Continental Drift

continental drift: portugal

This week Continental Drift is back to our regularly scheduled programming; we are drifting to the coastal country of Portugal. Listen to the playlist here, and listen back to the episode here.

Located on the Iberian peninsula, Portugal is home to 10 million people, making it the 89th most populous country in the world. Portugal was the first global maritime and commercial empire, pioneering maritime exploration when they “discovered” and then colonized Brazil in the 1500s. As a result of their colonization and location on the mediterranean, lots of Portugese culture is made up of a blend of other cultures, including those of Brazil, African countries, and other European countries.

A Severa, chanteuse gitane de fado - Fils du Vent sans Pays

possibly A Severa

Despite being one the longest continually existing nation states in Europe, Portugal just has one prominent cultural music genre. That is Fado, from the Latin fatum, meaning fate. This genre is characterized by mournful lyrics about the sea, longing, melancholy, life among the poor, as well as the use of portuguese guitar. It is heavily associated with Lisbon, and lyrics often come from classical poems.

Fado possibly carries Afro-Brazilian roots, as it may have originated when Portugal’s court was in Rio de Janerio (1804-1822). The idea here is that Brazilian immigrants brough fofa and lundu dance music to Prortugal, which blended into Fado.

Lisbon prostitute Maria Severa Onofriana (A Severa) was first famous fado singer, and she is credited with establishing fado as a genre of marginalized people. She is known not only for her great performing talent, but also for her romance with prominent aristocrat Count Vimoso. The first Portuguese sound film was centered on her life (1820-1846), directed by Leitao de Barros. The idea here was that the social distance of Maria and Vimoso was too great to allow a marriage, which caused Maria to die of a broken heart. In reality, she died of tuberculosis in 1846, at 26, alone in a brothel. According to legend, her last words were, “I die without ever having lived.”

Fado segment:
Uma casa portuguesa // Amália Rodrigues
In agradecimento miss moira // Custódio Castelo
Amor Não Digas Não // Maria Clara
Maneio // 7 Saias

Fado has one prominent subgenre, Coimbra fado. Whereas typical fado is associated with Lisbon and primarily female performers, coimbra fado is strongly associated with the university and town of Coimbra, and is strictly sung by men. It is described by Rodney Gallop as for “those who retain and cherish their illusions, not of those who have irretrievably lost them.” It is often performed in a full academic outfit: dark robe, cape, leggings, and sung at night, in dark city squares.

This is “Fado od Coimbro” by the Serenata Monumental da Queima, students of Coimbra University. The original is by Rui Lucas, Antonio Vicente, and Joao Paulo Sousa. The lyrics are of graduation, moving on, and leaving the city, colleagues, and friends.

Fado Coimbra sample:
Fado Coimbra Serenata Monumental Queima

Portugal was one of the first countries in Europe to have a significant jazz scene. The Hot Clube de Portugal in Lisbon, founded in 1948, was one of the continent’s first jazz clubs. This club is still alive today!

Jazz sample:
Chifre // André Fernandes

The Flee Project is ”a cultural engineering platform dedicated to the documentation and enhancement of hybrid cultures.” They find music with very localized and specific purpose (such as working songs or healing songs) and rerelease it, commissioning remixes and reinterpretations from modern, forward-thinking artists. This particular project takes on Portuguese fishing songs. The original was recorded by ethnomusicologist Armando Leca in 1939 or 1942, FISH DANCE VERSION is by simoncello, who is french, based in greece. “Leva leva” means “up up,” referring to the term Portugese fishermen would use while hauling fishing nets.

Flee Project Segment:
Leva Leva // Armando Leça
Leva Leva (versão da dança do piece) // s1m0nc3ll0

Portugal has a thriving electronic music scene. Mix mag credits the “thriving music scenes and nightlife, low rents and good weather” for encouraging musicians and DJs to move to Lisbon.

Nidia

Electronic segment:
Next Stop // André Leiria
Cycles // Jorge Caiado
Nik Com // Nidia
Cantiga Da Ponte // Sensible Soccers

Indie segment:
Lena del rey // Ciclo Preparatório
Luz de Candeia // Madrepaz

Thanks for tuning in to Continental Drift! Catch the drift next week in Kazakstan.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022 | Posted in Continental Drift, Playlists, Shows | Comments Off

continental drift 11/2/22: halloween around the world

This is Continental Drift’s Halloween special! I wanted to take this opportunity to explore the origins and traditions of Halloween around the world. You can listen to the playlist here, and listen back to the episode here.

