World Music Cup: Round of 16

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Jeff
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World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by Jeff »

Welcome to the first round of the World Music Cup's knockout stage. The winners of each matchup advance to the quarterfinals while the losers are eliminated.

Listen to all of the songs at least once and select the one in each matchup that you most prefer. Since there are more songs this week than usual, feel free to vote for any number at one time as you wish, editing your post with your other picks later on.

If there is a problem with any of the links (e.g., region locks, dead links), please mention it in a post below and do not vote for that matchup until you have heard both songs.

Voting for this session ends 27 February at approximately 11:59pm UTC / 6:59pm EST. If a matchup ends in a draw, a tiebreaker round is held 28 February with each nation using a different song. Note that tiebreaker rounds last only one day.


BRAZIL VS. SOUTH AFRICA
BRA: Heitor Villa-Lobos - Prelude 1
Exceptional classical guitar. I had to include a live Segovia version. - sonofsamiam

RSA: Freshlyground - Fire Is Low

JAMAICA VS. ARGENTINA
JAM: Ini Kamoze - Wings With Me
Dummy-team submission by DaveC. It's from a classic dancehall album.

ARG: Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar
I first discovered "Alfonsina y el mar" ("Alphonsina and the Sea") from the version of Andrés Calamaro (2003) and then from the awesome version of Avishai Cohen (2009) before ending on the original version by Mercedes Sosa to realize that it was the best one, one of the most poetic approaches to suicide ever. Written by Ariel Ramírez and Félix Luna about Argentinian poet Alfonsina Storni that drowned herself on the Mar de la Plata. The day before committing suicide she wrote one of the most haunting poems ever, "Voy a dormir" ("I'm Going to Sleep"). This fact and this poem inspired the song, but apart from the outstanding lyrics what it makes the song so remarkable in my opinion is the amazing chord sequence and the beautiful melody line. - Honorio

PORTUGAL VS. CUBA
POR: José Afonso - Cantar Alentejano
He was a fado and folk singer who protested against the regime of Salazar. - bonnielaurel

CUB: Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan
Dummy-team submission by spiritualized.

JAPAN VS. ETHIOPIA
JPN: Ryuichi Sakamoto – Riot in Lagos
I was originally going to go with "Thousand Knives," which is my favorite Sakamoto song, but this one is more direct and looks to be more popular (based on YouTube views, at least). Sakamoto was a pioneer of synthpop, formerly leading Yellow Magic Orchestra before going solo. Now he is mostly known for his Oscar-nominated film scores (The Last Emperor, The Revenant) and classical works, but I prefer my Sakamoto to be of the electro variety. - Jeff

ETH: Adjuran tribesmen – Introduction of Man to Woman) / Spotify link
Field recording of a ritual song from the nomadic Adjuran people. Recorders Lin Lerner and Chet A. Wollner write, "Singing in poly-rhythmic structure, these people form lines or circles and dance within them. . . This song, the introduction of a man, is in the form of call and response. When a man desires to meet a woman, it is not uncommon for him to sing with his friends for her."
[Note/Plea: Ethiopia only has one song to use after this; or, just enough for a potential tie-breaker with Japan. If you vote for it, please consider submitting an Ethiopian song if you know of any.]

SPAIN VS. BELGIUM
ESP: Radio Futura - La estatua del jardín botánico
La "Movida Madrileña" (the Madrid scene of the early 80s, literally the "Madrilian Move") grouped around some Pop bands, some journalists and some artists (painters, photographers or filmmakers –like Almodóvar) and tried to run away from the cultural delay of Franco's regime, embracing gladly modernity. While the hedonism and shamelessness of the scene is vindicable many of the songs may sound right now quite superficial and inconsequential. But this is not the case of Radio Futura, an art rock affair with deep lyrics courtesy of their band-leader, philosopher Santiago Auserón. "La estatua del jardín botánico" ("The Statue on the Botanical Garden") is a non-album single from 1982, a reflection on the passing of time told from the point of view of a statue in a garden. - Honorio

BEL: Absynthe Minded - My Heroics Pt 1 / Non-region locked version for North Americans

