Tim Maia

I recently purchased this album by Tim Maia, the Brazilian Soul legend. Maia had a unique personality if nothing else. Many of his songs were composed while under the influence of LSD, and he spent his time in and out of prison. I can't explain Tim's life without expecting readers to dismiss him as a drug abuser and cultist, but I love his music anyway. That's why I've let this video biography do the explaining for me, and embedded the album entitled The Existential Soul of Tim Maia: Nobody Can Live Forever. Enjoy!

A Shelter (سقف)

Saghf (Persian: سقف)(Literary: Roof) is one of the most beautiful Iranian songs. It was first performed by Farhad Mehrad in the 1970s. The lyrics are composed by  Iraj Jannati Ataei , one of the dominant literary figures of contemporary Persian literature.

Here I have translated the lyrics to English:

I'm thinking of a shelter

I'm thinking of a shelter, 

                        a shelter with no holes on its roof,

                        a sturdy one, harder than iron.

                        A shelter to cover our fears,

                                        and to make us warm at cold nights.

                        A shelter as big as our hearts,

                                         to touch the beating of anxiety,

                                         to feel the delicate shame of moments,

                                         and to be filled with the smell of Petunia.

Under this shelter I speak to you of flowers, the night, and stars.

                               Of you and pleading you, I speak over and over.

I compare my life to yours under this shelter; I get lost in the deepness of your meaning to get new meanings.

But alas!

This shelter is nothing but a cloudy sky and the shortest distance between us is as long as the horizon.

I'm thinking of a shelter, a dream shelter,

                        a shelter for us, even if it is made of cardboard.

I'm thinking of a shelter, one with no holes on its roof,

                        a shelter for love, for you and I.

Under this shelter, if we ever have it, 

                                your heart will make us warm,

                                your hand will cover its holes.

Under this shelter, it's good for us to perfume the scent of self-forgetting,
                                                          to sleep with a story, to wake up with a song.
I'm thinking of a shelter...

Iraj Janati Ataei

Farhad Mehrad

Grand Kalle & L'African Jazz

Some of the most smooth music I have ever heard is Congolese Rumba music. Le Grand Kalle formed in Belgian-occupied Congo in the 1950s, and eventually became popular in and outside of Africa. Many of their songs supported the Congolese independence movement, as well as the Pan-African movement. This style of music had heavy influences on music from Cuba and other parts of Latin America.

Tinariwen

Tinariwen is a popular blues band from the Azawad region of Mali. They are currently touring the world for their new album entitled Emmaar. I saw the group live in Philadelphia a few days ago, and the concert was incredible. Here is the first song from Emmaar.

Tinariwen will be on tour until 10 May. Here is a link to their tour dates.