It’s been an age since I posted, mostly because I was on Maui over New Years, unplugged for the most part and not at all inclined to blog. So I’ll ease back into it, with some music to start of your new year. While on Maui I bought a bunch of slack key guitar records by the likes of Sonny Lim and George Kahumoku Jr. Slack key guitar is a Hawai’ian style that originated with the Mexican paniolo cowboys that helped establish ranching in the early 20th century across the Hawai’ian islands. These dudes brought their Mexican cowboy guitar styles, …
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Getting near Christmas, and I love the sacred music that gets sung at this time of year. Although this track isn’t Christmas music, it is from the Ukranian Orthodox Christian tradition, and is a haunting and meditative chant. This is from a fine site of russian orthodox music and information. This is an Antiphon, chanted text that is sung in a servics, often in a planisong setting. mp3: Brethern of the Valaam Monestary – First Antiphon of the THE Valaam Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
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Friday, and time for another mp3 posting. This one is in honour of the fact that yesterday I was promoted to brown belt, which in my tae kwon do training is two belts below black. So to celebrate, here is a solo track played on a Korean flute called a Dae Geum. I love the way this instrument cracks like a trumpet or a sax. I don’t know if there is a reed involved or how the mechanics of it work, but it adds to the despairing feel of the piece. It reminds me of how much martial arts there …
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Drop dead gorgeous Norwegian song, for a day in which the snow is blowing and the fireplace is the most inviting place to be. mp3: Ale Moeller and Kristen Braten Berg – Heiemo Og Nykkjen
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Something soft to go with the rain that is falling today on the west coast of Canada. I know little about this piece other than it appears on a compilation called “Below Code” from Japanese label Comatones Records of 10 years of mix tapes. Comatones describes itself as “dedicated to the production and dissemination of non-categorical contemporary electronic music.” The whole album is a fascinating listen. mp3: Takashi Kojima – Texts was subscribed (TT’s edit)