Don't Dream The Italian Trip Is Over

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I am a big fan of Crowded House (and the various source/spin-off groups like Split Enz, Finn Brothers, etc.) So, I will spend this week celebrating the release of the newest Crowded House album, Time on Earth.

But first, let me bridge the Crowded House theme for the week with my trip to Italy which led this blog to be dormant for two weeks. I had assumed that I would have regular and easy access to the Internet in my hotel and was surprised to find no WiFi in my hotel room. So that led to my putting the blog on hold for a bit.

Well, I'm back. Probably one of the most recognizable Crowded House songs in the USA is Don't Dream It's Over. The song was a huge hit for the group in the eighties and even showed up on an MTV album of "One Hit Wonders." To me, labeling Crowded House a "one hit wonder" is an outrageous injustice.

While in Italy, I happened to hear the familiar strains of Don't Dream It's Over, but sung to Italian lyrics. I discovered that an Italian superstar, Antonello Venditti had rewritten the lyrics to the song and released it in Italy as Alta Marea. I found it unique, interesting, and well done enough to buy the CD in Milan and present it here as my first offering during Crowded House Week here on Underheard Music. As usual, the album (the 3-disc special edition) is available via Amazon.com at a price considerably lower than the price I paid in Italy. Go figure!

1. Antonella Venditti - Alta Marea (4.83 MB; 128 kbps MP3)

India - America - Poland - Spain - Colombia

Here's an unusually international post.

Here I am, an American of Indian origin listening to the radio in Poland and finding myself really enjoying a song that turns out to be by a Colombian musician.

So, this song comes on the radio and I ask my hosts in Poland who this is and they say it is a popular song by Fuanes. I assumed it was a Polish artist fusing some Spanish melody with his singing. After failing to communicate with the salesperson at the CD store when I asked for the "popular Polish group Fuanes,", I was finally told that I was looking for the CD by a Spanish singer called Juanes.

I eventually walked out of the CD store with the CD. Then, Wikipedia tells me that Juanes is a very big star from Medellin, Colombia. He's a huge star with a record number of Latin Grammys. Not only that, I was embarrassed to find that the album from which this song was taken (Mi Sangre; 2004) has sold almost a million copies in the US!

Here's great Spanish music, coming to you from Poland (from a man of Indian origin who is an American citizen!)

You can find his complete discography on Amazon here. Mi Sangre is available here. Why he's not a fixture on American radio, I just don't know.

Visit the artist's site at www.juanes.net.

1. Juanes - La camisa negra (MP3 Removed by IFPI)

Driving to Blue Café

While one of our hosts in Poland were driving us around Olsztyn, she had a CD playing in the car that was pleasant. The tunes were toe tapping and never jarring. Although the lyrics were in english, I could detect a distinct accent at times.

I asked our host about the CD and she said that it was a Polish group called Blue Café. This is from their newest CD Ovosho. The lead singer has an incredible controlled smoky voice not unlike Diana Krall or Norah Jones. She also seems to have quite an incredible range. Most of the songs on this album are in english, with a few Polish songs thrown in. On an interesting note, this band's Love Song served as Poland's entry to the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest.

Frustratingly, this CD seems to be available on Amazon for about the same amount as I paid for it in Poland.

Again, I really did have a hard time picking a couple of songs to feature here. Given a choice, I would highlight about 6-8 songs here which all highlight different aspects of the group's talent. However, I'll stick to the catchiest melodies. The lyrics are not particularly sophisticated or subtle, but then again, let's not forget that groups like Abba took lyrics like "Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight, Take me through the darkness to the break of the day" all the way to platinum status mutliple times over!

Let's see how this is received. If there is enough demand, I may feature a couple more songs from this album later.

1. Blue Café - Barok (2.61 MB; 128kbps MP3)

2. Blue Café - Baby, Baby (3.57 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Poland Trip Finds

Those of you who read my other blog know that I was having all sorts of adventures in Poland last week. I managed to pick up a few CDs there that I will feature on this blog at least during the first part of this week.

A well known rock band in Poland is Lady Pank. According to Wikipedia, this band has been around in various incarnations since the early 80s. There was even a time in 1986 that one of their songs got heavy rotation on MTV in the United States.

When I was in Poland last week, I picked up their latest album that has just been released and immediately fell in love with it. Very straightforward, clean, rock music which just happens to be in an unfamiliar language. I would classify it in the same genre as favorite 70s-80s-90s rock bands like Kansas, Boston, and Supertramp. Very catchy melodies and solid vocals.

