
There you have it. Lusofonia Acústica, Vol. 1 - Caipirinha Lounge's first mixtape. Or playlist, if you prefer to call it that. It's a present to all of you readers that have enjoyed listening to the music posted on this website over the past year, and here's to hoping that you keep coming back. The main ingredient on this mixtape, the factor that ties all these songs together, is their use of the acoustic guitar, so vital in Lusophone music. There are sounds here from Angola, Mozambique, Portugal, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, and Cape Verde, and the beauty of Lusophone [...]

It's Angola's 34th birthday, and 34 is quite the random number, so I'll keep things light and leave the socio-economic discussions for another day. For now, I'll let these two great, emotional songs by Matias Damasio and Waldemar Bastos speak for themselves. To all the Angolans in the Diaspora who miss their funge, to everyone living in Angola who misses those living abroad, to everyone that has had an Angolan touch their lives, happy Independence Day, and Viva a Paz (Peace). *If Waldemar Bastos' epic song doesn't make you want to go to the stadium on the 14th [...]

Filed under: Around the World "Angola's a really weird place." That comes not from a tourist, not from a xenophobic businessman, not even in an unguarded moment from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who just visited the southwestern African coastal country. It's from an experienced traveler, someone who's spent much time in a wide range of situations in Africa and elsewhere. "This was quite different from any trip I'd gone on to Africa," says Benjamin Lebrave, intrepid voyager and proprietor of the adventurous Akwaaba Music label, some [...]

In introducing last year's surprisingly popular St. Patrick's Day entry on the folkier side of Sinead O'Connor , I noted that I had almost exhausted my collection of U2 covers. Since then, however, discovery and a surprisingly rapid pace of coverage have widened the playing field of potential, making for a lovely set. So raise a glass, and let's begin. It's St. Pat's, and the folk is flowing. I came to U2 too late to be [...]