The brainchild of John Kruth and Jeff Greene, TriBeCaStan is a whimsical melange of timbres, textures, and tunes (Oh my!) and a very fun outlet for all the musical eclecticism of its founders.

During APAP week I ventured to the East Village to the Duo Multicultural Arts Center, which has a historic old theater in the East Village, where Greene (who  has a mural restoration company) had snagged a night to showcase the band. The wine flowed, folks schmoozed and we were treated to a high energy night of musique trés intérresant, complete with dancers. I've chosen the first song "BedBugs" to present here, even though it got off to a bumpy start -- and apologies for the camera's audio, there isn't much sound separation. But as I like to say, "Ya can't make chowder without a clam or two, but oh my my it's a tasty stew!"  You'll get the idea.

For more on the band visit: www.tribecastan.tv

To see a TriBeCaStan tango, click here.

TriBeCaStan is John Kruth Jeff Greene, Claire Daly, Todd Isler, Kenny Margolis, Boris Kinberg, Chris Morrow, John Turner, Dave Dreiwitz, and Mike Duclos

For more of Michal's original music videos, visit inter-muse.com

With the Holidays in full swing, I find myself getting more and more cheer deprived... so we might all need a little energy boost. Here's some super-positive fuel from Blitz the Ambassador from his set at WOMEX 2011 in Copenhagen.

The multi-level Koncerthuset was the setting for four nights of world music of every possible shade, from ethnographic to eclectic. Blitz the Ambassador is surely one of the latter, and one of those hard to categorize artists; he's an amalgam of Ghanaian and Western influences, taking what he likes best from each to create his music and his message. If you think you hear Afrobeat, Hip Hop or HighLife coming off the stage, you're right. It's all there, and the music had the audience swinging and swaying.

"Akwaaba" from Blitz's most recent release Native Sun is a fairly straightforward song, that explains itself.

The Embassy Ensemble provided a tight backup (albeit a few a"brown notes" on the horns... but hey, it's hard to play and dance at the same time) and deserve mention: Ezra Brown on sax, Clemens Braun on trombone, the appropriately named Sydney Driver on kit, Raja Cassis on guitar and Ramon de Bruyn on bass.

To find out more about the artist go to blitz.mvmt.com

For more of Michal's original music videos, visit inter-muse.com

I thought I'd give y'all an upbeat nugget for the holiday season.

I met this lovely duo in Samarkand where they competed for a prize at the Sharq Taronalari festival. They invited me to videotape their rehearsal, which turned out to be lucky for me, as I have not been able to obtain any of the footage from the main stage of the Festival, even though it was promised to me many times over!

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Malagasy music. And as soon as I heard these two musicians, I knew there was something sweet and special about them. I crossed my fingers that they would get some sort of prize, and they did. Despite the extraordinarily political machinations of the prize-giving, they placed third!

"Talilema" is Talika and Kilema, both from Madagascar, now living in Europe. They are both engaging, lovely people.  And I think you will agree that you can enjoy this informal performance and not miss any amplification or further instrumentation. It works just fine as it is. They should be stars.

The song is about keeping your spirits up through your troubles. Is it right for this time of year or what?

I hope this music brightens your days. Have a great holiday!

To find out more about Talilema click here, or visit their Myspace page.

For more of Michal's original music videos, visit inter-muse.com.