A FIQL user playlist http://www.fiql.com/members/bisan en-us Sun, 14 Jan 2007 17:00:43 -0600 Sun, 14 Jan 2007 17:00:43 -0600 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.fiql.com/playlists/pagkatahum Here are more songs from the Visayan Isles in the Philippines. These two singers are from Davao which a mostly Cebuano/Visayan-speaking city in Mindanao; the Philippines' southern island. They sing a set of twelve Visayan songs most of which are upbeat and sing about love, birds, the wind, the sea in the beautifully poetic Cebuano language. A language often called the French of the Philippine languages.I can identify one of the voices as Visayan singer Fannie Estellore. The cassette tape unfortunatley doesn't credit who the individual singers are. Fannie Estellore has an especially nasal voice which might be an aquired taste. The other singer is softer and feminine. The accompaniment is the Philippine rondalla which is a group of guitar related instruments: guitar, bandurria, mandolin. There is also a distant snare drum and cymbal. The Rondalla was adopted from the Spanish as the Philippines was a Spanish colony for over 300 years.I often cringe at the popularity of the mundane Tagalog folk song: Cariņosa, Leron-Leron Sinta, Sinisinta Kita, Paruparong Bukid, Katakataka etc. Listen to these Visayan folk songs and see what I mean when I say the Visayan music is more organic, complex, playful and expressive then Tagalog songs.And once again the album is out of print. I was able to find this cassette tape in a used record store. Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:16:21 GMT http://www.fiql.com/playlists/pagkatahum http://www.fiql.com/playlists/ruben_tagalog_nora_hermosa_duet_in_visayan Rare, long out-of-print album of Visayan songs from the Philippines. King of Tagalog Kundiman, Ruben Tagalog, and Visayan/Cebuana vocalist and composer Nora Hermosa perform 8 duets in this album with orchestral arrangments by Leopoldo Silos. With Spain's 300+ year colonization of the Philippines also came their musical influnece as shown in these 8 Visayan songs. The songs are, for the most part, melancholic and speak poetically of lost loves, abandonment and broken hearts in the Cebuano Visayan language (as opposed to the oft-celebrated Filipino national language: Tagalog). The sound quality of the mp3s is lacking. Hissing and pops and scratches are heared throughout. This was recorded from an old LP that I found on ebay. I made minimal use the audio cleaning software because I find that overuse of such software makes for audio akin to that of poorly compressed mp3s.Those who enjoy the grandeur of the Portuguese Fado or the Spanish Flamenco may want to give these a listen. Whilst not as artistically developed as those musical styles you'll feel the innocent longing of the musical Visayan common to the Fado, Flamenco and Visayan Harana. Fri, 08 Sep 2006 06:25:20 GMT http://www.fiql.com/playlists/ruben_tagalog_nora_hermosa_duet_in_visayan http://www.fiql.com/playlists/mabuhay_singers_mituo_ako A 1970's? album of the Mabuhay Singers singing melancholic Visayan folk/love songs. Much more expressive and organic than Tagalog songs. The album is out of print and very difficult to find. Enjoy. The music is akin to that of Portuguese Fado. A must for anyone interested in Iberian-influneced music. The singers do very little harmonizing in this album. Mon, 17 Apr 2006 00:27:41 GMT http://www.fiql.com/playlists/mabuhay_singers_mituo_ako