International Music: 2011

Sunday, 15 May 2011

isys 100 roxc!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRgC99ilKjk

magic visiteth your eye.

Thursday, 28 April 2011

Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa (red region on map) for the most part has a different history from that of the Sub-Saharan region.^[1]

North Africa is the seat of the Mediterranean culture, including Egypt and Carthage before being ruled successively by Greeks, Romans and Goths and then becoming the Maghreb of the Arab world. Like the musical genres of the Nile Valley and the Horn of Africa (sky-blue and dark green region on map), its music has close ties with Middle Eastern music.

East Africa and islands in the Indian Ocean (light green regions on map) have been slightly influenced by Arabic music and also by the music of India, Indonesia and Polynesia. However, the region's indigenous musical traditions are primarily in the mainstream of the sub-Saharan Niger Congo-speaking peoples.

Southern, Central and West Africa (brown, dark blue and yellow regions on map) are similarly in the broad sub-Saharan musical tradition, but draw their ancillary influences from Western Europe and North America. The music and dance forms of the African diaspora, including African American music and many Caribbean genres like soca, calypso andZouk; and Latin American music genres like the rumba, salsa; and other clave (rhythm)-based genres, were founded to varying degrees on the music of African slaves, which has in turn influenced African popular music.

music of XinJiang

There is much variation in the music of Xinjiang, including unique regional differences in Ili, Kashgar, Khotan and Aksu Prefecture. The southern area includes the simple songs of Hotan, the dance-oriented music of the Kuga and the complexly rhythmic songs of the Kashgar. Ili has perhaps the most well-known musical tradition in Xinjiang, including a number of emotional tunes that are narrative in form.

The best-known musical form of the majority Uyghur people is the On Ikki Muqam, a complex suite of twelve sections related to Uzbek and Tajik forms. These complex symphonies vary wildly between suites in the same muqam, and are built on a seven-note scale. Instruments typically include dap (a frame drum), hammered dulcimers, fiddles and lutes; performers have some space for personal embellishments, especially in the percussion. However, there is much variation on the number and kind of instruments used in the performance of a muqam. In November 2005 the Art of Uyghur Muqam was named aMasterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

The sanam tradition is a kind of dance music popular among the Uyghurs, while spoken songs like Maida, Eytishish andQoshaq are popular love songs with simple tunes.The most popular performer of recent times is Turdi Akhun, who recorded most of the muqams in the 1950s. A regional popular music industry arose in the 1980s, alongside Deng Xiaoping's loosening of cultural restrictions. The resulting pop industry produced bands like Shireli, whose 1995 "" was a reggaeish version of a local folk song. Later prominent musicians includePasha Isha, Äskär and his band Grey Wolf, Abdulla Abdurehim and Alim Jan, who appeared in such international releases as the soundtrack to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where he plays the stringed rawap. Jan's father was also a renowned folk musician, known as Tursun Tanbur due to his skill with the tanbur, a stringed instrument like a lock-necked lute. Rock andheavy metal bands like Täklimakan and Riwäyat are also well-known in Xinjiang, as is the flamenco guitar stylings of the Gipsy Kings.

india music

The music of India is said to be one of the oldest unbroken musical traditions in the world. It is said that the origins of this system go back to the Vedas (ancient scripts of the Hindus). Many different legends have grown up concerning the origins and development of Indian classical music. Such legends go a long way in showing the importance that music has in defining Indian culture.

However the advent of modern historical and cultural research has also given us a good perspective on the field. This has shown that Indian music has developed within a very complex interaction between different peoples of different races and cultures. It appears that the ethnic diversity of present day India has been there from the earliest of times.

The basis for Indian music is "sangeet". Sangeet is a combination of three artforms: vocal music, instrumental music anddance. Although these three artforms were originally derived from the single field of stagecraft. Today these three forms have differentiated into complex and highly refined individual artforms.

The present system of Indian music is based upon two important pillars: rag and tal. Rag is the melodic form while tal is the rhythmic.

Rag may be roughly equated with the Western term mode or scale. There is a system of seven notes which are arranged in a means not unlike Western scales. However when we look closely we see that it is quite different what we are familiar with.

The tal (rhythmic forms) are also very complex. Many common rhythmic patterns exist. They revolve around repeating patterns of beats.