Halloween, celebrated October 31st every year, began as a christian tradition in the tridium of “Allhallowtide.” This was a time “to remember the dead,” and included All Hallow’s Eve, All Saint’s Day, and All Soul’s Day. “Hallow” is a synonym for saint, so Halloween referred to the eve of all saint’s day. Altogether, Allhallowtide was a time for remembering those who had died, honoring family, friends, and saints alike. In the middle ages, it was believed that all hallow’s eve was the night where the veil between the material world and the afterlife was most transparent.

One of the most recognizable traditions of Halloween is trick or treating, which originated from “souling,” an Allhallowtide tradition in which groups of people would go around local farms and cottages and sing a request for “apples, ale, and soul cakes.” Souling is the origin not only for trick or treating but traditions such as pumpkin carving and wearing costumes. People would put candles in hollowed out turnips to represent a soul lost in purgatory. People, children especially, would go out souling in disguises or costumes. In 1891, Rev. M. P. Holme of Tattenhall, Cheshire recorded a version of a souling song from a young girl at a local school. The tune and lyrics were transcribed by Lucy Broadwood.

English folk group the Watersons recorded a version of the song in 1965, and Peter, Paul, and Mary have also recorded with these lyrics, though the tune is quite different.

Souling sample:
The Watersons – Souling Song (1965)(1:35)

In Scotland, the tradition of Mari Lwyd centers around a horse’s head mounted on a pole, called the Mari Lawd. Groups would go around carrying the Mari Lwyd door to door and request entry through song. Households would deny requests, also in song, until they ran out of ideas, at which point they would let the group into the house and provide them food and drink.

This Mari Lwyd song by Carreg Lafar is sung in Scottish, though lyrics translate to:

The Skeletal Welsh Horse You Must Beat in a Battle of Rhymes Here we come
Harmless friends
To ask for/fetch an envoy
To sing

Six lovable men
The best on earth
To sing in true words
For beer

Sing your best
And then so will I
And those who are the best
Get (given) beer

Mari Lwyd sample:
Mari Lwyd // Carreg Lafar

Halloween is most popular in the US and Canada, where it is celebrated with trick or treating, costumes, candy, pumpkins, etc. It is also celebrated with an annual screening of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, a Peanuts special released in 1966 with music from jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. This was the third peanuts special, and this one is credited with “establishing the peanuts sound.”

Peanuts sample:
The Great Pumpkin Waltz // Vince Guaraldi

I was surprised to learn this year of new halloween traditions, including “mischief night,” which is the celebration of the night before Halloween in the US states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Michigan. This was established in Detroit in the 1930s-1940s, where it became known as “Devil’s Night.” Petty criminal behavior typically seen on this night turned turned more serious in 70s, when arson to abandoned houses and vandalism became common.

Detroit rap group D12’s, debut album is called Devil’s Night and features a song of the same name.

Devil’s Night sample:
Devil’s Night // D12

“The Mildly Annoying Person Who’s Wearing a Big Backpack and Playing a Smartphone Game on a Packed Train”

Japan’s Halloween traditions began in 1997 when Tokyo Disneyland had a Halloween celebration. Universal Studios joined in on the annual celebration in 2002, and these two theme parks popularized Halloween celebrations around the country. Now, Japan commonly celebrates through street parties, parades, and costume contests, including the “mundane halloween costume” contest, featuring costumes such as “person who’s too shy to shout out bingo,” “woman who came to the bbq with no intention of helping out,” “couple who got into an argument at disneyland and now it’s super awkward,” etc.

Japanese Halloween segment:
Vampiregirl // 9mm Parabellum Bullet
Spookid’s parade // Mameko

In the Philippines, Oct 31- Nov 2 is a time for remembering dead family and friends.There is a custom called Pangangaluluwâ, which is the Philippine version of souling. Groups will go out to sing in exchange for food and money, often singing carols about purgatory. In the past, during the night, various small items, such as clothing, plants, etc., would “mysteriously” disappear, only to be discovered the next morning in the yard or in the middle of the street. In older times, it was believed that the spirits of ancestors and loved ones visited Earth on this night, making their presence known by taking an item.

Pangangaluluwa segment:
Pangangaluluwa

“A soul is talking in front of the window
The bell is rung to wake up the homeowner
If we leave quickly, we might be closed by the door of the sky, heaven”

O MAPANTAY | Pangangaluluwa (01 of 04)

In Mexico, Dia de Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) celebration occurs November 1st and 2nd. This is a joyful celebration rather than a mourning of the dead. Traditions include honoring the dead with home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed. Additionally, it is common to give gifts to living friends and also to write playful mock epitaphs dedicated to living friends, known as calaveras literarias.

