music of the world k l m

struggling to keep on top of this one but it's a worthwhile exercise
if only to provide a reference point for future encounters with some otherwise unknown world music style
there's a lot of them out there and this little project unearths 50 of them
as rated by songlines magazine july/august edition 2006

karsilama (turkey)

the karsilama isn't the best known dance in turkey but it's one of the most seductive
it comes from trakya the small european part of the country
and is a staple of the gypsy musicians who dominate the wedding scene in the region
although described as a 9/8 rhythm it's essentially a lop-sided 2/4

songlines recommends the road to kesan by selim sesler
esne notes 9/8? 2/4? no idea about this one but it's now on the list to listen out for

kwaito (south africa)

after apartheid south africa needed to find a fresh sound
that reflected both its new optimism and the return to the international fold
of the newly liberated rainbow nation
that sound was kwaito a uniquely south african hybrid of local beats
and such imported forms as hip-hop, house and techno

songlines recommends kwaito: south african hip-hop by various artists
esne notes hybrid - a word i use a lot in describing much of the music i listen to so need to check this out

makossa (cameroon)

it started life as rhythm in a hand-clapping game among school kids in cameroon
then in 1972 manu dibango adapted it added a dash of american-style funk and turned it into 'soul makossa'
the track was picked up by a new york radio station and the makossa phenomenon was born
once there were 9 different versions of the track in the billboard chart
and the makossa beat has even been credited with launching the 70's disco boom
michael jackson later copied the rhythm on his album thriller

songlines recommends the very best of by manu dibango
esne notes an amazing story from hand-clapping kids to the world's biggest selling artist

marrabenta (mozambique)

the sweetly rolling rhythms of marrabenta may not sound particularly insurrectionary
but during mozambique's war of liberation
the colonial portuguese authorities moved ruthlessly to stamp it out
believing music was a medium of revolution
they failed of course and since independence marrabenta has defied years of civil war
to become an all-singing all-dancing emblem of national identity
combining an affinity with other tropical rhythms such as salsa and calypso
with distinctive elements of island tradition

songlines recommends soul marrabenta by mabulu
esne notes anything that embodies africa, music and revolution has to be good

4 more styles demanding further investigation - 3 of them african - can only be good
makossa sounds particularly interesting and no doubt something once heard again will be very recognisable
more m's to do next time...