Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2018 15:15:26 GMT
After looking at the map on my RateYourMusic profile it dawned on me that over 90% of my listening comes from either the U.K or America. Basically I'm an uncultured piece of shit. So hopefully to change this a little I've decided to attempt a musical journey around the planet & listen to a single album from each & every country on God's green earth. The choices for each country I make will most likely be stuff with cool art-work & genre tags that intrigue me. The only rule I've set myself is that each & every album I include must be brand new to my ears.
I started this on RYM a year or so ago and forgot about it after doing 11 countries but I've decided to revive the idea, 1: to stop me from listening to Guided By Voices everyday & 2: to keep the soapbox alive. I'll be going through the countries alphabetically.
Here are last years countries/records that I heard: feel free to dig this thread up in six months & call me a loser-cunt for abandoning the project again. The facts will be stolen from wikipedia.
Ratings as follows:
***** incredible
**** great
*** good
** enjoyed/decent
* didn't enjoy
01: AFGHANISTAN
Aziz Herawi
Memories of Herat: Instrumental Music of Afghanistan (1996)
My first stop on my journey around the globe begins with some Pashto Folk music. Aziz plays a 12-stringed duta backed with some tabla percussion that has a real slow hypnotic groove to it. Enjoyable stuff, but not something I doubt I'd ever return to in a hurry.
**
FACT: Afghanistan's national sport is Buzkashi, also known as Goat-Grabbing
02: ALBANIA
Fanfara Tirana
Albanian Wedding: Brass Explosion (2007)
Not a great deal of riches on hand from Albania (though they did have a few power metal bands) so I settled on this mixture of Albanian folk & Balkan Brass music. Some really nice sounding rich pieces to be found here, I definitely preferred the instrumental numbers to the ones with vocals. I'm not sure I'll ever be tempted to book an Albanian wedding band but this was a pleasant listen.
**
Fact: Albanian's shake their head to mean yes, rather than no.
03: ALGERIA
Pierre Bensusan
Près de Paris (1975)
Algeria had a nice varied selection of music to pull from. Though Arabic is their main language, many speak fluent French which resulted in many artists moving to France for success. Pierre Bensusan is one of those artists, a mixture of contemporary & traditional folk. Really great acoustic guitar playing with cool arrangements. Mostly in French language with a few instrumentals & some English language songs to boot. A lovely record.
***
FACT: In 2007, a court in Algeria had to rule on the ownership of a donkey which had eaten the money brought by a purchaser for its sale.)
04: AMERICAN SAMOA
The Katinas
Destiny (2001)
Only two artists appear on RYM originating from American Samoa - Al Harrington, a semi-successful actor turned musician who's records were too obscure for me to come across, & The Katinas, who unfortunately for me was what I was stuck with. They're basically an awful early 2000s Christian boy-band that poorly attempted the Backstreet Boys & NSYNC sound that was so popular around the time. I must admit that I could only bring myself to skim through this record on youtube, but I heard enough to know this isn't going to appeal to me. *
FACT: Their football team holds the world record for the largest defeat in an international match, losing 31–0 to Australia)
05: ANDORRA
Hysteriofunk
Random (2001)
Only 18 Andorran releases LISTED RYM, most of those being Metal LPs. However I came across Hysteriofunk, a Jazz fusion act with plenty of Funk & Rock thrown in for good measure. This was a mixed bag for my tastes. The funk side of things with the heavy slap-bass sound comes across incredibly cheesy at times, plus a couple of numbers outstayed their welcome a little. However, overall the record had plenty of variety & enough interesting moments to keep things semi-interesting, unfortunately it feels incredibly dated for a record that is only 15 years old. Moments to be enjoyed within, but I won't be returning to this
*
FACT: The only country in the world where Catalan is an official language.