GERMANY VS. GHANA
GER: Johann Sebastian Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor
:) - luney6

GHA: Ata Kak – Daa Nyinaa
Ata Kak falls somewhere between synth-funk and hiplife (essentially rapping over a highlife beat/sample). The album this was taken from was reissued by Awesome Tapes from Africa last year and is fantastic. - Jeff

MALI VS. ZIMBABWE
MLI: Salif Keita - Yamore

ZIM: Bhundu Boys - Manhenga
The best live band I ever saw. If you can listen to this at volume and remain perfectly still throughout please seek medical attention. No Mbira here, but you can hear it’s influence. I had a cassette tape of this session, but it eventually snapped through overuse. - DaveC

FRANCE VS. ITALY
FRA: Indochine - J'ai demandé à la lune

ITA: Ufomammut - Lacrimosa

Edit: Added the Spotify link for Ethiopia.
Last edited by Jeff on Wed Feb 24, 2016 6:16 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Jeff
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by Jeff »

Thanks to a trip to the airport I'm up earlier than usual, meaning this stage can get started a bit sooner. There's lots of songs in this one, so please let me know if I made any mistakes with YouTube links (and as always, please alert me to any region-locks) or anything else. Let me know what you think about the formatting. It was hard to come up with something for these head-to-head stages that looks okay that can also incorporate the descriptions

Also, to spiritualized, I hope that the version of the Belgian song I posted for North Americans is the same as the one you submitted. I could not listen to yours due to a region-lock.
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

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BRAZIL VS. SOUTH AFRICA
This was tough. I'm going Brazil by the slightest of margins. I could easily change my mind later in the week though.

JAMAICA VS. ARGENTINA
DaveC happens to have submitted a track from one of my favorite Jamaican albums. Argentina was lovely, but few would stand a chance against something from this particular album.

PORTUGAL VS. CUBA
I'm going to stop mentioning how hard these choices are since it's becoming redundant. Portugal has a haunting beauty to it, but "Chan Chan" has wedged itself in my mind in a way "Cantar Alentejano" hasn't. I'm (very) tentatively going with Cuba.

JAPAN VS. ETHIOPIA
Obviously I'm going with Sakamoto here. I hate that the random number generator spat out a traditional folk song for Ethiopia (they only had one other song anyway, so it was a 50/50 chance). In hindsight, I think I should have had a designated trad folk round in the group stage to prevent these kinds of one-sided matchups.

SPAIN VS. BELGIUM
I never expected to be voting for Belgium to advance to the final eight of a world music tournament (no offense intended to our Belgian forum contingent). I was expecting it to be a hip hop song after the intro which makes me think that a producer needs to sample the first ten-seconds or so immediately. I'm not as crazy about the vocals, but the instrumentation is enough to carry it. Spain's song is fine.

GERMANY VS. GHANA
Ghana is, of course, a team I manage. I nearly got them eliminated in the group stage when I voted against them in the second match. Here, I'm casting a futile vote for them. My tastes favor 20th century classical and this is not one of my favorite Bach pieces anyway. Besides, Ata Kak's energy is infectious and Bach is never this much fun.

MALI VS. ZIMBABWE
Mali is good, but I am falling in love with this Bhundu Boys song.

FRANCE VS. ITALY
While most of these matchups are difficult due to me liking both songs, this one is hard because I'm fairly indifferent to them. I really like the guitar on France, but the vocals (especially the kid singing later on) ruins it for me. Meanwhile, Italy is from a genre I do not care for. However, if I had to listen to metal it would be of the sludge/stoner variety of Ufomammut. Really the fact I am even considering voting for Ufomammut is big deal for me. For now I am abstaining in hopes that one of the songs will worm its way into my brain before the session ends. I'm going with France because of the intro.
Last edited by Jeff on Sat Feb 27, 2016 11:58 am, edited 4 times in total.
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luney6
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by luney6 »

Brazil vs South Africa
Both are fantastic songs. Brazil may have been better with a better recorded version in order to be more engaging, but it's still fine.
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by Dan »

BRAZIL VS. SOUTH AFRICA
This is a tough one for me too. What I like most about the group Freshlyground is their positive attitude about race relations in South Africa: a positive attitude that also shines through in their music. "Fire Is Low", a pop song fused with traditional South African music, is my favourite of theirs. But they're up against Brazil. I'm not the world's biggest fan of the classical guitar, but I admire this piece by Heitor Villa-Lobos, who is the most significant Latin American composer to date. I just don't feel comfortable voting against him in this match-up.

