Oum Kolthoum | Awatt Eny

Listen to the first track

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NOTE: Please take a moment to take the survey to the right. I'll be taking your suggestions to heart.

The tracklist, should you want it:
1. عودت عيني مقدمة
2. عودت عيني الجزء الأول
3. عودت عيني الجزء الثاني
4. عودت عيني الجزء الثالث
5. عودت عيني الجزء الرابع
6. عودت عيني الجزء الخامس
7. عودت عيني الجزء سادس
8. عودت عيني الجزء السابع
9. عودت عيني الجزء الثامن

But it's basically 1. Eyes Accustomed Intro; 2. Eyes Accustomed Part I; 3. Eyes Accustomed Part II; and so on. I'm not certain of the accuracy of "Eyes Accustomed," but that's all I got for ya at present.

This is a live recording of "Awatt Eny," I'm not sure from which year. It sounds rather old to me, but that could simply be the recording quality. I just started reading Selim Nassib's I Loved You for Your Voice, a French-language novel told from the point of view of Ahmad Rami, who wrote 137 songs for the singer over the course of her career. It's a marvelous book, and the perfect companion to Virginia Danielson's scholarly The Voice of Egypt. 

I've been meaning to share my Oum Kolthoum collection with you for a while, and now that I'm reading this book, it seems like the perfect moment for that. This disc was found at the Nile Deli on Steinway Street, several blocks from my apartment in Astoria. The excitement of the audience is palpable throughout the recording.

Here's a video of the diva singing a portion of the song:

The Best Cup of Coffee In New York

Click here to read a Calvin Trillin-esque profile I wrote about Jing Wang, Beijing-born barista/owner of Hooloo (previously Hulu) Cafe.

Hooloo is my go-to pick-me-up place on days when I've been wandering around Queens in search of CDs to stock the old Bodega. And, seriously, it's the best coffee I've ever had in this city.

Khmer Rap Boyz | Da Homeboyz LP

Listen to "Toul U (Whatever)"

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NOTE: If you have a moment, please take the poll to the right.

I first came upon this video:



in late 2007 while curating an "around the world in 80 days" kind of global music video trip for my previous blog. I think the phrase I typed into YouTube's search engine was either "Khmer rap" or "Cambodian rap," and I remember watching this thing, totally mesmerized. I loved the sound of it, right down to the Carly Simon sample (that is Carly Simon, no?), and I periodically checked YouTube and other places, hoping to hear more.

Well, several months ago, using Filetram, I finally found a whole album online, what I'm guessing to be the Khmer Rap Boyz's first, and possibly only, full-length recording.

I admit that I was disappointed at first that the songs I'd grown to love by them ("Baeuk Chak," in the video above, and "Sexy Sexy," which you can watch here) were completely remixed and had shed their raw funkiness for something more--golly--what? What's the hip hop word meaning "hardcore"? Well, let's put it this way: I listened to the album once and promptly forgot about it. The cover, with the KRBs in the most ridiculously "hip hop"-coded outfits, striking the most ludicrously "hip hop"-coded poses, says it all. (Word up, Boyz: What makes any particular example of international hip hop successful is not how properly coded the shit is; it's how awesome it rocks. And, really, if it's street cred you're gunning for on that cover, isn't your neighborhood--bombed by the U.S. and turned into one of the most horrific nightmares in Planet Earth's history by Pol Pot--far more "impressive" or whatever to have come from than, say, Compton?)

Okay, where was I? Oh, right. Fast forward to a couple of months ago, back when I was putting together this mix. While looking for hidden gems to delight my visitors' ears, I went back to the Khmer Rap Boyz's album, no longer saddled with the expectation of hearing the older stuff, and could now hear the LP for what it was: A genuinely rock solid contemporary hip hop record. (Despite the lame-ass cover.) And, where the nature of hip hop in the hands of some international artists (think PSY) is to grow increasingly pop-y, the Khmer Rap Boyz went from a sort of bright, super-charming funkiness to a dark, chunky, pou-pounding oomph. (That is what the hip hop kids are calling it these days--"pou-pounding oomph"--right?)

And you know what? I totally love it. 

Two Lao Guys | Pink Album

Listen to a sample track

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Yet another smile-inducing Lao CD found in the Dallas suburbs last weekend.

I heard from about half a dozen readers in response to my question: Should I change the blog format? It was unanimous: Everyone said "No!" 

Thanks so much for chiming in, all who did--it's nice to know you care enough one way or the other. I'll keep the format as is and, should I ever happen upon something that strikes my fancy, of course I'll run it by y'all first!

