An Ethnomusicological Moment

Did you know that the Chicken Dance of french origin? INDEED IT IS. It even has words too. In french, however, it is called the Duck Dance (Le Dance des Canards)

Regardez:

Yesterday i found this so beautiful i couldn't help but start crying like a baby



Sometimes i do that and its kinda embarrassing. Oh, and then i write posts about it and put it on my public music blog for everyone to see. Kinda pathetic, but i think its sincere, and there are only maybe 3 people who read this anyway. i hadnt heard this amazing music in over a year, so maybe thats why. Or maybe im just a big sob.


I love bulgarian women.

Terry Riley- Music for the Gift III

I stumbled upon this little gem on Youtube just today, so i thought i'd share it. Im no expert on Riley's music, but i do love it, and every now and then something just appears online that really just faciniates me, like this little piece. Its tape-looped jazz quartet from 1963, and this avant-garde work really sets the stage for what came directly after it- In C, and consequently the entire minimalist "idea". Whats surprising is how early it was made, and yet its still so refreshing. These kinds of pieces support my thinking that Mr. Riley is one of the most under-rated of major composers from the last 50 years

Some Music from al Magrebia.

I thought, since i dedicated the post below to morocco in pictures, i should post a few words, too, so i'll do that now-

North african music was a highlight of my travels, Berber music in particular, which was played loudly in front of restaurants and cafes, in front of shops and in houses in the High Atlas. Im certainly not the first to be surprised by its beauty and freshness, theres a lot of study by ethnomusicologists (For good reason!) of the beautiful and alluring art they create there.

People sing in north Africa, and they dance; music is embedded in the culture. The elaborate echoing Adhan sent out from loudspeakers on the mosque every morning (woke me up always at 5:30, particularly on fridays) calls the faithful to prayer (and they do go! oh they do). Then they ring out 4 more times before days end, every day framed with short musical prayers. It reminded me i wasnt in france anymore, and that in fact i was somewhere far more interesting.

Currently im listening to the gorgeous music of Larbi Imghrane (the link is a good preview of his music) which fuses traditional berber songs with more modern instrumentation and electronics. The rich in lyricism and beauty. The CD i own, is Series of immortal songs, volume 1: The best of Raiss Ahmed Bizmaven- bought in Marakech's Djemaa El Fna square (photos 5 and 6 in the previous post). Mr. Imghrane is pretty famous in morocco, so its possible to find lots of his music online, thankfully. Unfortunately i cant read Arabic, so i dont know the name of my favorite song on my Cd, track 4, but i can assure you its really lovely.

A section from the first track of my CD HERE, forgive the cheesy video. Its in a Berber dialect, by the way, not Arabic, so most Moroccans probably dont know the words either.

Al Magrebia me manque.

Eargasm-

I guess this is a continuation of my series of posts dedicated to my favorites. And Youtube. Sure, you could call me lazy for just posting some video without any substantial thinking put into a post, but i'd just remind you that no considerable amount of thinking has ever really graced these pages (except for that time i was listing off favorite forms of chocolate. Thats a toughie) Anyway, i gotta go back to my exam now. its schoola time!

My Favorite Glass

Ok, yeah, more Youtube, but this is some GOLD. Here are brief clips from the early 70z of the ensemble practicing the gorgeous music in changing parts , and later we hear a brief bite of music in a Similar motion (my favorite work), as well as rare footage of Einstein being performed.


I fucking love this stuff, i eat it up. The best part is that every different performance i hear makes it sound so new and fresh, its so new and daring still. God i love it.