Road Songs (Dolce)

Kids. Cars. Kids and cars. Kids in cars. For some, a lethal combination. Screaming, rows, tantrums. For others, total nonchalance.

Children can be a distracting force of incalculable consequences when you're sitting behind the wheel of a car and trying to concentrate on the road ahead of you. Minor quibbles, insignificant squabbles and petty quarrels can drive the most open-minded parents in the world up the wall very quickly.

That's why I say: thank God for music in the car whilst driving!

My children love a mix of songs both for their age and for older audiences. And as the proud father of two bilingual youngsters their tastes go from US hip hop to Ibero-American pop and rock. That does not mean that they do not have the occasional fight in the back of our Nissan Micra but prevention is better than cure as the old adage goes and we all have turns choosing our favourite melodies to accompany us in our frequent jaunts in this lovely country.

So, hooray for music, hooray for driving, hooray for children and hooray for children in cars whilst driving and listening to music!

Copyright 2008

Autumn Songs (1st Mov 'Allegro', 2nd Mov 'Lento', 3rd Mov 'Moderato'

Hi, don't stay there, outside, it's a bit nippy these days, chilly mornings and misty windows. Come in, passe em casa.

Autumn Songs wraps up this week as the clocks have moved back one hour and the nights have begun to ramble forwards hungrily, seeking out early evening shadows to feed on.

My first clip comes courtesy of Tribalistas, a band whose work I cherish. Amongst the many jewels in their self-titled album 'Tribalistas', this piece stood out from the very beginning. It's about (I think, as I don't speak any Portuguese, but do understand it fairly well) welcoming people who pass by your house. And that's what I feel like doing in these days of grim skies and plummeting temperatures. Offer someone a bowl of hot soup. Chicken and onion anyone?My second song is a classic, and yet never ceases to amaze me. The album version begins with a sublime, delicate brushing of guitar strings and then Mick Jagger's tremulous voice initiates the passage of rite to the supplicant's world. Marvellous and it always leaves me speechless.Haydée Milanés is one of those Cuban singers with a lot of baggage in her life and a big reputation to live up to. None of this is her fault. Daughter of the famous Cuban singer-songwriter, Pablo Milanés, Haydee's solo effort has been playing endlessly on my stereo at home and on my CD player everywhere I go. The reason? One of the better-produced albums to have come out of Cuba in the last few years. This clip serves as a reminder (as if it was necessary to remind anyone) that Cuba is not just salsa and Afro-Cuban, but different layers of an onion that if you come too close to will leave you in a lachrymose and befuddled state of mind.For winter songs I will be traipsing through Asian, African and Latin American nations unearthing those hidden gems that give us shelter against this inclement weather. Yes, do expect a few songs in English, too.

Thanks.

Copyright 2007