The interpretation of the rag and the tal is not the same all over India. Today there are two major traditions of classical music. There is the north Indian and the south Indian tradition. The North Indian tradition is known as Hindustani sangeet and the south Indian is called Carnatic sangeet. Both systems are fundamentally similar but differ in nomenclature and performance practice.

Many musical instruments are peculiar to India. The most famous are the sitar and tabla. However there are many more that the average person may not be familiar with.

All of this makes up the complex and exciting field of Indian classical music. Its understanding easily consumes an entire lifetime.

Chinese Hip Hop

Chinese hip hop (Chinese: 嘻哈; pinyin xīha) is a relatively new phenomenon; in Chinese music; “hip-hop in Beijing emerged around the year 2000 from African American culture, but it has been part of Chinese culture since the 1980s.” Some of the earliest influences of hip-hop in Beijing came from movies such as Wild Style (1982) and Breakin' (1984), which arrived via trade and travel with Japan and Hong Kong.The Chinese term for rap is shuōchàng (Simplified Chinese: 说唱; literally "narrative," actually the name of a traditional genre of narrative singing).

The first Chinese rap song was by Harlem Yu (庾澄庆) of Taiwan in the early 80s. In the early 90s L.A. Boyz started a trend that spread into Taiwan and the rest of China. Early Taiwan youth rap groups like The Party and TTM were both underground and mainstream. In the late 90s Hong Kong's Softhard and LMF were influential though their Cantonese dialect was foreign to Mandarin speaking regions, while Taiwan's MC HotDog, Da Xi Men, and Da Zhi were more widely intelligible in mainland China.

When Eminem’s movie, 8 Mile, came out in 2002 the art of freestyling was popularized in China.^[2] Movies have played a major role in fostering the growth of hip-hop culture in China; from the music itself to dance, the art of graffiti and style of dress. “In the wake of the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, interest in hip-hop waned as the government attempted to revitalize reverence for traditional Chinese culture and socialism” (Steele, 2006) and “the government still keeps a tight hold on radio licenses” (Trindle, 2007). However, there was considerable uptake of "Dakou CDs" - “surplus CDs created in the West that were supposed to be destroyed but were instead smuggled into China and sold on the black market” (Steele, 2006). The Lab is a “free studio to foster hip-hop culture and teach aspiring young MCs about the types of music that don’t make it onto the radio” (Trindle, 2007).

was the first group in Mainland China to sign with a record label and release a full length album, Serve The People (2002), which was co-produced and engineered by Mel "Herbie" Kent. It also contained China's first Jungle/drum'n'bass track. The pioneering four person rap group which consisted of MC Webber, Sbazzo, 老郑XIV, and Dirty Heff, continued on to make appearances at The 2003 Pepsi Music Awards, where they were nominated for Best New Rock-Rap Group and the China National Radio Music Awards, where they won Best New Group of 2003. In addition to full length articles by the LA Times^[3], the China Daily, Music Magazine (China) and the NY Times^[, the group also made special appearances on CCTV-1, PBS, CTV and Stir TV (cable).

Dana Burton, also American, arrived in China in 1999, made connections at a club in Shanghai and in time was allowed to play more and more hip-hop in the club. Hip-hop began to develop a following at the club and eventually a new club was created to play only hip-hop. Since then more clubs playing exclusively hip-hop music have emerged (Foreign Policy, 2007). Burton also started the Iron Mic competition in 2001; an annual rap battle which encouraged more freestyling and less karaoke style performances (Foreign Policy, 2007). Burton recorded:

"The few rappers I met [initially] were rapping in English. I’d say, ‘Let me hear you rap’, and they’d just do a karaoke thing, repeating a few lines of Eminem or Naughty by Nature. As an American that was so odd for me; you can’t say anyone else’s rhymes, you just don’t do that. But it’s the culture here. They like karaoke and doing someone else’s songs." (Foreign Policy, 2007).

