The Useless Critic 2.0

Strike a harp and join the caravan. On the website “KazakhAmerican.Skyrock.Com” we have been running through the foothills and Euro-kissing the coastlines of Spain. However, I am now engulfed and enclosed in a space reserved for Spanish Gypsy music. The term Gypsy is somewhat debated as politically incorrect, and the term “Roma” is often preferred. However, in the musical and historical context Gypsy is an acceptable term. Spanish Gypsy music differs from say “Hungarian” or “Romanian” Gypsy in the sense of major and minor. Hungarian Gypsy (in the musical context) pushes toward the major. The Spanish Gypsy scale/tuning is by far the minor of the group, and that means it carries some of the dark, sad, and eerie feelings of music. This piece on the bamboo flute captures eerie nature of Spanish Gypsy tuning rather fantastically. Gypsy music has been popularized on the violin in many circuits, especially if you watch the film “Liszt’s Rhapsody.” Here is a display of the precision of Spanish...

Bon Jeudi! Or whatever that means, This is it. Like this is it. Remember that rocket from Toy Story called “The Big One?” Well, that has nothing on the music of the Punjab. Directly from Jasvir “Jasgill” Gill, who is the writer for the new blog “ My Cyber Canvas! Between her and me, we have decided, this is The World’s Best Punjabi Song. The Punjab I will say this singer really captures the strength of the South Asian vocal patterns. The song really holds true to expectations of vivacity. If you yearn for music with life in it, welcome home. The photos in this video really remind me of that hottest women of Bollywood post I wrote once. QATFYG: Who wants to throw more Punjabi songs at me to challenge this? PS: Seriously, check out... My Cyber Canvas

This is an open Challenge to Ke Iris of China, the writer for Ke Ying Ying’s Online Blog . I bet that she cannot find five Chinese songs that are better than these five here on The Useless Critic. I am going to begin with something jovial that carries all the vivacity of China in a single song. This is just great to listen to for any reason on any occasion. The Er-Hu fiddle on this one is particularly well-played. The Grapes are Ripe. – Jump 20 Seconds in to get right to the song. This is a song that features all the power of the singer’s voice. She does it so well, and you can feel strength. Powerful Voice I am going to bend the rules a little, and I will feature this song by AR Rahman in the Tamil language sung by a Chinese singer. As I stated in the post “Tamil-Bolly” I love the Tamil language, and this Chinese musician sings it so well. Tamil Song I might pick this song as the top one, and I don’t like to pick favorites. It just has a touch of darkness, and it is embellished by the...

So while we are all putting up our Grammy notes and comments, here are the winners from my favorite categories. Best Comedy Album Stark Raving Black Lewis Black Best Spoken Word Album The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook) Best Traditional World Music Album Ali And Toumani Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté Blah Blah another Cora player blah blah Also, Not a favorite of mine, but.... Best Musical Show Album American Idiot (Featuring Green Day) Never seen it, but it topped Sondheim. So this year there were no nominees for Best Regional Mexican Album. I wish I had known this. I could have grabbed my tambourine and given them a rendition of "El Gigante en la Cama de tu Madre con un Oso mas Grande." Oh yes, that would have changed things. That would have stirred the pot indeed. QATFYG: So what is your favorite Grammy category?