JAMAICA VS. ARGENTINA
I hadn't heard the Ini Kamoze song before, and I really liked it. But I love the poetic beauty of "Alfonsina y el mar"

PORTUGAL VS. CUBA
During our forum's 60s and 70s polls I discovered plenty of music by José Afonso that I enjoyed listening to. But oh dear... he's up against the most famous song by the Buena Vista Social Club.

JAPAN VS. ETHIOPIA

SPAIN VS. BELGIUM

GERMANY VS. GHANA

MALI VS. ZIMBABWE
It's difficult for me to vote against the energetic Bhundu Boys, but I'm going with Salif Keita's soothing "Yamore".

FRANCE VS. ITALY
...will keep us together.
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by Honorio »


Heitor Villa-Lobos - Prelude No. 1 (1940)* vs. Freshlyground - Fire Is Low (2010)
* the live performance by Andrés Segovia was made in 1986 (when the guitarist was 93 years-old)


Ini Kamoze - Wings With Me (1984) vs. Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar (1969)


José Afonso - Cantar alentejano (1971) vs. Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan (1997)


Ryuichi Sakamoto - Riot in Lagos (1980) vs. Adjuran tribesmen - Introduction of Man to Woman (1973)


Radio Futura - La estatua del jardín botánico (1982) vs. Absynthe Minded - My Heroics, Part One (2005)


Johann Sebastian Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor (circa 1730) vs. Ata Kak - Daa Nyinaa (1994)


Salif Keita - Yamore (2002) vs. Bhundu Boys - Manhenga (1986)


Indochine - J'ai demandé à la lune (2002) vs. Ufomammut - Lacrimosa (2004)

Excellent songs, my friends…
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by luney6 »

Jamaica vs Argentina
Love the Argentinian song. One of the best in the tournament so far.

Portugal vs Cuba
Not a very tough choice, honestly. Not to say that the Cuban song is bad, but the Portuguese one is excellent.
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by bonnielaurel »

Brazil - South Africa: The preludes of Villa-Lobos belong to the best music for classical guitar. I prefer a recording by Pepe Romero or Manuel Barrueco.

Jamaica - Argentina: This is a discovery to me. It's a sad song about a woman who drowns herself.

Portugal - Cuba: It's a lamentation about a deceased woman, very poetic. The falsetto voice sounds like angels weeping.

Japan - Ethiopia: Rather interesting mixture of stylistic influences.

Spain - Belgium: Close, but the Spanish lyrics made the difference.

Germany - Ghana: Not my favorite Bach piece, but good enough to win.

Mali - Zimbabwe: The opening track of Keita's 2002 album is one of his best songs, featuring Cesária Évora.

France - Italy: Close, but Italy has a powerful sound and I didn't like the French voice much.
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by spiritualized »

Brazil -South Africa: Beautiful guitar - although I did like the ZA track a lot

Jamaica - Argentina: : Not in a mood for sad songs. You can almost smell the reefer on the Jamaican track :)

Portugal - Cuba: Sorry, but absolutely no contest here. Fabulous Cuban song.

Japan - Ethiopia: - Always appreciated Ryuchi Sakamoto, from the very beginning. PS - the Ethiopian track doesn't work for me on YT - but OK on Spotify

Spain - Belgium: Errr :) Spain is sooooo 80s it hurts.

