genres, and I'm quite excited to share this stuff as widely as possible. 

It'll take a lot of research and listening, of course, not to mention expanding my limited knowledge of css and html, in order to make this blog look decent.  Meanwhile, I'd like to start off with a link to one of my own Youtube world music playlists...

Friends and Folkies