ivylander
Recently Added to Music Collection
Posts
Here's my highly fallacious reasoning: Late Wednesday/early Thursday is roughly halfway between African Tuesday and Funky Friday. I missed the former entirely because I had to travel for work and didn't get back home until after midnight, and by Friday morning all the Ivylanders will be on the road, headed for a family wedding. So if I can post something right in between the two times that satisfies the criteria for both days, that's acceptable, right?
Probably not. Nonetheless, I hope you will be satisfied by the track, if not the rationalization for it. I am starting to love Nigerian music a lot, for its variety and soulfulness and humor. This is just one crackerjack track off a compilation called "Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump" that I just picked up and have been playing more or less non-stop lately. (It makes for an interesting contrast with my other recent purchase, a Kitty Wells best-of....) I would agree with you that Ashanti Afrika Jah sounds sort of like a joke name, but there's nothing even remotely risible about the sound they
Mrs. Ivylander is Cuban on her father's side and a daughter of the Bronx. Which means that, unlike me - an Irish guy from a college town - she is versed in the mysteries of Latin dance. It is as effortless for her as throwing a baseball is for me. From time to time of a Friday night, when we are so moved after the single martini we each consume to mark the successful conclusion of another week (that's my family's contribution to the ritual), we occasionally crank up the Latin music. She dances. I move in a way that, after years of practice, has become only moderately embarrassing.
This is one of the perennial Club Ivylander favorites. Los Van Van (translated from the Spanish, pretty much The Go-Gos) are currently in their fourth decade as a band. And by all accounts, they still bring it. I saw 'em six or seven years ago in New York, in one of those rare periods when Cuban acts were kindasorta able to visit the U.S. under the banner of cultural exchange. (The administration ultimately got the memo and put that to a halt.) Even on an off-night, which this was, they were non-stop.
Their basis is the charanga, a distinctively Cuban orchestral setup consisting, according to Wikipedia, of "an enlarged rhythm section, piano, bass, timbales, and other percussion, two violins, and a flute." To this, Los Van Van (and many groups influenced by them) add a horn section. I confess to being helpless in the face of music that combines elegance and fierce rhythm - Europe and Africa in perfect balance. That, plus the way they seem able to ride a groove eternally, set them apart in my estimation.
So try this out on Friday night after your first cocktail. Your mileage may vary, but not by much....
Comments
i love this song. and i love your story. brilliant way of drawing the reader in. I can see you and your wife celebrating in my head so clear!
whoops, I hit play before I read to wait for Friday. guess now I just gotta keep moving 'till then. only "moderately embarassing", loved that! beautiful music, and I see a RED DOT! you got your probs sorted??
Gotta manipulate tha booty baby. Glad to see your, er, back on track. Cool post. Los Van Van kicked off the Afro-cuban thing for me musically. Absolute legends. I could probably find something more akin from Hanny or Irakere or somebody like that, but it is HHT. So, here's some Free Hole Negro - Caballeros Par Monte. It's purrrdy funky with a hopping breakdown 1/2 way thru.
My apologies. I usually make it a point not to moan about MOG in public, but as ther person who has been credited with fathering this toddler called African Tuesday - an erroneous attribution, I still insist the honor belongs to Cody and to consumerx - I should have contriibuted to the last one. Alas, MOG has not permitted me to upload songs for almost a week. I have tried. And once whatever bug it is has been expelled from Shloopy's system, I will post some African cuts I love.
In other, more cheerful news, the Yanni Street Team has apparently decided to pack its bags. While I am happily pluralist about others' musical tastes, I have to admit that I am glad to see the back of that avatar. Not so much because of any opinion I might have of Yanni and his music - as I think I mentioned in one of Madeline Burke's posts, I met him once, and he was a thoroughly pleasant guy. It was because of an entirely unsolicited and undesired MOGMail I received several days ago. In it, the brains behind Yanni Street Team took me to task because I had the "stones" to "pimp" Freddie Fender while dismissing Yanni's music. I pointed out in my response that I had never criticized Yanni as a musician (I was careful to leave out the phrase "persecution complex") and that expressing one's enjoyment of a song hardly amounts to "pimping." I also mentioned to him that his letter's sign-off phrase ("Well, ignorance is bliss, like lambs to the slaughter," or something very close to that, I can't recall now) managed to be not only incoherent, but also vaguely threatening. I suggested he be more careful about how he used language in the future.
So, while many of mourn the temporary departures of Cody, Bartleby and others, I wanted to point out that not all departures are sad ones. I am of the opinion that MOG should be as big a tent as possible - that's one of the sources of its greatness - but that doesn't mean that anyone here should feel they have free rein to write harrassing notes to people who disagree with them.
(hops off soapbox....)
Comments
I didn't get one email from them, and I posted a "Haiwaii Chair" video on their site! Ah well, I'll fight the good fight another day...
Like CBW, I didn't get a single mogmail either...lucky me.
And like you, I want the tent to be as large as possible, but when you find people to be combative and on the attack in their comments, it just sucks.
yeah, but a good flame war will keep you on your toes, eh? not that I'm neccessarily for it, but this place tends to be a heck of a lot calmer than some past virtual haunts.
Ivy, what's the problem with the uploads? Have you reported it to command central? They (tj) were quite diligent in getting my (and others) posting probs fixed. I notice that when I upload now, I rarely get the % task bar, the window just says "Processing upload", and though it takes a bit longer - if I just leave it go the upload completes. Good luck with resolution...
My Trusted MOGs' Top Songs This Week
MOG Meter
Comments
I buy the logic, but even if I didn't, I'd rather get a good post late than not at all. Pretty quiet these days. Seems a lot of folks are doing something in the real world. What up wid that?
Oh yeah, like the track.
wait this isn't the real world? where am i then? ; )
i don't care what excuse you use, thanks for posting "Onyame"!
Wow, that perks along better than my coffee! Thanks, Bill. Enjoy the wedding.