Day of the Dead segment:
Cheni // La Bruja de Texacoco
La Muerte // Lola Beltran
Que Monstruos Son (monster mash) // Los Straightjackets

Dracula, the epistolary novel written by Bram Stoker and published in 1897, centers around vampire Count Dracula in Translyvania, Romania. The biggest Halloween party in Transylvania take place at Bran Castle, aka Dracula’s Castle from Transylvania. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a 1992 film adaptation directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, features song “Love Remembered.”

Dracula sample:
“Love Remembered” // Dominik Hauser

Spain’s Halloween celebration is called Castanyada or Magosto. It involves a lot of eating: castanyes (roasted chestnuts), panellets (special almond balls covered in pine nuts), moniatos (roast or baked sweet potato), Ossos de Sant cake and preserved fruit. The castanyes are especially important, as they come from a tradition where people would pray for a recently deceased person while roasting chesnuts, in communion with their souls. In christian tradition, bell ringers rang bells all throughout the night on All Saint’s Day to commemorate the dead. Everyone would prepare and eat the food to stay awake and keep going.

Magosto sample:
Magosto // Oima

Wednesday, November 2, 2022 | Posted in Continental Drift, Playlists, Shows | Comments Off

continental drift pt. 9: west indies

Welcome to continental drift! Today we are taking a tour of the West Indies. Also known as the Caribbean (though this may refer to a slightly different set of countries), the West Indies comprises 13 independent countries and 18 dependencies on 3 major archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Lucayan archipelago. The Greater Antilles include Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. The Lesser Antilles include the Virigin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, etc., and the Lucayan archipelago includes the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos. Listen to the playlist here, and listen back to the episode here.

Geologically, the Greater Antilles is the oldest of the three archipelagos, containing strata from the precambrian remains of the North American plate, limestone from the jurassic age, and oceanic crust from the cretaceous age. The Lesser Antilles is a volcanic island arc that is from the subduction of the North American and South American plates.

The Calypso style is one of the most recognized traditional music in Trinidad and Tobago, San Andrés, and Providencia Islands. It originated from the West African Kaiso and Canboulay styles brought by enslaved africans to the region. Calypso was used to mock slave masters and as a form of communication. The earliest forms of these songs were sung in french creole by a griot; the role of the griot became known as a chantuelle, and then eventually a calypsonian.

Calypso’s lyrics have a significant social and political relevancy. The songs of calypso use satire, mockery, and double meaning as an essential part of their narrative. At many points in history, especially in the 30s, calypso has been used as a way to spread news around the island, and many people took the songs as a reliable news source.

The most recognizable calypso song to an American audience is probably “Banana Boat Song (Deyo)” by Harry Belafonte, though he is not Dominican.

“Jean & Dinah,” featured on this episode, is about widespread prostitution as well as prostitute’s desperation after the US closed its naval base on Trinidad. It opens with the line, “well the girls in town feeling bad, no more yankees in Trinidad.”

Wilmoth Houdini

Calypso segment:
Jean & Dinah // Mighty Sparrow
Bobby Sex Idol (Frank Sinatra) // Wilmouth Houdini
Don’t Touch Me Tomato // Calypso Mama, Lad Richards Calypso Orchestra

Zouk was a form of music created in the early 80s, notably from the french islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Its name comes from “mazouk,” which refers to a polish musical style “mazurka” brought during European colonization. Because it is associated with the french Antilles, it is popular with other francophone countries such as French Guiana, etc. Zouk is known for its fast tempo, driving percussion, and prominent horns.

Zouk Machine

Zouk segment:
Maldòn // Zouk Machine
Lajen an moin an // Kassav’

Reggae is probably the most popular music style to come from the West Indies. It emerged in the 1960s from Jamaica. It is closely related to both calypso and ska, and some believe it comes from a slowed ska. Musically, reggae features a counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and an offbeat rhythm section.

Reggae:
Just My Imagination // The Charmers, Dave Barker
Psychedelic Reggae // Winston Wright, Tommy McCook & The Supersonics
Dread Natty Congo // Sister Carol
Raggamuffin // Koffee

Next stop is the Dominican Republic to explore Bachata and Merengue.

Bachata is a fusion of Spanish guitar music and Sub Saharan african styles. Despite being created in the 60s, the genre took a while to rise in popularity due to cultural biases associating it with lower-class Dominicans.

