Muzzical Trips Blog

Muzzicaltrips.blogspot.com  is about sharing music, musical experiences and research, vinyls dig from black atlantic trails, improbable sounds from improbable places, interesting relative data...

Muzzicaltrips explores Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and all mutual influences between these local styles. Although originally sharing a common root, theses exchanges gave birth to a variety of interconnected expressions: from rumba to cumbia, highlife to afrojazz, apala to afrobeat, biguine to mambo, merengue to soukous, jazzfunk to hiphop, mbalax to sato, reggae to calypso...

As much as possible, it tries to clarify the context of the musicand the country where it was released. Indeed these popular musical productions and their evolution (result of mutual influences between Africa and American Continent) have always been linked to cultural, social, political, economical (...) context. This is especially true during the 60s and the 70s, a period representing both a real encounter of tradition and modernityduring post-independance era, and also a period more intense term of exchanges, but not yet 99.smthg% culturally globalized as nowadays. Fore sure, some actual music reflecting or transforming this golden era or just receptive to it will have space in this blog.

Kowloon Walled City

Kowloon Walled City was a densely populated, largely ungoverned settlement in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. Originally a Chinese military fort, the Walled City became an enclaveafter the New Territories were leased to Britain in 1898. Its population increased dramatically following the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. In 1987, the Walled City contained 33,000 residents within its 2.6-hectare (0.010 sq mi) borders. From the 1950s to the 1970s, it was controlled by Triads and had high rates of prostitution, gambling, anddrug use.

In January 1987, the Hong Kong government announced plans to demolish the Walled City. After an arduous eviction process, demolition began in March 1993 and was completed in April 1994. Kowloon Walled City Park opened in December 1995 and occupies the area of the former Walled City. Some historical artefacts from the Walled City, including its yamenbuilding and remnants of its South Gate, have been preserved there.

“While the popular understanding of anarchism is of a violent, anti-State movement, anarchism is a much more subtle and nuanced tradition then a simple opposition to government power. Anarchists oppose the idea that power and domination are necessary for society, and instead advocate more co-operative, anti-hierarchical forms of social, political and economic organisation.”

― L. Susan Brown, The Politics of Individualism: Liberalism, Liberal Feminism and Anarchism

 

A unique record of life in Kowloon Walled City, before its demolition in 1993 the most densely populated place on the planet.

Disappearing Spaces - A day in Addis Ababa's informal city

Disappearing Spaces - A day in Addis Ababa's informal city from Felix Heisel on Vimeo.

Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, is in transformation. Currently the home of approximately four million inhabitants, the city might triple its size within the next 30 years due to the increasing rural to urban migration, as well as natural growth. Already today, Addis Ababa suffers from a housing shortage of estimated 300.000 units. And, according to UN-Habitat, 80% of the existing dwellings are in ‘sub-standard, slum like’ conditions. Thus, in 2004, the government launched a large-scale mass housing program with the ambitious plan to erect 200.000 condominium units within 5 years. To date, 100.000 units were built during the last 7 years, out of which nearly 70,000 are handed over to end users so far. In 2011, the Addis Ababa City Administration announced to redevelop all ‘informal’ and ‘unplanned’ parts of the city until 2020.

Sophia George - Girlie Girlie

The original video. Girly Girly, or Girlie Girlie was a classic Reggae hit from 1986.

Aberlado Carbono y su Conjunto - Quiero a Mi Gente

Christopher DeLaurenti - Towards Activist Sound

Writer, musician and activist Christopher DeLaurenti on sonic protest and his field recordings of social change.

May 1 2012: It was dusk. One of many Occupy Wall Street marches in New York City had fanned out, trickling through the runnels of towers downtown to a giant marble monument close to the river. Dusk awakened my ears and dimmed my vision. “Sound gives us the city in matter and memory,” writes Fran Tonkiss; streets and buildings lost their uneeded names. Not owners, but gatherings of people, sound, and listening defined this place.

Excavated Shellac

A website dedicated to 78rpm recordings of folkloric and vernacular music from around the world. These items are from my own collection (unless noted) and have been transferred to the best of my abilities, without the aid of expensive noise reduction software. They are for research purposes only. With just a few rare exceptions, I post items that are not available on CD in any way, shape, or form.