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This song has experienced a massive resurgence, partly attributed to its inclusion in 'Animal,' a new Bollywood movie starring the mega-star Ranbir Kapoor (I watched it, and it sucks). The song itself is incredibly fun, encapsulating the brilliant fusion of funk and jazz that took over the Middle East and South Asia with aspects of each country's own unique instruments and sounds, particularly during the 70s. The layered infectious horns and the insane polyphonic percussion, not just exclusively from a drum kit, made this an instant earworm from the first time I heard it. SpotifyZia in his own right is an insane musician all three of his available albums on Spotify are remarkably fun and carve their own stake within the genre's legacy.
I’m already cheating and adding a DJ Mix but hearing this for the first time was extremely eye-opening for me in terms of rediscovering old Hindi songs I grew up with and discovering some of the most smooth songs I’ve ever heard. Disco had a massive heyday in Bollywood around the 70s producing some evergreen and intensely infectious songs that still hit to this day. The mix speaks for itself. I don't think anyone would be particularly blown away by the music but as someone fascinated with my country's musical output discovering this felt like entering a new
frontier. Record stores like this are slowly and slowly dying but I had an opportunity to visit one in Hyderabad which felt 1000 times more familiar and comfortable than any record store I’ve visited in America, probably because each record didn’t cost like 3000 dollars.
Brazil is always 6000 years ahead of every country when it comes to music. I mean just listen to anything DJ Wesley So releases or watch any of DJ Ramon Succeso mixes and the sheer insanity of the music would instantly blow you away. Funk Carioca, the primary genre in Brazil, was created due in part to a vast amount of influence among Caribbean migrants who came to Brazil and pioneered a new sound that continues to keep expanding and growing. The Voltmix is essentially Brazil’s amen break and has been featured in countless tracks since the 90s. It’s
extremely infectious and feels like an electric rush surging through your body or what I’d imagine sticking a fork in an outlet feels like (minus the dying part).
I guess I’m cheating again cause this is not a song but this is an eye-opening and deeply inspiring watch. The importance of music as a form of resilience but also just the sheer right to perform is examined thoroughly throughout this documentary. Palestinians are more than just an oppressed people and this documentary explores how their humanity and culture are held back and how at the end of the day these people just want to express themselves. This is the underground in the truest sense of the word; we see the perils of people having to hop fences and checkpoints
purely just to perform. However, through it all, there is an infectious spirit among every artist of wanting to be heard and understood and that at whatever cost their livelihood and art should survive.
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