The Beat Authority
Beat Authority best-of-the-year lists
Ever since I got a Fisher Price record player for Chanukkah when I was four, I've been a musical sponge. My favorite stuff is music that ventures across genres, and music that makes you dance.
Globalization has been a mixed bag, but it's sure invigorated the world
of music. Salsa from Israel, flamenco from east L.A., Algerian rai from Paris,
hip-hop from Senegal, reggae from Morocco--artists are borrowing at will, threading
the sounds they hear on TV and radio into their own traditions. The Beat Authority is a Friday show. It's a kick into the weekend, a bounce for your afternoon, a swing for your end-of-the-week step. A fresh, eclectic choice of dance music from all over the world. You may hear cumbia or bluegrass or afrobeat or jazz, but it'll keep your head a-noddin' and your spirits up. Join in the groove and enjoy. And if you have suggestions, e-mail 'em in! David Sommerstein Finding MusicYou can
find or special order any of the music heard on this program from local music
stores, including: Northern
Music & Video, Potsdam
Strawberry Fields, Potsdam: 315-265-7700
SLU
Brewer Bookstore, Canton Ampersound,
Saranac Lake: 518-891-3114 Peacock
Music, Plattsburgh: 518-561-0555
|
Program Playlists
Urban & World Music August 29, 2008 | NPR· Lyrics Born, an indie rapper from San Francisco, recalls a time when hip-hop was almost invariably fun, brisk, and at least somewhat lighthearted. "I Like It, I Love It" speaks to a moment when hip-hop, pop, R&B, and a sing-along hook rolled together as one.  August 29, 2008 | NPR· Visual artists Fernanda Viegas and Martin Wattenberg see, and hear, the beauty in the human body. They've analyzed roughly 10,000 songs in many genres of music, and they've created a catalog titled Listen, which illustrates how the human form inspires, amuses or repulses musicians.  August 27, 2008 | NPR· The debut album from underground hip-hop producers Splitface and June 16th imagines that its heroes have destroyed Earth (because radio here is too corporate) and become DJs at a station on another planet. "Calm After the Storm" hits one of the album's more optimistic notes.  August 25, 2008 | NPR· DeVotchKa's sound is a surprisingly potent potpourri of cabaret, spaghetti Western, and Eastern European Gypsy songs. In "Head Honcho," Nick Urata's gorgeous voice holds the melting pot together as a lone accordion intrudes upon his reverie, insistent and beautiful. August 25, 2008 | NPR· Legions of harpists play throughout the countryside, in the concert halls of the capital city and even in Asuncion's airport terminal. People play the instrument's 36 strings with their fingernails, and the resulting sound is the music of Paraguay — particularly when the songs are the country's traditional polkas. |
 |
 |
|
Get
a leg up on the weekend with host David Sommerstein each Friday afternoon from
3:00 to 4:45 pm for the best funk, latin and other global grooves.
