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The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Music

Bienvenidos to another week of Al compás del mundo. Welcome to my world. Being that RadioactivaTX, out of Tequisquiapan, Queretaro, in the heart of old Mexico, is a streaming station, I’m not sure if I’m the only inhabitant of that world, or not. If there’s a way of measuring audience size and feedback for such programming, I’m not aware of it. Doesn’t matter. If the station allows me, I’ll continue throwing together yet another hour’s worth of eclectic global sounds until they wrest the musical inspiration from my cold, dead brain.  This week’s program arrives on the island of sunny, green Puerto Rico. A bountiful land of abundance (except when there’s not) and fair governance (except when there’s not)... Al compás del mundo 205, 10-30-25 – Puerto Rico Listo 01 Isabel Dávila y German Rosario - Mujer dominante 02 Andres Jiménez - El Pobre Sigue Sufriendo 03 Grupo Mapeye - La Cultura y La Tradición 04 Ecos de Borinquen  - El alma de Puerto Rico 05 Taoné - Verde luz 06 El Trio J...
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Traditional Mississippi

  So, back from vacation with the task at hand. What can I say about a RadioactivaTX streaming radio program of old-timey blues and gospel? I’ve been here before. Turns out many of the songs chosen for this playlist showed up on Al compás del mundo previously and memory failed me (I try to not duplicate titles, but after almost four years of programming there’s room for that.) It was back in January, 2022 when I culled a whole raft of music from a single album: “Voices of Mississippi.” And it all still sounds good. This time I added and peppered a blues list with gospel music of the time – all of which was recorded and edited by ‘blues hunter’ Bill Ferris during tours of the deep South in the 1960s. It’s too bad that cut #8 remains anonymous, as I’d like to hear more from someone who dreams so big – “I had a dream, dream I had last night.  I went to the U.N. and set the whole nation right.” Brings to mind lyrics by Uruguayan singer Daniel Viglietti from “Cantaliso en un bar”. ...
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Original songs and their covers

  Al compás del mundo   195, 8-28-25, original songs and their covers   01 Richard Berry - Louie Louie (USA) 02 The Kingsmen - Louie Louie (USA) 03 Bo Diddley - Who Do You Love (USA) 04 Elise LeGrow - Who Do You Love (Canada) 05 Dolly Parton - Jolene (USA) 06 The White Stripes - Jolene (USA) 07 Bob Dylan - All Along the Watchtower (USA) 08 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along the Watchtower (USA) 09 Alemayehu Eschete - Ayalqem tedengo (Ethiopia) 10 Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime (England) 11 Little Willie John - Fever (USA) 12 Elvis Presley - Fever (USA) 13 Solomon Linda - Mbube (South Africa) 14 The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh) (USA) 15 Billy Roberts - Hey Joe (USA) 16 Wilson Pickett - Hey Joe (USA) 17 Ray Charles - Hit the Road Jack (USA) 18 Becca Krueger - Hit the Road Jack (USA) 19 Beethoven Symphony 9 (Choral) - Ode an die Freude (Germany) 20 Rube Waddell - Ode An die Freude (USA)   Throughout t...
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Ras Haas Reggae - Tuff Vibes

  Al compás del mundo   #193, 8-14-25 - Tuff Vibes, vol. 1 - reggae   01 Sons of Light - Land of Love 02 Devon Russell - Jah Hold the Key 03 Judah Eskander - Jah Light 04 Barrington Levy - Look Youthman 05 Al Campbell - Fight I Down 06 Barry Brown - Warmonger 07 Don Carlos - Plantation 08 Anthony Johnson - Hey Mr. Rich Man 09 Eddie Constantine - Tenement Yard 10 Burning Spear - Jah Jah No Dead 11 Desi Roots - Weed Fields 12 Johnny Clarke - Blood Dunza 13 Earl Cunningham - Jail House 14 Lacksley Castell - Guiding Light 15 Cornell Campbell - Hard Time 16 Noel Ellis - Memories 17 Prince Jammy - Throne of Blood   Here’s another contribution to the Al compás del mundo radio program from flesh and blood prodigy, Ras Haas. A long-time collector of Jamaican vinyl, Ras has claimed that honorific title due to an abiding interest and participation (as a consumer) in the island’s musical scene. For me it’s an entire playlist where almo...
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Worldly Potpourri

  192, 8-07-25 – worldly potpourri   01 Juluka - Ibhola Lethu (Sovany) (South Africa) 02 Hany Mehanna - Dala (Egypt) 03 Aung Win Group - Mother River (Myanmar) 04 Insan Olmaya Geldim - Kirpiğine Kaşına (Turkey) 05 Luis Enrique Casal - El Arbolito (Panama) 06 Lola Flores - La Faraona (Spain) 07 Dengue Fever - Seeing Hands (Thailand and USA) 08 K.R. Nagati - De l'Orient à l'Orion (Tunisia) 09 Kalyi Jag - La Romnjasa (Roma, Hungarye) 10 Jaime Pineda - Cuando el viejo se enamora (Colombia) 11 Liam O' Maonlai - Amhrán na hEascainne (Ireland) 12 Yayah Ratnasari & Bhinneka Group - Bau Tapi Ngeunah (Indonesia) 13 Mulangeni Sounds - Kwathu ku Mulangeni (Malawi) 14 Red Baraat - Sialkot-Zindabad (India and USA)   This week’s program, it’s a worldly potpourri. Or maybe, a weirdly potpourri in its logic or lack thereof. It’s a big ol’ grab bag of stuff. Culled from a file of worthy Al compás del mundo fodder that resides on the fringes where poten...
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Tangos y milongas

  Historically, the tango (and its close cousin, the milonga) has been considered an example of world cultural property, i.e. something to be nurtured by the likes of UNESCO. It was born in the 1880s in back streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina and across the river in Montevideo, Uruguay. Considered a lewd, low-class form of entertainment, particularly due to its intimate couples dance moves, it, of course, became the favorite of the masses. Many a music producer has learned that lesson: don’t tell the masses what they should listen and dance to. By the early 20 th  century France seemed to have a soft spot for the tango, as well as Hungary, Britain, Germany, and other European centers. Record production, cabaret shows and radio broadcasts from the 1920s onward served to introduce this seductive sound to an ever-wider audience. Why did the tango captivate the public far and wide? One could ask the same about reggae music, Cuban rhythms, rock and roll, and other musical trends em...
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India y Nepal y Tibet

W here a human voice is heard in today’s program it’s often starkly different from what most Westerners might find pleasing and melodic.  But I must remind my listeners that the West probably did not invent the concept of vocalizing as accompaniment to plucked/blown/percussed musical instruments. Why do we sing in the style that we do? I imagine there are knowledgeable tomes wrestling with that idea. I ’ve read that vocals were meant to imitate the sounds made by instruments...or vice versa? The chicken or the egg? I’m not here to answer that question, in spite of the college course I had taken of “Music Cultures of the World” decades ago. What I offer is the opportunity to pay attention to and digest musical expressions performed by people steeped in the traditional ways of their culture.  T here is a geographic component to lumping together India, Nepal and Tibet as the Himalayas served to isolate and circumscribe the peoples of those northern regions. But here’s where I fud...
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