Amazingly, I liked all the songs on this album (titled Strach Się Bać), so decided to relatively randomly pick a couple of songs to feature here. The first is the album's title track. The second is a more mellow track called Nie mam nic, prócz Ciebie (lady). I picked it simply because the title was so irrresistable! The big 25 on the cover of this album makes me think this is their 25th album. Quite an achievement for any band!

It seems Amazon lists several of their albums, but at outrageous prices. You can find the Amazon discography of Lady Pank here.

1. Lady Pank - Strach Się Bać (3.7 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Lady Pank - Nie mam nic, prócz Ciebie (lady) (3.69 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Around the World and Back Again

The source of my selections today is as roundabout as the artiste's travels.

My niece in Trieste, Italy sent me a couple of MP3s of an artist she likes called Lhasa de Sela and thought I may like it enough for my blog. I listened to the songs first and was intrigued enough by the beautiful smoky voice to want to find out more about the artist. While the music is interesting, but not exactly what I would regularly listen to, the story of Lhasa is fascinating.

According to the brief Wikipedia entry, Lhasa is " of Mexican and Jewish -Lebanese-American descent. born in NY, grew up in US and Mexico, started singing at a Greek restaurant, moved to Montreal, released an album, then moved to France. Phew! Of course, she sings in English, French, and Spanish.

You can find Lhasa's discography on Amazon here. Both these songs are from her debut album La Llorona which is available on Amazon here. Make sure you check out her web site too.

1. Lhasa de Sela - De Cara A La Pared (4 MB; 128 kbps MP3)
2. Lhasa de Sela - El Desierto (3.66 MB; 128kbps MP3)

On Popular Demand - Ananda Shankar Does Elvis

Completely unexpectedly, it looks like the links to the two Elvis songs from Ananda SHankar in my earlier post got the most response. Of course, that could be because the first place on the Internet where I posted any information about this blog was the forum on Vinyl Vulture - and that too in response to a post about this album. I'm already learning about the importance of targeting the promotion of this blog appropriately. I guess if I had the time, I could go all out and publicize the existence of this blog. But then it would be a commercial venture more than just a fun hobby.

So, by popular demand, here is a posting of the remaining two Ananda Shankar songs from the India Remembers Elvis EP. Please remember that I just got these off my EP without any cleaning or editing, so it does include some pops and crackle. I would welcome your comments on these and other recordings. Remember, you can find the Ananda Shankar catalog for purchase on Amazon here.

1. Ananda Shankar - Can't Help Falling In Love (2.74 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Ananda Shankar - How Would You Like To Be (2.94 MB; 128kbps MP3)

India Does Elvis

Ananda Shankar was a musician way ahead of his time. He was a nephew of Ravi Shankar and an extremely talented musician. In the sixties, he moved to California and was one of the first to create some exceptional fusion albums that blended Indian instruments and melodies with those from the West. After moving back to India, he and his wife (choreographer Tanusree Shankar) would tour with a large troupe performing these multimedia extravaganzas with a full orchestra and a large dance troupe. With great lighting effects, the audience would be treated to a great show of dances choreographed by Tanusree while Ananda conducted the orchestra. I attended a few of these concerts in my early days in India and thoroughly enjoyed them.

His famous 1975 album Ananda Shankar and his Music was re-released in 2005 and is available at Amazon.com. You can find other Ananda Shankar albums on Amazon here. His self-titled first album, highlighted his initial experiments with fusion by including the Rolling Stones' Jumping Jack Flash and The Doors' Light My Fire in his trademark sitar-tinged style.

When I was in Calcutta in the early 80s, I had seen a few of his shows and, as an Elvis fan, was delighted to see that he had produced a 4-song EP called India Remembers Elvis as a tribute to Elvis Presley on his death in 1977. The record store I bought it from had hosted Ananda Shankar some time ago and this EP was autographed by Mr. Shankar himself. It included four Elvis songs done with all the usual Indian instruments. It is my understanding that these songs have never been released since their original appearance on this E.P.

So, from my record collection, here is Ananda Shankar and his orchestra performing two of the Elvis songs from the India Remembers Elvis extended play record.

[NOTE: I have also added the other two songs from this EP in another post later]

1. Ananda Shankar - Teddy Bear (2.42 MB; 128 kbps MP3)
2. Ananda Shankar - His Latest Flame (2 MB; 128 kbps MP3)