06: ANGOLA
Duo Ouro Negro
Africanissimo (1969)
Angola presented itself with a nice little selection of records from a variety of different genres. I settled on Duo Ouro Negro, a two-piece that sound like if Os Mutantes had been heavily influenced by Simon & Garfunkel whilst keeping their African jazz-influenced pop sensibility about them. There's some fantastic accordion work throughout that helps give the record a unique feel & atmosphere - plus the fact the songs are mostly short & punchy makes this a charming listen. A real gem.
****
FACT The country also goes by the official name of "Angolish Empire of Flying Snakes")
07: ANGUILLA
Bankie Banx
Soothe Your Soul (1982)
Bankie Banx is currently the only Anguillan artist on the RYM database which is no surprise considering the small population of the Caribbean island. This is of course Reggae, this particular LP being from '82 has a more commercial/less rootsy approach to the arrangements which was typical of the genre once the 80s came around. Highlight here is the funk-guitar solo on Pour It All Out which gives the LP a surprising turn. Not an unearthed Reggae masterpiece by any means, but as a fan of the genre this is a light-hearted & enjoyable listen.
**
FACT Island discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493.)
08: ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
Roland Prince
Color Visions (1976)
Unsurprisingly not much choice from twin-island country in the Americas. So I went for Roland Prince who appears to be the countries most famous export. I chose Color Visions as it had the highest rating of his three LPs, plus just look at that artwork! & what a choice it was, Roland is a Jazz guitarist & an incredible one at that. Some really great playing whilst being backed up with a band that deliver a Samba meets traditional Caribbean flavoured sound. I guess this could well be labelled under Jazz-fusion with its variety of genres it pulls from, though Roland's guitar playing always keeps things under control with its never hurried approach which occasionally becomes a little too relaxing in a lift-music kind of way, but still somehow remains captivating. Whilst listening to this record I decided to have a read-up regarding Roland's career & sadly found out that he died two weeks before I heard the record aged 69. A real tragedy as Color Visions is a fine record, RIP Roland.
****
FACT: West Indian Cricket icons Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, Andy Roberts and Curtly Ambrose were all born on the island
09: ARGENTINA
Aquelarre
Aquelarre (1972)
There was a wealth of choice from Argentina, it seems prog-rock was pretty damn huge out there in the 70s. I'm not a huge prog-rock kinda guy, though I do enjoy some of the early 70s examples before things became so pompous & over the top. I picked the self-titled debut from Aquelarre which is basically proto-prog (at heart it's blues-rock meets Heavy Psych LP). Aquelarre really come to life with their lengthier numbers, the interplay & fuzzy lead-guitar really helps these tunes blossom from being solid to pretty damn impressive at times. Once again, it was the art-work that made me choose them.
***
FACT: In 2001 Argentina had 5 different presidents in 10 days.
10: ARMENIA
Djivan Gasparyan
Moon Shines at Night (1993)
Not much that tickled my fancy from Armenia so I went for the number #1 rated LP that they had to offer. A completely new genre to my ears in Armenian Folk Music which is known for its use of wind & string instruments. Djivan is known as the master of the Duduk & has appeared on records from Sting to peter Gabriel as well as providing music for the blockbuster Gladiator. Moon Shines At Night is a very atmospheric listen that would make a great score for an appropriate film. However as a record it's a bit of a slog to sit through in one sitting & never really grabbed my interest.
*
FACT: The first church in the world was built in Armenia
11: ARUBA
Euson
Both Sides Now (1971)
Just 15 releases from the Dutch speaking island of Aruba to pick from. I went for a singer-songwriter called Euson who apparently had a fair bit of success in The Netherlands in the early 70s. Very typical acoustic & vocal material for the time. There's subtle orchestral music on the majority of the tunes that unfortunately is can only be described as middle of the road. I feel Euson would've been better off having this record completely stripped down to the bare basics. The title track, which is without a doubt the highlight of the LP & his biggest hit was a Joni Mitchell cover of Both Sides Now. This is a pleasant enough listen of mostly covers (Neil Young, Beatles, Elton John to name a few) & Euson does just about enough to warrant their existence. A pleasant one-time listen, but nothing more
**
FACT: The tiny island has an internationally-renowned film festival
I started this on RYM a year or so ago and forgot about it after doing 11 countries but I've decided to revive the idea, 1: to stop me from listening to Guided By Voices everyday & 2: to keep the soapbox alive. I'll be going through the countries alphabetically.
