Transpacific Sound Paradise w/ Rob Weisberg

06/03/2021

It's that time of year - we're raising money to support my (and our) beloved radio station WFMU where I do my world musicky radio show Transpacific Sound Paradise! (Pledge here: http://pledge.wfmu.org/donate/TP - thanks!)

Exclusively for pledgers, I've made a new custom compilation CD called Accordions Rock the World!: Irresistible squeezebox-driven sounds from around the globe. - that you can request for a pledge of $75 or more. And / or, there are many more "swag" opportunities too at various pledge levels. And you don't have to choose my CD - you can choose special custom CDs and other gifts created by our other DJs too!

SEE THE SWAG (what you get at various pledge levels - new sticker, new t-shirts, and lots of other brand new goodies at higher levels) at https://wfmu.org/swag/

SWAG FOR LIFE: WFMU's sustaining donor program - commit to a small monthly donation and you receive LOTS of swag. Sustaining pledgers are critical to the station's financial health and we are hoping many of you decide to become "Swag For Lifers" this month! It's all explained at https://wfmu.org/swagforlife/ .

Please MAKE A PLEDGE TO MY SHOW (oh did I mention this already?) if you haven't already (and thanks so much if you have!) here: http://pledge.wfmu.org/donate/TP . Your support inspires me to keep exploring new music from around the globe and sharing it on the show. And as the pandemic winds down I'll be bringing on more great guests, and I hope to re-launch our live remotes as we've done so many times at Barbes in Park Slope Brooklyn, Golden Fest and other places too. THANKS so much! - Rob

Support freeform radio! Pledge to our 2021 Marathon Fundraiser at pledge.wfmu.org and keep the sweet sounds flowing for another year.

17/11/2020

Check out the Transpacific Sound Paradise World Covers YouTube Playlist - created in conjunction with my World Covers feature Friday mornings on WFMU's Wake and Bake! http://tiny.cc/youtube-worldcovers

I have a few other world musicky YouTube playlists under construction - you can see them all and subscribe at: http://tiny.cc/wfmu-tsp-youtube.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

15/07/2020

Greetings dear listeners:

Just for my own comfort-listening to help get through these difficult times, I started collecting some of my all time favorite African tracks on a Spotify playlist. And then I thought to make it into something I could share. You can check it out here:
http://tiny.cc/wfmu-tsp-african-faves

Most of the tracks on the playlist are long-time favorites of mine that go back some years, many that I have listening to since my college radio days at WCBN-FM Ann Arbor Michigan in the late 1980s. With, however, a few notable exceptions. I'll continue to add songs but for now at least, I am following a self-imposed rule of only one song per artist!

Thanks for staying with us on WFMU through these crazy times and hang in there everyone! - Rob W

mceod · Playlist · 41 songs · 30 likes

18/06/2020

This just in: DACA stands! Woo-hoo!

09/03/2019

Support WFMU's Transpacific Sound Paradise with your pledge at https://pledge.wfmu.org/donate?program=TP, THANKS! Get my special Premium CD "No Borders! Unbounded Sounds From Around the World" at https://pledge.wfmu.org/donate?program=TP with a one-time pledge of $75 or more or a sustaining "Swag for Life" pledge of just $7 per month or more. It's a GPS-defying collection of fabulous tracks that can’t be walled in by genre or geography... THANKS!

Keep WFMU Weird! Donate to our 2019 Fundraiser. Visit wfmu.org/donate

02/02/2019

This week's show: Youssra El Hawary from Cairo and her band session + interview! Listen live Sat Feb 3 6 pm NY time or to the archive at http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/83975 . Links:

Youssra El Hawary: https://youssraelhawary.com/
Like and Follow Youssra El Hawary on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YoussraElHawary/
Youssra El Hawary's Album No'oum Nasyeen on Bandcamp: https://youssraelhawary.bandcamp.com/

Cairo-based Youssra El Hawary is an innovative and engaging songwriter and Paris-trained accordionist. Her bio notes: "In a very short time, Youssra became one of the strongest, most popular female voices on Egypt’s independent music scene, but the real turning point was her 2012 solo accordion / vocal single El Soor (The Wall) [video below], a bold, biting statement about the political situation in Egypt.

