Leave a comment Posted on Micronesia, Music, Oceania

On the Edge of Earth’s Darkest Canyon

Deeper than the Himalayan Mountains are tall, the Mariana Trench is the most mysterious, wettest corner of our incredible planet.  And the Northern Mariana Islanders call this place their backyard.  If you ever get a chance, you gotta try the fish and chips..

dragonfishhh

Dragonfish smiling for camera

In a bizarre chain of historical events, this far-flung chain of islands has at various points been under Spanish, German, Japanese, and American control.  And if you want United States citizenship, just go there to get born!

house of taga, tinian

“House of Taga” on Tinian Island.  What ancient wizards built this?

Despite a rapidly growing immigrant population (particularly Filipino), the music of the Mariana Islands remains deeply rooted in the native Chamorro language and culture. Easy-going vibes and beautiful melodies abound, in a tongue that seems to be a lovely hybrid of Micronesian and Spanish.  Can you get any smoother?!

Tambien, the first hour’s Global Mix:

Leave a comment Posted on Africa, East Africa, Music

The Smokin’ Strings of Kenya

guitaaaa

I have returned from a stellar and fruitful and beautiful journey to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize – and thus the radio show is back for the first episode of 2016!  The first hour features exciting new music from China, Argentina, Thailand, Belize and other Earth-based locales..

The second hour takes us on a historical safari to Kenya, a land where elephants and stringed instruments roam supreme.  The guitar and nyatiti form the backbone of most Kenyan music, and singular styles have flourished here for many musical generations. But the real soul of modern Kenyan music is a genre called Benga, which draws on Congolese Rumba and takes it in new hyperkinetic directions.  This music is pure joy.. you just gotta let it in!

Leave a comment Posted on Uncategorized

<happy sweet sixteen

Happy new-ish year friends.  The show is currently taking a little break for January as I wander the vast beauty of Mexico and beyond, digging into the Latin vibes and chapulines and mezcal.

MNGWA Txalaparta

Txalaparta Bar, Oaxaca City with my banda Mngwa

But hey here´s the latest show, a recap of some of the sublimiest songs of 2015..

And somethin fun i cooked up for those who want to boogie — a non-stop dance mix that spans the globe and never settles into a funk for long.

¡Hasta luego compadres!

Leave a comment Posted on Middle East, Music

Play for Human Rights Day

Good people, today is International Human Rights Day, where we step back to look at the progress we have made in our quest for equality and justice on this planet.  It’s easy to look at all the problems worldwide, murders and wars, and settle on hopelessness.  But in the grand old scheme of things, we are making progress (or maybe more accurately, slowly returning to a state of consciousness that we had reached thousands of years ago, and lost).

And music!  Well this is one thing we can count on to inspire and heal the crazy planetarians.  For this important moment, I present you with an hour of renegade music of many vibes – sonic proof that the madness can always strengthen our resolve to be more loving and more alive.

Then we switch scales completely and visit the Saudi Arabian music scene, where some artists must hide in secrecy, risking their lives for their art form and their belief in freedom of speech.