Old friends. The kind you want to visit now and then. You don’t get tired of them because they’re true of heart and always have good things to share. Talking about this week’s playlist, of course, and the last time you heard these tunes on RadioactivaTX.org was in March, 2022. You’ve probably forgotten them all by now. So, alongside the more obscure sounds from the wide, wide world of music you’ll be pulled out of your reverie by the Rolling Stones’ “Mercy Mercy” Nino Rota’s “Arrivaderci Roma” and maybe Gill Scott-Heron singing” Me and the Devil.” Perhaps the Pogues’ “Sea Shanty” will ring a bell and – if you’re Irish - Sinéad O‘Connor’s version of the Irish Republican anthem “Oro, Se Do Bheatha Bhaile.” The remainder consists of sterling examples of the best of the rest you’ve never heard of. So, sip a cool one and drop what you’re doing. You’ve got visitors. JH Al compás del mundo - programa #134, “greatest hits” from programs #17-20 First broadcast 6-27-24  01 Radio Tarifa - Lam...

If I ever hold an Arab dance party and if I can afford to lure him out of retirement – should he still live – I’m getting Bob Destiny to start, fill in the middle, and finish off the evening with “Wang Dang” and any other radical energy songs he’s capable of. Joe Biden could use a hit off of whatever that man was taking! Maybe he’s channeling James Brown, like so many singers the world over who recognized a hitmaker when they heard him. As an example, Belbao from Morocco got the itch and tried out “It’s a Man’s World.” Sounds more like bad karaoke than anything and we’re kind of hoping half way through he’ll grab his beer and sit down to let someone else have the mic. But that’s alright. Pop music has long had a healthy tolerance for underachievers, oftentimes recording studio progeny or the kids of wealthy patrons. If any nepotism is happening here I’m unaware, so talent gets judged on face value. Cheb Mohamed Sghir draws our attention with electronic mayhem sounding like something ou...

What an abundance of talent represented here! And some of their best songs form this playlist, or maybe just songs I happen to like. You be the judge. A Nielsen Ratings agent will be contacting you soon. There’s the classics: It’s Over, Crazy, Some Velvet Morning. There’s favorites from Generation X: Furnace Room Lullaby, We No Who U R, Angelene, and The Ballad of Red Buckets. And there’s that den of thick thieves: Velvet Underground, Nico, and John Cale. Throw in a few outliers like 1960’s Greenwich Village boho Fred Neil, perennially cheerful glass gargler Tom Waits, and The Magnetic Fields straddling bluegrass and death marches. Put it all together and it’s what I’m calling White blues – oozing with angst. My German language skills are non-existent so I cannot speak for the lyrical content of Nico’s song and that of Einsturzende Neubauten, but I’ve the sneaking suspicion they’re not heralding the rebirth of the Age of Aquarius. P.S. I need to hearken back to the days of yore: one ci...

  Week #131 in the history of Al compas del mundo takes us to a corner of the globe never explored on the show previously to any real degree: the Caucasus, consisting of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Is this region the birthplace of the “Caucasian” race? Likely not, but based on an outdated, biblical (need I say more?) and discredited morphology, the entire human race originated there, while the fair-skinned Whites were the cream of the crop.  Of course, this is a quick and easy look-see at the region and their folklore. Nothing comprehensive here. If you want the full-bore of musical knowledge, you’ll need to head off to YouTube. Search any of these groups and you’ll be led down a rabbit hole of related songs, dances and customs long-held and proudly celebrated. Georgia is one place many in the West have heard of, if only for the (un)fortunate coincidence of its namesake in the US South. It should better be known as the distinctive home of polyphony, or multi-voice singing...

So, I am compelled to bring up the topic of nicknames within the world of R&B and blues music (T-Bone and Gatemouth?). Guitar Slim must have cut a trim figure – unlike Fats Domino or Two-Ton Baker – and I say more power to the man. Though what might be conjectured as a healthy lifestyle didn’t stop him from dying of pneumonia at age 32. In this playlist we also get a chance to hear what Li’l Bob was putting down, regardless of his physical stature. There’s lots of “Littles” out there, no? Walter, Milton, Brother Montgomery, etc., along with Big Mama, Barbecue Bob, Bumblebee Slim, Cripple Clarence, Speckled Red. We’ve also got Dyke (& the Blazers) but I’m not going there. Did I mention their song title of “Stuff” wins the post-modernist critics’ award for fulsome ambiguity? Most of these tags were terms of endearment, I imagine, but I have to wonder just how short Willie Walker needed to be to warrant the “Wee”? 5’ 2” according to the historic record, though Wikipedia doesn’t of...

  Ah, Colombia. It never stops giving. Its cumbia always livens up the dance floor. Not unlike Puerto Rican or Cuban salsa, there’s a motivational spark in its rhythm that propels the public forward (two-step, front and back, left then right…) You don’t even have to be well-coordinated to enjoy yourself. Letting it all hang out is the way to go. Just listen! JH Al compas del mundo - programa #129 Colombia  First broadcast 5.23.24 01 Los Corraleros de Majagual - La Paloma Guarumera 02 The Latin Brothers - Las Caleñas Son Como Las Flores 03 Crescencio Camacho y El Super Combo Curro - Santana En Salsa 04 Todos - Las Cosas De La Vida 05 Rufo Garrido y Su Banda - Viejos tiempos 06 Clodomiro Montes y El Super Combo Curro - Traigo Salsa 07 Puerto Rico y Su Combo - La Cumbia Del Pescador 08 Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto - Sabor a gaita 09 Calixto Ochoa - Mata de caña 10 La Tropa Colombiana - La Piragüa 11 Rosendo y su Banda - Me voy pa la costa 12 Alfredo Gutiérr...

These “greatest hits” programs are such a reward. All the effort that went into programming three or four distinct programs is narrowed down to a relatively easy selection of an hour’s worth of top-notch tunes. Is this an admission of laziness or even ennui in the task of music selection for a most demanding audience? Hardly. The best of the best deserves a second listening and making it all work as a cohesive whole brings sweat to my brow. Think I’ll take a nap.  The beer is consumed, the songs they are chosen, and what do we have here? A world music tour from West and North Africa, flitting across the Middle East, landing in various points of Latin America (Los Angeles counts, no?), and an overture (in the way of the final four selections) to Great Britain and the Appalachian immigrant sound. Must we finish with the sweetest Irish song these ears have heard in many a moon? We must.JH  Al compás del mundo - programa #128, ‘greatest hits’ from programs 14-16 First broadcast 5-...