Isicathamiya

I'm finding out about the history of South African music, and it's all fascinating, thanks to the combinations of traditions, influences, and the politics.

This track by Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo you will have heard. I love the poetry in this track as well as the melody and instrumentation.

But should Simon have recorded and distributed it? At the time of its release, in 1986, there was a worldwide cultural boycott imposed on South Africa against the apartheid regime; theoretically no-one in the world should have listened to South African music, but thanks to the Simon album, Ladysmith Black Mambazo came to be known by a global audience.

What do you think? Is music separate from politics, governments and power? Is music a way of taking control, and taking power?

Listen to Isicathamiya music with a brief explanation here. (If you want to search more, try Zulu music.)

Playing the kudyapi

Thanks to the Philippines being nearly two thousand islands, and home to a wide range of tribes living round mountains and sea shores, the music and instruments used across the region is huge.

I chose this playing of a kudyapi because I was so delighted by the musician. Enjoy what he does with his wooden, two-stringed boat-lute, then go on a tour to see what different instruments you can find in the islands.

Tinariwen

Tinariwen are playing in Hong Kong. Grrr. Tickets sold out.

The members of the music collective are from the travelling Tuareg of the Sahara. They now have international recognition.

Listen to their music here, here and here. Does it remind you of any music you've heard elsewhere?

(Now I've started clicking, I can't stop...)

Johann Pachelbel

Girls, you know how this week I perked up and said, That's the wool advert.

This is it. Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel.

Pachelbel composed in what is now called the Baroque period of music (1600s to 1700s). Cultured people were filling their ears with BIG SIZE stuff, like huge organ music filling great churches and halls.

I like it.

While you're in the Baroque, listen to Bach.