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sinceileftyoublog · 4 months

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Jolie Holland Interview: Refractive & Layered

Photo by Chris Doody

BY JORDAN MAINZER

When I called Jolie Holland last summer to talk about her then-upcoming new album Haunted Mountain (Cinquefoil), the LP had just arrived. Lying in her house was, in her words, "a mountain of Haunted Mountain." She had just finished boxing up a limited edition vinyl of her debut album Catalpa, sent to her supporters on Patreon, and a friend was coming over later in the day to help box up some more vinyl. The DIY and direct-to-consumer approach suits Holland and is certainly consistent with the themes of Haunted Mountain, an album that at times looks back at Holland's earliest years and contextualizes them within society's current fights against capitalism and the patriarchy.

On Haunted Mountain, you can hear battles in every aspect of Holland's experiments. Take the spacious electronica of "Feet On The Ground", its deep bass groove and panning, skittering beat tangling with Holland's soulful vocal and whistling, and buzz-saw guitars that cut in and out. On the surface, its lyrics recall protest, but to Holland, it's her first "anti-patriarchal dance" song, using bodily movement as a means to a more just end. Piano ballad "Orange Blossoms" lays side-by-side natural imagery and soundscapes to chide human effect on climate change while being careful not to delve into the world of self-righteousness or eco fascism. "Every single soul on this spinning globe / Is captive to this dick measuring contest," she quips with her trademark smoky, jazzy vocal. The galloping Buck Meek duet "Highway 72" references Holland's experience as a homeless teenager, piercing violin rubbing against gentle acoustic guitar, pedal steel, and Mellotron, the sonic manifestation of the daily struggle to live on the streets. The song uses the Nyabinghi rhythm, named after an anti-colonial Rwandan freedom fighter, Holland's subtle way of connecting the fights against colonialism and austerity.

It's no coincidence that Holland's first album in years came as her creative relationship with Meek flourished. She first met him at the Park Slope Food Coop, where they both worked. "The stairs to the office are lined with cheesy personal advertisements of people offering different services," Holland said of the Coop. "It feels like a college campus in the 90's." She decided to advertise songwriting coaching and music lessons, and Meek saw it and decided to get in touch, as he was a fan of her music. The rest, as they say, is history: Holland bared witness to Meek's burgeoning relationship with Adrianne Lenker, the formation of Big Thief, and both his and his brother Dylan's resulting success.

Yes, it was a coincidence that in 2023, both Holland and Meek released albums named Haunted Mountain. Holland co-wrote five of the songs on Meek's album, including its title track, a tribute to active volcano Mount Shasta. Guitarist Adam Brisbin, whom Holland introduced to Meek, plays on both records. Yet, that both albums deal with "reciprocity with nature"--a phrase Holland said that Meek used to contextualize his title track--and a sort of cosmic telepathy is a tribute to Holland and Meek's intertwined creative partnership. Right now, Holland is getting ready to tour the UK and EU in March and April. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity, about Haunted Mountain, working with Meek, nature, protest music, and conversational songwriting.

Photo by Chris Doody

Since I Left You: This cosmic collaboration between you and Buck is years in the making.

Jolie Holland: I was super charmed. We've known each other for over 10 years. I love writing songs with him. We've never done it in person--it was just literally texting and videos that we sent each other.

SILY: On "Mood Ring" from his album, he sings about telepathy. Even if he's singing about it from a romantic standpoint, that he titled the album the same thing is even further coincidence.

JH: He didn't know I was naming my next record Haunted Mountain. I always was. I never questioned it. It was this very simple vision for me. It's such a straightforward thing to name a record after a song and clearly, it's a very evocative title. Who knows what it means? I don't exactly know what it means. It has this nice refractive multi-faceted character. It's also a soft rhyme that has a nice rhythm to it. It was unquestioned to me that was gonna be the title.

There was a similar thing going on in Buck's circle. He kept coming up with different names for his record, but everyone in his circle was calling it Haunted Mountain. They assumed that was the name. He thought, "This isn't moving. Everybody is into this." He sent me this extremely thoughtful email that explained the process. He said, "Can I name my record after your song, [but] only if you're not going to name your record the same [thing]?" I said, "Yeah, well I am [naming it Haunted Mountain]." It only took us a few hours to come around to the fact that [the coincidence] was awesome. [laughs]

SILY: He sings about the idea of "reciprocity with nature" on his title track, a humbled relationship with it, and so do you, especially on "Orange Blossoms". Can you talk about your personal relationship with nature and singing about it?

JH: I said that phrase, "reciprocity with nature," and then I completely forgot having said it. Buck was texting me, "What was that you said? Something about something with nature? What was it?" We finally both remembered my having said it.

Are you an Indigenous person?

SILY: No.

JH: Me neither. My grandmother had a Choctaw last name but wasn't tribally affiliated. She had a family background of being Indigenous. They lived in New Orleans. She was Black and French, and the spelling of her last name is typically only Choctaw. When I was a kid, she told me in a very strong New Orleans accent, "I'm half Black, half French, and half Indian. That makes me Cajun." It's some ridiculous shit. Did you read Braiding Sweetgrass?

SILY: No, but I'm familiar with it.

JH: It's so beautiful. It's written by an Indigenous botanist named Robin Wall Kimmerer. The audio book is so...gorgeous, hearing the cadence and the weight of meaning in her voice. I haven't even finished the book. It's very, very long, 15 hours or more. I've just dipped my toes in. But she tells this incredible story of being a young botanist student. She had this hypothesis that traditional harvesting methods were positive for propagating certain plant species. Her professor, who was not Indigenous, was not into the idea of her doing this experiment. He said, "That's clearly wrong. How could human behavior be good for these plants?" She did the experiment and proved that traditional harvesting practices were positive overall for the plant. There are these intensely unanalyzed perspectives in European and settler culture that humans are a curse on nature. It has so many deep repercussions.

I reference that Malthusian perspective on the record. There's a voice of nature on "Orange Blossoms" that says, "We throw this party every year whether or not you motherfuckers are around." [The line is, "We throw this party every year / Whether or not you humans are here."] [laughs] It's talking about spring. But that's a real settler colonial European attitude, that humans are not part of nature. It's obviously ridiculous. It's just a philosophical conceit.

SILY: Your references to fascism in that song are interesting. It reminded me of the very online debate during COVID about people staying inside and "nature healing" being an ecologically fascist point of view.

JH: I heard the line, "Every superhero is a fascist," through leftist comedians, Francesca Fiorentini and Nato Green. I found many examples of that analysis. There's a great couple chapters in the book The Utopia of Rules by David Graeber where he gets into that idea. He was friends with a lot of my friends, but I never met him. He died of COVID complications. His biggest macro-cultural hit was the book Bullshit Jobs, and before he passed away, he wrote The Dawn of Everything, which is extremely wonderful. He's an anthropologist, and the person he cowrote the book with, David Wengrow, is an archaeologist. They did an enormous global analysis of the systems of democracy and social organization that are not authoritarian. It's brilliant. I think it's going to be really important tool moving forward. It resets the picture on a lot of things.

