RecommNeds | Around The World Edition – Volume III

Words By: Aaron “Neddy” Stein

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After a week off, I’m back with another episode of Around the World in Neddy Daze. This is the 3^rd installment of my globe-trotting picks. Check out volumes one and two when you have a chance.

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Samba Toure: Gandadiko

We’ll start this journey in Africa, Mali to be specific, source of some incredibly rich and vibrant music past and present. The combination of violent and political strife, the Saharan vistas and deep tradition seem to combine in magical ways. Samba Toure’s music sounds like the history of the blues rewinding itself and finding its roots. His latest album, Gandadiko (translating to Burning Land), is a moody, slow-simmer of desert blues with acoustic and electric guitars mixing in with more traditional sounds and instruments. This is a soulful, hypnotic album seeping with emotion, Toure’s voice rising above all else, with no translations necessary.

Rdio: http://www.rdio.com/artist/ Samba_Touré/album/Gandadiko/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/33 aNFeKXCZ15cxpN5S9nSB

Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/samba-toure/album/gandadiko

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Colleen: Captain of None

For something a little different, we head northward from Africa…to France, where we find Cecile Schott making music as Colleen. Hers is an incredibly unique sound characterized by her use of a viola da gamba, a throwback instrument, all the way to the 15^th century. It gives up a warm glow in the mid-range and coupled with some modern-day looping and Schott’s dreamy vocals it feels like a delectable hybrid of classical and electronica. Try something new: the music on Captain of None is sure to be captivating to all.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3e iRo1DsYQ8OCD5PUy5LH3

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Nissenenmondai: Live at Clouds Hill

Before we nod off into a blissful sleep altogether, we’ll head east to Japan for Nisennenmondai (the name is roughly a Japanese translation of Y2K [remember that?]), a trio of ladies playing experimental instrumental music. Their latest release, Live at Clouds Hill was recorded before a small in-studio audience and captures their exploratory spirit. This is zen-psychedelic dance music: repetitive, paranoid rhythms jitter and creep as the intensity builds, bringing things to weird, spooky places. It’s a unique sound that somehow embraces and rejects technology all at once.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1 XJNMPHUB2F5ZwR67vzQtR

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Föllakzoid

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III

Looping our way over the International Date Line, we land in that psychedelic hotbed of Chile for the latest release from Föllakzoid. These guys have been featured here before with their dark psych-rock expeditions and their third release, with the no-frills title III, is a no-frills affair. Four long-form instrumental jams take you around the world once more with an occasional blast off to traipse between the planets. Pulsing, dark, earth-splitting -take your time with this one, folks, you’re just a short way from home now.

Rdio: http://www.rdio.com/artist/F%C3%B6ll akzoid/album/III/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6L7p zEiBpKK2tfnnOH1lGe

Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/follakzoid/al bum/iii