The Medusa Fora

first let me say thanks for passing along the info about spider over here in california(i do plan ongoing) and secondly i was wondering if you can recommend some music from your area over in prague.im always looking for something new to listen to!!!!

You are welcome, Carmen! Hope you will have an excellent time at the gig – surely post your comments here afterwards.

Great to hear about your interest in Czech music! Here are some tips for listening:

Dún an doras – Czech band playing Celtic music, both instrumentals and songs (they have a terrific vocalist). Full tracks from their demo album.
Jaromír Nohavica – one of the best Czech folk singers/ songwriters. This is a complete album by him called Divné století. Tracks 2, 4, 6 and 9 are my personal favourites.
Čechomor – band playing traditional Czech folk in modern arrangements. There are medleys from all their albums – from the traditional beginings to the modernized style they play now.

Enjoy!

zuzana was really nice to send me the above links--and i enjoyed the music very much--especially czechmor. you guys should check out the above. thanks zuzana!!!

wonderful!

Thanks for your kind words, very happy you enjoy it!

Here are links to two full songs by Čechomor:
http://katie.mstu.cz/mp3-mix/czech/cechomor-04.mp3
http://katie.mstu.cz/mp3-mix/czech/cechomor-14.mp3

And to two tracks by Čechomor & Nohavica:
http://www.rokdabla.cz/audio/basnirka_128s.mp3
http://www.rokdabla.cz/audio/kometa_128s.mp3
(site is down, so links do not work any longer - sorry )

Also Druha Tráva is cool, but unfortunately there only short excerpts on the web:
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.asp ... a5208bad72
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1617556
http://www.robertkrestan.cz/main/garcia_cibola.mp3

im really liking JAROMIR NOHAVIC----what a great voice--(sexy!!)

Czech singer / songwriter Jaromír Nohavica is playing at Shepherds Bush Empire in London tomorrow (Friday, 7th Oct.). A bit Shane-like figure on the Czech music scene, often in conflicts with the police and authorities, author of wonderful melodies and brilliant lyricists who gained popularity in the 80s only to be nearly ruined by booze later. He used to miss gigs or came onstage late and unable to perform, people predicted his end..., but now in pretty good shape. Doesn't it sound familiar? One of the most prominent Czech songwriters – and one of my all-time favourite musicians. Worth seeing and listening to.

To get a taste of his music, you can listen to (and download) his full album here.

More info about the London gig here and here. On Sunday (9th Oct.) Nohavica plays in Dublin and then his tour continues across the broad Atlantic (13.10 Toronto, 15.10. New York, 18.10 Washington, 21.10. Denver, 23.10. Chicago).

carmen: Hm, if there is any possibility of getting Nohavica´s lyrics in english, you should get it. Because he...okay...with his voice
But maybe there are musically better things in the universe.

And Čechomor - Their fiddle player cooperated with Alan Stivell about one year, I think he played on Again album. Where was Shane singing few lines as well.
Word is so small.

although i do not know what Nohavica is singing about--i really did like it alot. Zuzana: i tried to open the first file of the music index just now (which is Nohavica ) but it says "file empty". i clicked on the others with no problem at all. Im really glad you can share this great singer with us.

And I think Tři sestry (three sisters) are good - alcopunk, rock, anything you can make fun of.

Hudba Praha isn´t bad at all, some songs are imho great - something punk-like.

Thanks Pyro!! and any other suggestions would also be helpful. one day soon I plan on going over to the Czech republic and i want to get a good taste of the music--which so far i really, really , really like.

catarina: Where do you come from btw?
And which genres of music do you prefer?
Because if celtic - Zuzana advised you a very good ones, I would add Jan Hrubý - he composes his stuff with some "celtic" influences. Some things by him are truly magnificent.
And there is a lot of good "celtic" stuff, I think it is kind of modern to play it. There is a problem, that some people who listen to czech irish music add additional czech influences, so it is rather czech traditional with irish influences. And they call it irish music.
But anyway, we have a lot of good ones
(I would suggest MARW - Welsh music - now it is pretty famous...grrr...I could play in it but I refused as it wasn´t good enough to me )
Momma, I wanna be famous:-) In fact I don´t.

And I would strongly suggest Tři sestry. They are influenced by Pogues, they even covered Sunnyside of Street (in czech it sounded pretty funny)
and their leader states that the Pogues are the best band at all.
And btw it is probably the most famous czech band now.

Which parts of Czech Rep. are you expecting to visit?
I would suggest you Prague, then Prague and Prague.
Sometimes I just think it is too good to be true...

I am in California--which today is very hot and dry! i love the accordion, so any music with accordion i am drawn to. I really would love to learn how to play it ---one of my goals in life. after i first heard the Pogues, i really tried to find similar to the sound but had no luck. In a way, i am glad--because that is what makes them so special and special they are! I also am a fan of the french group LES NEGRESSES VERTES--discovering them on the same day as i discovered Pogues. music with accordion!!! And yes--it will be Prague i visit and i hope you will throw suggestions my way.

Great to hear you enjoy the music, Carmen, and even greater to hear you consider a visit to Czechia! Will be a pleasure to give you tips (though a bit difficult for somebody like me who has tons of beloved places). For the moment, here are at least a few more songs. As you mentioned you loved accordion, you may try Radůza – a young Czech songwriter who writes music inspired by old Prague folk songs and accompanies herself on accordion. Enjoy!

Radůza:
http://universal.vmoste.cz/mp/06i.mp3
http://universal.vmoste.cz/mp/01.mp3
http://universal.vmoste.cz/mp/16.mp3

Two more songs by Nohavica:
http://universal.vmoste.cz/mp/libite.mp3
http://universal.vmoste.cz/mp/margita.mp3

If you like accordion, I would suggest you some cajun music, although it is not czech. But the mix of french and irish-american music is great.