Photo by Chris Doody

SILY: Do your views on colonialism and nature jive with the anti-colonial bend of "Highway 72" as well?

JH: Why do you say it's anti-colonial?

SILY: I thought the juxtaposition of imagery in the line, "Great-horned owl slipping by the overpass / I feel like every year might be my last," was referential to systems of oppression constantly threatening to kill us. Is that song auto-biographical?

JH: [laughs] Yeah, I was a homeless teenager, and there's a lot of imagery of that time in my life in that song. My friend called it an anti-colonial hymn because the rhythm, Nyabinghi rhythm, is an anti-colonial rhythm. It's named after the Rwandan female military leader. I've loved that rhythm for a long time. There's this movie Land of Look Behind made by Alan Greenberg, who was a cinematographer who worked with Werner Herzog. He was friends with Bob Marley and happened to be visiting him when he died. There's all this beautiful footage of Marley's funeral and footage of backwoods Rastafarians hanging out and playing music. There's a band Keith Richards produced called Wingless Angels, and it's some of my favorite gospel music. It's so moving to me. It's been an important part of my musical vocabulary for 20 years. I forget how deeply embedded it is in my way of thinking about music. One of my best friends, one of the first people to hear the record, said something so beautiful about the rhythm: "It's slower than my grief." I said, "Wow, I don't know what you're talking about, but I love it!" [laughs] I think he was trying to say it helped him move through a certain healing process.

I looked up the beat because I wanted more concrete information about it. I forget anything I've learned about it because I've been into it for so long. Keith Richards said something so amazing about it: "It's purposefully slower than your heartbeat." [I thought,] "Is [my friend's] experience of the song related to Richards was saying about it?

SILY: It requires an active participation or listening.

JH: What do you mean by that?

SILY: When something is that slow, it can't be experienced passively. To stay engaged, you have to commit to it.

JH: That's interesting. It's like Bob Dylan getting really really quiet when the audience is loud.

SILY: Definitely similar. I was intrigued, though, when you were just talking about the relationships between humans and nature, because the song is about you living outside.

JH: More and more of us experience that as capitalism fucks us up. [The song isn't about homelessness, but] about [my] experience of homelessness. A lot of people look at me, clearly a fucking intellectual, and they think I went to college and had a family. I'm a white lady, so there are assumptions about my socioeconomic background. They're wrong! [laughs] I didn't want to be taken as a ghoul, bloodlessly discussing so-called social problems, looking at it from an external viewpoint.

SILY: "Feet On The Ground" seems to be describing the relationship between protesting and activism and our emotions.

JH: That's interesting. It's not. But I like your analysis.

SILY: The line I highlight is, "When you've taken all that you can handle / Every act of tenderness is a frightful gamble." What does that mean to you?

JH: I've been working on this project of trying to make anti-patriarchal dance music, and this is the first [song]. It's more about interpersonal relationships. It's very inside-out. It's from deep inside of relationships with men.

SILY: Which is a political statement in and of itself, inherently.

JH: Totally. I love that you saw it that way.

SILY: Have other people heard the song without knowing what it refers to and interpreted it other ways?

JH: My friends who have heard it have been overwhelmed by the production. I was really excited to talk with people about what it means, but everybody I've played it for, Buck included, have thought it's such a crazy soundscape.

SILY: Somewhat of an anomaly for you.

JH: It's my first dance track...It's listed as a different genre.

SILY: What's your relationship with The Painted Bird, and why did you frame "One Of You" around that book?

JH: Have you read that book?

SILY: No.

JH: Don't read it! It sucks! [laughs] It's so fucking intense.

SILY: It's one of those books where I haven't read it, but I'm very familiar with the discourse around it.

JH: I read The Painted Bird when I was 13. I didn't know what it was. How could I have? I don't even know where I found it. Probably in the library, or I borrowed it from one of my mom's friends. It's the story of a little blond-haired Jewish boy walking out of rural Poland in the aftermath of WWII, who encounters repeated creepy atrocities. There's a lot of sexual violence in the book, which I really wish I hadn't been exposed to as a child. The central image in the book is when the kid sees these country boys that capture a bird and paint it in these bright colors and release it back, and the flock kills it.

SILY: Because they think it's an intruder.

JH: It's this extremely visceral metaphor for genocide and the process of othering. "Feet On The Ground" and "One Of You" were kind of the same idea for a minute. It was really hard to write "Feet On The Ground" because in one sense, it's protest music, but I'm not interested in writing protest music that's accusatory. I want to write music that actually gives people an ability to consider things from a more basic level than just an oppositional state. That's always been my criticism of oppositional protest music. If it's just accusatory, the person being accused is not listening to the music. I totally value a lot of music that is accusatory and is that kind of typical punk rock anthem-type stuff, but I've [long] been interested in how to write in a different way. Daniel Johnston was a big influence in moving in that direction. He's somebody I think a lot of people wouldn't naturally identify with, somebody with mental illness. But he presents himself in a way where it's impossible not to identify with him.

"Feet On The Ground" is based to a degree on that William Onyeabor song "Better Change Your Mind". Another discursive protest song I found amazing is, "Can't Blame The Youth" by Peter Tosh.

SILY: Accusatory protest songs, in my experience, exist more as cathartic than wanting to make actual change. They serve that purpose, even if delivered to an echo chamber. However, I was listening to the latest Bully album, and the final song, a punk song called "All This Noise", is what you think of when someone says, "protest music," but the song before that, "Ms. America", is much quieter and has a basic premise of, "I want to have a kid, but I don't want to teach a kid how to fight." It turns protest feelings inward. I found it to be a more effective protest song due to it eliciting more empathy than what you would think of as typical protest music. Is empathy a part of what you're trying to achieve?

JH: What do you mean by empathy?

SILY: When you look inward a bit more in your protest songs, essentially, you're trying to uncover some more universal truth that other people can identify with, as a means of making change, rather than being accusatory.

JH: Do you mean empathy with the people you're trying to change?

SILY: With anyone listening.

JH: Probably. I'm definitely not interested in preaching at people, so it's about talking with the people listening and trying to be part of a bigger conversation with anybody who might be on board, as opposed to something intended to be strictly cathartic and outwardly directed.

SILY: "Me and My Dream" references some legendary songwriters. Can you talk about the weight that carries?

