Music Video: Xindl X - Dysgrafik

I always hate it when somebody says that a particular language doesn't "track well" for popular music - typically they say this when explaining why everybody wants to sing pop in English, and why non-English music is supposedly inferior.  I hate it. . . but then occasionally I hear music from a non-English speaking country, and I think to myself, "Wow, that language really doesn't track well."  Up until today, that is what I thought of music from the Czech Republic.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Czech people, and Czech art and literature is some of the most moving and complex in the world.  But their popular music has always sounded a little "off" to me.  But totally disproving this prejudice, along comes Xindl X.  His mix of hip-hop, reggae, jazz, funk, and myriad other influences just sounds good.  Listen to Dysgrafik, and I think you will agree.

Music Video: Ucnobi - Zamtari Ertad Gadavagorot

The area where Eastern Europe meets Western Asia is a melting pot of dozens of different nations and cultures.  One of the more interesting nations is Georgia, which has has its own language and history separating it from its larger (and often openly hostile) neighbor, Russia.  Of course, even when a singer is political, politics often takes a back seat when you have great homegrown music that you can dance to.  Georgian artist Ucnobi delivers that homegrown music in spades, particularly with Zamtari Ertad Gadavagorot.  While being clearly Latin inspired, Zamtari Ertad Gadavagorot combines this Latin inspiration with a healthy dose of Eurasian exuberance to make a great tune that is fun in any language.

Music Video: Dodo - Leu vo Zueri

In case you haven't noticed, I have been on something of a roots reggae kick as of late.  What fascinates me about reggae is that, like hip-hop, it seems to transcend languages and borders almost effortlessly.  Today's illustration of this fact is Swiss reggae artist Dodo, and his song Leu vo Zueri.  As with reggae anywhere, Dodo delivers smooth grooves, a powerful message, and a gripping voice.  The only difference between Dodo and other reggae artists that we have seen here before is that Dodo delivers all of these key elements in Swiss German. 

Music Video: Uwe Banton - Aufstehn

Friday afternoons in the summertime always put me in the mood for reggae.  Yeah, I know that traditional roots reggae is typically a voice of protest against social injustice, but it is still so hard to not think of sipping rum on a beach when you hear that groove.  For that perfect combination of social protest and Caribbean groove on this beautiful sunny Friday afternoon, I bring you German reggae legend Uwe Banton with one of his very few German language songs, Aufstehn. If watching a bearded and heavily dreadlocked white German sing roots reggae has you scratching your head, I encourage you to close your eyes and open your ears.  Uwe Banton brings you roots reggae at its best.

Music Video: AfroReggae - Tempo Sem Medida

AfroReggae is one of those bands that, as a non-Portuguese speaker, you would come to think of as being a pleasant enough purveyor of fairly traditional reggae from Brazil.  Dig a little below the surface, though, and you find that AfroReggae is a very political group of young artists striving for bottom up social and political change.  Formed by former drug trafficker Anderson Sá as Grupo Cultural AfroReggae, the band AfroReggae is a project to wean the poor children of the Brazilian favelas away from the deadly world of drugs and gangsterism through education - particularly music education.  As you can hear from the track Tempo Sem Medida, AfroReggae can lay down a pretty solid groove, while also serving to educate the world about life in some of the world's most dangerous slums.

News: Seeed Releases New Single

For the past several months, the website for my favorite German band Seeed has contained little news beyond the simple note that they are working on their new album.  Every few weeks I check back to see if there are any updates.  This morning, I planned to check their website again, but Seeed beat me to it.  Waiting for me in my e-mail box was a note from Seeed titled "Neues von Seeed".  Much to my joy, after a 5 year hiatus and 4 separate solo albums by its members, Seeed has finally released a brand new single titled Molotov (available for free download from the Seed website).

Having trouble with the free download link, I initially went to the Seeed website to see if I could find the new single there.  I made the mistake of first listening to an instrumental version of Molotov.  Frankly, I was unimpressed.  It was all electric guitars, drums, and synthesizers, closer to the style of metal than the dancehall infused reggae that has made Seeed so popular.  Was this really what I had waited so long for?  After spectacular solo albums from Peter Fox, Boundzound, and Dellé, was this really the best they could do?

Eventually they fixed the bugs on the download site, and I was able to finally listen to the song they are actually releasing.  Thank heaven they included the vocal track that had been removed for the website.  It makes the song at least 85% more listenable.  That's not too bad, but still not nearly what I had expected.

Perhaps the greatest potential problem with Molotov is that it strays so far from built up expectations.  Seeed has always been known for their powerful vocals, smooth and complex rhythm section, rollicking horns, and even a DJ to add some auditory spice.  This new track lacks all but the familiar vocals.  Standing by itself, Molotov is a decent enough tune.  Standing together with the rest of Seeed's body of work, it just doesn't fit.  I understand the need for bands to musically grow and evolve.  If Molotov is any indication, Seeed hasn't just grown or evolved; it's not even the same band.

Music Video: Baaba Maal - Television

I sometimes have a very difficult time categorizing music.  Is something reggae, dancehall, or raga?  Is it soul or R&B?  Rock or pop?  Rap or hip-hop?  Country or western?  I personally do not like having to tie songs or artists to a single category, but readers often demand it because it offers them a frame of reference by which they can determine whether they will like or dislike something.  With Senegalese vocalist Baaba Maal, and particularly with the title song from his most recent album Television, I am afraid you are out of luck.  While his vocal stylings are decidedly Senegalese, his songs run the stylistic gamut.  Frankly, I like that!  Baaba Maal is a musical grab bag; you never know what you're going to get, but it's almost always a treat.

Music Video: Timbuktu - N.A.P.

When you think of places to find interesting music, it is probably safe to say that Sweden does not quickly come to mind.  Yet, whether it is because Sweden's relatively liberal immigration policies are creating an interesting melting pot of different musical influences, or whether it is just because Swedes enjoy producing great music, Sweden is a big place to listen to if you want to hear cool new music.  To the ranks of Movits! (whom I've profiled here before), Jaquee, Swingfly, and many others, today I add Swedish superstar Timbuktu and his song N.A.P..  Yeah, I'll admit that the video for this rap single kind of freaks me out, but the groove is unstoppable.