CARLITO's BLOG~~~*~~

New Album by Columbian folkloric singer Martina Camargo

2009-07-14T21:26:00.007-04:00

I first heard Afro-Columbian Tambora singer Martina Camargo on the song Damaquiel by Hector Buitrago... she's absolutely amazing.. her voice is really beautiful, and she's carrying on a cultural legacy that is very important and very powerful.. I cant say I know enough about her to really say more.. but as I find out more I will share the details with you here. I have just been told by someone from the label, Chaco World Music, that she has a new album..

"new album "Canto, Palo y Cuero" is on sale !!! just look at itunes, cdbaby.com and lala.com"

"The greatest afrocolombian voice in traditional roots music. A sensitive and fun album of Tambora music, a tradition played only by native drums and happy voices."

Im thrilled. And I recommend that you check her out. I will be playing some tunes from her new album on my radio show as soon as I get a chance. Theres probably a good chance that she'll perform here in the US in the future also, so if i hear anything, I'll post it here.

Here's a blog that has lots of good information about Martina Camargo, plus an interview.

here's a documentary that has just been posted on Youtube

gracias por el enlace Chaco!

If Music Could Talk - July 12 2009 - Africa, Singapore, India, Jamaica, Brasil, the world...

2009-07-14T00:38:00.002-04:00

PODCAST LINK

...some funky Indian film soundtrack classics, a special feature on a new Singapore 60s box set only available in Singapore (and on the web for a limited time) , more great jamaican dub reggae tracks by legendary producers , some dangerous afro beat tracks by FELA, some chimurenga from Thomas Mapfumo, a beautiful modern Brasilian samba, and a new single from Prince

(podcasts of IMCT are in mono - 112 kbps, and while they still sound pretty good , could never replace original recordings - get the originals if you like these tracks! they'll sound even better in higher bitrate stereo!)

Bollywood Night - July 11 2009

2009-07-12T15:03:00.001-04:00

short news clip about michael jacksons influence in India

2009-07-09T13:12:00.001-04:00

Prabhu Deva does a very MJ inspired dance routine here

Finally found this incredible photography book that was released for this exhibit "INDIA : A CELEBRATION OF INDEPENDENCE - 1947-1997"

2009-07-09T11:12:00.010-04:00

This book was first released more than 10 years ago, when the exhibit made a stop in Richmond at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.. the exhibit, which was to commemorate India's 50 years of independence, made its way through many other US cities.. and we were pretty lucky that it made a stop here.. . we have a wonderful art museum here in Richmond in case you didnt know.

I attended this exhibit with my mother, and we spent the afternoon at the museum - first having lunch in the old sculpture garden, and then walking through this exhibit.. (this was way before all the renovations they did at the VMFA) it was one of those shows that really made an impression on me... so when the memory popped up in my head again a few weeks ago, i thought id ask my mom if she remembered the name of the exhibit.

So, after thinking about it for a while, we finally found the catalogue that went with the exhibit and managed to get a copy for under 20 dollars - which is way cheaper than it originally sold for-- and this is really a breathtaking book.. compiling photos from some very talented photographers.. with so many possible perspectives.. each photographer gives their own poetic view of the people and places that make up this dense and colorful continent.. the book is priceless.. with an incredibly beautiful photo print on almost every page , interspersed with essays by the photographers... 200+ pages

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU ORDER THIS BOOK WHILE COPIES ARE STILL TO BE FOUND FOR UNDER 50 dollars...

get your copy here:
"INDIA : A CELEBRATION OF INDEPENDENCE - 1947-1997"

read a bit about the exhibit in case you missed it more than ten years ago..

More unbelievable clips from Tamil film "Thoongathey Tambi Thoongathey"

2009-07-07T12:38:00.003-04:00

1983 film starring Kamal Hassan

If Music Could Talk - July 5, 2009 - Podcast Link

2009-07-06T13:05:00.001-04:00

PODCAST LINK - If Music Could Talk - July 5, 2009

a few 70s Bolly-gems including one sortof remake of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"

2009-07-04T19:18:00.003-04:00

Jawani Se Mile Jahan Jawani -1985 KARMYUDH (Parveen Babi)