JH: I always loved the songs of Lou Reed's where he's referencing his friends. We don't even know who these people are. "'Margarita told Tom,' 'Kennedy says.'" Those aren't famous people. Those were his friends. Or maybe they were famous. It doesn't matter in the song. It's so beautiful. I remember when he talked about his orientation with writing lyrics, he wanted it to sound like the kind of things he wanted to say to his friends. An interpersonal conversation. I love lyrics like that. This was me approaching that idea. I'm always thinking about other artists' work and the ways it affects me and how I respond to it. Blind Willie Johnson, [Tom] Waits, and Richards are the namechecked artists, but I also reference Betty Davis' "I Will Take That Ride".

SILY: What's the story behind the cover art?

JH: I love this artist Jo Bird. She's a metal viola player I know from Houston. She has a band called Fiddle Witch. She moved from Houston to Galveston, which is the beach I grew up with as a child where I got sunburnt to fucking hell. Another one of my songs, "June", on Pint of Blood, talks about imagining mountains out of clouds. I grew up in the fucking swamp with no mountains, but the sky is incredible with cumulus clouds and rainbows and thunderstorms and tornadoes. I loved seeing her pictures all the time, how this goth photographer gets these scary pictures of the beach. [The cover] was a picture she took on her iPhone. We had to use some magic to get it big enough to use on the cover. We still chose to keep it kind of small so we didn't have to distort it to get a good image of it.

SILY: What instrument do you write most of your songs on?

JH: I write most of them in my head. I don't want the music to be limited by whatever I know or don't know instrument-wise.

SILY: Do you find adapting them to a live performance a totally different artistic endeavor than writing and recording them in the first place?

JH: No, it's all really creative and an opportunity to see different stuff in the music. We've been playing "Haunted Mountain" a lot of different ways. One way we've been doing it is synth, bass, viola. I love how it breaks down to just the elements. I love presenting songs in a lot of different settings.

SILY: Are you the type of songwriter who is always writing, or do you need to set aside time to sit down and write?

JH: I'm always collecting ideas, but I do need to sit down to make them come all the way through. I woke up and wrote some lines a couple mornings ago, which is great, because I'm so busy with everything else that it starts to feel weird to not have time to write.

SILY: Is there anything else upcoming for you?

JH: I put out Catalpa on vinyl in an extremely limited release that I offered to my Patrons. I'll do [a wider] re-release. It was never mastered at all, let alone for vinyl. Larry Crane, the editor of Tape Op, an awesome engineer, prepared the files. [The originals are like] a sketch on a cocktail napkin. They're made out of pure garbage. Larry's colleague Adam Gonsalves mastered them. They sound incredible. Adam mastered Haunted Mountain and Escondida for vinyl. I've been working with him for a while. My friend Jason Tavares, who runs a hi-fi Shop, listened to Catalpa on a hundred-thousand dollar system and said it sounds amazing.

I wish people had access to better systems. So many people don't even have a record player. I didn't even have a decent record player until I moved to L.A. 10 years ago. Before that, I was moving around so much, so it didn't make sense. Larry Crane played bass for Elliott Smith and did similar work for his shittier recordings, turning them into something that could take production. He's such a fabulous nerd and knows all the new things. He happened to hear those recordings of Elliott's while out and about, and said, "I would have done it differently now." He learned a lot of stuff before Catalpa, so I'm glad to hear Jason said it sounds good.

SILY: Did you start a Patreon over COVID?

JH: I did. I couldn't figure out how to access unemployment and was real fucked. I was about to go on tour in February 2020, so it was great to get into Patreon. I did something super gimmicky the other day that people fucking loved. I said, "I'm going to release a Tom Waits cover every week until I reach this many patrons." People responded to it so fast I had to keep moving that number until it made sense. It's been interesting engaging with people on that level. I'm glad there's platforms like that. Marc Ribot helped start Music Workers Alliance, and they did an analysis that streaming has taken 20 billion dollars a year out of artists' pockets, [so] it's great we have these direct support systems [like Patreon].

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lebaronlordking · 2 years

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Saturday Afternoon Reggae Show April 2, 2022

DJ LeBaron Lord King [email protected]

4:00 PM Lutan Fyah - Weed Ooh

4:03 PM Sister Jahia - Hail Him

4:07 PM The Green - Mama Roots

4:11 PM Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley - Caution

4:14 PM Ras Attitude - Reign and Rule

4:18 PM Jalifa - Hear Ye

4:22 PM Steel Pulse - Your House

4:24 PM Damian Marley - Welcome To Jamrock

4:30 PM Lady Saw - Darnest Things

4:33 PM WizKid - Blessed

4:39 PM Good Over Evil - Vegan

4:39 PM Bob Marley & The Wailers - Them Belly Full

4:42 PM Jesse Royal - Generation

4:46 PM Ras Maxx David - Mystical Gift

4:50 PM Lutan Fyah - Spliff Tail

4:55 PM Chaka Demus & Pliers - Murder She

4:58 PM Barrington Levy - Black Roses

5:02 PM Toots & The Maytals - Monkey Man

5:05 PM Goldy;Tuff Like Iron - Roots Wine

5:09 PM Junior Reid - Mother Nature

5:12 PM Pasnbesa - Rhythm of Life

5:15 PM Skip Marley - Slow Down

5:20 PM Pressure Busspipe - Jah Is Real

5:27 PM Baba Ras - Real Vegetarian

5:29 PM Bob Marley & The Wailers - Keep On Moving

5:29 PM Black Uhuru - Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

5:29 PM Shaggy - Boombastic

5:33 PM Burro Banton - Nah Sell Out

5:37 PM Damien Marley - Life Is a Circle

5:42 PM Bob Marley & The Wailers - Jump Nyabinghi

5:46 PM ILah Medz - Bum de Beast

5:48 PM Irie Souljah - Jah Jah Children Rise up

5:52 PM J Boog - Blaze It for Days

5:56 PM Jah Cure - Telephone Love

6:00 PM Stephen Marley - Keeper of the Flame

6:04 PM Dre Island - Reggae Love

6:07 PM Luciano - Use Jah Words

6:11 PM Tafari - All of My Love

6:14 PM Dre Island - We Pray

6:22 PM Wailing Souls - Act Of Affection

6:25 PM Arise Roots - Rootsman Town

6:29 PM Burro Banton - Nah Sell Out

6:32 PM Lee Scratch Perry - Panic in Babylon

6:40 PM Bob Marley & The Wailers - Concrete Jungle

6:44 PM Etana - Etana - High Grade

6:50 PM Skip Marley - Faith

6:53 PM SumeRR - 3rd Eye

6:56 PM Kosher & Sleepy Time Ghost - Thanks & Praise

#kpooradio #reggae #reggaemusic #sanfrancisco #oakland #america #jamaica

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ztremx · 3 years

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Lloyd Knibb OD (8 March 1931 – 12 May 2011) was a Jamaican drummer who is considered Jamaica's most important and influential modern drummer. A master percussionist, he contributed to every style of this nation's popular and not so popular musical forms, including jazz, mento, burru, nyabinghi, rock steady and, by extension, reggae. He is most well known for his contribution to the development of the rhythm of the ska.[1] He played for The Skatalites (in the 1960s up to his death), and for Tommy McCook & The Supersonics. Knibb recorded for the producers Lloyd "Matador" Daley and Duke Reid.

