ORCHESTRA BAOBAB - PERQAFONI PEMEN E JETES

Milano. Amfiteater (Arena).

Une dhe e dashura ime ishim grindur per nje ceshtje banale...

Nga Afrika (na duket kaq larg dhe afer ne evropianeve!) ate mbremje luanin nje grup plot me personazhe karizmatike (baobab, si pema e mocme!), te cilet kercenin e te jepnin pershtypjen se ishin ne atdhete e tyre ne kontinentin e poshtem (populli wolof, ritmi pachanga, stile afro-kubane)...

Nje ndjesi kaq te thelle perkatesie, perberjeje, saqe banda e muzikes (Orchestra Baobab) grupoi te gjithe ata avropiane (te huaj) te sperkatur me muziken afro-etnik, tribal, samba (rumba afrikane), klasike veri-afrikane te nxiteshin e te mbushnin skenen, me hedhje hapash shkretetirore, prej xhungle, apo ritme kubane;
nje force fizike e vazhdueshme e verberuar nga ngjyrat e kostumeve extralarge, me gotat plastike plot me alkol qe kercenin papushim ne vallezim cift, sinkronizuar me ate tipin me pelerinen e gjate te zeze, i cili kryqezonte gjunjet me klarineten futur ne goje...

Kooperativa, grupime sociale non-profit (italiane), te rinj te evoluar ne eren e (non)globalizimit ishin te bashkuar poshte nje muzike qe prekte thelle... Qe prekte zemrat, poezine e shpirtit, ndjenjat e altruizmit, perkatesise, humanizmit, idealeve boterore te mireqenies, te barazise perpara veshtiresive ekonomike (dominuese), por edhe perpara gezimit, te  mendjes te hapur, perparimit te miremenduar...

Orchestra Baobab perfaqesojne nje nga grupet me te medhaja ne bote!

Nje nga realitetet me te ndjekura ne skenat internacionale muzikore, nje ngjarje, nje fenomen pothuajse elitar (per nga inertsia njohjese!), nje kenaqesi personale ekstra- etno-kufitare, eksperience unike per te prekur rracen e zeze, zakonet, kulturen shumevjecare, aktualizmat e madje te ardhmen e kontinentit me te vjeter.

Paqja u be! Perqafoni baobabet!

EASTENDERS FEAT. BAJKA - 'CAPITALISM'

'Capitalism' is the first track from Eastenders's album Beyond The Path (2007) and features the distinctive voice of Bajka Pluwatsch (collaborations with Bonobo, Radio Citizen and Beanfield).

It combines a laid back reggae flavour with oriental strings (it seems turkish to me!) and Bajka´s unique lyrics.

MICHAEL SCHNABEL [FOTOGRAF]

How do the works of art and other exhibition pieces spend their nights?
When the editors of the magazine Zeit Leben suggested thi topic, I got excited.
Shortly thereafter I photographed inside museums at night using only available light from dim windows or emergency lights... [Michael Schnabel]

THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO [LITERATURE]

It's never

the changes

we want

that

change everything.

JANA HUNTER - 'SLEEP' [THERE'S NO HOME, 2007]

Sleep, sleep
The night is through
All of your demons are coming for you
All that we've seen may not all be true
Sleep as the sky starts turning blue
Sleep as the day is born anew
Sleep as the wandering eye sleeps, too
Sleep
Your seas are sleeping with you

Sleep, sleep
The day is done
Hide as does the setting sun
All of your racing has just begun
Sleep as the light starts coming undone
The children start having all the fun
The women are restless and carrying on
Sleep
In sleep you'll dream you've won

HAFSIA HERZI BELLYDANCE SCENE - [THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN, KINEMATOGRAFI 2007]

When and why did you decide to become an actress?
I’ve always wanted to do this, it really was my childhood dream. I tried my luck by working as an extra when I was very young. I lived in Marseilles and there wasn’t much of a film scene at the time.
A casting director who’d hired me as an extra three years previously called me about the role in The Secret of the Grain. I was also lucky that the director held major auditions in Paris, Marseilles and Sète. When I went along to the audition, I didn’t even know whether it was for a feature, an advert or a TV drama, and I didn’t know who the director was either.

You didn’t hesitate in gaining 15kg for Secret of the Grain.

What is your method for preparing your roles?
It depends. Every actor makes a role their own and there’s always a bit of your own personality in there.

For Française, I did a lot of sport because the character is dynamic and determined. When I made Iraqi director Abbas Fahdel’s Dawn of the World (released in 2009), in which I play a widow, I focused more on wisdom and gentleness.
In general, I don’t think about it too much in advance. I don’t improvise when the time comes, but I prepare myself three weeks before the film shoot, not six months. But if I’m playing a physical character – a dancer or sportswoman for example – I have to prepare intensively well in advance.

[from an interview to Hafsia Herzi]

JELLYFISH [KINEMATOGRAFI, 2007]

MARGALIT TZANANI - 'AZ MA' (SO WHAT)' [JELLYFISH OST, 2007]

"What I want most all
is a little love

Don't buy me more gifts
I am just looking for a warm corner
by you, inside your soul..."