Jani Dilbar Jani" from Raksha

Meenakshi Seshadri in Hoshiyaar

Michael Jackson - pictures from back in the day

2009-07-02T13:44:00.037-04:00

beyond the fact that many of these images are burned permanently into my brain from seeing them as stickers on our elementary school notebooks...
....Michael Jackson, and his image and likeness, was literally everywhere during the initial Thriller craze.. ( including blatant commercial tie ins to advertising campaigns for E.T. & Pepsi .. actually, the Jackson POP machine was already in full gear by the time I found out about him, the Jackson Five already had their own cartoon and each member apparently had their own Fan Club long before i had heard Billie Jean.. i just got in on it when they stepped it up a notch.. thats right, the 80s... and my generation was the target audience )

it seems to me that these photos (click the collage below) give away so many interesting and disturbing hints to the mystery behind the troubled life of michael jackson. i dont know what it is, but looking at the pictures of him from youth and his early career, i feel like i almost understand him a bit better.. but it's just a glimmer of truth trying to escape from a cloud of chaotic overexposure that should probably be called the Michael Jackson Empire...
i found most of these images on ebay last night as i was perusing the tidal wave of posters, certified autographs (with photos from the actual instance it was signed for proof and authentification! lol ), concert t shirts, domain names, action figures, etc that is now flooding the auction site in the aftermath of michael jackson's death.. i find it very similar to the opportunist memorabilia hawkers who crowded the streets of the financial district and canal street just days after 911... the tabloids seem to be having a good time with this too... and i guess im not much better than that since im posting this collage up... but i just feel like these photos say something about this mythical and notoriously troubled person.. maybe its because it's just so obvious, looking at the early photos, that he must have had a a pretty painful childhood.. after talking with a friend of mine who works with troubled/abused youth yesterday.. i began to think about it a little bit... and then reading some of the accounts from family members about how his father treated him. .(read the CONTROVERSIES section of this wikipedia entry) . and some of the things he seems to have become obsessed/fixated on later in life... it almost seems to all fit together .. its just too bad that his stardom didnt allow him to work through any of the mess he went through growing up..

it's pretty sad looking at the picture of him above with the dog, or with his little sister janet (who it seems he really relied on years later during all the scandals) sitting on that wall (see below)... and especially when i see the expresion on his face standing next to his father.. you dont have to be a psychoanalyst to see that he doesnt look happy..

beyond the idea that Michael Jackson himself was "a victim" as Quincy Jones has stated repeatedly, it seems he allowed himself to go into a very dark place because of it... allowing himself to rationalize behavior that was hurtful to others (who really knows to what horrible extent?), self destructive, and ultimately fatal.... It's sad that he wasnt able to see how far off the deep end he had gone until it was too late.. or maybe he already knew it and thats why he was hiding his face all the time ..... there are just so many mixed up parts to the story of his life...i hope those he left behind, his children, his family, will also find some peace. i guess the only positive way to look at it, as melodramatic as it sounds, is that hopefully now he's in a better place ... there's absolutely no denying that his music changed the world, and the positive energy of his music will live on in our hearts forever

Singapore 60s 100 greatest box set -- online seller

2009-07-01T11:01:00.003-04:00

i got this box set last week and it's really excellent.. well worth the money...
i was able to order my copy from someone who was involved in the project release.. but he has informed me that it is now available from a Singapore online bookseller -- here

If Music Could Talk - Jun 28, 2009

2009-06-29T11:58:00.001-04:00

PODCAST LINK

16mm "nationalist" film about Indonesia

2009-06-26T15:26:00.001-04:00

Indonesia - a new nation in Asia

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

2009-06-26T00:45:00.007-04:00

- favorite song by my first favorite singer from the first LP record album i ever owned.. (ok, at the suggestion of an online peer i rephrased the previous wording "musical hero" because yes, he may have lived his life in a way that was not exemplary, but i did love his music from an early age, and always will...)

a very interesting science: Visual Anthropology

2009-06-24T17:31:00.015-04:00

I cant believe i've never heard of this before.. but i just came accross the term "Visual Anthropology" when I found this book online, which seems like it could be a fascinating resource and, if it isnt a total bore and full of useless facts and lists and dates, may really broaden my view of VISUAL documentation of Indian Culture, beyond the highly fantastic and stylized "Bollywood" as it is referred to.... First thing i need to do is find myself a copy of this book.

India has a LONG tradition of painting for purposes of story telling-- and photography has probably been present in India since the invention of the camera...

my collection of postcards from the turn of the century , containing rare images in sepia tone from Thailand, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Peru, Mexico, Trinidad, Jamaica, India, and Africa, was, i guess, my first foray into the world of "Visual Anthropology" ... but i think ive been exploring this field for basically as long as i can remember... studying my own ancestors, and then launching from there into the rest of the world, through images.. which, like music, can transport you to places you might have never dreamed of... and in the case of images from days past... places no one will ever visit again....

suddenly, a more contemporary manifestation of this term comes to mind.... YOUTUBE.... which has opened up a vast new frontier in this science of visual anthropology.... because we are documenting our lives, our culture, everything, so much more often--- and storing it there... on Youtube.. in fact, the whole world is doing this...

also now, for some reason, im remembering a photography exhibit i saw at the VA Museum of Fine Arts years ago before they renovated.. I am pretty sure it was a collection of photographs from India.. i remember some of them being really beautiful... wonder if i can figure out what that exhibit was called.. maybe theres a catalogue somewhere..