Listen to these drums!!!!!

#ska

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desertislandcloud · 5 years

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“I am pondering the world we are in and looking at the chaos and uncertainty of it all. And in America, where once Martin Luther King dreamed, it feels like that dream is lost to tyrants, racists and sexists, emboldened and loud. But it’s only love that will set us free.” Nicholai La Barrie, vocals, Mangoseed.

As a new year unfolds to an increasingly troubling socio-political backdrop, London roots-rockers Mangoseed face up to the fear and hate with a homage to love in all its forms. Celebrating the influence of song as a means of protest, empowerment and unity, frontman Nicholai La Barrie delivers his proclamations by way of a potent vocal melody atop the quartet’s heavyweight alliance of enormous bass, ethereal guitar and classic dub in the tradition of Black Uhuru, King Tubby and Mad Professor, all driven by the percussive thrust of rastafarian Nyabinghi rhythms.

Defying the populist idiot-men in seats of power from eastern Europe to Italy, from Brazil to the White House, Mangoseed place their faith in truth and in youth, as revealed in the audio clip that closes ‘Still Believe’, which was produced by Sam Dyson at Free House Studios, Bristol. “I see hope in the youths,” says Nicholai, emphasising this parting shot. “I see the hope in me singing our truth into existence.”

Hailing from the cultural and creative melting pot that is England’s capital city, Mangoseed comprise four musicians of Trinidadian, Jamaican, Australian and Irish descent. Perhaps no surprise, then, that this multinational troupe produce an enthralling fusion of global sounds, mashing up ska and soca, dub, jungle and funk, rock and punk, all of it high-energy and unfailingly danceable. Originally formed by vocalist Nicholai La Barrie and guitarist Karlos Coleman, Mangoseed became a fully functioning act via the additions of Richard Hardy on bass and Sam Campbell on drums, configuring a pulsating punky-reggae repertoire that was captured on their self-released album, ‘Basquiat’, which earned impossible-to--nail-down comparisons ranging from Bad Brains to Massive Attack.

What everyone can agree upon, however, is the thrilling energy of Mangoseed’s live performances, regularly delighting a loyal fanbase around and beyond the band’s Brixton homes. The enthusiastically received 2017 singles, ‘Lucy’ and ‘Jah Jah’, only increased the intensity of the Mangoseed appeal, and more recent studio sessions have spawned further killer blasts of of urban-jungle skank, which will take the form of a set of singles, as well as a full-length album, as Mangoseed prepare to make a mighty impact on the soundscape of 2019.

Dates May 17 – Off the Cuff, Herne Hill, SE24 London May 23 – Bussey Building, Peckham, SE15, London June 29 – Luna, Leytonstone, E11, London June 30 – South Norwood Festival July 27 - Luna, Leytonstone, E11, London Aug 24 – Big Feastival, Udder Stage, Cotswolds Aug 31 – One Love Festival, Kaya Stage and Encona BBQ Session, Maidstone

LInks www.mangoseed.co.uk www.facebook.com/mangoseedband www.twitter.com/mangoseed www.instagram.com/mangoseedinst

#reggae #uk #newmusic #music #dub #youtube #musicvideo

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vidastransmutationgestation · 2 years

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Awesome album I discovered on bookman, adding it to my eternal study of harmonies

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foxonly202 · 2 years

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Bob Marley Confrontation 1983 Rar

Bob Marley Confrontation Album

Confrontation, an Album by Bob Marley & The Wailers. Released in May 1983 on Island (catalog no. ILPS 9760; Vinyl LP). Genres: Roots Reggae, Reggae. Rated #726 in the best albums of 1983. Featured peformers: Bob Marley (vocals, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, songwriter, producer), Junior Marvin (guitar, backing vocals), Aston 'Family Man' Barrett (bass, guitar, panpipes, percussion, mixing. Bob Marley - 1983 - Confrontation.rar. La storia siamo noi - Bob Marley.rar. Bob Marley - Studio Albums (1970-1983) MP3 320 kbps.rar. Bob Marley - 1983 - Confrontation & The Wailers Give Thanks And Praises. (download) 3:43. Fire emblem bloodlines gba rom download. Bob Marley - 1983 - Confrontation Jump Nyabinghi. Confrontation (Bob Marley & The Wailers) 1983-05-31: 16: 6: Legend (Bob Marley & The Wailers) 1984-05-29: 10: 34: Talkin' Blues (Bob Marley & The Wailers) 1991-02-27: 31: 1: Natural Mystic - The Legend Lives On (Bob Marley & The Wailers) 1995-06-02: 14: 6: Chant Down Babylon: 1999-11-25: 30: 11: One Love: The Very Best Of (Bob Marley & The.

CD-Facts:

Interpret: Bob Marley + the WailersAlbum-Titel: ConfrontationTracks: 10Label: IslandErstveröffentlichung: 23.05.1983Wiederveröffentlichung: 07.08.2001

Tracklisting: 1. Chant Down Babylon 2. Buffalo Soldier 3. Jump Nyabinghi 4. Mix Up, Mix Up 5. Give Thanks And Praises 6. Blackman Redemption 7. Trench Town 8. Stiff Necked Fools 9. I Know10. Rastaman Live Up Bob Marley + the Wailers - Discographie:

Studio-Alben:1980: Uprising Island1979: Survival Island1978: Kaya Island1977: Exodus Island1976: Rastaman Vibration Island1974: Natty Dread Island1973: Burnin' - Wailers Island1973: Catch A Fire - Wailers Island1971: The Best Of The Wailers - Wailers Beverley's1971: Soul Revolution - Wailers Trojan1970: Soul Rebels - Wailers Trojan1965: The Wailing Wailers - Wailers Studio OneGreatest Hits-Alben/Compilations:2012: Marley (Soundtrack) Island2001: One Love - The Very Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers Island1995: Natural Mystic Island1984: Legend Island1974: Rasta Revolution - Wailers Trojan1973: African Herbsman - Wailers TrojanLive-Alben:2015: Easy Skaning In Boston '78 Island1978: Babylon By Bus Island1975: Live! IslandFremdsprachige Alben:1971: Soul Revolution Part II - Wailers TrojanRemix-Alben / Releases von älterem Material:1983: Confrontation Island

Chant Down Babylon

Buffalo Soldier

Jump Nyabinghi

Mix Up, Mix Up

Give Thanks and Praises

Blackman Redemption

Trench Town

Stiff Necked Fools

I Know

Rastaman Live Up!

