A country of many intertwining traditions… The music of Bosnia is forever linked to the nations surrounding it, which together make up the former Yugoslavia. This week we welcome our friends Bojan and Zoran to the program, a pair of fearless musical scholars who present us with the history of popular music in Bosnia.
During the 70s and 80s, Sarajevo was the mecca of rock music in the Balkans. We’re talking stadium-sized guitar riffs and women screaming every word. Need proof?
We share some of the best bands of this era, the electric Gypsy sounds that came before it, the most influential composer of the 20th century, and amore.
This week we explore sounds from the highest nation on Earth. Welcome to Nepal!
Sandwiched between two giants (China and India), Nepal offers a diverse sonic palette potent enough to cure even the worst case of altitude sickness. We bring you a sampling of Nephop, classic pop, rock’n’roll, thunder drums, murchunga mastery, and a funkified yak attack!
Until we have affordable interstellar vehicles fueled by anti-matter, every day is Earth Day. But this week’s broadcast fell on the officially sanctioned Earth Day, and as a bizarre twist of fate we were without internet in the studio for the entire show. Coincidence, or terrific display of Mother Nature’s eternal wisdom?
a sight for the sore eyes of many space travelers
Without internet capabilities, we were forced to postpone our scheduled trip to Nepal. Instead, we give you a non-stop sonic survey of planetary vibes – visiting 16 countries in just over an hour!
Thank you, beautiful blue planet, for offering your endless abundance of warmth and resources. We will continue to sing and play songs for you, and we promise to start cleaning up this mess we have made. Next week, we visit the Himalayas!
A full episode exploring sublime sounds inspired by and emanating from the African continent! During the first hour, we are joined by sonic alchemist Brandon “Blocktreat” Hoffman, who guides us through the world of his darling Afrobeat monsters Miami Device. Brandon discusses their upcoming show, trading cards, and debuts tracks from the as-yet-unreleased Miami Device remix album (stirring up their joyous 2012 LP Monopoly).
For the second half of the show, our musical safari takes us to a land of many wonderful surprises, as we visit the North African sands of Algeria. On Wandering Rhythms, we love when traditions diverge in unexpected new directions, and to this end Algeria offers a fascinating mix of regional styles that effortlessly blend with rock, hip hop, and blues that have found their way into the Algerian music scene mainly because of the close ties the country has had with France over the past two hundred years.
Kabyle rock, experimental Raï, Gnawa, classic hip hop, desert blues, folktronica, and more as we explore the spectrum of contemporary Algerian music.. Truly some of the most beautiful sounds on the planet.
On the northern edge of the Amazon rainforest lies a small nation of Dutch-speaking Asian and African voyagers who make swingin’ Indo-Caribbean music. Nope, you can’t make this stuff up..
90% jungled since 50,000 BC
Welcome to Suriname, the land of alien toads and human experimentation. With only half a million people in this former Dutch colony, the Surinamese have slipped under the international radar to become the most ethnically and religiously diverse nation in the Americas.
More than half the population is of Asian ancestry, coming mainly from North India and the Indonesian island of Java as contract workers over a hundred years ago. The rest of the inhabitants are of mixed West-African descent, with a small minority of indigenous peoples (3.7%) still watching over the rainforest. The Dutch seem to have disappeared almost completely, leaving behind their language and wooden shoes.
The greatest sonic blend of traditions is revealed in a wonderfully rhythmic style called Kaseko – a hybrid of early jazz music, calypso, and Creole drumming/chanting. In other words, a pan-Caribbean groove monster!
Many influential Surinamese musicians (including Lieve Hugo — the undisputed king of Kaseko) went on to live and perform in Holland, spreading African rhythms further around the planet. Truly mind-bending, the musical influence that Africans have had on other cultures over the past hundred years…
There is also very authentic Indian Classical music and Javanese Gamelan music being played in Suriname. Yet the different ethnic groups remain relatively segregated in this country, and we are still waiting for Afro-Indian Gamelan funk-hop to emerge from the ether of Paramaribo. But for now, some vintage Surinamese disco-funk:
Check out a great Surinamese music blog here.
Our weekly Global Mix here.
And our Suriname Special here. –including classic Kaseko, 70’s rock, classic Indian folk, hip-hop, reggae, soul, and so on..
During the 70s and 80s, Sarajevo was the mecca of rock music in the Balkans. We’re talking stadium-sized guitar riffs and women screaming every word. Need proof?
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