ADRIAN ORANGE AND HER BAND - MOZAIK ME FUNK SUBLIM E INFLUENCA JAZZ [ADRIAN ORANGE AND HER BAND, 2007]

Adrian nuk eshte vajze. Adrian eshte nje djale.

Se perse ka perdorur kete 'gabim' gjinie ne emer, nuk mund ta di. Ironia, si duket, ben pjese e lojes.
Shpesh i lidhur me personin e Phil Elverum (ai i Mount Eerie dhe i The Microphones) luan nje folk eksperimental, shpeshhere pa ndonje lidhje te dukshme me albumet e paraardhshem.
Ky ne fjale (Adrian Orange and Her Band, 2007) eshte mbi baza jazz-i, funky dhe vokalizma te lire...
E bukura qendron, pervecse ne muziken e ngrohte e free (te improvizuar), edhe ne modelin individual qe Adrian (ose Thanksgiving) na paraqet; duket se eshte nje nga ne. E perditshmja me gjendjet e saj shpirterore te lekundshme, si te ishim hippie te humbur ne nje parkim veturash perballe nje supermerkato gjigante.

Mirepo, ka nur ky imazh!

Procesi i ketij albumi (mjaft te mire!) eshte i gjate, i shkrire i gjithi ne te njejten vorbull zanore; e megjithate i papercaktuar mire ne trajte. Muzike e pelqyeshme, si nje orkester live ('Interdependance Dance') e sajuar shpejt mbrapa nje klubi te shtrenjte, naten, ku funky e reggae ('Question Love Answer') ngrohin ajrin plot profume... E panjohura e bukur!

Once upon a time you hurt my feelings

And I hurt yours too, but we don’t talk about it

No, we talk about everyday shit

Everyday lived-in thoughts...

Trasformimi i nje personi (sidoqofte, i erret per ne, publikisht, nga fakti qe mezi gjenden video e info ne rrjet!) ne nje bande pa lider, psikedelike ('Then We Play'), pa forme perfaqeson projektin liberal te Adrian Orange and Her Band.

Dhe te ruajturit e personalitetit, individit ne standartet e muzikes bashkekohore, dihet, eshte e veshtire sot.

Hap i vogel, por mjaft i rendesishem drejt kesaj eshte te luash muziken qe ndjen, pa druajte e gjykimet e mevonshme. Adrian Orange, ne kete aspekt, na ka mashtruar te gjitheve! Pa perjashtim.

ALASKA IN WINTER - 'BALKAN LOWRIDER ANTHEM' [DANCE PARTY IN THE BALKANS, 2007]

E keni degjuar ndonjehere 'The Joys Of Losing Weight' nga Zach Condon (Beirut)?

Ishte vetem 15-vjec, atehere!

Jemi ne te njejten rruge, me dozen e caktuar te elektronikes (synth) perzier me folkun ballkanik.

Miqesia eshte po ajo; Brandon Bethancourt, pervec talentuozit Zach, i bashkohet edhe Heather Trost (violina e A Hawk And A Hacksaw).

Alaska In Winter eshte projekti plot kontraste zanore ku pianoja, drum-machine, violina e Trost dhe boria e Condon (ky merr pjese ne pese gjurme) ekuilibrohen, cuditerisht, ne menyre delikate dhe me teper sesa 'gjurulldi' ballkanike, rezultojne ne muzike per atmosfera melankolike e gati nokturne...

Prove e ketij sofistikimi orkestralo-synthtetik, pa e dominuar aspak ate nuancen 'me nivel ndjeshmerie te larte' te melodive te gadishullit te fanfarave, eshte 'Balkan Lowrider Athem'!    

GASLAMP KILLER - 'NO BLOOD IN BONE, BY POPPY FAMILY'

Marie now walks, her life is sleep.
She never looks above her feet.
She never smiles, nor does she speak.

When Joey died, Marie went mad
She'd given him what life she had
She'd helped him fight and shared his pain
Her very blood was in his veins

But there's no
But there's no
But there's no
There's no blood in bone...

 

 

HALA STRANA RIZBULON MELODI DHE TRADITA SHQIPTARE

Muzika e Shqiperise e pare me syte e nje tekniku te tingullit.

Hala Strana (aka Steven R Smith) eshte nje amerikan, dhe si shume te tjere, bie ne dashuri me melodite dhe traditat e Shqiperise. 

Studjon ca tinguj, qe rralle mepare kalonin pragun e deres se shtepise, per nga njohja dhe popullariteti ('Motra Dhe Vellai').
Pervec aciditetit te muzikes (pjese te gjata, me sonoritete te hekurta ku instrumentet karakteristike, si klarineto, shpesh humbin ose vonojne te vihen ne dukje), spikat ngjyra dhe pikepamja e kthjellet qe ky ruan per cdo regjistrim ('Pogonishte' nga albumi Fielding, 2008).

