Back in my college days on the East Coast, I always had Talvin Singh’s compilation Anokha: Soundz of the Asian Underground playing in the background. It was one of those discs that heralded the arrival of the Asian sound into electronica and the greater mainstream music consciousness. Just think it would only be one year later that Madonna ended up worshipping “the guru’s lotus feet” on Ray of Light’s “Shanti/Ashtangi” produced by William Orbit. (On a digressive note, I recently realized that her VMA performance of “Shanti” – - was probably the first time any thing in Sanskrit was broadcasted on MTV. Unfortunately, though replete with bharata natyam dancers and projections of Hindu deities, the performance was vocally far from Ms. Ciccone’s best.)

In any case, more than a decade had passed since I originally chilled out to Mr. Singh’s fine selections brewing organic Chai in college housing when I ended up coming across the original clip for Mr. Singh’s “Jaan”. Directed by Mr. Rob Howard, “Jaan” feels likes a step back into a recent but far different time. (One more digression: is this how people feel when they look back at the sixties?) One thing for certain is that “Jaan” is certifiably one tripped out video: lots of soft-focus close ups of a statue of Buddha merging with Mr. Singh’s eyes, then long haired women in flowing fabrics, and finally feeding of farm animals. I think this would be a textbook example of what could be called an impressionistic non-narrative. Perhaps, knowledge of Hindi (I hope I’m not making a linguistic faux-pas) would help understand the context, but at least the vast intellectual storehosue of the Internet has left me with no answers.

Here is Mr. Singh’s in more recent times in a stunning tabla performance entitled “Devotion”. I can’t help but think that Hawai’i is in need of more tabla-injected dance parties.

Washed Out is a one-man ensemble by up-and-coming musician Ernest Green, who hails from Georgia. (Yes, we wouldn’t have thought Southern boys like electronics, but we’re glad  to be proven wrong.)   This track “Feel It All Around” is a perfect soundtrack for hot summer weather and cooling off in the water… or with liquid refreshments. The appropriately directed clip was produced by Fiction.

DETAILS

“Feel It All Around” is off Washed Out’s Life of Lesiure EP now available on iTunes and Amazon.

Mr. Green has quite a groovy photo blog along with a MySpace music page, which features the great non-EP track “You and I,” replete with old-school but tastefully subtle Madonna sample. We spotted other current fav, Toro Y Moi, who we’ve been listening to on our blip.fm station.

Beautiful cherry blossoms against a spring sky, perhaps?

Think again, and be sure to not get too close or you’ll feel a sharp sting.

These delicate, flower-like petals belong to a jellyfish. Combing by beauty and the potential for pain, the undulating sea creature is the key motif of the clip for “Graceful Ways” by Japanese electronica act Mondo Grosso headed up by Shinichi Osawa.  Made in the early 2000s, the clip is a great example of how one can make a powerful aesthetic impact with a small budget. The combination of sinuous beats and sultry vocals by Anis with footage of ghostly, pulsating jellyfish with tentacles beckoning can conjure an odd range of associations. Of course, the associations all depend on the person viewing it — very much Reader Response theory, for you lit theory junkies.

More Info

“Dangerous Ways”
Vocals by Anis (Monoral)
From Next Wave (2003)
Official Site | www.mondogrosso.com

Several holiday seasons ago, at a very different time in my life, I discovered Faye Wong, the Chinese pop singer. Wong’s first claim to fame in the West had come from her luminous performance in Wong Kar Wai’s nineties cult classic Chungking Express, which featured her cover of The Cranberries’ “Dreams”.

In 2003, the year I started to listening to Wong, China had not yet exploded into the media. People still seemed to doubt that China would rise up as global player, leaving its culture still on the fringe. So, to find my first Faye Wong album, I ventured through Mott Street in New York’s Chinatown, purchasing what would become one of my favorite albums for years to come. The album was Jiang Ai, To Love, a mix of electronic sounds and breathy vocals. By far, the song that lingered in my head for months to come was “Bu Liu”, or “Not Leaving” (one of the several translations I’ve found for the title) – an ethereal ballad set against a wash of freshley chilled beats. For the many friends I’ve played it for, they are enchanted by the sound but rarely recognize that Faye is in fact singing in Mandarin. Thus,  “Bu Liu” has often been the first Chinese song they’ve ever heard,changing their preconceptions of contemporary sounds from the Middle Kingdom.

As the holidays come around again and a new decade approaches, I thought it’d be appropriate to take a listen to the elusive Ms. Wong once again. So far, Jiang Ai has been her last complete studio album to date. So here’s the clip for “Bu Liu”, elegantly simple in black and white with just an occasional flash of color, reminding us of the poetic power of a little wind blowing through the hair.

So, for some relief from the spirit of season, here’s one of our favorite tracks, “Hailing from the Edge” by German group electronic Apparat.  The especially sexy vocals are courtesy of Raz Ohara.

We had originally come across it when we caught a slick promo clip for Showtime, one of the few networks whose programs we watch.

Here’s the full song, though we’re not into the static, stock photo image.

While we are not usually into anything that involves animated figures shimmying, we couldn’t help but dig this minimal, groovy self-produced clip floating on YouTube. We couldn’t help but think of the Carmen Electra striptease workout that came out a few years ago.

We do love our pae‘āina and enjoy the nahenahe sounds of mele Hawai‘i, but sometimes, we miss the urban edge and have a hankering for a good beat. While we still have yet to find the perfect discothèque on island, thanks to the akua, there’s Awdio.com, which we found out back in January via the French newspaper Le Monde. (Our French skillls do have some value after all.)

Unlike pre-programmed Internet radio, Awdio features live streams coming from DJ booths and in-house sound systems from rocking establishments around the world. While we do enjoy the selections from Hôtel Costes in Paris or Laïka in Montréal, we’re addicted to the feeds from D.EDGE in São Paulo in Brazil.  It’s quite amazing to think that when we’re already to call it a night in Hawai‘i nei, they’re still partying past dawn in Brazil. (We’ve had to considerably reevaluate our laid-back lifestyle since then.) Call us esoteric, but we can’t help but feel that Awdio transmits more than just music. It’s as if the actual vibe of the place manages to come over the high-speed connection. The effect is simply intoxicating. And in the case of D.Edge, we could add a few additional adjectives and descriptive phrases from Bright Lights, Big City (the original book by Jay McInerney, not the film).

Awdio is free, so just check the schedule for live sessions from D.EDGE. Otherwise, if you can navigate the Portuguese, there are several sets for free on the D.EDGE site, like this one from Propulse.

And for those who need both visual and aural stimulation, check out Richie Hawtin at D.EDGE awhile back.