Germany - Ghana: An unfair match-up, nuff said. Germany stomps all over Ghana like they did with Brazil in 2006

Mali - Zimbabwe:

France - Italy: When I saw that Ufomammut was pitted against one of the most popular songs ever in France, I thought that my vote would be the only one... But then bonnielaurel gave me a ray of hope and I remembered that the Indochine song is soooo popular that my little 8 yo girl sang it two years in a row at the school choir. And they had 2 encores... twice ... far too popular for my own liking - so in spite of my bloodline, I'll go for Italy. Much more powerful stuff
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by Romain »

BRAZILVS. SOUTH AFRICA
Ouch ! Difficult choice between a composer I like so much and keep on discovering each days and this so enjoyable song.

JAMAICAVS. ARGENTINA
The Jamaica song is not enough original to fight against this voice full of tears.

PORTUGAL VS. CUBA[/b]
Once again, what a match. Almost tie.

JAPAN VS. ETHIOPIA
Go Japan Go!

SPAIN VS. BELGIUM
I am torn between the two but give a chance to Spain.

GERMANY VS. GHANA
Unfair, totally unfair, maybe the biggest genius of the music... definitely unfair. I hopre the next match don't have classical music.

MALI VS. ZIMBABWE
For now, Mali really impressed me. This song, again, is a little masterpiece.

FRANCE VS.ITALY
Sorry spiritualized ;-)
I thought that the first round had four games, if I had known, I would not put this song in a lethal match. It's the weakest of my list I think.
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by sonofsamiam »

Brazil
Argentina
Cuba
Japan
Spain
Germany
Mali
France
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by DaveC »

BRAZIL

JAMAICA

PORTUGAL

ETHIOPIA
It probably helps that I'm not a fan of Ryuichi Sakamoto, but this folk recording (the one on Spotify) is quite something with all those rhythms and parts. Like vocal gamelan.

BELGIUM
Nice song - bad video.

GERMANY

ZIMBABWE

ITALY
Maybe a shock result for Italy?
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by BITUSSR »

SOUTH AFRICA
ARGENTINA
CUBA
JAPAN
BELGIUM
GHANA
ZIMBABWE
FRANCE
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by Jeff »

Voting for this round ends in about 28 hours. A few matches are separated by a single vote.
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by jamieW »

Brazil (Very close: “Fire Is Low” is a lot of fun, but I’m a sucker for classical guitar.)
Argentina (Kamoze is terrific; but “Alfonsina y el mar” is a heartbreaking longtime favorite.)
Cuba (Afonso is even better than Kamoze; but “Chan Chan” is another longtime favorite.)
Japan (I’ve loved Sakamoto dating back to YMO, so “Riot” was a special treat, since I don’t remember having heard it before.)
Belgium (Another great find—I definitely need to seek out more from this group.)
Germany (Ummm… as others have said, this hardly seems fair. Perhaps the world’s first horror soundtrack?)
Mali (I’m sure they must exist, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad song from Mali. There’s a magical quality to this one. And still, another very close matchup.)
Italy (Close yet again; but I’ll go with the doom rock of Ufomammut.)

Great job by all the nominators for the elimination round! I give 10 of these an 8 rating or higher.
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by Henrik »

jamieW wrote:Brazil (Very close: “Fire Is Low” is a lot of fun, but I’m a sucker for classical guitar.)
Argentina (Kamoze is terrific; but “Alfonsina y el mar” is a heartbreaking longtime favorite.)
Cuba (Afonso is even better than Kamoze; but “Chan Chan” is another longtime favorite.)
Japan (I’ve loved Sakamoto dating back to YMO, so “Riot” was a special treat, since I don’t remember having heard it before.)
Belgium (Another great find—I definitely need to seek out more from this group.)
Germany (Ummm… as others have said, this hardly seems fair. Perhaps the world’s first horror soundtrack?)
Mali (I’m sure they must exist, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad song from Mali. There’s a magical quality to this one. And still, another very close matchup.)
Italy (Close yet again; but I’ll go with the doom rock of Ufomammut.)

Great job by all the nominators for the elimination round! I give 10 of these an 8 rating or higher.
Exactly my votes and the comments are close to my own as well. Cheers jamie and very well nominated, everyone!
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Re: World Music Cup: Round of 16

Post by luney6 »

Japan
Belgium
Germany
Mali
Italy (This one was close)
"God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
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