Chris Rowbury's monthly music round-up (June 2025) issue #119
Welcome to the June edition of my monthly music round-up.
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Blank Podcast with Giles Paley-Phillips & Jim Daly
Lacking in inspiration? Having a blank moment? "Giles Paley-Phillips and Jim Daly host an informal, insightful podcast in which they chat to well-known people from comedy, acting, writing, broadcasting, politics and sports about their careers and how they get through these moments when things aren't going to plan."
Here you can listen to a trailer for the whole series.
There are currently 225 episodes available! Looks like they might have ended the podcast in September 2023, but there’s still a wealth of stuff available.
Collaborative vocal improvisation
Interesting article (with a strange clickbait title!) on Briony Greenhill and her improvisation work. “These voices that we have are part of our human design,” she says. “There’s a beauty in bringing that out and making music with it.”
Yiddisher Black cantors from 100 years ago rediscovered thanks to rare recording
“Discographer Henry Sapoznik tracks down a record by international Yiddish-language performer Thomas LaRue, and slips into a rabbit hole of Black Jewish history.”
“[LaRue] knows where the emphasis falls on the words. He sounds like a native speaker. He is consistent. That is the most important thing. If he had not been pronouncing things properly, [his career] would have been over.”
Read Times of Israel article in full …
Songs of Separation
"Songs of Separation brought together ten female folk musicians from Scotland and England, to create a recording which reflects on the issue of ‘separation’ in its many forms, through traditional song."
You can find more information on the Songs of Separation website …
Scientists find part of brain responds selectively to sound of singing
“Researchers say they have found particular groups of neurons that appear to respond selectively to the sound of singing.”
Uyangithanda by Mzukulu
Here is a choral “cover version” of Uyangithanda by Melodical Sensations:
Uyangithanda (“You love me”) is a Maskandi song by Mzukulu sung in Zulu. Dumisani Zulu (professionally known as Mzukulu) was born in Ulundi, KwaZulu Natal, one of the rural areas in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal. He spent most of his childhood there. From a young age, he was passionate about Maskandi music and has now created a name for himself in the music industry under the Maskandi music genre.
Here is his original version of Uyangithanda with a bit more of a Maskandi feel. The song is about how not posting about your partner on social media doesn't mean you don’t love them. Modern life eh?!
Art and music therapy seem to help with brain disorders. Scientists want to know why
“… arts therapies are increasingly being used to treat brain conditions including PTSD, depression, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. But most of these treatments, ranging from music to poetry to visual arts, still have not undergone rigorous scientific testing. So artists and brain scientists have launched an initiative called the NeuroArts Blueprint to change that.”
Tushuri from Georgia
Tushuri is a love song from Tusheti, a mountainous region in eastern Georgia. Georgian women’s ensemble Ialoni have posted this archive recording in support of Ukraine:
This is one of the songs I learnt from the incomparable Edisher Garakanidze (1957-1998) when he spent a week in Cardiff teaching us Georgian songs in the early 1990s.
How beautiful Tusheti is
And how beautiful the Lasharoba celebration in Tusheti is
The goat with the twisted horns
And with candles on its forehead.
Do not look in my eyes
Our love might be revealed
We may be forced to be apart
And we may melt like snow.
I wish to be loved
By the one I love myself
And then I would not care if all Alvani
Would hate me like a pest.
A blog post you might have missed
“Everyone can sing” – what the hell does that mean??!!
There is a proverb from Zimbabwe (apparently) that says: “If you can walk, then you can dance. If you can talk, then you can sing.” Exactly! The whole of my work is based on my belief that everyone can sing. But what does that mean in practice?
There are two possible extreme views:
anyone can ‘sing’ by just opening their mouth and making a noise. It doesn’t have to be ‘nice’ or ‘trained’ or even ‘in tune’
only people who are disciplined and have had years of training can really ‘sing’
Of course, most of us are somewhere between these two extremes.
When I say that “everyone can sing” I mean that everyone is capable of singing fairly pleasantly and in tune. Not always right off the bat. It takes some people longer than others. After all, it takes a few years to learn to walk or talk or drive a car, why should singing be any different?
Song of the month
Baška Je Malo Selo (“Baška is a little crazy”) is a Klapa song from Dalmatia in Croatia. It’s from the village of Baška on Krk island. This song has a more Western sound than other Croatian songs since Dalmatia was influenced by the many Italian traders who visited. The song is a welcome to spring: the flowers are blooming, the vegetables are growing, the birds are singing, and everyone is happy that it’s springtime.
Here is a version by the Nevenka Folk Ensemble, a Los Angeles-based women’s folk chorus performing music from Eastern Europe:
And here is a version by Klapa Kamik, a more traditional, all-male Klapa group from Croatia:
Baška is a little crazy, but it’s fun
It’s the most fun when you want it
When there are tomatoes
Then they are bought
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