Here are last years countries/records that I heard: feel free to dig this thread up in six months & call me a loser-cunt for abandoning the project again. The facts will be stolen from wikipedia.
Ratings as follows:
***** incredible
**** great
*** good
** enjoyed/decent
* didn't enjoy
01: AFGHANISTAN
Aziz Herawi
Memories of Herat: Instrumental Music of Afghanistan (1996)
My first stop on my journey around the globe begins with some Pashto Folk music. Aziz plays a 12-stringed duta backed with some tabla percussion that has a real slow hypnotic groove to it. Enjoyable stuff, but not something I doubt I'd ever return to in a hurry.
**
FACT: Afghanistan's national sport is Buzkashi, also known as Goat-Grabbing
02: ALBANIA
Fanfara Tirana
Albanian Wedding: Brass Explosion (2007)
Not a great deal of riches on hand from Albania (though they did have a few power metal bands) so I settled on this mixture of Albanian folk & Balkan Brass music. Some really nice sounding rich pieces to be found here, I definitely preferred the instrumental numbers to the ones with vocals. I'm not sure I'll ever be tempted to book an Albanian wedding band but this was a pleasant listen.
**
Fact: Albanian's shake their head to mean yes, rather than no.
03: ALGERIA
Pierre Bensusan
Près de Paris (1975)
Algeria had a nice varied selection of music to pull from. Though Arabic is their main language, many speak fluent French which resulted in many artists moving to France for success. Pierre Bensusan is one of those artists, a mixture of contemporary & traditional folk. Really great acoustic guitar playing with cool arrangements. Mostly in French language with a few instrumentals & some English language songs to boot. A lovely record.
***
FACT: In 2007, a court in Algeria had to rule on the ownership of a donkey which had eaten the money brought by a purchaser for its sale.)
04: AMERICAN SAMOA
The Katinas
Destiny (2001)
Only two artists appear on RYM originating from American Samoa - Al Harrington, a semi-successful actor turned musician who's records were too obscure for me to come across, & The Katinas, who unfortunately for me was what I was stuck with. They're basically an awful early 2000s Christian boy-band that poorly attempted the Backstreet Boys & NSYNC sound that was so popular around the time. I must admit that I could only bring myself to skim through this record on youtube, but I heard enough to know this isn't going to appeal to me. *
FACT: Their football team holds the world record for the largest defeat in an international match, losing 31–0 to Australia)
05: ANDORRA
Hysteriofunk
Random (2001)
Only 18 Andorran releases LISTED RYM, most of those being Metal LPs. However I came across Hysteriofunk, a Jazz fusion act with plenty of Funk & Rock thrown in for good measure. This was a mixed bag for my tastes. The funk side of things with the heavy slap-bass sound comes across incredibly cheesy at times, plus a couple of numbers outstayed their welcome a little. However, overall the record had plenty of variety & enough interesting moments to keep things semi-interesting, unfortunately it feels incredibly dated for a record that is only 15 years old. Moments to be enjoyed within, but I won't be returning to this
*
FACT: The only country in the world where Catalan is an official language.
06: ANGOLA
Duo Ouro Negro
Africanissimo (1969)
Angola presented itself with a nice little selection of records from a variety of different genres. I settled on Duo Ouro Negro, a two-piece that sound like if Os Mutantes had been heavily influenced by Simon & Garfunkel whilst keeping their African jazz-influenced pop sensibility about them. There's some fantastic accordion work throughout that helps give the record a unique feel & atmosphere - plus the fact the songs are mostly short & punchy makes this a charming listen. A real gem.