Confrontation is a roots reggae album by Bob Marley & the Wailers, released posthumously in May 1983, two years after Marley’s death. The songs on this album were compiled from unreleased material and singles recorded during Marley’s lifetime. Pivot figure naruto pack download. Many of the tracks were built up from demos, most notably “Jump Nyabinghi” where vocals from the I-Threes were added, which were not there when Marley released the song as a dubplate in 1979. In addition the harmony vocals on “Blackman Redemption” and “Rastaman Live Up” are performed by the I-Threes in order to give the album a consistent sound – on the original single versions they are performed by The Meditations. The most famous track on the album is “Buffalo Soldier.” Marley expressed the wish that “I Know” would be released as a single after his death, which Island Records obliged.

Inside the album sleeve is an artist’s depiction of the Battle of Adowa where Ethiopian forces defeated Italy in 1896. The cover of Confrontation is a reference to the story of St. George and the Dragon. The dragon on the cover represents Babylon, which is being slain by Bob Marley via his music.

Bob Marley Confrontation Album

How to batch convert word docs to pdf. Click here to view the available **BONUS CONTENT** surrounding this album release! Amiga os 3.1 rom.

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rootsreggaehub · 7 years

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Goodmorning Thursday @RootsReggaeHub Family all around the planet, wherever InI maybe. Hope your weeks' journey, has been progressing positive, safe and copable. Thank you all for your continued support and feedback; and welcome to all our new followers young, old and in-betweens. Hope you enjoy this musical and historical journey. It's said "Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood, we are a rhythm machine, that's what we are"....Wishing y'all a RIDDIM UP ADVENTURE..PEACE. #UMOJA ONELOVE #eachoneteachone #nyabinghi #drums #heartnsoul ##JAHRASTAFARI If you love #reggae click the link 🔛🔝 in our bio to listen 24/7 to #Reggae music from around the world ☝️️🌎🎧 #Toronto #rootsrockreggae #rootsreggaehub‬ #reggaeallday #nowplaying #internetradio #1love❤️💚💛👆👆🙌🙌 #Worldwide 🌎🚀

#reggae #drums #nyabinghi #reggaeallday #nowplaying #jahrastafari #heartnsoul #1love❤️💚💛👆👆🙌🙌#toronto #eachoneteachone #internetradio #rootsreggaehub #worldwide #rootsrockreggae #umoja

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enspirusarts · 7 years

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"Nyabinghi" #nyabinghi #rastafari #rastafarian #rasta #jamaica #drums #drum #drummer #drumming #lion #lionofjudah #hands #hand #music #art #artwork #artist #painting #paint #painted #painter #oilpainting #oilpaint #enlightenment #thirdeye #rhythm #forsale #artforsale #artprint #print #prints #printsforsale #enspirusarts #blaisbellenoit (at Denver, Colorado)

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findasongblog · 5 years

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Find A Song about the importance of community, against the backdrop of a country that is actively breaking the community

Mangoseed - Still Believe

“This video is our homage to our mothers and grandmothers, and a calling out of the Home Office for turning its back on the immigrants who built the country. The woman in the video spent all her adult life in and paid taxes in a country that is sending her away.

The legacy of the Empire is that the people you ruled come to live next to you, they are you. And the video is about the importance of community, against the backdrop of a country that is actively breaking the community.

I am pondering the world we are in and looking at the chaos and uncertainty of it all. And in America, where once Martin Luther King dreamed, it feels like that dream is lost to tyrants, racists and sexists, emboldened and loud. But it’s only love that will set us free.” Nicholai La Barrie, vocals, Mangoseed.

#music #music blog #indie music #alternative music #reggae #Mangoseed #Still Believe #others #indie #alternative #find a song

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prnanayarquah · 5 years

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BEATS OF ZION IS OUT MARCH 8, 2019 THROUGH SIX DEGREES DISTRIBUTION.

http://yarquah1on1online.com/entertainment-lifestyle/beats-of-zion-is-out-march-8-2019-through-six-degrees-distribution/

BEATS OF ZION IS OUT MARCH 8, 2019 THROUGH SIX DEGREES DISTRIBUTION.

Rocky Dawuni, the international music star/global ambassador and humanitarian activist, announces the release of his highly anticipated 7thstudio album Beats of Zion, out March 8th, 2019 via Six Degrees Distribution. The thirteen-track set follows the GRAMMYnominated album Branches of the Same Tree,(“Best Reggae Album” in 2016) and expands Rocky’s “Afro Roots” sound to include the diversity of the Ghanaian music scene and its current global outreach.

Although Rocky’s music has had CNNnaming him “Africa’s Top 10 global stars” and Ziggy Marleystating “Rocky’s music is creative inspiration that knows no boundaries,” it’s only one part of what drives his mass appeal. Dawuni’s eloquence, cultural diplomacy and passionate activism have led him to become a moving spokesperson for various global causes. Recently, Rocky was designated a UN Goodwill Ambassadorfor Africa at a beautiful concert at the UN Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya in August 2018 held during the Global Landscapes Forum with dignitaries from all over the world.

This is on top of the social campaigns and activism he’s done including work with Product (RED), ONE, UNICEF, The Carter Center, Clean Cooking Alliance and the United Nations Foundation. Additionally, with UNESCO’s recent designation of Reggae music as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Rocky Dawuni represents one of the leading African global voices of Reggae.

Rocky’s travels around the world helped shape the new album Beats of Zion. He elaborates, “Beats of Zionwas born out of my desire to use my diverse global musical influences and exposure to various traditions to paint a multi-cultural musical vision of the world that I perceive. The beginning of the year saw me visit Ethiopia and India. In Ethiopia, I visited Lalibela, witnessing ancient Christian rites and my journeys in India also exposed me to its diverse spiritual culture and the shared similarities I saw to Africa.” He adds, “The title Beats of Zion” is inspired by a vision of the drumbeat of awareness and elevation of consciousness; a musical call to arms for my audience to be proactive in this day and age as to each person’s responsibility to be an active instrument for positive change.”

The album was recorded in the span of almost 2 years in various studios in Accra, Nairobi and Los Angeles. In LA, Rocky was gifted studio time at the legendary Village Studios that has recorded the most influential artists including Bob Dylan, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, and Fleetwood Mac. Rocky ended up recording in the same studio room that Fleetwood Mac used and created the magic of the title track and “Wickedest Sound.” Rocky found out that Fleetwood Mac were one of the memorable American classic rock bands to visit Ghana in the 1970s making the experience more special and inspired the Ghanaian traditional highlife song “Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu” as a homage to his heritage. These 3 tracks recorded at Village Studios kicked off the entire album making process.

