31 enero 2010

La canción de la semana #201

Angélique Kidjo sings in many languages: English, Fon, French, Swahili, Yoruba... She is yet to record a song in Spanish, and when that happens, I promise, you will know from this blog. From the liner notes of her new album, Õÿö:

On Saturday nights in Cotonou, the capital of Benin where Angélique was born, a big "Bal Poussière" (dusty ball) was held. At the peak of the night, when couples would form, Santana's Samba pa ti would always be played.

So, this week we have that African classic, Samba pa ti. It is sung in Yoruba and sounds as if it was always meant to be sung by Angélique Kidjo.

24 enero 2010

La canción de la semana #200

Yes, 200th — let's celebrate! This week, it is the song I can't get out of my head: an absolutely smashing performance of Mandinga by the great Rubén González (1919—2003). The refrain "quiquiribú mandinga" is identical to that in La negra Tomasa. But listen carefully and you'll hear much more. Among other songs that González quotes is Очи чёрные (at about 5:10).

17 enero 2010

La canción de la semana #199

Idly browsing the web (as per usual), I came across Humo, the Spanish version of song Так дымно by Vladimir Vysotsky (1938—1980), performed by the Argentinian singer and guitarist Juan Carlos Biondini. Both Spanish and Russian lyrics are available here.

08 enero 2010

La canción de la semana #198

...es Los peces interpretada por Lhasa de Sela, la cantante y compositora norteamericana que murió el 1 de enero de 2010, a los 37 años.
Bebe y beben y vuelven a beber
Los peces en el agua por ver al dios nacer

03 enero 2010

La canción de la semana #197

I'd like to kick off the year with Milonga Sentimental composed by Sebastián Piana and Homero Manzi in 1931. This version is taken from Cachai?, the debut album of Spanish fusion band Canteca de Macao. According to last.fm,

At the present time Canteca de Macao has achieved for first time in the music history that multinationals such as EMI publishing accept their music under a copyleft license.