Originally built to house the 1962 World's Fair, The Seattle Center's unique musical, arts, sporting, and festival events continue to draw people from Seattle and around the world. The Seattle Center phone system plays a festive and eclectic mix which represents the diversity of world culture and traditions in Seattle. Styles range from hip hop and bhangra to rock and West African music. For more information visit www.seattlecenter.com

1.

Bonobo

"Days to Come (Instrumental)"

2006

Bonobo aka Simon Green is a British musician, composer, producer and DJ. "Days to Come" is from his 2006 release of the same name.

2.

Mulatu Astatqe

"Yegelle Tezeta"
("My Own Memory")

1969

Ethiopian Jazz from a group led by Ethiopian vibraphonist Mulatu Astatqe. A fan of Latin-American music and jazz, here he adds a touch of funk to traditional Ethiopian music. This track was originally released in 1969 and can be found on the album "Ethiopiques Vol. 4."

3.

Fila Brazilia

"Bumblehaun" (excerpt)

2002

UK based musicians and producers Steve Cobby and Dave McSherry aka Fila Brazilia produced this upbeat track for their 2002 release "Jump Leads."

4.

Väsen

"Kapten Kapsyl"

1997

New music based on Swedish traditional music. Väsen is in the vanguard of Swedish neo-traditional music and they infuse new rhythm and progressive intensity into their new Swedish sound. The group is composed of Olov Johansson, on nyckelharpa (Swedish keyed fiddle), Mikael Marin on viola, Roger Tallroth on guitar, and Andre Ferrari on percussion. Seattle had the honor of hosting Väsen for a special show in the Seattle Center House back in 1999. This track is from their 1997 album "Varlends Väsen" released in the US as "Whirled" on the Northside label.

5.

Robyn Hitchcock

"Flesh Number One (Beatle Dennis)"

1988

English musician Robyn Hitchcock has made the Seattle area his second home. To call Robyn Hitchcook a surprisingly poppy psychedelic surrealistic rocker would give some idea of what sort of music he produces. This piece is from his 1988 album "Globe of Frogs," and as the parenthetical addition to the title suggests, has a slightly beatlesque feel.

6.

Yann Tiersen/Stuar

"J'y suis jamais alle" (remix)

Stuar is a Seattle based electronica artist. Here he remakes music by Yann Tiersen from the soundtrack to the movie "Amelie," adding tuned bass drums and North African and Latin percussion to the original piece and also extending it's length.

7.

Arsenio Rodriguez

"Bruca Manigua"

Specialists in Cuban music consider Arsenio Rodriguez to be one of the most important Cuban musicians of the twentieth Century. He incorporated all the styles of music of black Cubans into popular son music. "Bruca Manigua" was one of his first compositions to receive international recognition and became his theme song.

8.

Scientific American

"Boost the Midrange" (excerpt)

2000

Local ambient Hip Hop Producer and DJ, Scientific American, or Sientific American as he used to write it, continues to receive accolades for his music in Seattle and across the world. Some critics have said his sound is reminiscent of the group Ratatat, although he precedes them and his work has arguably a larger scope. This track mixes some Indian musical flavor into some tight hip hop, and is from his double album "Saints of Infinity/Simulated D.I.Y," which was released in 2000.

9.

Rachid Taha

"Ho Cherie, Cherie"

2001

Algerian rocker Rachid Taha is non-pareil. As he says: "music for me has always been rock n' roll, flavored by what I am, which is Arab, Muslim, and European." Taha is continually experimenting with new sounds and styles of music. He continues to mix techno, hip hop, and rock with the many different traditional styles of Algerian music from rai, to shaabi, to bedouin sounds. His CD, "Tekitoi" (2004) contained a remake of the song "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash with new lyrics in Arabic. The track "Ho Cherie, Cherie" is from Taha's 2001 album "Made in Medina," and is a tranquil love song sung in French and Arabic over a North African beat. Taha throws in a couple words of English for good measure. His most recent appearance in Seattle was in 2005 when he played at Chop Suey touring for "Tekitoi."

10.

Sharpshooters

"Balek"

A bit of Seattle based based funk coming from local record label Light in the The Attic Records. The Sharpshooters is a group that started in 1993 in Seattle. The group is composed of the Producers and DJs, Mr. Supreme and Sureshot.

11.

Toumani Diabate, Keletigui Diabate, Basekou Kouyate

"Aminata Santoro"

West African Classical music from Guinea and Mali with kora (traditional harp), ngoni (a type of lute) and balafon (a type of marimba). This track features Malian Kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate along with the renowned Balafon musician Keletigui Diabate, and the famed ngoni player Basekou Kouyate. This track is from the album "Djelika."

12.

Asha Bhosle

"Dil Cheez Kya Hai"

1981

Asha Bhosle is one of the most famous popular vocalists in India. Along with her sister Lata Mangeshkar she dominated Indian film recordings from the 60s through the 80s. This song is from the movie "Umrao Jaan" directed by Muzaffar Ali in 1981, not to be confused with the 2006 film of the same name directed by J.P. Dutta.

13.

Scientific American

"Saints of Infinity, Part 1" (excerpt)

2000

More ambient Hip Hop from Scientific American, this piece is again from the 2000 release "Saints of Infinity/Simulated D.I.Y."