The title track and lead single “Beats of Zion” came out well from the Village Studios session, but was missing something on the drum tracking. Rocky states, “We travelled to Zanzibar for a concert shortly after the recording session. At the time, I was still wanting the full African tribal effect that I had imagined. On the eve of my concert at the amazing Sauti za Busara Festival, we saw Batimbo Percussion Magique of Burundi mount the stage and blow the minds of everyone in the audience. I turned to my manager; Cary Sullivan who was also watching and we thought the same – ‘these are the guys for Beats of Zion’ and so the story unfolded.” The lead single will also have an accompanying video due out January 25th. “Wickedest Sound” is another song that speaks volumes, featuring Ghanaian dancehall star Stonebwoy.

The track combines elements of modern Afrobeats with Reggae music. With production paying homage to the organic recordings of classic Highlife music, it also combines a groove driven melodic approach with the traditional call and response style of singing.

“Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu” is a sprawling remake of the Highlife classic originally recorded by Ghanaian maestro K. Frimpong. This re-imagined version pays homage to Rocky’s Ghanaian legacy and he brought in an international cast of musicians from the US, Belize, Cuba, Ghana and Brazil to expand the traditional sound boundaries of this track.

Ghanaian lyricist Sarkodie’s rap melds current traditional pop elements to make this song an opus of sounds, harmonies and sweet melodies. “Let’s Go” fuses pop sensibilities, Reggae and the grooves of New Orleans to create a feel good anthem of forward mobility and positive vibrations. The hand claps add an organic Gospel feel to this exhilarating song. Other tracks that show more dimensions to the album include the Cumbia inspired dancehall track “Freedom Train” featuring Argentinian Dancehall star Alika and “Burn One” that is an homage to the social transformative power of the legalization of marijuana in the spheres of medicine, recreational use and as a primary tool for economic emancipation.

There will be beautiful high quality videos coming out for many of the tracks on the album including “Elevation” which was shot on location in southern India. It is an inspirational groove filled with a message of hope and uses the traditional Rastafarian Nyabinghi sounds. “Champion Arise,”a track that easily fits into the current roots reggae revival sound, paints a spiritual picture with biblical imagery and inspirational lyrics about spiritual warfare for the upliftment of all people.

The diversity and features found on the new album are in step with Rocky’s vision of constantly evolving the boundaries of his sounds and expanding its global palettes and reach.

In a time when divisive rhetoric is on the rise and the political climate prefers to build walls over bridges, Rocky’s album Beats of Zionis a refreshing message about global unity and a worldview of oneness. Rocky passionately states, “We live in a time when the elements of international morality need to be proclaimed as a guiding principle for how we engage and deal with each other, between individuals, between communities and among nations.

It is a time for global mobilization for action on challenging socio-political issues like the environment and the refugee crisis. Beats of Zionis the drumbeat of war against apathy and re-energizing the forces of love and hope.” He concludes, “Beats of Zionis the rhythm of change beating from a distance and getting louder to awaken positive consciousness.”

For Press Inquiries, Please Contact Press Junkie PR: 512-382-7953

[email protected]& [email protected]

#Album #BEATS OF ZION #Rocky Dawuni

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burlveneer-music · 2 years

Audio

The Mystic Revelation of Teppo Repo - Kosmoksen erakko - Finnish folk meets dub in a trio of flute, bass, drums

The music of TMROTR is channeling the spirit of the Finnish forests and nature, combining shepherd music with hypnotic and subtle elements of spiritual jazz and nyabinghi rhythms. Their instrumentation includes various self-built and custom-made instruments such as a log percussion setup and many different kinds of flutes. Otto Eskelinen - vaahterahuilu, poikkihuilu, saksofoni, shakuhachi Eero Tikkanen - topshur, sähköbasso Arwi Lind - sähkörummut, perkussiot

#The Mystic Revelation of Teppo Repo #finland #folk #dub #fourth world #jazz #spiritual jazz #2022 #Sähkö Recordings

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kokumonoxid · 5 years

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SOUND IN-OUT, every time a ‘ear de soun’

What are sounds, are they just mere unfiltered noises? How do you react to the unfiltered everyday sounds that aren’t timely composed? Are you attentive to those sounds, are you unaffected by them? Do they emote any particular feelings, or trigger any sort of distance memories?

According to Jansen, sound is a physical event that impinges on the human auditory system and is perceived as having loudness, pitch, volume, density and complexity. The world of music selects from a spectrum of sounds and thus distinguishes music, the intended sound, from noise, the unintended sound. We also distinguish between natural sounds such as wind or birdsong, and artificial sounds such as music purposefully produced or noise that is often annoying fallout of human activities. The effects of prolonged exposure to annoying noise is so strong that it amounts to a form of torture. Noise is the subject of intensive study because of its potential detrimental effects on human well-being at work or at home (Jansen, 1991; cited, Bauer Martin W., 2000, page 268 ).

I think how one relates and reacts to certain sounds determines how it impacts on their daily life, whether or not they’re beautiful, or just a nuisance. There’s a saying that everyone listens to the drummer, but everyone hears a different beat, therefore everyone’s reaction is different. It is clear that sound can be compose into something beautiful and pleasing to the ears.

Sounds are produced by somebody and received by others, either purposefully or involuntarily. The production of sound events is often called ‘poiesis’; while their reception and appreciation is called ‘aesthesis’. This production may be purposeful as in the case of music, or unintentional in the case of fallout noises from daily activities, (Bauer, M.W, 2000).

This is an indicator that even sounds that are purposely produced can by an annoyance and those that emanates involuntarily can be a thing of beauty, and visa versa. Whatever the supposed intention, there must be a way to find some sort of compromise in sounds.

In studying noise as a cultural indicator, Attali focuses on artificial sounds that are produced purposely for musical expression. Sound as comprising both natural and artificial noise is the concern of the Canadian composer R.M Schafer’s analysis of ‘soundscape, (Schafer, 1973;1977).

Schafer further notes that the soundscapes of the world is changing: new sounds that differ in quality and intensity are created, while old sounds disappear. We have learnt to ignore most of the soundscape that surrounds us daily, even while we are being affected by it.

This new sounds mentioned by Schafer, in my opinion, is due to the changing demography and the use of new technology, in the case of making music, but I however, disagree that old sounds are disappearing to make way for these new sounds. As an adult, I still have memories of certain sounds growing up, some of those sounds still triggers emotional responses, even if they only exist in my subconscious. I guess that would explain the ‘cultural indicator’ that Attali mentioned, maybe not purposely produced, but randomly.

Sounds In Motion:

The emanating of sounds is a constant flow of filtered and unfiltered noise, moving through time and space. According to film and sound recordist Walter Murch, “words fly away, the written letter remains. Sound is absence, beguiling; out of sight, out of reach. What made the sound? Who is there? Sound is void, fear and wonder.