The typical bachata group has five parts: lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, bongos, and guira, which is a metal sheet played with stiff brush. The rhythm guitar adds syncopation.

Merengue is a closely related genre, also Dominican, that is performed with an accordion, guira, and tambora (two headed drum).

Bachata/meregnue segment:
Borracho de Amor (first bachata song) // Jose Manuel Calderon
La Chiflera // Fefita La Grande

For our last stop on our tour, we are headed to the Virgin Islands to hear Quelbe. This music style combines African and english styles, blending many instruments. A Quelbe band, called a “scratch band” could contain ukulele, banjo, bongos, guitar, keyboard, guiro, sax, etc. It is made for dancing!

Quelbe segment:
Lagoon Mouth // Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights
Caroline // Blinky & The Roadmasters

Thanks for tuning in! Next week will be Halloween around the world… don’t miss out!

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 | Posted in Continental Drift, Playlists, Shows | Comments Off

continental drift pt. 8: pakistan

Welcome to Continental Drift’s voyage to Pakistan. Find the playlist here, and listen back to the show here.

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia with a population of 242 million, making it the 5th largest country by population. The national languages are Urdu and English, though there are several other regional languages spoken including Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, and Saraiki. Ethnically, the country is 44.7% Punjabi and 15.4% Pashtun.

Being such a huge and diverse country, there’s a wealth of traditional music but also a very interesting popular music history I’d like to highlight. Huge props to music critic Nadeem F. Paracha, for his research was integral to this episode.

Pakistan won their independence from British colonialism in 1947. During this time, film became extremely popular. As a result, playback singing also became popular. This is where singers record songs for movies and actors will lip sync during filming. The subsequent genre of music that came from playback, featuring not only popular playback songs but also the pop music stemmed from it, is called filmi pop. Filmi pop is considered to have two pioneers, Ahmed Rushdi and Runa Laila, both of whom were extremely popular in Pakistan in the 60s. After Pakistan’s civil war and subsequent secession of Bangladesh, Runa Laila left for Bangladesh. Ahmed Rushdi stayed in Pakistan and continued making filmi pop, but was soon eclipsed in popularity by Almagir.

Filmi pop segment:
Ko Ko Koreena (from the film Armaan) // Ahmed Rushdi
Some Say I Am a Sweetie // Naheed Akhtar
Do Deewane Shaher Mein // Runa Laila, Bhupinder Singh
Dekha Na Tha // Alamgir (from the film Bobby & Julie)

Filmi pop died around 1979, when disco comes in. Nazia & Zoheb Hasaan were a Pakistani sibling duo credited with the first disco album of the country- Disco Dewanee. After a hugley successful career, Nazia Hasaan would go on to be the UN cultural ambassador. Another Pakistani sibling duo, Feisal Mosleh and Nermin Niazi, also were forerunners in the country’s disco scene.

Disco segment:
Disco Deewane // Nazia and Zoheb Hasaan
Sari Sari Raat // Nermin Niazi and Feisal Mosleh
Dil Mein Tum // Bunny

In 1984, guitarist Aamir Zaki, a very young “guitar wizard” forms the first Pakistani underground rock band, called Scratch, though they never released any original music. Zaki was a member of the Vital Signs briefly, which was a band formed in 1986. Vital Signs soon become the most popular act in the country, and enjoyed international success as well. “Dil Dil Pakistan” was a very popular song after dictatorship ends and democracy returns to the state.

Rock/Pop segment:
Dil Dil Pakistan // Vital Signs
Akhian // Fuzon, Shafqat Armanat Ali

The first rap song in Pakistan, “Bhangra” by Fakhar e Alam, was released in 1993. Pakistani hip hop and rap artists in its early stages were mainly underground English acts and were dismissed by the media and mainstream as “Eminem ki aolad” (Eminem’s children) and “yo-bache” (yo-kids). The first commercially backed Pakistani rapper was Bohemia.

Hip hop segment:
Bhangra // Fakhar e Alam
Kali Denali // Bohemia, Sha One

Thanks for tuning in!

Wednesday, October 19, 2022 | Posted in Continental Drift, Playlists, Shows | Comments Off

continental drift pt. 7: hungary

Drift is coming at you today from Hungary! Find the playlist here, and listen back to the episode here.