Chinese DJ V-Nutz (Gary Wang) notes: "I would say we don’t have a Chinese style yet. If you really want me to say, what is Chinese style, I would say it's young, local kids really enjoy Western things right now. Then maybe after 10 or 15 years, maybe they can have their own style." (Trindle, 2007). Hip-hop is often performed in English and many believe Chinese is not suitable; “people said, straight up, you can’t rap in Chinese, Chinese does not work for rap… Chinese is not suitable for rap music because it’s tonal.” XIV of the rap group Yin Ts’ang put it clearly. “I can tell you about what we don’t rap about: gangbangin', pushin' drugs, or the government, that’s a good way to not continue your career (or your life).” A big and important part of the localization of Chinese hip-hop “is encouraging Chinese rappers to rap in Chinese” (Trindle, 2007).
Rappers of Chinese heritage have achieved renown success in the United States, the most recent of whom is the Miami-born, NYs 106 and Park hall of famer Jin, who raps in both English and Cantonese. Another Chinese American rap group was Mountain Brothers, based in Philadelphia in the 1990s; the group rapped in English. Florida's "Smilez and Southstar" under Trans Continental Records and Hong Kong-based hip hopper Edison Chen has also gained some popularity in the US.
One underground Chinese artist Hu Xuan recorded all of the tracks on his album in Kunminghua, the local dialect spoken in the area of Kunming (Go Kunming, 2007). "One rapper spits out words in a distinctive Beijing accent, scolding the other for not speaking proper Mandarin. His opponent from Hong Kong snaps back to the beat in a trilingual torrent of Cantonese, English, and Mandarin, dissing the Beijing rapper for not representing the people.".
As of 2010, popular artists and groups include MC Hotdog , Sbazzo ,Young Kin, (Dumdue), IN3 ,Young Cee (from Bamboo Crew), (PhoenixCry), Tim Wu, D Evil, AP Manchucker , XIV MC Koz, Tang King (from Red Star), (Uranus), , ABD, (Dragon Tongue Squad), Sha Zhou ,JR Fog, Nasty Ray, (Lil'Tiger), the Uhiger minority group Six-City and the now-disbanded LMF to name just a few.

Big Zoo is another famous rap crew in China. Being a group from China's "Dirty South," Big Zoo represents its city Chengdu, which is the capital of Sichuan Province. In their recorded songs, most of them are rapped in their own dialect, Sichuanese. Just like their Sichuan cuisine, Big Zoo's style is hot and spicy, but in the meantime, they seek to use rap as a tool to speak their thoughts and problems within the society. There are totally four members in the crew. Three of them are now studying abroad in France, America, and Australia. Sometimes they rap in French and English as well. Their bio can be found in Baidu Baike, which is Chinese biggest online encyclopedia. However, in 2008, Big Zoo hit its rock bottom when one of the crew members, Mow left the team. Ever since, the team stopped making music due to this incident and busy works from school. In the midst of 2011, rapper Free-T released his song "Diary of Life," signaling the return of Big Zoo.

In addition to an official Annual Chinese Hip-Hop Awards Show now in its third year, there are a handful of websites serving as platforms to promote hip hop culture in Chinese

Chinese Rock

Chinese Rock (中国摇滚, pinyin: Zhōngguó yáogǔn; also 中国摇滚音乐, Zhōngguó yáogǔn yīnyuè, lit. "Chinese shaking and rolling music" or "Chinese rock and roll music"), occasionally referred as Mandorock and Cantorock depends on the usage of the song's language, is commonly used to describe a wide variety of forms of rock and roll music, in connection with the rock bands and solo artists from native Chinese language spoken region (including Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and etc.). Typically, Chinese Rock is a fusion forms, based on America, Britain, Japan and other area, accompaning the grand presentation of traditional Chinese music

Birth of Chinese rock and roll (1984)
The birthplace of Chinese rock was in Beijing.^[3] As the nation's capital, the music was highly politicised and open to a range of foreign influences. It was marginal for most of the 80s, consisting of live performances in small bars and hotels. The music was almost exclusively for the domain of university students and "underground" bohemian circles. In late 1989 and early 1990 Chinese rock partially emerged into mainstream music as a combination of the Northwest Wind and prison song fads.

The first Chinese rock song was arguably the Northwest Wind anthem "Nothing To My Name", first performed in 1984 by Cui Jian, widely recognised as the father of Chinese rock. The song introduced into post-revolutionary China a whole new ethos that combined individualism, direct and bold expression. It soon came to symbolise the frustration harboured by a disillusioned generation of young intellectuals who grew cynical about Communism and critical of China's traditional and contemporary culture. It also expressed, even for older Chinese, a dissatisfaction with unrealized promises of the Chinese regime.

