The Official Domebo World Music Thread.

[ivan astikov]

The only stipulation for this thread is there must be some non-English vocals.*

So, to start the ball rolling, I give you .

Come on, what've you got for me?


* If it has vocals in it.

[Hatshepsut]

Here is a song from the genre of music, Javanese gamelan, that I spend about 10 hours/week playing and studying. No, I don't think really anyone will like it or listen all the way through. But it's really beautiful music even though it's very hard to appreciate from the outside:

("Various Kinds of Flowers," in Javanese)

I am learning to play the kendhang (drums), which you cannot hear very clearly in this rendition. And I can already play the instrument to the left - the two racks of sitting pots called a bonang (you can actually hear her quite clearly in this recording). The bonang is an advanced-beginner-to-intermediate instrument, not especially hard to learn. I'm not a very advanced or talented player, but I do enjoy it.

[ivan astikov]

I hope you are all stoned, CC!

No, the first bit might sound like you are just tuning your instruments in, but once the vocals kick in, it gets much better and is very relaxing.

[Hatshepsut]

I hope you are all stoned, CC!

Actually a friend of mine who is very accomplished gamelan musician and has devoted most of his adult life to this music couldn't decide, about 20 years ago, whether to embrace it wholeheartedly and make it a central part of his life forever, or say 'screw it' and move on to other things. He decided that his test would be to drop acid and then put on headphones playing gamelan music for 8 hours. If, after that experience, he still wanted to be involved in the music, he would go for it.

He did.

[Taumpy]

Congolese rumba ( .



You really can't leave out English lyrics, because then you'd be leaving out , and that's just not okay.

[NAF1138]

All it has to have is non english vocals? Then I offer to you





From Portland. They perform music in many various languages.

[ivan astikov]

Congolese rumba ( .



You really can't leave out English lyrics, because then you'd be leaving out , and that's just not okay.

Fela Kuti gets a fair amount of coverage anyway, as a result of his English vocals, but I'll let you sneak him in.

[Inner Stickler]

Here's a song I really like by Juan Luis Guerra. It's called . The first line is "Ojala que llueva cafe en el campo." which translates as "I hope that it would rain coffee in the countryside."

[ivan astikov]

All it has to have is non english vocals? Then I offer to you

That's what I'm talking about!

I don't give a shit what they are singing about; it sounds great.

[ivan astikov]

Here's a song I really like by Juan Luis Guerra. It's called . The first line is "Ojala que llueva cafe en el campo." which translates as "I hope that it would rain coffee in the countryside."

What about us city folks? We need the caffeine!

[Taumpy]

I like that last one, Ivan

some J-rock:

[Myglaren]

I saw Tinariwen on the Jules Holland Later show a few years ago and was floored - I was actually channel hopping waiting for PJ Harvey to come on as most of the bands on Later are... not to my liking

Bought the CD the following day at an extortionate price in a world music store. Was well worth the cost.

Been to see them live a couple of times and they are fantastic, full of energy and played non-stop for 2½ hours, with the band members constantly changing.

Hard to select a truly representative song but this will give you an idea:
I have to say that seeing Tuaregs with Strats was something of a culture shock, most unexpected but damn they are good!


A lot of the clips have quite inferior sound quality but when I saw them, the sound quality was first class.

I have posted this elsewhere but I can't pass the opportunity to put centre stage whenever possible, she is just lovely. I'm tempted to travel to Japan just to see her in concert. (Chinese but lives in Japan).

Also the wonderful (in white) with The Twelve Girls Band.
A bit more lively -

The Twelve Girls Band: .
The instrument that sounds like a theramin is a Vietnamese single stringed 'violin' and I'm damned if I can remember the name of it but it is apparently extremely difficult to play.

Back to the middle east with Vas, the singer is the enigmatic Azam Ali. She sings mostly in Farsi but deviates into other languages and even invents her own when it suits.

Similarly, Dead Can Dance create their own language to suit the music.


The music is based on middle eastern rhythms and tones though.

A bit closer to home with some Spanish/Mexican.
Arielle Dombasle with
Born in America to French parents, raised in Mexico by her grandparents following the death of her parents when she was very young, she now lives in France.

More Spanish - Amaral (Eva Amaral, the singer and Juan Aguirre on guitar)

And some Italian:
I was going to post Redemption Song by Elisa but she sings it in English, although the Italian lyrics are projected behind her.
Instead one of her own compositions,
Also Italian, Loura Pusini & Tiziano Ferro:

Heading north a bit, firstly Vanessa Paradis with and the magnificent Myléne Farmer with - Jesus, where to begin?
I was going to post Le Mots a duet with Seal but YouTube have killed the sound so -
Abandoning this project as Wallander is on the telly in a minute - (in Swedish )

This has taken ages as I have to listen to each song all the way through before moving on the the next. Hardly a chore though:

[The Original An Gadaí]

Here's a few songs from my part of the world. The genres differ but they're all sung in Irish (Gaelic).

Maire Brennan -
Sinead O'Connor -
Kila -

[longPath]

May I suggest

[Myglaren]

The Ballad Of Joe Hill: .