Voices of Longing

This is my end-of-2010 compilation, of songs from around the world that vocally express a sense of longing, although what most of the songs are about I don’t know. Songs that avoid cheesiness and melodrama, and convey deep emotion in controlled, dignified, and wildly varied ways.

Click below to stream the compilation; the songlist follows.

1. Franco “Sabina El Kwamy” (Congo)
2. unidentified street musician “Hinam Hinam” (Java, Indonesia)
3. Lata Mangeshkar “Rasik Balma Se Dil Kyon Lagaya” (India)
4. Tsehaytu Beraki “Bazay” (Eritrea)
5. Alick Nkhata “Mayo Na Bwalya” (Zambia)
6. Amal Murkus “Ya Oud” (Palestine/Israel)
7. Kitka “Dumai, Zalto” (Oakland, USA/Eastern Europe)
8. Mountain Man “Babylon” (Vermont, USA)
9. Noviciat de Soeurs Missionnaires de Notre-Dame d’ Afrique
“Yesu Ka Mkwebaze” (Africa, country unknown)
10. The Wulu Bunun & David Darling “Ku-Isa Tama Laug” (Taiwan & USA)
11. Mahsa & Vahdat Marjan “Avaze Shoushatari” (Iran)
12. Amalia “Smyrniotiko Majore/ Smyrnaic Amane” (Greece/USA)
13. Potito “A Mi Tio Lele” (Spain)
14. Huun-Huur-Tu “Tarlaashkyn” (Tuva)
15. Howlin’ Wolf “Crying at Daybreak” (Mississippi, USA)
16. Isaac Oviedo “El Buen Camino” (Cuba)
17. Aziza Brahim “Alli Nahuah” (Western Sahara)
18. Conjunto los Chankas Apurimac “Mis Quejas” (Peru)
19. Gétatchèw Kassa “Tezeta (slow)” (Ethiopia)
20. Caetano Veloso “Tonada de Luna Llena” (Brazil)
21. Vadim Kozin “[title unknown]” (Russia)
22. Takashi Hirayasu & Bob Brozman “Bebe Nu Kusakaiga”
(Okinawa, Japan/New York, USA)
23. Pernille Anker “Gjendines Bånlåt” (Norway)