Unknown Lao Singer | PKCD 035

Another kick-ass Lao album found in suburban Dallas last weekend.

 
Listen to a sample track 

Get it all here.

As I said in yesterday's post, I'm strongly considering changing this blog's layout to something like this.

Yes or no? Your vote will matter! If I receive no votes in the next day or so, I'm moving ahead and redoing the layout. ...

Male Lao Singer | Unknown CD

Another winning Lao album found in Dallas last weekend at a Laotian grocery store.

So, I'm thinking of updating the whole look and feel of this blog, using one of Blogger's newer templates, "magazine"--something like that. (See a sample of that here.) What do you think? Does it matter? I like it because, even though you seem to lose your header image, the overall look is visually stronger, and the user (you) can switch between multiple types of views. Anyway, if you have strong thoughts about this, let me know.

Oh. This evening's musical offering? I think you're going to like it ...


Listen to the first track


Listen to the 11th track

Get the whole dozen here.

Unknown Lao Singer | SLV CD 24

Have your ass kicked by a sample track 

Grab the whole CD here and treat yourself to a TKO. 

This album, found in a Lao grocery store in northwest Dallas this weekend, has so many "OMG It's So Effing Awesome I Almost Can't Stand It" moments I don't even know how to talk about it. First, whoever this woman is, she has the single most soulful voice I've ever heard. Second, have you listened to this woman's voice? 

There's a very famous line of poetry by James Wright--the last line of his poem, "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota"--which reads, simply: "I have wasted my life." Now, I've always scoffed at that line, at that poem, at James Wright, and in turn at practically the whole state of Minnesota (where I spent six years of my adult life, and thus have, I believe, earned the right to scoff at it). To me, that sentiment runs exactly counter to the one line of poetry I can honestly say I've always lived by: Frank O'Hara's "I can't even enjoy a blade of grass unless I know there's a subway handy, or a record store or some other sign that people do not totally regret life" from "Meditations in an Emergency," which I'm thinking might actually be the greatest poem ever written by an American. 

 That said ... when I first listened to this album? It was, alas, James Wright's line that I thought of.

Orits Williki | Mubalamumbe

Listen to "A Way We A Go Do"

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In the contentious field of contemporary American poetry, nothing is ever as hotly contested as issues around identity and self-expression. I believe this, in part, having been involved in a particularly public, at times brutal debate around this poem in 2006.

But American poetry is hardly the only arena in which ideas and expressions of identity can be cause for controversy. In Orits Williki's case, his claim to Ethiopian roots is, in his home country of Nigeria, a cause for ridicule--not that I personally understand why that should be so. (Read more about this here.)

What strikes me as odd in this case is that no similar questioning seems to arise around Williki's decision to use reggae as the musical vehicle for his social/religious protest songs. His claim to having Ethiopian roots seems perfectly reasonable, especially after reading the interview above; it is in his use of reggae wherein he is, literally, adopting a cultural persona.

That, of course, is what I would argue makes his music remarkable--more interesting, I would argue further, than a measurable percentage of "legitimate" contemporary reggae. And not simply because it is an example of someone playing with identity, but because the music, at least on this particular album, is good enough that it makes me genuinely excited about the genre. 

I found this gem at an African grocery store in a southwestern suburb of Dallas this weekend while on the way to a Vietnamese restaurant that had been highly recommended. Though the pho was merely so-so, accidentally finding this treasure on the way more than made up for it.

Unknown Lao Singer | SVL - CD16

Listen to a sample track

Get it all here.

Hey, how y'all doin'? It's been a while, and for that I apologize, but there's a good reason I've been seemingly AWOL: I was out of town for several days on a mission to keep you up to your ears in music you've never heard before.

On Friday, I flew out to Dallas, Texas, where--despite the image one might have of this major southern metropolis--there is a rather vibrant, thriving immigrant population, mostly in the suburban areas. While I didn't exactly go crazy there--I brought home a mere dozen or so CDs--I do have a number of things from Thailand, Vietnam, Nigeria and, above all, Laos, that I'll be sharing with you over the next couple of weeks.

First off is this rather sublime recording I found at Ocean Market in a Laotian neighborhood in northwest Dallas. I know nothing about it, other than how hard it rocks, which you, of course, can hear and judge for yourself.

Stay tuned for more ... 

Gary Sullivan | White Like Me

Three new poems, first posted to the Flarflist, by yours truly, here.