The possibility that the sound is nothing—is characteristic of sound, perplexing, disturbing, yet dangerously seductive. Distant sounds of unknown origin are enshrined in myths, such as Swedish legend of Näcken naked male water spirit living in rivers and lakes who lured children to their death with songs and sounds, just beyond reach is a deadly lure. Sound is a present absence, silence is an absent present.” (Sound Design: Walter Murch, The Dancing Shadow).

Sound emanates from everything, even the still, silent objects are giving off their own sounds. “A sound-world inhabits and emanates from certain paintings. Despite their actual silence, that sound-world accumulates as the scene, the space of the scene, the activity within the scene, and the world beyond the scene all gather force. There is sound as the servant pours milk, and that sound is heard through invocation within various forms of silence and space.” (Toop, David, 2011)

There’s also sounds associated with certain ancient spiritual practices, a Buddhist chant, for example, is an integral part of their religious practice. Also within the Rastafarian philosophy, there’s what is known as Nyabinghi chants (Binghi), incorporated into their celebrations (Grounation). The rhythms of these chants were an influence on popular ska, rocksteady and reggae music. Nyabinghi chant is described as word-sound and power’, due to the spiritual connotations, mirroring Afro-futurism.

The Chanting takes you into a trans-like state, a way of connecting with the spiritual realms, bringing into focus the awareness of life itself…reaching the heights and depths of creation.

This is a kind of sound awareness, which is developed from within the mother’s womb. The word-sound that Rastafarian speaks of, is akin to speaking something into being. This not only creates a positive spiritual environment, but fosters the necessity for the development of life from within and the further preparation for the outside world, but with an unbroken link to the source.

Inter-active Anticipation Of Sounds:

It is said that the anticipation of sounds is a precursor to some kind of activity, a warning that something is about to happen, it’s also a sudden trigger of emotion. Although sound is something that we hear, there’s an anticipated vision, or the idea of what that sound could represent. You hear a popping sound automatically you start to conjure up what made that sound, is it a motorbike that’s the idea of a sound. You may observe somewhat walking barefooted, yet we’re conditioned to hear footsteps.

According to Toop, ‘seeing is now-now-now-now-now-now-now-n-n-n…, whereas hearing is then-and-now-and-then, over there at the source of the sound and then there, within the body, already gone, but still dispersing into ambience,’ (Toop, David, 2011).

I think what Toop is suggesting here, is that sounds stays with us as ambient noise…if you hear a sounds in a particular location, you’re expecting to hear that sound again, when you’re in said location, or at least the ambience stay in your subconscious.

In Behaviour and Perception in Strange Environment, Dr. Helen Ross theorised that sound is almost as important to us as sight, and yet it receives much less attention in most textbooks. Changes in the environment probably cause as many auditory as visual distortion. (Ross, H, 1974, page78)

In trying to understand what Ross is saying, I think the anticipation to certain sounds, may have become a conditioning factor, therefore, there’s a lack of real or less attention to sounds, even if they’ve been found to be annoying. What I’m alluding to here, is that you’re never totally redundant of sounds, if you’re in the city centre you’re expected to hear the sound of the trams, or trains going by, the buzz of people around, if you go the market mainly on Saturdays, you can’t avoid the loud heckling coming from the traders but you’re there to find the best bargain, therefore, the heckling noise is of less important, or maybe more important if the one shouting the loudest got the best bargain.

I wanted to use this piece as an experiment, a way of interrogating everyday sounds, with my main focus on the disruptive and distractive elements. But most importantly, I wanted to insert my own voice; to intertwine with the unfiltered chaos of noises emanating around me.

I have always been in-tuned to sounds, as a poet and musician, sound plays an important part in how I deliver a poem or a song to an audience. I’m fascinated by the ambiance, the annoyance and how soundscapes affects people on a emotional level.

I normally sits in busy coffee shops to write and take in the different soles emanating from everything around me. Some may find it strange that I Am able to write in the midst of such chaos, as opposed to peace and quiet. But I’m not the typical isolationist, I gravitate more towards the world of distraction and chaos, to inform my creative imagination. I Am yet to accept any forms of linearity or static principles to life.

Just like how sounds does what sounds does, it’s unavoidable…it alters, it disrupts and heightens moods. Even if you lock yourself in a soundproof bunker, you won’t be totally void of sounds, as you have to get used to your own bodily sounds. Some may find prolong exposure to annoying noise, its intense impact as a form of torture, but it’s something we must live with.

To conclude, I must draw your attention to the fact that we are privy to all sorts of sounds, what matters is how we react to them, we may try to ignore, tune in or out. Sometimes we can find beauty, where it is unexpected and that could be the beauty of the noise around us.

Sounds penetrates our very psyche, imposing itself in modern environment, the digging machines, loud music from your neighbours, passing vehicles, the wail of sirens, it’s a constant flow of beauty and nuisance at the same time.

Sound is a composite, moving through an environment, like a bird building a nest, rigging transient structure from materials it collects. A lack of sound can say, quite simply, wait here, because a remarkable moment may happen ( Toop, D, 2011,pg.54).

Bart Kosko writes, ‘so it is not just that we will never win the war on noise because noise is in the physical nature of things, careful analysis shows that in many cases we should not even be fighting it’ (Kosko, Bart, 2006).

This piece is about the acceptance, appreciation, the annoyance of sounds, but most importantly how we react to it’s very presence, knowing that it doesn’t matter what we do, sounds are unavoidable and forms the basis of our existence.

Strange Sight and Sounds

Dirty old buildings

Dusty old town

I find myself wandering around

Thinking to myself

I should’ve taken the last train out-bound

Now I’m a captive to strange sights and sounds

I can’t seems to escape

From this wretched place

Where you’re expected to integrate and assimilate

Into sound bites

But I won’t subjugate to this state-of-mind

If you don’t get inline, you’ll be left behind

I stood staring up, up and away

At concrete columns forming skyscrapers

For new comers

Listening to soundscapes, can’t escape

The way to the top is now an elevated flight

Where you get to look down on the small people

Separated by distance and circumstance

Of changing occurrences and lack of currencies

Had I been given a fair chance to choose

Would these noises amuse

Not everyone wanted to stay

Some wanted to avoid the affray

But time held me against my will

I watched, with no silence as the dust to clears

Not even the noises would disappear

Just that distance gaze in my eyes

Keeps reminding me

I should’ve taken the last train out-bound

And escape these sounds

But I'm held captive to this old town

When I had the chance, did I dance

Did my feet just refused to get off the ground

Why couldn't I escape this wretched place

Where eyes reflects what’s on their minds

And even silence creates

Strange sights and sounds

Bibliography:

Bauer, M.W.; Gaskell, G, 2000, Quantitative Researching with Text, Image And Sound: A Practical Handbook, Sage Publication.