oh, and speaking of "Visual Anthropology" -- here's an old school film about Maharashtra - i edited the really bad stereotypical commentary out and added music from an old library record called "Folk Music of Maharashtra"
(quality will improve soon-- just uploaded)
part 1

part 2

excellent Malagasy Photo & Culture site (Madagasgar)

2009-06-23T14:22:00.006-04:00

www.MADANIGHT.com

lots of cultural info, links, videos, and some incredible pictures

check out this photostream from a music festival in 2007

( im becoming a big fan of malagasy music )

100 Greatest: Singapore 60s – The Definite Collection-- REVIEWED

2009-06-17T23:39:00.002-04:00

READ THE REVIEW

oh im so excited that my copy of this collection is in the mail on the way to the states.... when i get it, you'll be hearing it on my radio show... hopefully followed by an interview with the creator/curator of the collection....

If Music Could Talk - June 14 2009 - Hott Muzik for the Summertime

2009-06-16T17:31:00.001-04:00

PODCAST LINK - JUNE 14th 2009 - If Music Could Talk

Bollywood Night - June 13 2009

2009-06-14T00:28:00.001-04:00

Bollywood Superstar Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Cusco Peru

2009-06-11T16:46:00.001-04:00

Aishwarya Rai in Cusco Peru

part 1

part 2

part 3

BREAKING NEWS: Bollywood Fever has been declared a pandemic!!!!

2009-06-11T14:07:00.012-04:00

read here : Bollywood dance craze hits America

and here: Bollywood craze grips even Peru also here - (here is a youtube video taken by some Aishwarya crazed fans who found out she was going to be in the airport in Lima! it's madness!! )

and here: Poland's Bollywood craze

and also here : Bollywood craze brings Pakistani boy to Indian jail

and in Turkey! and Germany too!

outbreaks of "Bollywood Fever" have also been reported in South Africa, Spain, and elsewhere..

oh noez! and it's not just Slumdog Syndrome anymore.. its a full on pandemic! but do not be alarmed, this is no time to panic... on average 8 out of 10 people exposed to Bollywood actually enjoy the experience, while others are so bewildered and awestruck that they go completely INSANE!!!! you can too! - this Saturday Night.... at Cous Cous --- 900 W Franklin Street, Richmond VA

If Music Could Talk - Podcast - june 7, 2009

2009-06-09T11:55:00.007-04:00

Last Sunday's show featured Special Guest Dj - Semih - a fellow music lover, film connoisseur, deep thinker, and world traveller who has lived in Richmond for several years now.

I met Semih at the local film rental place, and he always had the coolest music playing when I walked into the store - the type of music that compels someone like me to ask "what is this we're listening to? and where on Earth did you get it?"
Besides knowing a lot about Turkish psych musicians like Mogollar, Baris Manco, etc - he also hipped me to some great electronic artists like Four Tet and Gotan Project, as well as newer Turkish artists like Baba Zula and Ceza.

He'll be going back to Turkey for a little while, and will also be traveling to various other destinations.. so this show is the last chance we'll have to enjoy his selections for an indefinite period of time, unless he sends us some tunes from his travels abroad.. which he hopefully will.

thanks for sharing the music Semih! I hope you'll return with more great stories from your journeys around the world.

PODCAST LINK

Cornershop - "brimful of asha" - interview link, and ini mina dika (sung by asha bhosle)

2009-06-04T20:19:00.002-04:00

brimful
Adjective
(foll. by of)completely filled with

Adj. 1. brimful - filled to capacity; "a child brimming over with curiosity"; "eyes brimming with tears"

brimfull, brimming
full - containing as much or as many as is possible or normal; "a full glass"; "a sky full of stars"; "a full life"; "the auditorium was full to overflowing"

explanation of the song by the group, and a little interview with asha herself here

asha sings "ina mina dika"

If Music Could Talk - 5/31/09 - soul on 45, bhangra, bollywood, and more

2009-06-01T11:00:00.003-04:00

funky soul from the dusty crates, bhangra, and some other assorted new releases

PODCAST LINK

if you thought 70's Bollywood dance numbers were funky...

2009-05-29T12:09:00.006-04:00

Try a few from Kollywood)...

INSAAAAANE!!!!

Ilaiyaraaja- Sakala kalaa vallavan - Ilamai Itho Itho

"Varathu Varathu" from Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey

Stravinsky's Rite of Spring premiered on this day in 1913

2009-05-29T11:18:00.002-04:00

Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring received its premiere performance in Paris on May 29, 1913, provoking a riot...

'

Part 2

Part 3

Compagnie Heddy Maalem performance excerpt

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