With this, we put forward our very first videoblog (vlog) post. Walking today on Oxford Street, the music made by these very enthusiastic musicians had me very excited. Quick photographs were taken. I am too much of an amateur to be able to capture the essence of music onto a photograph. However – idea came. Why not put camera to good use and take video? So here we are. Instead of me blabbering about how wonderful the music was – I give you 45 seconds of absolute audio (and video) joy. I greatly compressed the video to something that should stream with relative ease. So I sacrifice quality for access. (Play it damnit! Now!) I know my hand is unsteady. But, like all beginnings – this too shall be shaky.
By the way – anybody have an idea where this music is from. South America was suggested – any more specific answers?
nehamaami 
These guys were last seen at Times Square in New York. At least I think they are the same guys. They were decked up as Peruvians. They seem to have gone native American for the English. Wassupwiddat?
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Yeah, I think they are some mixture of all of indigenous from the Americas, but most notably they represent North America because of their buffalo costumes and headdresses most commonly seen in the U.S.
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YouTube loaded slowly, but it was worth the wait. Just like how you dislike the term blogosphere, i somehow hate the word vlog. it sounds so corny. maybe we should invent a new word…
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Pareshaan is right – these are “supposedly” Pervian musicians, but they specialize in playing cheesy (to my ears, at least) panflute covers of Sounds of Silence (i’ve heard about a dozen of these guys play that song. no idea why.) and that dreaded Titanic song. There’s probably a whole shelf of CDs in stores featuring music from the Andes region, all played on panflute.
If you want to hear real Peruvian music, pick up a Rough Guide cd to Peru (and Andes) music.
The video-post idea is very cool. Can we see on one cool spots like Abbey Road? Please, please!
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Pareshaan: As if the Brits can tell them apart! 🙂
Eduardo: See, your opinion I hold at the highest level. This literally comes from the horse’s mouth then.
Kaps: I agree. Especially one can’t even say vlog properly. Any suggestions?
km: Well, I stood for five minutes and it was a nice change from the usual badly played hooked guitar or saxophone. (Though London has its share of excellent sax players.) Will check the reco. Actually I found myself on Abbey Road by sheer chance some time back. But yes, I like this video-posting idea too.
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Me like. 🙂 They sure make for a nice change from all those black clad Londoners I keep hearing about. Also for an urban athropologist or a fiction writer, this montage can provide may points of departure. Also IMHO, it is really not very fair to compare street musicians with stuff on CDs – two different ecosystems.
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These people are Uranians masquerading as American Indians, they just materialize at public squares, play their stuff, get people hooked and sell them their subliminal evangelical code and then dematerialize. Their mission is to take worthy earthlings to Uranus. So Nehasri if you’ve bought their music, you know where you’re headed…
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Anon2 : Agree. I don’t care much where they came from. The music is respite from everything else. Somehow, even the most popular musician playing on the street becomes part of a different universe. Even as you walk by, there is a gentle smile and nod – some sort of acknowledgement.
Mahadhiraj: Nope. 🙂 I didn’t buy anything. But it doesn’t matter what they were pretending to be, and what they were. In the end if that one track was played well – sure, why not. Artists pretend to be something they are not all the time – all part of the performance no?
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Thats rights behind a very good strippy!
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