Dead Can Dance is a world fusion music band which was formed in my home town of Melbourne, Australia back in August 1981. The band made up of by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, relocated to London during May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. They reunited in 2005 for a world tour, and again in 2011-2012 for a new album ‘Anastasis’ and launched a world tour which is currently underway. I am hoping to get attend their Melbourne concert in February 2013.
Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance as having an ambient style of world music that “constructed soundscapes of mesmerising grandeur and solemn beauty; African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, Middle Eastern mantras, and art-rock.” The Host of Seraphim is featured in the movie ‘Baraka‘ and really is quite a hauntingly moving piece of music.
Founded by four friends from Lima, Peru who share a passion for both traditional Afro-Peruvian music and modern DJ culture, Novalima searches for the common ground between past and future, between tradition and innovation. They formed during 2001 and they have been breaking down boundaries, uniting seemingly irreconcilable genres, communities and generations to create an inspiring movement that has revolutionized the music scene in their native Peru. I discovered Novalima via WOMAD.
Whilst The Piano Guys are American, this song, based on Coldplay’s Paradise and created in Africa to reflect a journey to a remote and rugged region of Red Stone mountain in Africa….with cello, African percussion and a grand piano in tow! Peponi is ‘paradise’ in Swahili and has a lovely and quite unique sound to that of Coldplay’s song. Please take a listen and enjoy!
Ego Lemos is a singer-songwriter from East Timor who sings in his native tongue, Tetum. Ego Lemos is most well-known for winning 2009 APRA Screen Music Award for “Best Original Song Composed for the Screen” – Balibo. Watching the sad and moving Balibo movie is when I discovered Ego Lemos.
Aside from his musical talents, Ego Lemos is also a permaculturalist and community development worker. He has been speaking to audiences across the globe with his inspiring enthusiasm for environmental and social revitalisation in his home country, East Timor.
The Traveler IQ challenge ranks geographic knowledge of cities such as: Punta Cana, Willemstad or Columbia by comparing results against 5,473,834 other travelers.