In the spring of 1989, "Nothing To My Name" became the de-facto anthem of the student protestors at Tiananmen Square. Additionally, in May and July of that year, three of China's famous rock bands were established: Breathing (Huxi, 呼吸), Cobra (眼镜蛇), and Zang Tianshuo's (臧天朔) 1989. Earlier rock music groups include "Infallible" (Budaoweng 不倒翁), formed by Zang Tianshuo and Tang Dynasty (Tang Chao, 唐朝) lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Ding Wu (丁武), and probably the most famous of all Chinese rock bands: "Black Panther" (Hei Bao 黑豹), originally fronted by China's alternative music pioneer Dou Wei (窦唯).

From 2000-2004 post punk and extreme metal entered the underground scene and ascended among the fans, and some Visual kei & Gothic Lolita. In 2004-2005, Beijing's Joyside went on their first tour of China. American filmmaker Kevin Fritz followed them to make the film Wasted Orient. It was released on DVD in 2007 by Plexifilm.^[4] The film is China's version of Decline Of Western Civilization. It depicts comically the pitfalls associated with trying to tour a country that has little taste for Rock n' Roll music. In this film the original line-up of Joyside including Bian Yuan, Liu Hao, Fan Bo, Yang Yang, & Xin Shuang shows these colorful characters drowning away in alcohol is both hilarious and depressing at the same time. The film also includes some of Joyside's early music, which brought them some recognition. The film Wasted Orient is non-political, and strays away from making any superficial social commentary. While Joyside is not particularly known for the talent, the film present Chinese rock music in the new millennium in the most authentic, raw, and genuine form^{[citation needed]}.

Director Kevin Fritz:

“

The film Wasted Orient is what it is pure and simple. It's honest. It is the true way of Chinese rock n' roll. It's not glamorous. It's filthy. It's filled with despair. It's very unwanted in that society and is shown in its citizens' apathetic response to it

”

Presently, Chinese Rock has a new forum in the popular Television program, Pepsi Battle of the Bands, 百事群音 [1] a weekly Live program featuring top 10 Rock bands from all over China who compete for weekly survival. Each Episode features guest Celebrities such as, Cui Jian (崔健), Paul Wong (黄贯中), Richie JEN (任贤齐), Wang Feng (汪峰), Fan Van (范逸臣), Jolin （蔡依林）, Mayday (五月天), and Show Luo (罗志祥）to name a few. The show is sponsored by Pepsi, and produced by Ato Ato Integrated Media.

the foo fighters

Foo Fighters are an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II, which were known collectively as foo fighters. Prior to the release of the Foo Fighters' 1995 debut album Foo Fighters, which featured Grohl as the only official member, Grohl drafted bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith, both formerly of Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as fellow Nirvana touring bandmate Pat Smear as guitarist to complete the lineup. The band began with performances in Portland, Oregon before gaining popularity. Goldsmith quit during the recording of the group's second album, The Colour and the Shape (1997) when most of the drum parts were re-recorded by Grohl himself. Smear's departure followed soon afterward. They were replaced by Taylor Hawkins and Franz Stahl, respectively, although Stahl was fired before the recording of the group's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999).

The band briefly continued as a trio until Chris Shiflett joined as the band's third guitarist after the completion of There Is Nothing Left to Lose. The band released its fourth album, One by One, in 2002. The group followed that release with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and heavier material. Foo Fighters released its sixth album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, in 2007. In 2010, it was confirmed that Smear had officially rejoined the band after touring with the Foo Fighters as an unofficial member between 2006 and 2009. Over the course of the band's career, three of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album, and all six albums have been nominated. The band's seventh studio album, Wasting Light, was released in April 2011.

Saturday, 23 April 2011

Radiohead
are an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitars, piano), Jonny Greenwood (guitars, keyboards, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitars, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass, synthesizers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion).
Radiohead released their first single, "Creep", in 1992. The song was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Radiohead's popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater international fame. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, OK Computer is often acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s.

The lastes radiohead album was released for free on their website:

This is the ultimate "indie" move, it completley separated the big business that has been the leech of quality music.
It challenges iTunes and their monolithic pricing model, which the labels have long railed against to little effect. This move, combined with the NBC situation, may provide enough disruption to allow other software vendors with more flexible pricing models to cut into iTunes.
It also affects the radio business. We have already seen in at least one recent study that radio now finishes second to the Internet as the place to discover new music (and in the recent studies where this is not the case with the total, it is for persons under 30.) With no 'scarcity' in the Radiohead model, there will be no need to go to radio to hear it first--or hear it at all.