Natyrisht, vete albumi Heave The Gamble Roof (2007) eshte modern; nje lloj dhurate post-rock ('Havazi I Dy Motrave') per kuriozet e thjeshte, por na paraqitet edhe si nje perle, jo vetem per ata shpirtra melankolike te muzikes se bukur/humbur juglindore te Ballkanit.

  // in english
Albania's traditional music seen with the eyes of a sound enginner. Hala Strana (aka Steven R Smith) is an American who, like many others, falls in love with melodies and traditions of Albania.
He studies some sounds that in the past rarely crossed the threshold of the villages, for their recognition and popularity in a region (listen to 'Motra Dhe Vellai').
Besides music acidity (long suites with the iron-like sounds where characteristic instruments, as clarinet, often are lost or delay to be highlighted), he preserves a colorful point of view about eash track ('Pogonishte' from the album Fielding, 2008). Naturally, the album itself Heave The Gamble Roof (2007) comes as a modern post-rock gift ('Havazi I Dy Motrave') for simple curious people, but it is presented to us as a jewel, not only for those melancholic souls of beautiful/lost southeastern Balkans music.

THE VEILS - 'VICIOUS TRADITIONS' [THE RUNAWAY FOUND, 2004]

I'd pull my weight if it made any difference
He gave his life for the nine million others
But on his graves written ”Here lies Joseph”
His countrys gun and innocent soldier

Well fight your way out of this one
Fight your way out of this one
Fight your way out of this one
Fight your way out of this one

He grew a blood red vision for all their good intentions
He made an easy million from a foreign investment
He danced with the devils in beautiful buildings
Affirmative action for a useful reunion

He'd change his name if it made any difference
Now hes waiting in line for the lasting confession
But on his graves written "Here lies our son Joseph"
His countrys gun and innocent soldier

Well fight your way out of this one (ah ah)
Fight your way out of this one (ah ah)
Fight your way out of this one (ah ah)
Fight your way out of this one (ah ah)
Fight your way out of this one (ah ah)
Fight your way out of this one (ah ah)
Fight your way out of this one (ah ah)
Fight your way out of this one (ah ah

HOW COME I END UP WHERE I STARTED? HOW COME I END UP WHERE I WENT WRONG? - ['FIFTEEN STEPS', RADIOHEAD]

How come I end up where I started?
How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again
You reel me out then you cut the string
How come I end up where I started?
How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again
You used to reel me out and then you cut the string
You used to be alright
What happened?
Did the cat get your tongue
Did your string come undone
One by one

One by one

It comes to us all

It's as soft as your pillow
You used to be alright
What happened?
Et cetera, et cetera
Facts for whatever

Fifteen steps

Then a shear drop
How come I end up where I started?
How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again
You reel me out then you cut the string

THE OSCILLATION - 'VIOLATIONS'

Lekundje ne mes te trupit. / Truri plotesisht jashte faze. / Kukulla ne hapesire. / Vizitues psikedelike...

Oscillations in the middle of the body. / Brain completely out of phase. / Dolls in space. / Psychedelic visitors...

WALDECK 'MEMORIES' - WELCOME BACK (ELECTRO) SWING

All those souvenirs in my memories
Got me going down in strike
All those souvenirs in my memories
Got me ruining my soul...

DEVENDRA BANHART - KASETA TE RENA MBI CATINE E SHTEPISE SE STERGJYSHEVE

I papershkrueshem reagimi kur degjova per here te pare kete Devendra Banhart: nje artist-legjende, nje guru qekur perpara se te regjistronte dicka mbi shirita kasetash! Hippie i vonuar, plot ngjyra te dishepujve hindu, aksesore e oriantalizma dehes, jehona zerash prej viteve Pesedhjete, tinguj te vjeter si per te shitur mobilje antike...

 

Epo, s'kishte sesi te ndodhte ndryshe, per nje qe eshte rritur ne San Fransisko (habitati ideal i te debuarve poete!).
Duken menjehere shenjat prej gjeniu te vetmuar: nen ndjekjen/ndikimin e Vashti Bunyan (pranuar vete nga Devendra!), Syd Barrett dhe Tim Buckley. Eskursione blues-i primitiv, folk-u dhe country te paparashikueshem,eksperimente origjinale me zerin, rregullimet sonore, instrumentet dhe krijimin e dramave te kaluara personale.
Realizem nostalgjik, tradita urbane te sapokaluara nga dy gjenerata te meparshme, balata prekese, 'feja' e naturalizmit, himne per kisha e katedrale, improvizime e mini-poema, doo-wop prej hippie-sh, boogie femijeror etj etj... jane vetem disa nga lekuret e kamaleontit Banhart.

Sot ne e etiketojme neo-psikedeli, weird-folk apo new-weird-America, por ne thelb mua me duket vetem dashuri e rilindur per ato artiste te kaluar qe nuk paten driten qe meritonin ne kohen kur kendonin me syte mbyllur... Dhe ndoshta eshte me mire keshtu, per te gjithe!