The 'X' in WOMEX

Hola amigas y amigos. I'm back from a very rejuvenating two weeks away in Spain, first for a week in a very comfortable villa overlooking the Meditereranean coastal town of Salobrena, on the Costa Tropical. Then to the remarkable city of Sevilla, where a week just isn't enough.

Attending WOMEX, the WOrld Music EXpo, was the ostensible motivation for the trip, but if you're going to fly all the way to Spain, you may as well tack 10 days of tapas, cervezas, monkeys and Moorish architecture on to the front end, right? (And let's not forget the jamon.)

The 12th edition of WOMEX, held at FIBES in Sevilla, while plagued by rain at the start of the conference and sound problems during the evening showcases, was the largest ever, attended by over 2500 world music industry professionals from around the globe. Meeting in lovely foreign locales to network with my colleagues and forward the mission I pursue at my day job is certainly appropriate for someone involved with international music, and when done with beer in hand, shouting over loud music, it beats the pants off IM-ing from a dark office. But just because it's fun doesn't mean it isn't work. There was a lot of ground to cover, a lot of connections to make, a lot of promos to hand out.

Of course, there were a lot of promos to pick up too, as revealed by this week's playlist, populated exclusively by music acquired at WOMEX. This year's treasure trove consists of advance releases (new Tinariwen, for example), music out already elsewhere but still seeking an outlet in the US, and the dozens of showcase artists who performed at this year's conference. Of the latter, the biggest highlight for me was Cuba's X Alfonso, whose inventive video presentation synched perfectly to their big, uptown Havana sound; deep, funky, positive and moving.

Afrobeat up-and-comers Nomo put on a great set, as did Algerian-born Manu Chao protege Akli D, Mauritius' Menwar and Israeli surf/lounge trio Boom Pam. I wasn't particuarly impressed with the accordion, percussion or programmed ocean and bird sounds put forth by Basque artist Tomas San Miguel, but the lovely twins accompanying him on the txalaparta were worthy of attention. I've never seen an instrument like that and am still hearing the lovely sounds they coaxed from it.

Finally, special mention goes to Colombia's Aterciopelados (translation: "the velvety ones"), compellingly led by Andrea Echevarri, whose presence--not to mention pants (yes, they were velvet)--was a highlight of the first night's concerts. The new record is pretty good too.

It was tough to tear myself away from the Spanish lifestyle, but it's good to be back at the TerraSonic wheel, especially with all this new music to share with you. And besides, WOMEX returns to Sevilla next year (and 2008 too). Insha'allah, I shall return.

This week's show, as I mentioned, features only music gathered at WOMEX, but it's just a small sampling of what I picked up there. We'll be hearing plenty more in future weeks--in addition to the neverending rollout of great new releases, tried-and-true classics and the rarified gems that make up the vast TerraSonic sound vault.

Thanks, as always, for listening. And thanks also to Steve Rush for doing a great job covering for me during my extended siesta.

TerraSonic - 4 November 2006

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