****
FACT The country also goes by the official name of "Angolish Empire of Flying Snakes")
07: ANGUILLA
Bankie Banx
Soothe Your Soul (1982)
Bankie Banx is currently the only Anguillan artist on the RYM database which is no surprise considering the small population of the Caribbean island. This is of course Reggae, this particular LP being from '82 has a more commercial/less rootsy approach to the arrangements which was typical of the genre once the 80s came around. Highlight here is the funk-guitar solo on Pour It All Out which gives the LP a surprising turn. Not an unearthed Reggae masterpiece by any means, but as a fan of the genre this is a light-hearted & enjoyable listen.
**
FACT Island discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493.)
08: ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
Roland Prince
Color Visions (1976)
Unsurprisingly not much choice from twin-island country in the Americas. So I went for Roland Prince who appears to be the countries most famous export. I chose Color Visions as it had the highest rating of his three LPs, plus just look at that artwork! & what a choice it was, Roland is a Jazz guitarist & an incredible one at that. Some really great playing whilst being backed up with a band that deliver a Samba meets traditional Caribbean flavoured sound. I guess this could well be labelled under Jazz-fusion with its variety of genres it pulls from, though Roland's guitar playing always keeps things under control with its never hurried approach which occasionally becomes a little too relaxing in a lift-music kind of way, but still somehow remains captivating. Whilst listening to this record I decided to have a read-up regarding Roland's career & sadly found out that he died two weeks before I heard the record aged 69. A real tragedy as Color Visions is a fine record, RIP Roland.
****
FACT: West Indian Cricket icons Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, Andy Roberts and Curtly Ambrose were all born on the island
09: ARGENTINA
Aquelarre
Aquelarre (1972)
There was a wealth of choice from Argentina, it seems prog-rock was pretty damn huge out there in the 70s. I'm not a huge prog-rock kinda guy, though I do enjoy some of the early 70s examples before things became so pompous & over the top. I picked the self-titled debut from Aquelarre which is basically proto-prog (at heart it's blues-rock meets Heavy Psych LP). Aquelarre really come to life with their lengthier numbers, the interplay & fuzzy lead-guitar really helps these tunes blossom from being solid to pretty damn impressive at times. Once again, it was the art-work that made me choose them.
***
FACT: In 2001 Argentina had 5 different presidents in 10 days.
10: ARMENIA
Djivan Gasparyan
Moon Shines at Night (1993)
Not much that tickled my fancy from Armenia so I went for the number #1 rated LP that they had to offer. A completely new genre to my ears in Armenian Folk Music which is known for its use of wind & string instruments. Djivan is known as the master of the Duduk & has appeared on records from Sting to peter Gabriel as well as providing music for the blockbuster Gladiator. Moon Shines At Night is a very atmospheric listen that would make a great score for an appropriate film. However as a record it's a bit of a slog to sit through in one sitting & never really grabbed my interest.
*
FACT: The first church in the world was built in Armenia
11: ARUBA
Euson
Both Sides Now (1971)
Just 15 releases from the Dutch speaking island of Aruba to pick from. I went for a singer-songwriter called Euson who apparently had a fair bit of success in The Netherlands in the early 70s. Very typical acoustic & vocal material for the time. There's subtle orchestral music on the majority of the tunes that unfortunately is can only be described as middle of the road. I feel Euson would've been better off having this record completely stripped down to the bare basics. The title track, which is without a doubt the highlight of the LP & his biggest hit was a Joni Mitchell cover of Both Sides Now. This is a pleasant enough listen of mostly covers (Neil Young, Beatles, Elton John to name a few) & Euson does just about enough to warrant their existence. A pleasant one-time listen, but nothing more
**
FACT: The tiny island has an internationally-renowned film festival
So yeah, good luck again!
