Interactive Mediterranean Poll

second song i thought of

On the island of Rhodes, Anthony Quinn bought a beach, which he discovered while acting in the film, and today it still exists, named with his name, even if it is no longer managed by family members: I have been there, small but beautiful.

Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, built during the fascist domination, clearly visible in the film The Guns of Navarone.

My take on the suggestions put up so far...:

Greg (Logan): Nice soothing Greekish track by Stringtronics. The Mediterranian touch is especially brought in through the guitar (and some spare castanets...). This is a kind of "Sunset at the Beach" music. Too short, though.

Samuel (Meltdowner): Didn't know Joan Bibiloni. Another soothing track, but more jazzy. Here I imagine myself in a hammock between two palm trees on a Catalan beach, sipping a cocktail (although I'm not fan of cocktails...). This is a nice synth dominated atmospheric track.

Lorenzo (jamesbaldwin): Officina Zoè, Baba Sissoko, Mamani Keita and Sourakhata Dioubate bring us with Santu Paulu a more African tinged track. Starting off with a gentle percussion this becomes more and more energetic and when the violin and bandoneon set in we're definitely on Mediterranean shores. It creates a kind of African guinguette festive atmosphere (someone said "fusion"?). Yes we dance! With Napoli Centrale we are in proggy territories, mixing jazz rock, rock, and some folk elements. Didn't know them (I think), but I like what I hear. You've been presenting us Dissòi Logòi before and I already liked it then. This one is piano dominated, with some Fripp-like guitar playing. Very jazzy at the beginning, before a more contemporary music style takes over, then mixing both into something really wonderful. Very original; this definitely is my preferred one.

Mila: Monsieur Doumani proposes us an interesting instrumentation with the electric saz and the trombone. To my ears this is a very contemporary kind of psych-folk-rock with a distinct Eastern Mediterranean flavor. Very nice. Dhafer Youssef is indeed more well known, but always good to hear, mixing traditional instruments (oud, qanun, clarinette...) in contemporary jazz rock. Great track! Never heard of Derby Motoreta’s Burrito Kachimba, but this immediately captivates me: a wonderful voice and singing style mixed here with some trance inducing (hard) rock/metal. A very good surprise, this one!

Christian (Lewian): Oh, you copy-cat... Ederlezi has been suggested not that long ago. I love it (and the film). And I generally like the music of Goran Bregovic, thus also Black Cat White Cat (and the film!). His Balkan rock is very captivating. I Didn't know of Patrizio Fariselli's solo outing, a jazzy, folky, Eastern mix with a very contemporary (rock) feel to it. Wonderful vocalizations. I really like this one!

suitkees: You do know that France is not the center of the world, do you?

Pekka (Hiram): Ah, ah, a Black Sabbath classic reworked by Zu and Eugene Chadbourne, adding a bit more madness to it. But it remains a classic! Interesting!

Anders: Oh yes, I like this. I remember having heard a track by Iness Mezel on the radio, but I should have paid more attention. I really dig this mix of rock and african rhythms and love her singing style. Great one!

Cristi: New Trolls with a real adagio, but in a symphonic prog sauce. Nice, but to my liking maybe a bit too timid in mixing rock and classical, this one. With Enrico Simonetti we are in soundtrack territory - a very beautiful track this one, mixing classic with rock and a touch of jazz. I prefer this one over the Trolls.

Greg (The Dark Elf): Thank you for this historical take on this indeed very famous track, Miserlou, here by Dick Dale & The Del Tones. Great all time classic! Easy to imagine this originated, for him, on an oud, maybe less obvious that it became a classic rock&roll tune...

Thank you Kees for the comment :)

Here's a second suggestion from me, and it will probably be between the two. Nadah el Shazly is an Egyptian musician which I discovered a couple of years ago. The song is called "Mahmiya".

The guy who made the video for the Black Cat White Cat theme made an error. The composer of that soundtrack is not Bregovich as many wrongly assume. It is offically composed by the Black Cat White Cat Orchestra. But in fact it is a pseudonym for the No Smoking Orchestra that was then searching for a new name since the separation with the old members was still fresh. The original No Smoking band was founded in Sarajevo in the early 1980s. They did garage/punk rock, sometimes with reference to Bosnian folk music. That's why this soundtrack is more rocking than those by Bregovich, even though he too is originally a rock musician. Kusturica has toured a lot with the No Smoking Orchestra. He always started their concerts with the famous Bogart quote from Casablanca: "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". 

These are the suggested songs so far. 20 songs - 10 participants. In case you want to listen to the songs now or later and maybe even comment on them. The songs of the individual participants follow one after the other in groups.- Btw. I picked a different song from my Cypriot band.