Hungary is a country in central Europe with a population of around 10 million. It is the 91st most populated country in the world. The official language is Hungarian, the world’s most widely spoken uralic language, and one of the few non-Indo-European languages widely spoken in Europe. As a result of the Hungarian language invariably stressing the first syllable of every word, the music tends to have a strong dactylic rhythm (stress, unstress, unstress).

The origins of Hungarian traditional music are unique in Europe, as the Hungarian people (magyars) are descendent of the Ugric and eastern Turkish peoples of the 5th-8th centuries. Composer Kodaly has identified songs that date back 2500 years which share similarities with those of the Mari people in Russia, and ethnomusicologist Bruno Netti has found similarities between traditional Hungarian music and Mongolian/Native American styles. The music of Hungary also has a strong Roma influence.

In the 1800s, Verbunkos was the most popular style of music in Hungary. This was a style originally played at recruitment ceremonies to convince young men to join the army, and was performed, as in so much of Hungarian music, by Roma bands. Verbunkos features a slow dance followed by a faster dance; other Characteristics include the bokázó (clicking of heels) cadence-pattern, the use of the interval of the augmented second, garlands of triplets, widely arched, and free melodies without words.

Verbunkos Sample:
Verbunkos // János Bihari, Monica Huggett, Lux Musica, Linda Burman-Hill

Perhaps the most well known contribution of Hungarian music to the global scene is their classical music. Hungarian Franz Liszt was a major composer of the 19th century influenced by Hungarian traditional music, including verbunkos melodies.

In 1950, classical music hit a road block when the communist state-run art became dominant. Music was dictated to be uniform, festive, and optimistic, with little deviation. This sterile style was unpopular with the public. By 1955, a new generation of Hungarian composers emerged, such as Erzsébet Szonyi.

Classical Segment:
5 Old Dances No. 3: Menuet // Erzsébet Szonyi (composer), Mary Ashley Barret, Kelly Burke, Michael Burns
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 16 in A Minor, S.244 // Franz Lizst (composer), Michele Campanella (piano)
Pastorale, “Hungarian Christmas Song”: Allegretto tranquillo // Ernst con Dohnanyi (composer), Markus Pawlik (piano)
Hary Janos Suite: III. Dal (Song) // Zoltán Kodály (composer), Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, Matyas Antal

Tanchaz was a dance movement started in the 70s as a reaction against sanitized folk music. It began with collecting rural instrumental and dance music for popular consumption.

Tanchaz sample:
Botosánka // ÍGY TEDD RÁ!

The song “Gloomy Sunday,” covered by Billie Holiday and a few others (notably, Bjork) is originally a Hungarian song by Rezső Seress called “Szomoru vasarnap.” It became know as the “Hungarian Suicide Song” because of its lyrics and the urban legends connecting it to many Hungarian suicides, so much so that it was banned by the BBC in England until 2002.

Some of the English translated lyrics include:

Angels have no thought
Of ever returning you,
Would they be angry
If I thought of joining you?

“Szomoru vasarnap” // Rezső Seress

Rock became popular in Hungary in the early 60s. Omega was one of three dominant bands on the scene. Omega went to Germany after a crackdown on rock music by the communist regime, becoming popular there. Bands that did stay had their music scoured by the song committee, which banned any songs with hints of political dissent.

Early Rock Sample:
“Gyöngyhajú lány” // Omega

After a visit to Hungary, Canadian artist Venetian Snares was so inspired that he created a concept album based on being a pigeon in Budapest. The result is Rossz Csillag Alatt Született, released in 2002, which translates to Born Under A Bad Star”, a Hungarian expression which means “cursed from birth.” Venetian Snares is a pioneer in breakcore, and he also includes on his album a cover of Hungarian Suicide Song with a Billie Holiday Sample.

Hiszékeny // Venetian Snares

Hungarian indie started in the early 1980s, and featured its first revival in the mid-90s when bands like Sexepil and Heaven Street Seven reached international success. The second revival, part of a global indie movement, occurred in the early 2000s when bands like Amber Smith and The Moog signed to international labels. The Moog was the first eastern European band to be signed to any American label (musick.) Now, Hungarian indie is closely tied with electronic music.

Indie segment:
Survive // The Moog
Fairlady // Skeemers
Napoli // The Keeymen

Thanks for catching the drift! Next up is Pakistan.

Wednesday, October 12, 2022 | Posted in Continental Drift, Playlists, Shows | Comments Off

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Continental Drift

continental drift: portugal

continental drift 11/2/22: halloween around the world

continental drift pt. 9: west indies

continental drift pt. 8: pakistan

continental drift pt. 7: hungary

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