2018 was a year. There was more humanity in the world than ever before. It was wild. But the people made some brilliant sonic documents that just might outlive their creators. Here is a supremely subjective best-of-2018 music mix, blatantly ignoring all other best-of list. Mostly obscure music from far away that I think is exciting. Hope you hear something fresh (PLAYLIST HERE). Bless the creators out there!
And look here, an uncut dance mix!
Here’s a novel idea… How about a best-of-2017 music mix or two!? Yes, everyone is putting out their lists, but here is a gathering of futuristic artists you might not hear elsewhere, with an ear to what’s going on all around our crazy planet.
AND! A non-stop dance mix for those who want to groove:
Keep your head up, the future is funkY!
Another wonderful, tragic, shocking, mundane, electric and sublime Earth year is reliably rotating to an end (though we never really stops spinning). To salute sweet ’16, behold a continuous mix of fresh music featured on Wandering Rhythms over the past four seasons. These globally-minded sonic wizards point the way to a bright and hybrid future. Jump on it~!
Rockin’ the sanshin ina rubadub stylee
Well this is a pleasant surprise.. Despite an unsettling history of occupation from outside forces, the Okinawa Islands (formerly the Ryukyu Kingdom) in the deep south of Japan are home to an amazing array of tropical musical flavours! Not only a singular style of folk music (lovin’ that sanshin), but reggae and cumbia and oh my 神!! Much more!
Also on this week’s program – Arab electro, Nigerian disco, Aussie soul, Incan prog, and who knows what else..
There can be no light without night. Right?
To celebrate the coming of darkness, this week’s radio broadcast features many sinister sounds to help you awaken the spirits within the walls— including horror rap, drone rock, screamadelic surf, Caribbean shaman-folk, and of course, vampire disco.
Plus a real oddity: the world’s first ever electronic piece of music (or anti-music), somehow buried in an unmarked gravestone of historical significance, barely acknowledged as a truly revolutionary artifact. The piece of music in question: a 1944 field recording made in Cairo of a Zar spirit possession ceremony. Eerie enough already, but once original sound wizard Halim El-Dabh manipulated the recording using primitive filtration and reverberation techniques (literally moving walls) the piece takes on a truly surreal afterlife of its own. Here is a sample:
Check out the Wandering Rhythms Halloween Special, but please give yourself a mini-exorcism in between each half-hour segment:
Part 1 ((listen)) Part 2 ((listen)) Part 3 ((listen)) Part 4 ((listen))
And who can resist this timeless slice of horror satire:
WANDERING RHYTHMS RADIO 