Music Video: Miraculous - ยังเสียใจ (Still Sad)

There's something that I always enjoy about really hip-hoppy/poppy reggae.  If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'd know that I love artists that combine upbeat melodies and hip-hop influenced vocals with syncopated Caribbean and African rhythms.  So, artists like Seeed, Afroreggae, Irie Révoltés, and Culcha Candela get a lot of play here.

Well, just because I am going all the way to Thailand today does not mean that I will break with this tradition.  In fact, if you replace the German and English of Seeed, or the French and German of Irie Révoltés, or the Spanish and German of Culcha Candela with the Thai and English of Miraculous - as you do on their song ยังเสียใจ (Still Sad) - you will not feel overwhelming culture shock.

Unfortunately, like much of the music that I find from Asia, I am having a difficult time finding information about Miraculous that I can actually translate.  Bing Translator does yeoman's work of attempting to translate the band's bio on Last.fm from Thai to English, but the result is largely an unreadable garble. This is made even more difficult because, like a frustrating number of bands from around the world, their name is neither terribly unique or easily searchable.  That having been said, if you know anything about Miraculous, please post to the comments.  I'd love to know more.

Music Video: Gazelle feat. Francois van Coke - Val Van Die Ryk

I like to think that I always keep my eyes - and particularly my ears - open for new bands from interesting corners of the world.  For those of you who have browsed my entries over the past few years, you will note that I have tried to collect an eclectic variety of music from the Americas, from Asia, and from Europe.  But, with a few exceptions, I have not gotten into Africa very much - at least not much from sub-Saharan Africa.  This is not from a lack of interest.  If I had to come up with an at least semi-plausible excuse, it would be because while there are large music lobbies (professional and amateur) for Latin Alternative, or Euro Dance, or K-Pop/J-Pop, there are not that many people out there saying, "You've GOT to check out this awesome Afrikaans alternative band!"

Well, you've GOT to check out this awesome Afrikaans alternative band!  Actually, Val Van Die Ryk is a melding of Afrikaans Cape Town art/pop duo Gazelle and Francois van Coke, lead singer of Cape Town's alternative rock band Van Coke Kartel.  Together, van Coke's driving rock vocals combine with Gazelle's more poppy, funky, arty sensibilities to create a song that is reminiscent of 1980s New Wave, with elements of metal, and alternative.  Top it all off with lyrics in Afrikaans, a southern African Dutch dialect, and you have something fresh, interesting, and very listenable.