Here in lil’ ole Washington DC, musicians of the scene have an experiment going on that is bound to explode into a creative battle of the wordsmith.  It’s called “DC SWEAT” baby, as in DC’s Songwriter’s Word Experiment and Test.  Every week, a new random word is unveiled, and they have an entire week to write and record a song based around that word.  Past words have included “alert”, “mortal”, “slightly”, and my personal favorite “huh.”

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The experiment was started by Death By Sexy’s front-man Jason Griffenhagen, and some other participants of the showdown come from bands such as Middle Distance Runner, Greenland, Sad Crocodile, Mother, and Deleted Scenes.  Their finished pieces are thrown up on the Myspace page every week as well as a documented process and lyric sheets.  

It’s also not genre specific, so listeners can be surprised to find words like “north” used in anything from a rap ballad to a surf-noise jammer.  So, are you ready to take on the next word of the week?  Bust out your keytar, get crackin’, and learn more here.

 
 

This month, Georgia’s The Shin, will grace the states with the eclectic sounds of southern tradition and modern mentality.  Of course, I’m not referring to the Zach Braff favorite, or home of the ATL, but rather the southern most Caucasus country, where in Georgian, the Shin means “home.”  

These guys have spiced up the traditional strings of Georgian music by adding in other influences from neighboring countries, like Turkey, India, and Armenia just to name a few.  But on top of that they include jazz, fusion, and even classical elements.  And when it comes to vocals, scat is the forte, much like the South Indian style of solkattu.  In live performances, scat allows everyone to improvise as the audience lays witness to a total jam session.  They even have an improv dancer!- which first thing that pops in my head is that skanker dude from Mighty Mighty Bosstones…

These guys are trying to keep the tradition of Georgian music alive, rather then secluded in a museum like a piece of ancient history.  Basically, since Georgia’s coming of independence in the 1990’s, the Shin may be able to share their country’s music with a world that has yet to of heard it.

For more about The Shin, click here.

 
 

Wow, 21 years have already passed since the birth of Luaka Bop!  The record label, founded by Talking Heads’ David Byrne, originally began as a showcase of the vast musical genres that Brazil produces.  From Bossa Nova, to Rock en Espanol, to Pop music, Byrne created compilations stemming from his own vinyl collection that he used to hype up to his friends.  Which is something we’ve all pretty much done at one point in our lives, right?  Imagine pioneering a record label on the sole basis of a mixtape you made for your best friend for their birthday.   

Acquiring the music to make up these compilations are adventure stories worthy of Oscar hopeful feature length films, seriously!  For instance, when creating a compilation of the best works of Cuban songwriter Silvio Rodriguez, Byrne traveled to Cuba to rifle through the vaults of the Cuban government’s record label EGREM, traveled the country to hear the variety of music in different towns, and stayed in check as government officials literally tried to keep them from going astray.  Then there’s the adventure of reaching Indian film composer Vijaya Anand, which after 4 years of flip flop communication, a stealthy operation of smuggling tape into India for recording went down.  

Zap Mama (above) is another known name on the Luaka Bop label, that have evolved from an a capella group, and now incorporate and grow off other genres including reggae, rap, R&B, and more, which is a good example of what Byrne was going for with the label… Not genre-specific, just plain good ole music.

For more info and to read up on more adventures of how the music came together, check out Luaka Bop's homepage.