Did you know Joan and Mimi could sing cuecas, and that they sang this Bolivian anthem at the 1972 concert with B. B. King at Sing Sing? I discovered it while looking for Peruvian cuecas. Here is some commentary on the song by Rockoblogia: De la canción escrita por Apolinar Camacho: El boliviano tocó las … More Viva mi patria Bolivia

Here is Caetano with Toni Costa on Trem das Cores. This celestial song invokes, among other things, “the blue silk of the paper in which the apple is wrapped” and “that blue which is a pure memory of a place.” Axé.

This is Country Joe McDonald on the I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag, at Woodstock 1969. We should be singing along now. Axé.

Here are Sofia Barbosa and Joana Melo, contemporary fado singers, on “Povo que lavas no rio.” I am a great admirer of Barbosa, and of her dress – I could use one just like that. The song is by the immortal Amália Rodrigues. It is addressed to the “Countryfolk who wash clothes in the river … More Sofia Barbosa

This video presents a good deal of the scenery in which I participate during my commutes. It will have to stand in for me over the next few days, as I am abandoning my usual orbits to attend this conference. I will return by the end of the month if not before. Here to keep … More Local Color

Recorded at the Bitter End Cafe, Greenwich Village, 1968. Axé.

I am inspired by Antrobiótica to have a Leonard Cohen post. In this video there is a brief interview, and then a performance of “I’m Your Man.” Cohen says in the interview that one’s métier is one’s locus of self-respect, and in the end one does not write ‘for oneself’ or ‘for others’ but for … More Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

These are the Silencers. The video was shot in 1996, around Lochranza on the Isle of Arran. The song was written in 1947 by Frankie McPeak. Oh, the summer time is coming, And the trees are sweetly blooming; And the wild mountain thyme, Grows around the blooming heather. Will you go, lassie, go? And we’ll … More Wild Mountain Thyme