Youssra El Hawary's excellent debut album No'oum Nasyeen was produced by Adham Zidan. [Adham is a member of Cairo-based band The Invisible Hands. a collaboration with Alan Bishop (of Sun City Girls and the influential record label Sublime Frequencies).] And - it was Egypt's first-ever crowd-funded album!

Youssra and band toured the US for the first time this fall. The tour was made possible by Center Stage, a public diplomacy initiative of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts. We are thrilled that the tour included a stop at WFMU for their Garden State radio debut!

Massive thanks to Adham "Eddie" Zidan for mixing our session, with assistance from WFMU's own Mark Koch; to Deirdre Valente and Lisa Booth of Lisa Booth management, and tour manager Teresa Teague.

The photo above, by Sachyn Mital, is from Youssra El Hawary and her band's performance as part of Lincoln Center's great free Rubenstein Atrium performance series.

24/11/2018

Tonight's show - listen live 6-9 pm NY time (or to the archive later) @ http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/82625 ): Martin Vejarano introduces his newest project, the Cumbia River Band. The band celebrates debut LP Rio with a show Fri Nov 30 @ Terraza 7 in Elmhurst, Queens. Martín intros songs he wrote for the album, plus we'll hear how the band transformed some cumbia classics.

Please follow Cumbia River Band and give them a like: https://www.facebook.com/CumbiaRiverBand/ - thanks!

Martín's website for all his projects including Cumbia River Band as well as LaCumbiambaNY, Chia's Dance Party and Gaita NYC: https://chiamusic.com/

Cumbia River Band's album can be purchased on vinyl here: https://www.chiamusic.com/store #/

Cumbia River Band's album can be purchased digitally here: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/cumbiariverband (plus it can also be found on Amazon, via Spotify etc.)

Info on the band's show Fri Nov 30, 10 pm Terraza 7, 40-19 Gleane St. in Elmhurst, Queens: https://terraza7.com/event/cumbia-river/ . Terraza 7 is a a hotbed for new musical explorations with roots in the Spanish speaking world - more at https://terraza7.com .

22/09/2018

Our latest show - listen to the archive @ http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/81504 ):
Newpoli's Carmen Marsico joins us ahead of the band's gig at Drom Fri Oct 5 to celebrate the release of their new album Mediterraneo.
Newpoli: http://www.newpolimusic.com/ • https://www.facebook.com/newpolimusic/
Newpoli's show Fri Oct 5 @ Drom: http://www.dromnyc.com/events/8290
Drom: http://www.dromnyc.com
More on Newpoli and this week's show:
Boston-based Newpoli brilliantly re-imagines the lively tarantella and other sounds of Southern Italy and around the Mediterranean.
UK world music magazine Songlines calls Newpoli "A brilliant outfit...who grab southern Italian traditional music by the neck and recast it in a dramatic style."
The band celebrates the release of an excellent new album of traditional and original songs, Mediterraneo, with a big show as part of the New York Gypsy Festival at Drom, 85 Avenue A in the East Village on Friday night October 5th at 9 pm.
Newpoli's Carmen Marsico joins us to introduce the album and contrast and compare some of the traditional source songs with Newpoli's inventive re-imaginings.
(Photo of Newpoli by Liz Linder Photography.)

21/07/2018

Our latest show (Sat July 21st, 6-9 pm NY time - listen any time on demand at http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/80333 ):
Yvette Saatchi Perez of NYC's avant-rocking retro-Iranian band Mitra Sumara introduces the band's album Tahdig
and spins vintage Iranian tracks.
Mitra Sumara: https://www.mitrasumara.com/
Mitra Sumara's new debut album Tahdig:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tahdig/1386951010
https://www.amazon.com/Tahdig-Mitra-Sumara/dp/B07D51Y7BX
https://open.spotify.com/album/0KX975WwN6lVXzf9aSmtCG
More on tonight's show:
Iran had a vibrant popular music scene in the 60s and 70s that was snuffed out by political and social upheaval.
Yvette Saatchi Perez and her band Mitra Sumara revisit the sounds of pre-revolutionary Iran - blending Iranian traditional melody and rhythm with with rock, soul, pop, and more.
Yvette's musical resume includes avant-pop projects Birdbrain and H*E*R. And Mitra Sumara's lineup includes musicians drawn from New York's improv and experimental music scenes.
We'll find out what led Yvette to Iranian music on this week's show. She'll introduce us to Mitra Sumara's excellent debut album Tahdig and spin some of the vintage Iranian music that inspired the band too.