Ross, H. Dr., 1974, Behaviour and Perception In Strange Environment, George Allen and Unwin Ltd.

Toop, D, 20th October 2011, Sinister Resonance, Continuum – 3PL.

Ingold, T, 31st March 2000, The Perception Of The Environment, Routhledge; 1 Edition.

Mladen D, 10th March 2006, A VoiceOf Nothing More, MIT Press.

Mathews, D, 1992, Landscape Into Sound, The Claridge Press.

https://youtu.be/SDFaX_-aOWE

https://youtu.be/Xfa2fvWZ6II

https://youtu.be/g7SC9N7DCXo

https://youtu.be/bhtO4DsSazc

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ladygenesis · 6 years

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Trip To BRAZIL São Paulo - Rastafarian Nyabinghi Rhythms

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lyrics-code · 7 years

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Jump Nyabinghi Lyrics - Bob Marley

Jump Nyabinghi Lyrics – Bob Marley

(Hallelu-Jah!) (Hallelu-Jah!) Love to see when ya move in the rhythm; I love to see, when you’re dancin’ from within! It gives great joy to feel such sweet togetherness, Everyone doin’ and they’re doing their best Huh, it remind I of the days in Jericho, When we troddin’ down Jericho walls: These are the days when we’ll trod t’rough Babylon, (na-na, na-na) Gonna trod until Babylon falls. Sing…

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#1983 Album #Bob Marley #Bob Marley Lyrics #Bob Marley Music Lyrics #Bob Marley Song #Bob Marley Song Lyrics #Confrontation Album

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mathangigram-blog · 7 years

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Interview (2005): M.I.A.: Rebel Muse

Maya Arulpragasam grew up dodging political bullets. As M.I.A., she shoots back, armed with peppery raps and Diplo-matic beats. Racists and fascists beware.

The day before the tsunami hit Sri Lanka, Maya Arulpragasam, a.k.a. M.I.A, received a message from her estranged father. “He emailed me like, �Just read about you in the paper,’” she says, altering her London accent to affect a heavy Sri Lankan tone. “�Very proud. Change the title of your album. Dad.’

"That’s all he had to say to me after years. Many, many years!” she laughs. Her album title, Arular, is actually her father’s name�an idea she took indirectly from her mother. “She was like, �That man!’” says Maya, again switching to her Sri Lankan voice. “�The only thing he ever gives you is his name, huh? Pew! No use.’ So I was like, �Fuck it, if that’s the only thing he gave me, I’m going to use it.’”

Maya smiles as she tells the story, as though it were nothing more than a tiff between two bickering divorc�es. But the situation is worlds more complicated. Maya grew up in Sri Lanka as part of the Tamil minority, but was forced to flee at the age of 10 when a bloody civil war between the Tamil and the Sinhalese majority broke out. Her father was a member of the Tamil Tigers, a guerilla group some label as freedom fighters; others as terrorists. She simply knows the Tigers as cousin or classmate or, of course, Dad. As a child in Sri Lanka, Maya had little contact with her father (rebels rarely make good family men), and after her family escaped to London, he all but disappeared from their lives. “The simplified version of my life is that I survived the civil war, and there were bombs, and my school got burned down. I’d seen people die and get killed before I was eight,” Maya says. “And the complicated one is just a mad journey. I thought we were all in [the conflict] together. And then towards the end, it started becoming, �No, no, no, we’re not in it. You’re in it, and you’re fucking bringing it to us, so you should leave.’”

Except for a golden AK-47 pendant hanging from her neck, there is little clue of Maya’s rebel roots in her sunny disposition. It would be impossible to guess at the hell she has been through, from terrorist bombings in Sri Lanka to the racism, poverty and crime that greeted her in London. Arular camouflages politics, cobbling the didactic with the danceable, letting listeners figure it out for themselves. “A lot of my music works on different levels,” Maya says. “My lyrics can be applied to politics, and they can be applied to something else. I think, when you go to a club, it’s okay to just want to dance and have a good time, and just be somewhere and feel the music. But when you’re at home and want to listen to something, then it’s there. I don’t want to be too preachy and shit, �cause I know what I’m like. I can only put up with so much consciousness.”

The music is a stew of dancehall rhythms and nyabinghi chants, hip-hop beats and rhymes, sprinklings of Tamil melodies and anything else that happens onto her path. “Anyone has access to anything,” she says. “You get up in the morning and you walk down the street and within one 24-hour span, you have heard and been introduced to 20 different genres of music. And it all goes in, and it manifests, and then it comes out, and you regurgitate this mish-mash thing.” Arular sounds like someone turning on a sonic vacuum in reverse, spewing everything from ragga to ringtones. The sound is raw and immediate; one part rap, one part revolution and two parts rumpshaker.

Maya has been turning heads in all the right circles, for instance, a billing on MTV World and a meeting with Jay-Z, but her climb up the rungs of pop culture wouldn’t have been possible had she not rebelled against expectations. “I was sick of growing up and people constantly telling me, �You’re shit, you don’t have a dad, you’re going to get into drugs, crime, get married at 21, have eight kids, and stack shelves at Tesco’s,” Maya says. On the contrary, she was awarded a scholarship to Central St. Martins College Of Art And Design, where she majored in film. But for a jawn brought up on a Council Estate and in a war-torn country, the “art for art’s sake” mantra of her professors was a little hard to swallow, and she found herself defying expectations once again. “I felt like I was a part of real life and nobody else was. One hundred foot of film costs 30 pounds, and I wasn’t going to film a fucking blank screen ‘cause I was poor. And it was like �Maya, why are you fighting the institution? You just have to understand the depth of the blue screen.’ Excuse me, if I’m not going to fucking eat my lunch to fucking afford this film, I need to put something up there. That’s what it taught me, if you’re going to rebel against something, rebel against boring shit,” she says, dissolving into laughter.

It is precisely this sense of humor that has allowed Maya to go from political refugee to musical revolutionary. More than her ability to battle adversity, it’s been her ability to laugh in its face that has saved her time and again. “It’s not like I said, �Dad, you know what? You should get a job� as a terrorist!’ Oh my god, we’d just be so fucking rich!” Maya jokes. “That’s just something that’s a part of my life that I have to learn to use because I can’t let it be in my brain as something negative.” She pauses and smiles. “But, yeah, I wish my dad had a better fucking job."

Read more: http://mia.boards.net/thread/54/#ixzz4e8jNMf7c

#interviews #mia #m.i.a.#maya arulpragasam #mathangi arulpragasam #2005 #2005 interviews #2005 music #best songs #2005 songs #2005 rap #galang

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