In 1999 on the southern tip of Taiwan, where the majority population of Hakka Chinese had settled, the government planned to build a huge dam. The Hakka farmers went to the capital city of Taipei to protest. The dam, they said, would destroy the ecosystem, and was a risky enterprise considering the earthquakes and landslides the area experiences. (I was there during an earthquake...not pleasant.) Lin Sheng Xiang, a Hakka from the village of Meinong, and pursuing a musical career near Taipei, became involved with the struggle to prevent the building of the dam. He moved back to his hometown in Meinong, and the Labor Exchange Band was formed, giving a musical voice to the movement, and the dam was never built. Although the Labor Exchange band is no more, Lin Sheng Xiang has continued to create thoughtful music along with lyricist Zhong Yongfeng. When I interviewed him in the bucolic south of Taiwan, he played a Hakka folksong, a charming song he wrote about his daughter, and a song (co written with Zhong Yongfen) from his latest CD,"Growing up Wild" the concept of which is songs about females.

I was surprised that Lin Sheng Xiang's name came up as often as it did when I interviewed musicians and record people. And although no one ever called it "protest music" everyone acknowledged the call to social responsibility and greater awareness that his songs contain. Our own Woody Guthrie's songs reach out to the heartland, touching on family values and love of the land. I think there is a brotherly resonance in the songs of Lin Sheng Xiang.

Here comes my rant: These days it seems we throw the term "throat singing" around a bit loosely. It can get confusing. After all, Mongolian and Tuvan overtone singing (the technique of singing more than one note simultaneously) is called throat singing. But as far as I can hear, the Inuit singing technique does not deal with overtones.  Rather, it is about vocalising on both the inhaled and exhaled breath. Yet it is referred to as throat singing.  Personally I'd rather just call one overtone singing, and call the other Inuit singing (or two-way singing?).
That said, Tanya Tagaq visited us in the summer, and she was a trip, as you'll see from our interview.

We were also sent a fantastic short film that called "Tungijuq" in which she stars and provides soundtrack.  We're still trying to figure out if it's too strong for broadcast. It concerns itself with the cycle of life and death from an Inuit perspective, and it is not for the squeamish...or prudish. Be on the lookout for it, as it is just about to hit the film festival circuit.

Today I want to discuss very bad world music videos.
While it's a given that it's hard to find the really GOOD videos, every now and then you find that truly awful video that crosses over from simply bad into a category all its own....and then, perversely, you end up wanting to share it.

So my first entry is by Bond, those Classical Babes.

"World music," you say?  "How is Bond world music?" Well, they are playing a classical piece to a Latin beat, and they are in Havana right? (And those Cuban hotties aren't dancing the minuet.) That's why the video was sent to us in the first place. "Oh why pick on those nice string playing women" you may ask. Well, my answer is: They can take it. They've made their dough and they know just what they are doing. And as someone once said, ANY publicity is good publicity. For me, I'm enthralled by the sheer kitsch of the video-- the premise itself is sooo specious-- oh those happy dancing Cubans, those big-finned cars from the 50's and sixties-- those crumbling Havana facades....It's just like Buena Vista!  Add to that the Babes playing their instruments IN THE OCEAN (guess no one is playing an Amati) with little Cuban boys doing aquatic dance moves, under a thundering sky! As Dan Akroyd used to say: There now, that wasn't so good was it?

As my blog progresses, I would like to share more of my favorite terrible world music videos. -And I hope that you will reciprocate and send me some of your faves too. I will only publish them if they are truly awful, so pick carefully!

I'd also like to mention two more cool web destinations: 

Lucid Culture is not really a world music site per se, but has complete listings of NYC live music plus (they are live music supporters) reviews of the CLUBS so if you are going to visit the Big Apple, you know what you might hear and what kind of scene you are letting yourself in for. This site has very definite opinions, which I enjoy.

..and Condé Nast has a treasure in John Oseid's blog "boom box" which will also keep you current on world music releases and performances not just in New York, but wherever the intrepid Oseid travels.

There may not be an official holiday for Gaia (though Earth Day comes close), but Link is showing three music blocks that all celebrate women in their many manifestations:  Block #50, entitled "Songbirds," #62 "Ladies Sublime and Ridiculous" and #93, "Wonderful Women." You'll hear from women who are spiritual, sexy, grounded, powerful, funny (the list could go on) and above all, terrific musicians.  So if you are thirsty for some laiko from Eleftheria Arvanitaki, hankering for Mariza's fado, pining for Badi Assad's guitar mastery, or just in need of a major estrogen injection, you will be a happy camper!

We're showing two of my favorite blocks this week, Songbirds (#50) and Ladies, Sublime and Ridiculous (#62). They all feature women as either the central singers, or as the focus of the video. It is amazing how much strength runs through both blocks. The Nordic lands weigh in with Groupa and Garmarna, each with straight-as-an-arrow vocals, and both sets contain entries from Eleftheria Arvanitaki: "The Bodies and the Knives" is a searing look at the perils of relationships, while "Dynata" asserts the power of the Female. Even Yungchen Lhamo's ethereal vocals cannot disguise her core of assurance - she might be praying to her teachers, but she is still the woman who trekked over the Himalayas to freedom. Our longer offerings keep this motif flowing: watching Mariza and the story of Fado we feel the passion of a diva's commitment to her music, and in Vanaja (on Cinemondo this week) we are witness to the things in life that give a woman an iron will.